by Karen Hertzberg on Dec 27, 2006
A Year in Vanguard's
Development
Nobody writes a comprehensive review like our Zinn, so we called on him
to take a look back at 2006 and the changes a year in development has
wrought upon Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. From beta 2-4 to changes in
combat mechanics and the death penalty, Zinn takes a look at how
Vanguard has progressed, and how the community has reacted to it. Take
a complete look at where Vanguard has been and where it's going in
Zinn's year in review.
Combat underwent drastic changes in 2006. In Beta 2
Vanguard combat was
very reactive with combat based around the ability to perceive upcoming
enemy attacks. The player had many meaningful choices and was rewarded
for reacting well to what her enemy was doing. To make such a system
work fights had to be very long and combat very slow. It’s
reported that this system didn’t go over very well with many
of the testers and resulted in many combat revamps.