An update for Nighthawks that explains the combat system and what is planned for it.

Decking Your Enemies

Attack of the Clones 2.0

I did say 'quick preview' for a reason! Game development isn't pretty.

Anyway, if you've played card-battle games like Slay The Spire or Dream Quest, you'll get the basic concept/inspiration here. Of course, there are many, many differences, starting with the fact that in Nighthawks, there's no deck-building. At least, not as such. Instead, your deck represents Opportunities, with the cards being generated by your character at the start of each battle - your equipped weapon, your background, your Companion, your skills, and so on. All of this happens behind the scenes, with the quality of your deck being an amalgamation of your choices and weaknesses. Some cards are powered by simple opportunity points, restored each turn, while others burn through your precious blood.

(This makes blood more like mana than I'd originally planned, but I think it'll still feel appropriate, not least because unlike mana you have to, ahem, replenish it, providing more encouragement to step into the deep-end of the alignment pool. I'm also still planning to keep blood points spent on major events in the narrative choices as their own currency, replenishing over time as long as you've recently fed, so that you don't have to decide between doing something cool with a vampire power and being at a disadvantage in battle. Instead, you'll have specific combat powers linked to your Gift in addition to those choices, which burn blood but don't spend your blood points. Unrelated, yes, I'm looking for a better/less confusing name than 'blood points'. Something on my list for next year!)

As a simple example, equip a damaged pistol and you'd get, say, three 'shoot' cards and three useless 'misfire' cards, while a fully repaired pistol would just give you the 'shoot' cards. Your choice of outfit determines how effectively you can block incoming attacks. Your Companion adds abilities to your deck that may or may not synergise with the rest of your skills. That kind of thing. Everything contributes, for good or ill, with the big idea that you'll want to equip yourself for specific situations rather than trying to have a one-shot-does-all build. Expecting to fight vampires? Silver bullets are your expensive friend. Against a human? Probably better sticking with the regular kind. More granularly, are you going to head somewhere where you might be searched for weapons? The best gun in the world is useless when it's locked up in a nightclub safe, while a simple pair of knuckle-dusters are easy to conceal and slip on as needed. Preparation is as important as the actual fight.

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Thanks Farflame!