Do you prefer random battles or seeing enemies on the map?

[OdioOmnus]

Diedrupo, I think he's talking about meaningless battles, like when you are lvl 50+ and you walk into a map with lvl 3 monsters that give hardly any EXP. Those are the time where the lacking of a forced battle system shows.

On the other hand, people get lazy and walk around the monsters when they can see them hahaha, and then they tend to die at certain bosses because their lvls suck.

That is why I like both, none are perfect.

That's why there should be encounter rate-reducing items and skills. Solves the majority of complaints people have about random encounters, yet from what I've heard nobody ever takes advantage of them.

 

[Lisker]

Yeah true, didn't think about that. Good point.

I still think both have their flaws, it's just a matter of opinion from the creator in the end.

I myself pick the enemies showing on the map though, because I prefer to just walk around them instead of using an item every 5 mins.

 

[Shaifs]

I tend to prefer random encounters over on-screen enemies. On-screen enemies are limited compared to what random encounters offer.

There are games that allow you to disable encounters and/or decrease them severely. With on-screen encounters you cannot avoid every battle where you have the chance to do that with random battles.

With on-screen enemies it is harder to power level/grind. Once you clear all the enemies on the map you have to get the map to be reloaded, and in some games changing areas won't refresh the monsters and you are forced to wait. Random encounters give you the chance of having more encounters with increasing encounter items. Getting an encounter every 3-4 steps is much faster than running across the screen searching for a monster sprite.

Creating each monster sprite for the map is a bit troublesome at times, especially if your battle sprites are one view/size and your map sprite is another view/size. Then there is having a large diversity of monsteres, it's quite a bit of work and tends to get annoying.

I like on-screen enemies, I just find them to be more trouble and not as flexible as random encounters.

 

[Diedrupo]

I tend to prefer random encounters over on-screen enemies. On-screen enemies are limited compared to what random encounters offer.

There are games that allow you to disable encounters and/or decrease them severely. With on-screen encounters you cannot avoid every battle where you have the chance to do that with random battles.

Actually, if you've played my game, which uses random visible on-map encounters, there are skills/items that can neutralize enemy encounters (i.e. make them not attack you even if you touch them), which effective does the same thing as equivalent skills/items in games with random invisible encounters. So it is possible.

With on-screen enemies it is harder to power level/grind. Once you clear all the enemies on the map you have to get the map to be reloaded, and in some games changing areas won't refresh the monsters and you are forced to wait. Random encounters give you the chance of having more encounters with increasing encounter items. Getting an encounter every 3-4 steps is much faster than running across the screen searching for a monster sprite.

Yeah, it is bad design for a game with map encounters to not provide options for grinding. BUT it is still possible. You can randomize the monster party that appears when you bump into one of the map encounters. Taking it a step further, you can randomize when a certain map encounter appears.

You can also add specific monster spots that will always result in an encounter. Or you can add a skill that calls a random battle. There are many creative ways to give players options for grinding.

Creating each monster sprite for the map is a bit troublesome at times, especially if your battle sprites are one view/size and your map sprite is another view/size. Then there is having a large diversity of monsteres, it's quite a bit of work and tends to get annoying.

Yeah it's a lot of work. But you can always just have one default monster sprite for everything if you find it too much.

I like on-screen enemies, I just find them to be more trouble and not as flexible as random encounters.

But if you do go through the trouble of fixing the flaws with on-screen enemies, you can make them just as versatile as random encounters, without the pain that random encounters give to players.

 

[Shaifs]

Guess I'm a bit biased toward random encounters. I know it is possible for on-screen monsters to be just as flexible as random encounters. But it's more work and most games [especially professional games] don't go through all the work.

Heh it works both ways I guess. n_n

 

[Diedrupo]

Guess I'm a bit biased toward random encounters. I know it is possible for on-screen monsters to be just as flexible as random encounters. But it's more work and most games [especially professional games] don't go through all the work.

Heh it works both ways I guess. n_n

I agree that most people who've put map encounters in their games have not put much effort into it... Heck, that applies to commercial games as well (Chrono Trigger, i'm looking at you!).

 

[h1tu]

Random battles FTL! I love seeing my enemies on the map. Similar to how the Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana) games were. Where you don't actually go into battle. The enemy is running around, and will attack if you get too close. I mean c'mon... if you were running around in the wilderness, chances are you wouldn't be so oblivious as to not notice a giant bear or a dragon coming towards you or something. You would see it....

...I'm glad you can see your enemies in the newest FF game... was it the newest...? It was either 12 or 13 that you can see your enemies.......

...yeah.... something... -_-

 

[Anonymous]

I think if done properly, I believe that on-screen enemies can blow away random encounters, because I feel that it can be a hassle to find a really good random encounter set in a game, With random encounters, I always find that some dungeons are loaded with encounters and some aren't, which makes sense, but can be extremely bad for you if you're characters are in a tight spot...So personally, I'd prefer on-screen enemies where you have a chance of avoiding them completely...

 

[hiir007]

Total nightmare If U Have Random It keeps Spawning and spawning
It Starts To Get Annoying its always like this
U think U Can Defeat em But Then Comes A Boss And Boom
Ur Hp Is 60

 

[iceplosion]

Random battles FTL! I love seeing my enemies on the map. Similar to how the Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana) games were. Where you don't actually go into battle. The enemy is running around, and will attack if you get too close. I mean c'mon... if you were running around in the wilderness, chances are you wouldn't be so oblivious as to not notice a giant bear or a dragon coming towards you or something. You would see it....

...I'm glad you can see your enemies in the newest FF game... was it the newest...? It was either 12 or 13 that you can see your enemies.......

...yeah.... something... -_-

It was 12, 13 isn't out yet. Though it doesn't matter, a system like FF12's couldn't be done well in RMXP.

 

[Reaper*]

I honestly prefer on map enemies because it looks better on 2d for me.

And there's a script that makes the enemies go towards you when they spot you so it won't be so easy to sneak near them.

 

[ChaosMaxima]

*I* personally prefer random battles, when I'm making the game, but monsters on-map when I'm playing one.

So that makes monsters on-map better than Random encounters.

But I prefer random encounters for another reason. When I place monsters on the map, I go crazy, and place so many monsters that the map looks messy and glitched up. I thus prefer Random encounters when *I* am making the game.

 

[HarryE]

Hmm... In my game, I have random encounters in dungeons and seeing enemies on the overworld, my reasoning being that it would be too distracting to have random encounters on the overworld.

 

[Diedrupo]

Hmm... In my game, I have random encounters in dungeons and random encounters on the overworld, my reasoning being that it would be too distracting to have random encounters on the overworld.

I think you might want to reread your sentence.

 

[DJ Jack]

I would prefer the enemies on the map, but nothing wrong with random battles either. Besides, it adds more the realism factor. Random battles can get a bit aggravating after a while, because the enemies just keep popping up with no way to stop them. Visible Battles, however, allow you to see your enemies and just walk away without getting hurt. But, then there are the noobs who will just walk by every single enemy even at full life.

In the end, they each have their pros and cons, I don't believe one is better than the other. But when it comes to personal interest, I'd have to go with Visual Battles.

 

[HarryE]

I think you might want to reread your sentence.

What's wrong with it?

 

[Diedrupo]

What's wrong with it?

You said that you prefer having random battles in both dungeons and the overworld, and then proceeded to say that random battles are too distracting in the overworld as your reason. o_O

 

[BellGoRiiing]

I'm going to have to go with seeing them on the map, random battles tend to get very annoying after a while. Seeing the enemies on the map basically allows me to choose if I want to fight or not...well, if I can get away from it that is.

 

[HarryE]

You said that you prefer having random battles in both dungeons and the overworld, and then proceeded to say that random battles are too distracting in the overworld as your reason. o_O

... So I did. Sorry about that. XD

I meant, I think SEEING enemies on the overwold map is better, but not in dungeons.

 

[Auralous]

Actually, I've been debating the same thing with myself before I finally begin my project. Random, or on map battles? Hmm...

Until I came up with an idea! Don't critisize me if it's original or not, I don't care. But what about BOTH?

What if there was a particular (or a few) given simple sprite that represents a monster? Like a dot, or something simple but representative. BUT, you don't know what monster it is... So, you basically have a choice to fight, but you still don't know what you're fighting, just like random battles.

Hmm?