So. In this game Second Life some friends and I have been working on making a combat system.
After about a year of development this is what we came out with for a pre-release video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kauW8N… (keep in mind that's pre-release and not current progress)
It's possible that ACS is the best combat system implimented into Second Life right now.
*It can mold to any theme. Star wars, Naruto, Star Trek, Bleach, Pokemon, urban, medival, ect. Our main HQ we made fuedal Japan themed.
*Great visual quality. The builds are inspiring and the textures are realistic.
*Diverse spells. Not only are there spells of each main element (earth, water, air, fire, and lightning) but each element can combine into any element of another and make a new spell class: Fire and Earth = magma spells. Earth + Water = plant spells.
*Unpredictable combat. Through the immense balance the issue of most games is gone. There's no one single "I always win" build or class in this system. Whether you're tank-like, mage-like, archer/gunner-like, ninja-ish, or whatever. The builds, while still situationally each better at different things, keep a fair battle in PvP.
*Character growth and customability. Every 10 levels people gain access to a list of new weapons and abilities. They grow in manners of stats by manually choosing where to put the points every level between a variety of combat amplifying stats, as well as gaining ranks in spell classes through repeated use of the spell class (thus making people stronger in one class then they would be in others).
*Less then half of the lag compared to systems half as complex. I won't name any specific system names since that would be bad form ("omg they suck. We rule. let's point and laugh! Hur!"), but many systems in SL are pretty much low-grade systems that looks like they were designed and built in less then a week. Yet at the same time as keeping this complexity in comparison we also have a very efficient scriptor. Thus our lag is almost nil at the same time.
*Cheating in ACS is nearly impossible (No need to have a honor system or set rules to stop cheating). And people surely test it a lot. Even seen people try a LOT to run into a safe-zone (where damage is turned off, hence 'safe zone') and try firing arrows out at people.
*Frequent tournaments. Give or take there has been a tournament every week so far. Balanced level-wise also (i.e. the lowest level participant would be paired up in a team with the highest level participant). Even last place walked away with prizes so there was no point in not going, but the better people did the better cut of the prize they got. Even trying a new Capture-The-Flag thing freshly designed in it.
*AC$ (RP money) and recovery items that can be used through the HUD (in most systems it's an inconvienent inventory issue not suited for the speed of combat).
*Information is saved on a database (if your hud broke you wouldn't lose your level, ranks, or AC$).
*Faction based combat and RP. ACS is basically built around a design of PVP balance more then anything. A lot of teamwork was thought out when designing the abilities. Many team-based thing can make a person very powerful. Healing and buffing spells, for example, can only be cast on others; not yourself. but when you and your teammate(s) heal each other in combat the heals are incredibly more useful then people expect them to be.
*Unique weapons and skills. The concepts range from realistic ability, like aiming and firing an arrow, to surreal abilities; summoning roots from the ground to come up and tangle the target. Every weapon has it's own paremeters that are carefully balanced with the abilities of other weapons. the obvious things like speed, power and range... and other things like blind spots, energy to swing, and little special abilities in special cases.
(I wonder how many people will actually read it all?)










