🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 04 Feb 2017 15:12:40 -0600, Zaghadka <zagh...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>On Sat, 04 Feb 2017 09:43:57 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
>Spalls Hurgenson wrote: 
>
>>On Fri, 3 Feb 2017 17:06:50 -0700, "rms"
>><rsqui...@MOOyossmanMOO.net> wrote:
>>
>>>>* Star Wars The Old Republic (new)

>>
>I saw cover mechanics in browsing TOR, which were sorely missing in
>KoTOR, making firefights look completely ridiculous in that game.
>
>How's the cover system? Am I right that TOR has one? Is it annoying or
>well done?

There are no cover mechanics in The Old Republic. It's uses standard
MMORPG mechanics, so its combat consists mostly of clicking on an
enemy and watching a canned animation which results in a number (the
number of hitpoints lost the target has just lost) floating above
their head. For variety, you can click on an icon on your quickbar to
use a special attack for bigger numbers. MMORPG combat is boring (in
TOR's case, flashy and visually attractive... but still boring).

>Lack of a cover mechanic was one of my main criticisms of KoTOR. It sorta
>works to elide it with crossbows and longbows (in D&D titles), but with
>semi-automatic weapons, it was clearly ridiculous.

KoToR is built upon old-school RPG mechanics and - as such - the
likelihood of hitting a target (or getting hit) is dependent on the
character's statistics rather than the player's ability to dodge or
take cover. All combat systems in computer games are ridiculous in one
way or another; it really comes down to a matter of taste. Personally,
I dislike more action-based RPGs (like the Mass Effect games) where it
was more often player skill rather than the growing abilities that
determined whether or not my avatar was effective in combat, so I
rather enjoyed KoToR. 

Like the previous poster, RMS, you may be thinking of Republic
Commando, which was a third-person shooter where you had tactical
control over a squad of three other soldiers. It utilized a
cover-based system with all the requisite waist-high walls
conveniently dotting the battlefield. I didn't enjoy that one very
much either, less because of the mechanics and more because its
weapons were severely underpowered, and taking down even the weakest
enemies required a clip of ammunition (a lack of variety in content
didn't help either).