Breaking enemy contact and ending battle

[John Robinson]

fallen
When leveling "Running away" is part of the description given to the Stealth skill.

The two of us are very frustrated with this aspect of the game, and hoping for a change. Could you set a limit to how far the party has to run when not being chased by the enemy, then allow them to break contact (escape), and end the combat?

I often see some monsters freeze in place and stop pursuing my party once I'm like 15 squares away. I have killed the ones who continued the attack. With a stealth at 9, and my party waiting in ambush 15 or more squares away, why not be able to break contact? Also sometimes you just can't find that last little bugger, and want to move on but can't get out of the AP7 battle mode and back into free move.

Case in point. My spouse was running away and made it to the last rest stop before Oskahold in order to recharge. The battle was well over half the way accross the deeps. She could not use the site to rest. She did intend to make the long journey back to reengage after recharging.

I think it's realistic for your party to escape. The monsters are still in that location, and don't simply vanish. Being able to evade enemy contact, and attack again from strength has been a staple of warfare for several thousand years. How many stories have you read where badly mauled infantry units are withdrawn from the front lines reconstituted and sent back in? We are talking about a dim cavernous environment in HOS. I have seen my party 25 squares away from the nearest enemy without the battle ending. When the Rogue is introduced wouldn't this seem a natural aid to his/her party? I had a thief with darklight turned on, with all my skill points in Stealth that came to a total of 11, and no matter how far away, we could not end the battle by escaping.

It's still the Alpha so I figure "It's speak now, or forever hold your peace".

My spouse finds this to be a bigger problem, but I dread it when I start playing at higher levels than easy.

After playing in each phase of the Alpha, I really reluctantly have to say not being able to escape is a serious flaw. By now you already know how much I love the game. Genius is a rare thing, imagination a gift, you and Cory are fortunate to have both.

[fallen]

John Robinson - it is basically a technical problem that we are trying to overcome. It is on our list to fix. Currently, if there is any monster on the board, regardless of how far you are away, you are in "combat mode." Stealth affects only the monster's ability to detect you and pursue you for combat.

We really hope to fix this, but its very difficult to do so without massively impact game performance in a negative fashion.

[slayernz]

Wouldn't it make sense for a simple end of turn check while in combat mode...
If enemy is more than x squares away, then show message "you have successfully evaded the enemy" and combat mode ends else stay in combat mode

[fallen]

But the monsters are still hanging around ... so every time you move a square ... did you wake them back up? Any of them? Potentially 20 or 30 of them? They could be spread out. They could be really close or really far away. You could be 10 hexes away, but have a wall and a giant maze of 100 walk steps between you and them.

Just saying -- technically its hard and you have to cover all the bases or sometimes the game would go berserk and every step in free mode could take seconds. We plan to tackle it. We just ask for your patience in the mean time.

[slayernz]

Do you have specific squares that are markedencounter squares, oor do you instead have encounters based on proximity m I'm now guessing the former. Hmm not sure of the ideal solution ... maybe a check every 10 squares moved? That would be a good time for auto save and virtual turn (to reduce effect duration counter) anyway.

[John Robinson]

Nov 27, 2013 1:58:00 GMT -5 fallen said:

But the monsters are still hanging around ... so every time you move a square ... did you wake them back up? Any of them? Potentially 20 or 30 of them? They could be spread out. They could be really close or really far away. You could be 10 hexes away, but have a wall and a giant maze of 100 walk steps between you and them.

Just saying -- technically its hard and you have to cover all the bases or sometimes the game would go berserk and every step in free mode could take seconds. We plan to tackle it. We just ask for your patience in the mean time.

I think I know what you mean. If there are 100 monsters in a 30 by 30 hex area, even if walls are between you and them. The game does allow you to flee from one group and slam right into an ambush from another. I agree. I can see where the "Sweet spot" could be really hard to find from the technical point of view. I realize my party being in a stationary location, without being in direct combat. The game has to keep track of all the others. So just because I'm 25 squares away from the ones who triggered the battle. I might only be 5 squares away from another group we have not encountered. You have formulas for detection, so something triggers a battle. How and when do you turn it off? (rhetorical question).

This must be a tough nut to crack. It is certainly not a deal breaker, but could be for others. I clean out an area before moving on. I might not be able to on tough levels without a recharge. Maybe a temporary fix, like an "emergency aid station?". In other words, someplace in the dungeon there is a "camp site", that if you can reach it alive would give you a recharge, the AP 7 limit would still be in play. If you run into another group of monsters, tough luck, get there or die. Just shooting from the hip. Thanks for letting us know you are working on it, and what causes it. I'll tell her to stop pulling her hair out and be patient.

[absimiliard]

It's definitely an issue. In P1 I recall having an enemy on the other side of a broken bridge. I was never able to get it. Rather than keep walking through the dungeon in combat mode I chose to quit the game and start a new one. But if I'd been "just a dude who bought this cool-sounding game" and not a fan of your other games I probably would have moved on and never played it again. Doubly so if I'm locked in combat mode on a really big level that I need to cross in order to get to a resting point, heck, even now I'll just drop a game and start a new one if that happens. I do not find spending hours moving each character individually to be enjoyable. (probably why TA is my least favorite Trese Bros. game despite me being a big Warhammer and Space Hulk fan)

-abs

[fallen]

It's definitely one of our biggest issues left in the game right now. It really screws up the experience and reduces the fun.

It's a technical issue and we will figure out how to resolve it. It has its spot on the priority list, so ... thanks for your patience until we get to it.

[absimiliard]

No worries Fallen, I knew you were aware of it, just thought that I'd chime in so you knew that others were thinking of it as well. Good luck w. the solution, sounds like a hard programming challenge. Wish I had an algorithm to offer you, but I don't.

-abs

[Slide87]

Sorry me fallen or cory,i read of that somewhere in forum (about camping while in combat mode); also this could be difficult to fix? I have difficulty on normal because of this, 'cause i respawn in a near camp but i can't camp because i'm still in combat ** i'm blocked(zero potions few hp and sp) ; argh hope for good news

[Cory Trese]

Dec 10, 2013 19:58:26 GMT -5 Slide87 said:

Sorry me fallen or cory,i read of that somewhere in forum (about camping while in combat mode); also this could be difficult to fix? I have difficulty on normal because of this, 'cause i respawn in a near camp but i can't camp because i'm still in combat ** i'm blocked(zero potions few hp and sp) ; argh hope for good news

Thanks for the post we are working game wide solutions -- not your suggestion but it will be fixed.

Thanks!

[Slide87]

thanks cory it's frustrating; it's also a good reason to restart the game with the new entry(sorcerer), too ghghghgh