tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194531320234584086.post8269500456288180557..comments2016-09-30T05:46:03.699-07:00Comments on The Splendid Vagabond: Games and Learning, part 2Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03913278710329312282noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194531320234584086.post-60776403214506314522010-11-11T16:16:31.311-08:002010-11-11T16:16:31.311-08:00Final Fantasy XII may be an interesting micro-leve...Final Fantasy XII may be an interesting micro-level example of the idea of "lines of communication" in games. Final Fantasy has always been about giving instructions to parties of three to six characters that make up your party. And up until FFXII those commands were explicit. XII, however, increases the pace at which these commands must be issued, and to support the player the game provides the "gambit" system of to issue conditional orders in advance. <br /><br />Each party member (three active, three in reserve) is given a set of conditional instructions. For instance: if anyone's health is below 50%, heal them; if the enemy is of a fire variety, attack with ice magic; and if none of these conditions are met, just stab at targets. The player is limited in how many of these conditional instructions can be issued, and he or she has to make a lot of assumptions about when those conditions are activated, as well as how the character's AI will behave when they run in parallel. <br /><br />You have to issue these commands where each character fills a certain role (e.g. attack, heal, absorb damage, etc.) But the only way you really know that what you think you've told a character is what that character will actually do is to actually use them in battle. The challenge throughout the game is to better understand how you need to convey your strategy to the AI, and acquiring better instructions/conditions that allow them to behave more intelligently. <br /><br />Final Fantasy XII is far from anything resembling modern warfare, but I think at a high level, it taps into those same sorts of uncertainty you're writing about between the commander, an army, and their enemies. It have been interesting to see the gambit system expanded upon to encompass larger units, or even to incorporate multi-player, competitive battles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com