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KineticKeeper

Epoch: Unseen Devlog 4 - Combat AI and UI Draft

·2 min read

Combat AI, scenario graph, and combat UI draft — all tackled at once. Not content-rich yet, but the combat prototype skeleton came together here.

AI System

After committing to Behavior Designer, this round was about finalizing the decision logic and implementing the trees.

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Recurring patterns emerged quickly. Extracted shared logic into separate trees and linked them. Common approach, noticeably easier.

First, evaluate the battlefield-level directive:

  • Attack a specific unit
  • Move to a specific position
  • Follow a specific unit

These are top-priority actions for special battlefield situations.

Without a directive, each unit acts according to its class type (Force):

  • Healer: heal skills, buff skills
  • Melee DPS: physical attacks, attack skills
  • Ranged DPS: physical attacks, attack skills, kiting
  • Magic DPS: attack skills, debuff skills
  • Tank: attack skills, blocking, holding chokepoints

Within each class tree, a policy layer decides:

  • Attack: move toward enemy, engage
  • Defense: engage if enemy enters my range
  • Hold: stay in place, act from current position

Took nearly a week. But the base is set — from here it's content on top and bug-hunting.

Skill Refactoring

Building AI trees immediately exposed incomplete or un-refactored skill code. Buff skills not applying, attack skills dealing zero damage. Found and fixed all of them.

Combat Unit Viewer

UI wasn't ready enough to confirm buff/debuff application at a glance. Built a quick combat unit viewer.

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Scenario Graph

Commands for combat scenarios keep growing.

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Added the immediately necessary ones. More will come once real scenario authoring starts.

UI Work

Now entering the tedious zone. First major hurdle by my standards.

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Dialogue

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Unit info (compact version)

Counter system will follow Super Robot Wars / Fire Emblem style: Counter / Evade / Defend selection. Want the player to stay engaged even during enemy turns.

Next: counter phase UI.

UI implementation order: Counter phase → Unit info (detail) → Skill info → Battlefield info → Menu.

Once those are in, should be enough for a first prototype. Items and traits push to the second round.