galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Thank you both! I see through your profile dice that you are a man of culture! Heroquest was the game that got me addicted to Dungeon Crawling(, so the idea was to combine HQ and X-COM in the same game. (Apocalypse is because it was the first X-COM I played). 010
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Link to the presentation : docs.google.com/presentation... and additional links: docs.google.com/document/d/1...docs.google.comknight_tactics.pptxKnight Tactics From medieval manuscripts to the gameplay mechanics of 000
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Some links to wrap it up: Our game page: store.steampowered.com/app/812910/Z... Norwich HEMA Society: youtube.com/@norwich_hem... Tod’s Workshop(arrow vs plate): youtube.com/watch?v=DBxd... Wiktenauer(fencing treatises): wiktenauer.com Daniel Jaquet's armour research: www.djaquet.infostore.steampowered.comZodiac Legion on SteamZodiac Legion is a turn-based tactical RPG where you take command of an arcane chivalric order. Expand your potential in a world of reawakening magic. Develop your stronghold, research astral powers, ... 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Thank you for hosting this week's #TurnBasedThursday, @ninedotsstudio.bsky.social ! This week's update of Zodiac Legion is a deep dive into the research and development process of our combat system, especially when it comes to doing armor justice: bsky.app/profile/gald... 093
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025But we can fill the gaps with magic, or choose what we want to represent! 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Now let's address the part about the limits of our sources: We have very little documentation about formation combat in armor: - Chroniclers who wrote about battles didn't see them - Knights who were into writing typically wrote about chivarly rather than fighting. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025As for the attrition/exhaustion factor, that's why we decided to represent our dungeons as a single protracted battle, instead of a series of micro engagements. ●spending time resting allows other enemies to ready themselves ●Enemies will also engage the player on their own 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025As for weapon variety, I said one hander sucked against plate armor, BUT they allow you to carry a big shield, which makes protecting these vulnerable characters, like archers or mages much easier! 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025You don't always need to penetrate armor to kill the knight inside, or wound him. As for our legendary knights: Geoffroi de Charny: killed as the French formation was broken at Poitiers Jacques de Lalaing: killed by a cannonball shot. Bayard: killed by an arquebus. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Let's talk about Agincourt... - Not everyone wore plate - Most men-at-arms were defeated in melee - A good part of them were captured (then executed) - In a way, the strength of the longbow was forcing the enemy to attack : "it takes but a single bush to break their ranks" 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025That is why we made melee support central in the game, both in attack and defense. It also stacks with a flanking bonus when you have opponents on all sides. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Combat of the thirty: Similar set-up, but with 30v30 in Brittany: - 4 French and 2 English down after hours of fighting - They decided to take a break - Then after a French squire remounted and managed to break the English formation, the battle was almost instantly over. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Montendre was an arranged 7v7 during the HYW. - The English chose to double-team DuChatel. - This freed Archambauldde Villar assist Karonis against the English leader, Robert de Scale, who got quickly killed by a blow to the head. - That allowed to "roll" the remaining English. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Let's now zoom out a little, and see how fights between groups would turn out. In groups, grappling becomes much harder, unless you end up being isolated. Medieval battles could take hours, so exhaustion was a pretty severe issue! Morale collapse was also how most battles ended. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025However, grappling is more complicated to animate, so we are still looking for a good way to represent/abstract it. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025So we are working on adding new alternate thrusting attacks for our 2 handed weapons, to let them thrust into the gaps of armor. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Btw, the Half Sword game made a cool attempt at bringing these armored combat techniques to life in their demo : t.co/pfnZ5cObyJt.cohttps://store.steampowered.com/app/2397300/Half_Sword/ 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Here are some of the techniques showcased in the footage and their fencing treatise equivalent: 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Let’s take a look at some combat footage, kindly provided with the permission of the Norwich HEMA Society. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DbR...youtube.comGladiatoria - Knightly combat with poleaxe & longsword - Knight Fight in medieval armour short filmYouTube video by Norwich HEMA Society 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Actually, grappling was very important, BUT it required some setup. Our knight, Jacques de Lalaing, managed to disarm an opponent and drive him away until the referee took pity of him and stopped the duel 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025But I need to remind everyone that blunt weapons were NOT a magic can opener! You had to basically hit the head (or hand) with a strong blow, jam the point in a joint, or find a way to grapple your opponent to the ground with it. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025So, that is what we are doing in the game: In a way, poleaxe is the offensive choice, while sword is more defensive, and halberd works better when supported. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025As for weapon selection: Just take a poleaxe(it was the most popular weapon for knights on foot)! Sword (the long and pointy variant) is also a reasonable choice, but you don't want to use a one hander. Also, French knights typically used shortened lances. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025In ZodiacLegion, we use two layers per body part, each with its own encumbrance, coverage, and armor values. Any parts can be combined, and some — like the arms — have different chances of being hit depending on whether the attack is melee or ranged. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Some games did cover armor in a detailled way already. For instance, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead does simulate both coverage, armor, and limb specific encumbrance. store.steampowered.com/app/2330750/... 141
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025As for the cost, plate was not more expensive than chainmail to make, but chainmail was very common while plate was new, and it required better infrastructures to make, so it was more of an availability issue. The cheaper alternative was brigandine. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Even though armor doesn't hamper mobility as much as in most medias, it does tire the wearer relatively fast, with an average +60% Oxygen consumption. Knights needed to choose between having their face protected, OR seeing their surrounding and breathing comfortably. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025In the game: Margin of success = Attack roll - defender score Then we check the body part hit - Each part has an outer and an inner layer, which can be bypassed if margin>coverage - we check penetration vs the armor of the active layer at this location, and calculate damage. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Armor would negate 100% of cutting damage, not 5 points or whatever. It still had weaknesses, though. Also, impacts to the head with an appropriate weapon could stun or even kill a knight. But none of these were easy to achieve against a moving target. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025This poleaxe duel, from Jacques de Lalaing went to 55 blows before the referee stopped it, because armor offered superb protection. And they were not even making their weapons especially safe, as he got his gauntlets, nerves and veins pierced (in another duel). 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025What we wanted: ●Make armor feel« real » ●Leverage our paperdolling system and make it have a gameplay impact ●Give legendary knights justice: -Famous knights like Jacques de Lalaing, Geoffroy de Charny and Bayard, could not just be big HP bars with damage reduction. 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025-How does armor work in terms of protection vulnerabilities and limitations - How did soldiers deal with it at the time? - How did it affect group tactics and formations - The limits of what we know about it 100
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Let's turn my Tacticon presentation into a TLDW thread about medieval armored warfare on foot and overdesigning the gameplay mechanics of ZodiacLegion : bsky.app/profile/tact... 130
Reposted by @galdred.bsky.socialTactiCon @tacticon.bsky.social · 18/07/2025#TactiCon Talk 2025 - Knight Tactics: From medieval manuscripts to the gameplay mechanics of Zodiac Legion ⭐️ @galdred.bsky.social from Studio Draconis Watch live now: store.steampowered.com/sale/Tactico... 173
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 11/06/2025I added a website/app blocker too, and it is probably the most impactful tool, even though I should have blocked Blue Sky too. 😀 000
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 11/06/2025Does it work on the long run? Does it have sufficient content to support it, andare the gamified part light enough to not get in the way? I used to go through a gamification app, but the gamified parts ended up eating quite some time, and I reverted to just trello + a stand alone Pomodoro app. 200
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 06/06/2025Greetings #PitchYaGame! ♎️In Zodiac Legion, turn-based dungeon crawling meets strategic kingdom management. ⚔️Authentic medieval combat 🥷Customize your armour one piece at a time 🏰Explore destructible dungeons 💀Triumph over death in a time of reawakening magic 091
Reposted by @galdred.bsky.socialPierre Champon - Mystical Tactics @morm87.bsky.social · 06/06/2025Hey #PitchYaGame ! Mystical Tactics is a turn-based tactical-RPG roguelike in which you control a squad of adventurers trying to repel the Dark Lord and his minions. Demo available on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/2850600 04512
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 04/06/2025True, but they would still have used their death star for petty reasons, and while it has a huge political cost for the Empire(if Star Wars Rebellion is to be believed!), they should prefer it not to be there anymore. 000
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 04/05/2025That was totally unexpected. I feel humbled by your support. Thank you all! 000
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 01/05/2025Thank you for hosting #TurnBasedThursday, @mantisgames.bsky.social ZodiacLegion, our tactical turn based dungeon crawling game is kind of part of the Steam Wargame sale with an updated demo: store.steampowered.com/news/app/812... 081
Reposted by @galdred.bsky.socialMantis Games - Deck of Haunts 🎃 @mantisgames.bsky.social · 01/05/2025We're officially hosting this weeks #TurnBasedThursday! 🕹️ #indiedev: Reply with your game & don't forget the hashtag 🎮 #players: ❤️Like, 🗨️Comment & 🔄️Repost If you don't, we have a spot reserved for you in our haunted domain 👀! 488046
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Thank you for hosting #TurnBasedThursday, @dotage.bsky.social ! ZodiacLegion is a game of tactical dungeon crawling with X-COM-like strategic elements: bsky.app/profile/gald... 0142
Reposted by @galdred.bsky.socialMichele Pirovano - making Dotage @dotage.bsky.social · 03/04/2025As we Italians say: Patience is the Virtue of the Strong! Welcome to the official #TurnBasedThursday thread, we celebrate turn-based games! No rush, only strategy! #GameDev and #IndieDev, show us your work! Everybody, come and see plenty of awesome games and show your support! 5116954
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 01/04/2025The Atari ST was better because it was cheap enough for us to get one, while the Amiga was beyond our young self purchasing allowance. The second decisive advantage it had was that we could more easily pretend we'd do things that were not related to gaming with it! 110
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 27/03/2025Thank you for hosting this edition of #TurnBasedThursday, @playdigious.bsky.social ! We are hard at work on adding a combat Log to Zodiac legion before revamping our combat system to make it feel more authentic when it comes to weapons and armours. bsky.app/profile/gald... 030
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 26/03/2025That's totally in line with considering 5 fingers on a hand impossible. 050
galdred.bsky.social @galdred.bsky.social · 25/03/2025Some other examples are the watcher stance in Slay the Spire, and I was told Nioh made quite an extensive use of them. 000