Boy howdy - games announced in 2016 are sure getting me excited! For the last few years, I've really wanted to make a tactical role-playing game involving manipulable terrain, and this year's announced titles (across many genres) ACTUALLY USE player interaction with their respective game worlds to a higher degree! Project Auspice was a thing for us here at Zero Hour Productions, but that project was shelved for a later time, considering one of the major contributors for the game parted ways. Still fresh in my mind is the core mechanic of interacting with battle maps in a TRPG setting, though, and I feel it could be done to great effect!
So, as we all know, E3 came and went, and Nintendo wowed everyone with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Not only does Wolf Link return, but Link can more directly affect the world around him, including .... starting massive brush fires! YES! This is an idea I really wanted to play with on my own in the TRPG realm, and I'm so happy to see it being used in a mainstream game! How cool would it be to smoke enemies out of brush and the surrounding area by surveying the wind direction, setting dry grass aflame, and watching it spread? That would be AMAZING! Tactical games can often be played in multiple ways: killing all enemies and being a pacifist/being stealthy are two popularized by such series as Metal Gear, but what about playing smartly and actually forming decisive tactics? Face it - in war environments, people won't always have the advantage of an unlimited budget or arenas they can abuse for essentially unlimited cash (I'm looking at you, Saxxon..). Battles must be won with both might AND wit, so why not introduce a tactic of conserving weaponry by showing how clever you are?
Think about it: brush fires are an outstanding tactic if used properly, but can definitely backfire if you don't scout the situation appropriately! What, then, could a player do aside from that? Conceptually, we considered many kinds of terrain that wouldn't normally be possible in TRPGs given their heavy use of tiles and a mostly 2D playing view. While games often incorporate mountains, hills, and water features, how about making characters climb rockfaces, or fell a tree against a high-up platform to get onto it and gain a tactical advantage? Why not be able to have a 3D map where you're desperately fighting off enemies and at the same time trying your best not to be swept into heavy current toward certain death by waterfall? What about damming the current, instead, and turning the tides on your foes?
These ideas bring about the use of clever planning, and I truly feel that more games should incorporate that kind of witty planning. Permanence in altered terrain is another thing I'd love to see more of, too. How many times have you played.. say.. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and farmed rupees by mowing down every blade of grass possible south of Link's house? The grass instantly grew back once you left the screen and came back! Truly interactive environments would take these kinds of things into account and would provide a more immersive experience. The same kind of permanence could be used in tactical games.. for more reasons than simply marking a character as being permanently removed from play because you screwed up. A story campaign that brings you back to earlier areas might very well revolve around decisions you made in the past. Remember that brush fire? Certain wildlife no longer appear there, or perhaps you caused the beginning of desertification, or what have you. Dam that flowing river? The basin below is suddenly dried up and many treasures are now exposed! The point of this post is to call attention to the fact that games are now starting to incorporate new kinds of interaction, and how amazing these titles could be if they really went to town with the idea.
