914 Weather System In Strategy Games

I can’t think of any direct examples of turn-based games containing weather systems that are used as a primary gameplay mechanism.

But, the idea would be to use this in the way that the games often also use terrain, by giving advantages and disadvantages to different characters depending on the weather. Potentially if the system were satisfying enough, it could also have a category of equipment somewhere in the gameplay loop that prevented, counteracted, reflected, or boosted the character in certain weather types.

This may allow the player to create characters that are specialized or niche in their use in strategy, in that they have specific advantages in situations where by default most other characters are disadvantaged.

Some examples of what weather could do (specifically in context to a Fire Emblem type game):

• Rain, sleet, wind, and snow all give varying levels of movement disadvantage
• Intense sun/heat or cold does slow damage over time to unprotected characters
• Fog, slightly reducing visibility
• Smog, reducing visibility slightly and causing some damage-over-time or poison infliction
• Lightning and thunder, may randomly cause fear in characters, unable to act for a turn
• Although not “Weather” so much, the day/night cycle could be used in an interesting way, maybe each turn the light is slowly fading, and after 10 turns, it flips over to “dusk/night” and visibility is drastically reduced

[ Today I Was Playing: Firewatch and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time ]

#game-mechanic-system, #strategy-game