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How Players Prioritize Enemies

In a Turn-Based Game

20853319

BA (Hons) Computer Games Design

2015

8,196 Words

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Table of Contents

Illustrations…………………………………………………………....…..3

1. Introduction …………………………………..…………………………...4

1.1 Methodology ………………………………..………………………...6

1.2 Combating Boredom ………………………..……………………….10

2. Game Mechanics ……………………………..………………………….12

2.1 Civilization Bonuses ……………………..………….........................15

3. Environment …………………………………..………............................17

4. Enemy Types …………………………………..………………………..21

5. Aesthetics ……………………………………..…………………………23

5.1 Boosts ……………………………………..………............................27

6. Statistics ……………………………………..………..…………………28

7. Chance ………………………………………..……..…………………...32

8. Progression …………………………………..……..……………………34

9. Conclusion …………………………………..……..……………………36

10. Bibliography ………………………………..….....……………………..39

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Illustrations

Figure 1, Character growth cycle, 2003, From: On Game Design, Directed by:

unknown, [image], United States, New Riders Publishing………………………..6

Figure 2, Enemy Introduction, 2014, Authors Illustration………………………...7

Figure 3, Introduction to Multiple Enemies, 2014, Authors Illustration………….8

Figure 4, Enemy Types and Statistics, 2014, Authors Illustration………………21

Image 1, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. World Map………………….18

Image 2, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. Enclosed Battle Field……….18

Image 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Fire Area…………………………………..19

Image 4, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Poison Area………………………………..19

Image 5, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Sectoid……………………………………..24

Image 6, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Muton……………………………………...24

Image 7, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Heavy Floater……………………………...24

Image 8, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. Damage Modifiers………….29

Image 9, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. Damage Modifiers………….29

Image 10, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Attacking Chances……………………….31

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1. Introduction

“Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death,

the Way (Tao) to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered

and analyzed.”

-Sun Tzu-

In his writings, Sun Tzu analyzes all aspects of war from engagements to

preparation to army management (Sawyer, Sun Tzu Art of War, 1994). He

discusses what terrain is favourable, troop deployment, how to decide if it is

better to retreat instead of attack, and the effective use of spies. One of Tzu’s

major points is knowing the capabilities of a contingent and that of the enemy’s.

When a commander knows his own troops and his enemy’s troops he will win

every battle. If he only knows his forces then the army will suffer a defeat for

every victory. If the commander does not know his troops or his opponent, the

commander will lose every battle.

Enemy Prioritization is a decision-making process that video game players

make to determine the order in which a group of enemies must be defeated. This

paper will analyze the designer’s choices in creating their enemy types, abilities,

game mechanics, and terrain, etc., and how these affect the player’s prioritization

of enemies. The main type of game that will be looked at is turn-based strategy

games. This subset of game allows the player to take a moment and think about

each possible movement, which allows all aspects of a battle to be carefully

thought about and considered.

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XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based action combat game which

requires the player to prioritize enemy targets, player controlled troop movement

and uses of their abilities. The player controls a small group of human soldiers to

defend Earth from an alien invasion. XCOM is a game series that was released in

1994 by Mythos Games and MircoProse. An alien invasion of Earth forces all

countries to band together to create a coalition force, called XCOM, to fight the

alien menace. The player takes control as the commander of this task force and

must manage a military base, research and development of new weapons and

armours, an aerial presence, and command a squad of soldiers. The goals of these

ground battles is to secure technology, cities, defend citizens, defuse bombs,

gather resources, men, and as well, kill aliens on the Earth’s surface. The battles

occur in enclosed fields where the player’s units will fight against forces of equal

or greater number. Being outnumbered in a turn-based combat system, the player

will have to make choices about which unit is more dangerous at any specific

moment in time. The choices the player makes will determine whether the

mission is a success or a failure resulting in soldiers advancing in levels, or dying

on the battle field.

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1.1. Methodology

The way players analyze and

learn about the game is analogous

to the process of a narrative

‘journey’. Andrew Rollings and

Ernest Adams (2003) discuss the

processes a character has to go

through from the beginning of a

story to the end in order to

achieve a state of mastery over the world around them. These processes occur

regardless of whether the world is based upon story, combat ability or personal

narrative. The hero begins the game with limited awareness of anything around

him. Including unseen factors such as mechanics and personal background. The

hero will continue on his or her path with several hurdles to overcome at the start,

such as their reluctance to change at the beginning. An example of early change

would be leaving their home or natural environment, in order to complete their

journey. As they continue, they will learn new abilities, uncover the story and

reach new levels of awareness. Eventually they will master their abilities,

environment and the mechanics of the game.

For XCOM, the following base graph will be used to describe the path that

the player must go through in order to master mechanics, enemies, and

controllable soldiers. Below is an ‘un-rolled’ version of Rollings’ and Adams’

graph, shown above. This is used to show and describe the process the player will

Figure 1. Character’s growth cycle.

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go through for mastering single enemies, game mechanics, environment, and their

soldiers; later, a different altered graph will be used to describe multiple enemies.

The first graph we will look at is the mastery of an enemy the player will

encounter, which can also be used to describe game mechanics and the player’s

soldiers. The diagram breaks up into three Acts, which can span over several

battles in the actual game. In Act 1, the player is introduced to the enemy in

question. The opening few turns provide a tutorial on movement, attacks, abilities,

and some statistics such as health. By the end of the battle the player will have a

limited awareness of the enemy and what they can do when confronted in combat.

At the start of Act 2 the player has an increased awareness to that same

enemy; they already know their abilities, where they may move, how they may

act, and even who they may attack. With this knowledge, the player will start

experimenting with their troops’ abilities and movements to find the most

effective way to kill that enemy. After gaining this knowledge the player acquires

more understanding of the enemy and how to defeat them in the most effective

way. This phase of experimenting and understanding can take place over many

Figure 2. Enemy Introduction

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battles, not necessarily one. Afterwards, every time this enemy is encountered in

battle the player recognizes everything about that enemy from attacks and

statistics; even unseen ones such as critical attack chance and movement.

Knowing all of this, the player gains mastery and can defeat this enemy in every

battle.

The second diagram being discussed analyzes the introduction to several

enemies throughout a game. It is based around the same three Acts as before; but,

can also take place over several battles in a game. In Act 1 the player encounters

one enemy labelled E1. The player will have to overcome this enemy’s abilities,

statistics, movement abilities, and attack capabilities. This is fairly easy to do

when facing one type of enemy as they will all have the same abilities, statistics,

etc. The line going across the diagrams means the player has a chance to face this

enemy in every battle yet to come. In Act 2 the player will face Enemy One but

Figure 3. Multiple Enemies

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also be introduced to enemy two. This causes many complications: the player

doesn’t know what Enemy Two can do in means of attack, movement, or

statistics. The player could easily find these out if fighting one on one but the

player has to do this while facing Enemy One with Enemy Two. E1+E2

represents the combined abilities, attacks, etc. of enemy one and enemy two; this

combination can be faced in every battle yet to come in the game. In Act 3 the

player will face Enemy One, Enemy Two, their combination, as well as being

introduced to Enemy Three. This follows the same pattern as Act 2 but becomes

more complex as the player has to face a new enemy coupled with the new

enemy’s abilities combined with enemy one and enemy two, E1+E3, E2+E3, but

also both combine with enemy three, E1+E2+E3. This process doesn’t end with

just three enemies but will continue throughout the game until the player is

introduced to the last enemy type. Even if the process doesn’t end, it doesn’t

necessarily mean it gets more difficult for the player. The player will gain a

mastery over the enemies and enemy combinations and as the player faces them

and, as these masteries are gained, the player will become more adept at defeating

given enemies and enemy combinations.

Several other games share similarities to XCOM in their environments,

mechanics, unit types, statistics, and chance, such as Wasteland 2, Fallen

Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, and Age of Wonders 3. All of these games’

battles take place between the enemies and the player’s units in an enclosed area.

The controllable units between these games also offer several similarities and

differences which impart a wide angle from which to analyses how players may

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prioritize enemy units based on strength, health, movement, or abilities. All of

these games are turn-based strategies with enclosed battle fields and enemy units

that are introduced to the player gradually throughout the game. The units’

statistics will change and evolve as the game progresses and as the player unlocks

new technology which allows for new equipment and abilities. The games unfold

as the player progresses. Progression can take the form of completing missions or

unlocking new items or technology, which will result in the player will altering

his or her units to fit their unique play style and grow with the game and the

missions that are given to them. Every game played starts out essentially the same

for every person but after the first few missions, or battles, everyone’s game will

mature differently and their games become unique to them. The choices made

during a game will be exclusive to everyone. This paper does not outline a perfect

way to defeat every enemy type or enemy combination but does discuss why a

particular enemy is dangerous and which other unit may be more or less

dangerous based on developers choice in mechanics, chance, statistics, aesthetics,

and other factors that every designer has to consider.

1.2. Combating Boredom

One trap that game designers must always worry about is their players feeling

bored while playing a game. Raph Koster in his book Theory of Fun talks about

how people easily identify patterns and when they master a pattern, such as x’s

and o’s, they become bored with the game because it is no longer a challenge.

There is a huge difference when comparing x’s and o’s to XCOM, however;

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XCOM is a much more complex, and complicated systems by themselves combat

boredom. They have a repetitive learning cycle that repeats continually when new

challenges are presented. The repetitive cycle of meeting new enemies, learning

about their strengths and weaknesses, and mastering them will eventually become

boring because of how few variations can really be used in a limited game. The

best way to combat this boredom is to introduce a reward system.

Designers can use several types of rewards to keep the players interested

in what is essentially repetitive gameplay. Some forms of reward are: a score

system, character experience points or level up’s, item system (looting or

unlocking), collection of resources or materials, achievement system, positive

feedback, plat animations or cut scenes, and unlocking new mechanics to play

with, (Hao Wang and Chuen-Tsai Sun, 2011). When a player first encounters

enemies, they gain an instant reward, positive feedback, when they defeat them

and complete the mission. This reward will quickly taper off once the player

realizes either the enemy they defeated wasn’t actually that strong or they gain a

mastery over them and overcome the threat they pose. This reward will, however,

repeat itself for every new challenge presented or new enemy introduced. As the

game progresses and the player defeats enemies and completes missions, they will

gain experience points and level up either their soldiers, hero1 units, or overall

civilization. With these level up’s, heroes usually gain more ability points which

in turn unlocks new skills or active abilities. This introduces new mechanics for

1 Hero is a unit that is stronger than general soldier units that is usually more customizable and

controllable.

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that hero to work with but also a new combination of abilities between heroes.

These new abilities and combinations feed back into the system above (Figure 1)

and allow the player am increased freedom of experimentation. Combating

boredom will be talked about in more detail in the section on Chance.

2. Game Mechanics

Mechanics2 in these turn-based combat games play another important role in the

prioritization of attacks. These mechanics give the player and AI rules to follow

that allow both the opportunity to approach enemy units, protect their own

soldiers, or even exploit the environment in which they are fighting. A quote from

B.H. Liddell Hart, discussed by Scott Rogers (2010), sums up video game

combat: “Every action is seen to fall into one of three main categories, guarding,

hitting, or moving. Here, then, are the elements of combat, whether in war or

pugilism.” These actions are translated into game mechanics; moving may seem

like a very easy action but when some mechanics such as line of sight, or cover,

comes into play, moving just one unit can be a very important decision.

Mechanics such as these are reflected in Figure-1 above, as the player must first

learn what each mechanic does in relation to the soldiers and to the enemy. The

more the player uses and experiments with these mechanics the more effectively

they can be used, therefore gaining a mastery over the game’s.

Some main mechanics in these types of games include: line of sight, cover

system, flanking system, area of effect, charging, swarming, over watch/reaction

2 Game Mechanic – Rules and methods players must follow to interact with the game world.

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shots, hunker down/defend, sprinting, and unique civilization bonuses. Mechanics

such as line of sight or a cover system influence the player’s decision to use one

of the following: either maximum cover to attack a strong enemy; or move to gain

line of sight to attack a weaker enemy. There are more mechanics that can affect

just the player, affect the player and enemy, or affect just the enemy units. Some

of these mechanics that can affect just one side can be a racial bonuses or

penalties, unique racial equipment, unique abilities or skills, or environmental

effects.

XCOM and Wasteland 2 primarily use the cover system, line of sight

system, flanking, and over watch or reaction shot system as their main mechanics

during battles. Line of sight and cover is a fairly straight forward concept. If you

can’t see the enemy then you can’t shoot at them and if a unit is out of cover they

are more likely to be hit. If a unit is in half cover or full cover they have increased

defense, lower critical chances on that unit, and are in general less likely to be hit

when fired upon, unless they are flanked or being attacked by melee. A flanking

attack is done when a controlled unit is simply attacking an enemy from an angle

which they do not have cover; this is easily noticed when attempting to flank as

the Game UI clearly shows a unit is flanked. A flanking shot has a high chance to

hit as well as a significantly increased chance to do critical damage.

Over watch and reaction shots play a large role when playing defensively.

Over watches allow soldiers in XCOM to take a decreased accuracy shot against

an enemy that moves during their turn. This shot has to be in line of sight for the

said soldier using the over watch, so placement of soldiers is important. A

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reaction shot is usually a passive ability gained when units are leveled up; this

allows a soldier to take a shot against an enemy when they either get too close to

the player, move out of cover, or try to attack a fellow soldier. Using these

abilities can influence where the player may position a soldier in accordance with

other soldiers; the ability to cover soldiers with reaction shots or an over watch

shots or possibly force an enemy to attack certain units will affect player decision

making.

Fallen Enchantress and Age of Wonders 3 have slightly different

mechanics in combat such as the charge bonus, swarm bonus, and the flanking

bonus. There isn’t a flanking or a line of sight mechanic in Fallen Enchantress,

like there is in XCOM, rather; a squad-based unit system. The line of sight system

is squad-based in these games. This means that if a unit is behind an obstacle half

of the squad are directly behind it while the other half is spread out on both sides

of it. Positioning troops like this can incur a -50% line of sight penalty but grant

bonus defense for that unit. To balance this, these games have a swarm bonus,

applicable when units surround an opposing unit on multiple sides. When a

soldier attacks the enemy the other friendly soldiers or soldiers that are on

different sides of the enemy soldier also deal increasing damage depending on

how many sides controllable units have covered. This mechanic is very important

when attacking a giant creature or even an enemy hero that is high level with

good gear.

Age of Wonders 3 has a similar squad-based line of sight mechanic as well

as the flanking mechanic, but adds a charge bonus mechanic. This bonus can only

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be used by melee units, land and flying units as well. When a melee soldier

attacks an enemy unit that is two or more spaces away, the charge bonus takes

effect and adds damage based on a controllable unit’s attack and the enemy unit’s

defense. This charge bonus becomes very effective when the unit is being flanked

as well as attacked. The flanking bonus and the charge bonus when used together

in one attack can destroy a weak to medium unit or severely cripple a strong unit

and will allow other units to finish them off.

Another mechanic that Age of Wonders 3 includes is allowing the player to

cast one spell per hero in combat per turn. These spells can range from direct

attacks to supporting friendly units, or summoning more units to battle. These

spells are great at finishing off weak units, healing friendly units, and bringing

reinforcements into battle. These different mechanics allow for varying

combinations for players to take out enemy units. Each of these combinations will

take other types of units to carry them out successfully. An aggressive flanking

and charging play style will call for more assault units than snipers and a

swarming play style may call for more heavy units than supports.

2.1 Civilization Bonuses

In Fallen Enchantress and Age of Wonders 3, the players select a civilization to

emulate. Each other civilizations have their own unique heroes, units, and unit

abilities. Some of these racial bonuses can include fire resistance, ice resistance,

life or death magic resistance, or greater resistance in general. Unique abilities

could allow a faction unit to pierce through many units in one attack, or gain

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attack while losing control of that unit. Unique units for factions could range from

a faction that can only use dead units, or a civilization that can’t use cavalry,

limiting them to infantry, ranged, and support units.

These unique abilities can alter a player’s decision in how to build armies,

attack units, or skills to employ in battle. For example, if a player has units that

have extra fire resistance, they will learn to use those soldiers specifically against

enemies that deal fire damage. In the beginning these bonuses’ may appear to be

useless, but as the game progresses and the player learns the mechanics of their

civilization and units, they can start to use them effectively; thus, like before,

gaining a mastery and an ability to use these bonuses more effectively.

When choosing a civilization to play it is usually suggested to choose one

that fits the player’s normal style of play. Some players like a more aggressive

stance so a civilization with bonus to attack, speed, or decreased cost to

aggressive research. A downside is that one of these civilizations may have a

weaker economy or bad diplomacy options. These design choices would steer the

player into making a game short by building up their armies quickly and attacking

ruthlessly. All civilizations in these games have differences that give players more

options for new combinations, as well as new challenges when the player steps

out of their normal play style.

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3. Environment

In the games discussed, the environment plays a large role in combat and enemy

prioritization. Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams, in their book On Game Design

(2003), discuss what the purpose of the game world is. The world the game lives

in has boundaries that the player either can or cannot see; such as an enclosed

battle field where the borders are clearly defined. This is an example of a visible

boundary, whereas a time limit is intangible, but no less of a boundary for the

player. Rollings and Adams also examine how, as the player learns the

mechanics of the game, they are less preoccupied with the setting in an aesthetic

sense, but rather start manipulating the world to fit their needs. The environment

can provide cover for friendly units and the enemy’s units, and obstruct line of

sight between soldiers which prevents them from engaging. These two images

illustrate how line of sight is the most important element for an aggressive play

style and maximum cover for a defensive play style. Line of sight and range will

allow units to engage in combat while cover provides bonus for both defense and

armour ratings.

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Image 1. Fallen Enchantress: Legendary

Heroes. World Map

Image 2. Fallen Enchantress: Legenday Heros.

Enclosed Battle Field

A balanced team would be able to use both systems to their advantage. For

example, keeping a support and sniper under cover while sending the assault and

heavy units to attack and inflict damage to the enemy while also making the

enemies target them instead of the weaker units. Environment in the enclosed

battles is not the only type of environment the player will run across. In

Wasteland 2, Fallen Enchantress, and Age of Wonders 3 the player marches

troops across a map which can have mountains, rivers, oceans, radiation zones,

forests, or even enemy territory. These obstacles on the main map can affect

which path the player will choose for his or her units. The obstacles can also alter

the terrain during enclosed battles. If a player’s army is on a forest tile on the

main map and, a fight subsequently breaks out on that tile, the battle map will

most likely have a lot of trees and will provide a lot of cover for both controlled

troops and the enemy’s troops or create choke points (Ralph Sawyer, Sun Tzu Art

of War).

Placement of armies and troops can play a very important role in combat

which can dictate where troops are placed on a battle field and where the player

may move units next. Environment isn’t always a set obstacle in maps. Buildings

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Image 4. XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Poison Area Image 1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Fire Area

can be destroyed, taking away that obstacle and also that cover. Additional

blockades may appear on the map for given reasons. A few examples of obstacles

that can appear during combat are areas that are on fire or are contaminated with

poison or some other elemental effect. In XCOM’s enclosed battles, there is

usually a lot of debris, either from a crashed alien ship or infrastructure that has

been damaged or destroyed. All of this destruction causes fires and, of course,

soldiers are not be able to walk through fire without taking damage.

Fire isn’t the only non-permanent obstacle in XCOM. When the player

encounters Thin Men, they soon learn that they have an ability to “spit” at a

player’s soldier, causing the area to become poisoned around the unit. This poison

causes damage over time and lingers on the battle field but eventually dissipates

after a few turns. This poison can be cured if treated right away by someone with

a medical kit or can be ignored. Poisoned areas are also triggered by the death of a

Thin Man which can cause issues if soldiers are very close to them at the time of

their death. These appearing and disappearing obstacles can alter a player’s path

to their goal, split units up, or make soldiers enter an area of the map with very

little cover. The small choices the player may make to overcome these dynamic

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obstacles can make a mission easy to complete or, conversely, cause all soldiers

to die.

In the other games the battles all have basic obstacles such as trees,

buildings, rivers, lakes, chasms, or vehicles. In Age of Wonders 3 and Fallen

Enchantress other obstacles much like fire and poison can occur, such as ice,

electric, oil, or other similar effects. A lot of these effects can be used in a

combination so they react off of each other; if a unit is attacked with oil and then

set on fire, that unit will take extra fire damage for more turns. Another example

is if a unit is standing in water or is frozen and then attacked with electric: that

unit will also take more damage from electric but just for that one turn. These

combinations can be used on enemies as well as inflicted upon friendly units,

either by the enemy or friendly fire. Knowing or not knowing of these simple

effects can affect a tide of a battle either in a players favour or the opponents

favour.

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4. Enemy Types

The main and most obvious way to determine which unit should die first on a

battle field is first and second impressions of the enemy types in a battle. Every

game has units that fit into a specific category dictated by statistics, abilities, and

equipment. The four main types of unit are; support, assault, heavy, and sniper.

These four have specific roles in combat and for the most part they are fairly self-

explanatory. Scott Rogers’ Level Up!: A Guide to Great Video Game Design

(2010) discusses in great detail enemy types, enemy behaviour, and statistics. The

‘assault’ acts as the unit that runs right into the enemy line and deals a medium

amount of damage but only with medium armour and health for quick movement.

The ‘heavy’ usually has high health and heavy amour, but low movement and

carries a big weapon that can inflict a large amount of damage and can take a

large amount of damage. The ‘sniper’ class usually has low health and low

armour but with medium movement; they also inflict a large amount of damage

Figure 4. Enemy Types and Statistics

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but over a longer period of time than the heavy and assault. The ‘support’ does

exactly what it suggests: they heal or buff (increase statistics for a short time) the

other members of the party even though they usually have medium health,

medium armour and medium movement speed. Each role is very important for a

team that desires to be versatile and deadly in combat. Each role is very important

for a team that desires to be versatile and deadly in combat.

In XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Wasteland 2, the player has access to

support, assault, heavy and sniper units. In Fallen Enchantress: Legendary

Heroes and Age of Wonders 3, the player has units that are more medieval, such

as cavalry, infantry, archers, and mages. These units are primarily the same, as the

cavalry are heavies, infantry are assaults, archers are snipers, and the mages are

supports. The player has access to each of these types in all of the games but the

way these units affect battles are different. The sniper role varies widely between

XCOM and Fallen Enchantress, for example. XCOM snipers become more deadly

as they level up and unlock new abilities and are given new gear; conversely, the

archers in Fallen Enchantress are strong at the start of the game but quickly fall

off as their upgrades and equipment are not nearly as strong as those of cavalry or

infantry upgrades.

When in combat, all enemy types have a counter unit just like rock, paper,

and scissors. An assault class counters a sniper very well due to their ability to

cover ground quickly enough to get in close for a shot. A sniper counters the

heavies very well because they can do a large amount of damage in one shot. The

heavy counters the assault because the assault usually can’t deal enough damage

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to kill the heavy before the heavy kills the assault. The support class is the only

one left out, for the most part. Since the support isn’t combat-oriented, it

shouldn’t be in a position to fight but rather in a position to support the other three

classes. When engaging enemies it is all about countering units that the enemy

has, as well as making sure friendly units don’t get countered in return (Raph

Sawyer, Sun Tzu Art of War, 1994).

5. Aesthetics

The aesthetic look of a character can be very important in a game as it gives the

player a first impression of that unit. A player can derive if a unit is a support,

assault, heavy, or sniper just from the look of the units armour, weapon, and

equipment. A player can also tell which unit may have the most health, attack,

movement speed, or armour rating at a quick glance. In all of these games

discussed the player can learn what each type of unit looks like, along with what

each weapon and armour type looks like, and then associate those weapons and

armours with the statistics related to each of those items. This familiarity alone

allows the player to decide which unit has the most armour, damage output or

movement speed.

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Katherine Isbister (2006) talks at great length about a character’s

aesthetics, from their body stance to their facial features and what they mean:

“Body cues have a pervasive influence on social relationships and are

therefore an important part of crafting truly engaging game characters

that feel life like and that evoke social reactions from players.”

The aliens in XCOM all evoke a different response as the game progresses. From

left to right, they are: Sectoid, Muton, and Heavy Floater. Just by glancing at

these pictures the reader can gather a lot of information about these enemy types

from their health pools, attacks, damage, and movement speed. The Sectoid is the

first species encountered and is a small with little, if any, muscle. Armed with a

small pistol-type weapon, these features suggest a small health pool, no armour,

average movement speed and a low attack. After the player has encountered the

Sectoid on a few missions and is introduced to new alien types with different

attacks and abilities, the player will start to feel that the Sectoid is less of a threat

Image 5. XCOM:

Enemy Unknown.

Sectoid

Image 6. XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Muton

Image 7. XCOM: Enemy

Unknown. Heavy Floater

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when compared to these others. For example, the Muton looks like a huge

powerhouse of destruction that may make the player feel their units are not

advanced enough to kill even one, not least because the player never encounters

them in groups less than two. Moreover, the Muton is equipped with a rifle-

shaped weapon, large muscles and a lot of armour, which suggests large health

pools, high armour, and medium to high damage, but low movement speed. The

Floater, unlike the other two, does not have legs but has a jet pack which suggests

that it can fly and has very high mobility. The increased challenge and risk

presented by these new aliens generates a sense of fear that drives the player think

of new ways to use the solders’ skills and new ways to position them during

confrontation. Once the player knows the Muton’s abilities, this fear will lessen as

the player knows how to avoid triggering them into action. A simple example

would be when an enemy sees several of the player’s soldiers grouped together

and throws a grenade at them, causing damage to several units instead of just one.

This knowledge will let the player avoid that incident from happening again when

confronting any type of enemy with grenades simply by spreading out their

soldiers more.

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Even without being able to see all of the small details contained in each

alien type, the designers use the silhouettes to convey which aliens have high

health, high mobility, or high attack. Rogers (2010) talks about how the

silhouettes can alter a player’s strategy based on who is on the screen at one time.

He identifies four main points that players can learn from a character’s

silhouettes, which are:

“-Tells us the character’s personality at a glance.

-Helps distinguish one character from another.

-Identifies “friendly” or “enemy” characters.

-Helps the character stand out against backgrounds and world

elements.”

These points are used by many designers in many games, especially fast-

paced multiplayer games, to allow the players to quickly identify if a target is

friendly or hostile, what their abilities are, and if they have high health, mobility,

or attack, or give clues as to basic statistics. As the player is introduced to new

alien types they will be able to get first impressions from all of them: some are

larger aliens suggesting higher health, some are robots and fly which suggests

high mobility, and a very few others give no clues as to attacks or defenses, for an

increased challenge and risk. Meanwhile, in other games, the player will face

opponents that are humans, so the body appearance gives little meaning other than

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size. In this instance, armour, weapons and equipment act as the main aesthetic

upon which the player can draw for information.

In Fallen Enchantress and Age of Wonders 3 the enemies have units that

are medieval. The units may look different when compared to XCOM and

Wasteland 2, but the aesthetic design follows the same principles. The heavy

units, such as a knight, will be clad with heavy armour much like a Muton,

allowing the player to assume that unit has heavy armour and slow movement.

These two games also have flying units, like Gryphons or Air Elementals, which,

of course, have very high movement speed just like a Heavy Floater. Therefore,

the design aesthetics discussed by Isbister and theory of silhouettes shown by

Rogers are shown to be principles that can be applied to any video game, whether

science fiction to medieval.

5.1 Boosts

A lot of equipment that is available to units, both the player’s and the opponent’s,

have boosts3 and a unique look associated with them. The unique appearance

allows the player to identify what some of the boosts may be. At first glance these

bonuses will not be apparent but as the game progresses the player will learn how

to recognize these boosts and how to counter them.

A lot of these mobility boosting effects can also be used by the player.

Armour such as the Archangel Armour, in XCOM, allows the player to fly and

gain mobility and height on opponents. Using equipment like this levels the

3 Boosts, or buffs, increase or improve user.

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tactical advantage between friendly soldiers and the enemy forces, coercing the

outcome of battles to be determined by tactics and not just by over-powered or

over-leveled units. Equipment that increases a unit’s statistics or abilities usually

have unique identifiers that allow the player to guess what units can do in combat.

The boosting effects of amour and equipment also follow the same

principles as the previous games, XCOM and Wasteland 2. A horse will allow

units to gain mobility, better weapons will allow more damage to be inflicted or

allow for other effects, like a chance to block an incoming attack. A shield will

increase defense and may even allow some attacks to be repelled back to the

attacker. These different type of buffs have a wide range of effects for a player to

choose from. Choosing which type of boosts to use depends largely on the style of

play that suits the person commanding the army. If the player likes to be

aggressive then the best effects to use will increase attack or mobility; if the

player likes to be defensive and keep their soldiers safe, boosts that increase

armour, or defense would be advised. Each player’s style is different and unique

so it is up to each person to decide which equipment, boosts, and army

composition is best for their play style.

6. Statistics

Every combat game has statistics associated with each possible opponent and the

player’s units. These statistics range from health points, damage, armour, aim,

critical hit chance, movement speed, and even army size. Generally speaking, the

higher or better these statistics are, the better the army or individual unit will be

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when engaging the enemy. However, this works the same for the enemy. Gear

equipped to soldiers will alter that unit’s statistics, either lowering them or

increasing them; better gear usually costs more but also does more for that unit.

Some statistics can be seen visually, most commonly health points, while others

the player can learn in combat; for example, in XCOM the player learns that the

Thin Men have low health and don’t pose much of a threat, when in reality they

have very high accuracy and can do moderate damage consistently. This high

accuracy with shots makes them much more dangerous and usually makes them a

higher priority when first encountered in combat. As units level up, statistics can

change based on several factors such as faction type or unit type. A sniper unit

will generally gain more accuracy than health points when leveled up, while an

assault unit will gain more health points or movement speed, rather than accuracy.

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XCOM and Wasteland 2 are very similar in units and their associated

statistics. However, between Fallen Enchantress and Age of Wonders 3, the

statistics vary greatly. In Fallen Enchantress each unit aside from heroes is a

group, or a squad, of soldiers with a

combine attack, for example, when attacking it may say 5x3 which means the

three units in that group will each have an attack rating of five. This does not

mean that when they attack the group does fifteen damage, the damage would be

calculated based on range, weapon used, armour of opponent, etc. The group as a

whole has a health pool which is shared between all units which means if the

group’s health is thirty and has three units in the group and they take ten damage

one unit will die and the attack rating will become 5x2 instead of the original 5x3.

However, large armies with groups that have large unit sizes, six

maximum, can easily be countered. A group attack rating can be diminished

easily if the player targets the enemy group containing the units with the highest

attack rating. An army that has six groups of six units (each with an attack rating

Image 8. Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes.

Damage Modifiers Image 9. Fallen Enchantress: Legendary

Heroes. Damage Modifiers

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of five) would have an attack rating of 180 altogether4. If all six groups lose two

units apiece their attack rating would then be 1205, which will cause a lot less

damage.

In Age of Wonders 3 the squads initially follow the same principal as they

have units inside of a group and each unit has an attack rating for the group as a

whole. However, the major difference is that their health pool is drawn from the

group rather than the individual unit. This means if a group has a health of thirty

and is damaged for ten points this does not decrease the attack rating from 5x3 to

5x2 but will stay at 5x3. This means that the player should focus down6 high

damage or high health units and try to kill them in one turn instead of spreading

damage out over several units, like one would want to do in Fallen Enchantress.

4 6x6x5=180, army size x group size x attack rating of units = armies attack rating

5 6x4x5=120, army size x group size x attack rating of units = armies attack rating

6 Focus down means to ignore all other enemies to attack and kill one enemy as soon as possible.

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7. Chance

Chance is a major part of every game as it brings uncertainty into every situation.

Main mechanics that are affected by chance are critical hit chance. Chance can

even effect if a soldier attack successfully hits a unit at all, as well as in some

games how a unit’s statistics evolve. Chance is a very important part of a fun

game, stated by Jesse Schell (2008):

“Chance is an essential part of a fun game because chance means

uncertainty, and uncertainty means surprises.”

Without chance, the player would be able to tell what would happen in every

situation presented to them. To keep a player’s unit alive they may need to get a

critical hit on an enemy but only have a 15% chance to get one. This means that,

based on the player’s choice, an important soldier may be lost or saved. Chance

will alter how the player reacts to that threat.

Chance plays the largest role in XCOM when the soldiers are attempting to

attack an alien. The image below shows how the shot percentages are calculated.

The soldier’s aim plays the main role in determining this as the soldier has a 95%

chance to hit. Some modifiers can be equipped, such as the S.C.O.P.E., to

Image 10. XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Attacking Chances

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increase the accuracy of the soldier using it. Environmental effects can also alter

the aim chance; in this case the range from which the soldier is trying to fire

incurs a minus 8% chance to hit. If the target is successfully hit, damage is

calculated from weapon used, armour of the alien and if the alien is using cover.

A secondary possible effect is a critical hit chance. In the above example, it is

100%. Once again, several factors are taken into consideration to determine the

percent chance, such as weapon, how much of the enemy is out of cover and

abilities used by soldiers; in this case a headshot ability is used by a sniper.

Wasteland 2 and Age of Wonders 3 have a very similar mechanic when it

comes to chance. Wasteland 2 has the greatest resemblance as it has a percent

chance to hit an enemy and also a percent chance to do critical damage when an

enemy is hit. Age of Wonders 3 is a little bit different in that it isn’t a question if a

controllable unit will hit but how much damage that unit will inflict. A unit in Age

of Wonders 3 will always hit its target but, depending on range, height, and

obstacles, a range between lower attack damage and upper attack damage will be

established; damage inflicted will be somewhere in between these two numbers.

The units still, however, have a percent chance to do critical damage.

Melee units also have another danger to be careful of. When a melee unit

engages in an attack in Age of Wonders 3 there is a chance of retaliation from the

unit being attacked. This retaliation attack will also have a lower and upper

damage limit and a critical chance which can make using melee units more risky

as they can take damage even before it is the enemy’s turn. This can, however, be

used to your advantage. A melee unit can be used in order to protect ranged

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groups. When an opposing melee force tried to engage a ranged unit the two

melee groups will engage instead keeping the ranged forces safe. The opposing

unit will then take melee damage and ranged damage allowing the controlled units

to kill the enemy forces quicker.

With uncertainty involved in every game, the outcome of every battle will

be different. The first time playing can be a difficult journey but a second play

through may be a lot simpler. By learning the system and recognizing when it is

better to shoot, retreat or hunker down the player can gain a tactical advantage

over the enemy. If this proves to be too boring for the player or takes away the

fun, a harder difficulty can bring that enjoyment back by decreasing the odds for

the player while increasing for the enemy. Without uncertainty and surprise there

would be no game.

8. Progression

In all games, progression is accompanied by story beats that serve to tie the game

environment7 and mechanics together. Depending on how far the player is in the

story determines which units are available to the player or which units the player

may encounter in battles. When the game first begins, the player will have fairly

weak units with little or no bonuses. Similarly they will have equipment that gives

few if any boosts. The enemy units will be much the same. Progression from this

7 Environment in this instance differs from the general environment in that it refers to narrative,

character progression, and the character reacting to inside or outside influences.

35

point on can change from game to game based on factors such as difficulty, or

even order of missions completed or method of completion.

Progression in XCOM is based largely around what technology level the

player is at as well as how far into the story they are. If the player doesn’t advance

the story and doesn’t research new technology the game will still present the

player with missions to do which can be used to level up the players soldiers.

However, panic in the world will still increase, which when it is high enough will

cause the game to end. XCOM and Wasteland 2 have similar mechanics when

introducing new enemy types and are different when compared to Age of Wonders

3 and Fallen Enchantress. XCOM and Wasteland 2 introduce enemy types as the

story progresses and the enemy threat increases as well as how advanced the

players units are technologically. In the other two games discussed, new units

need to be researched or unlocked through technology trees. Once these units are

researched the player will then be able to train and use these soldiers in combat.

Once a unit type is research it cannot become unavailable to the player again but

that does not mean necessarily that the player can actually train these units if they

do not have the needed material or equivalent. This inability to actually train a

unit forces players to prioritize not only enemies but also research and

development of new weapons, armours, and soldiers.

As discussed in the section Enemy Types, the player will first encounter

the small weak aliens like Sectoids and thin men but later in the game, and when

the player’s technology has reached a certain point, the aliens become a lot more

difficult with more health points, attack, movement, and armour. A few examples

36

are the Setcopod, Cyberdisc, and Mechtoid which are all high level robotic units.

As the player is introduced to these new aliens they have to devise ways of

defeating them and their unique abilities and statistics. At the start of the game

strategies to defeat Sectoids don’t require a lot of thought or the use of many

abilities from the soldiers. By the time these stronger units are encountered the

soldiers will each have a combination of abilities that are passive or active, being

defensive or offensive.

9. Conclusion

“Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death,

the Way (Tao) to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered

and analyzed.”

-Sun Tzu-

In Sun Tzu’s writing he analyzes all aspects of war from engagements to

preparation to army management. He discusses what terrain is favourable, how to

deploy troops, when it is better to retreat instead of attack. One of the other major

points he makes is about knowing both friendly troops and that of your enemy.

The same is said for these four games looked at above. If the player knows their

troops and their enemies as well as terrain and enemy tactics, the player will be

victorious in every battle.

Being able to make an informed decision when targeting an opponent is an

accumulation of many aspects, including: environment, type of enemy, statistics,

37

associated chance percentages, and personal choice. All of these factors can be

perceived differently and reacted to in unique ways based on player’s skill level.

Environment and enemy type is based on positioning and countering of

soldiers. The player will constantly be deciding on the best place for his troops, as

well as which soldier type counters the opposing forces the most effectively. With

the right placement of troops and the correct counters an army of smaller size can

easily defeat a larger enemy force. Even if countered units are not used, soldiers

are positioned in cover and not in an easily flanked position, a battle can be won

with few casualties.

Statistics and chance are uncontrollable factors but play a large role. Even

though they are uncontrollable they can be manipulated by players to tip the

scales in their favour. Some ways to change statistics and chance in a player’s

favour can be through acquiring new equipment, abilities, or to position troops in

order to gain a height advantage or flanking shots on enemies.

To sum up, enemy prioritization and the player’s intent and progression in

a game is determined by various factors. Many of these factors are governed by

the mechanics of the game such as skills and abilities of the units. Other factors

are determined by the player directly, like where the player positions a soldier,

which can alter if said soldier survives that encounter. A large number of these

factors are based on chance such as attacks, critical hits, or even statistics of a

soldier.

In games like these, where numerous battles occur throughout the entirety

of a game, each battle will show varying attributes that make each encounter

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unique. This capability prevents players from adhering to a single tactic that will

succeed in every skirmish. With this ever-changing structure the designers force

players to remain vigilant and form new tactics to counter the uniqueness of each

confrontation. To truly be prepared for all types of encounters, players must learn

and master all aspects of a game’s variables.

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10. Bibliography

ADAMS E. and ROLLINGS, A. (2003). On Game Design. United States: New

Riders Publishing. p55-58, 135.

ISBISTER, K. (2006). Better Game Characters by Design. San Francisco:

Elsevier Inc. p161-181.

KOSTER, R. (2014). Theory of Fun. 2nd ed. United States: O'Reilly Media, Inc.

p34-47.

ROGERS, S. (2010). Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. United

Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. p114, 244-329.

SCHELL, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design. Florida: Taylor & Francis Group.

p152-169.

SAWYER, R. (1994). Sun Tzu The Art of War. Translated by Sawyer, R. New

York: Basic Books. p165-233.

WANG, H. and SUN, C. (2011). Game Reward Systems: Gaming Experiences

and Social Meanings. In: Digra. [Online publication] Taiwan: National Chiao

Tung University. [HTTP] www.digra.org/wp-content-uploads-digital-

library/11310.20.247.pdf p3-5.

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Games

Firaxis Game, Feral Interactive 2012, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, [WWW].

http://store.steampowered.com/app/200510/ (19 January 2015), computer game:

PC, California U.S.A. 2K Games

inXile Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment 2014, Wasteland 2, [WWW].

http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/ (19 January 2015), computer game:

PC, California U.S.A. inXile Entertainment

Triumph Studios 2014, Age of Wonders 3, [WWW].

http://store.steampowered.com/app/226840/ (19 January 2015), computer game:

PC, Netherlands, Triumph Studios

Stardock 2012, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, [WWW].

http://store.steampowered.com/app/228260/ (19 January 2015), computer game:

PC, Michigan U.S.A. Stardock