Gameplay

Here's the page that gives general game information. Most of this information can be found in the readme as well. The official channel for Wavestorm is #wavestorm on irc.rizon.net. All options and gameplay notices below are written as if you're using the custom window's Datascope.

Please note that the script does have some features to punish people that attempt to doctor their stats. Usually it'll delete their stats right away when it notices. You've been warned.

Also note that game mileage may vary depending on how up to date everyone is. Therefore, it may a good idea to type "!version" in the channel everyone's playing in to see what version of the game they're running, and therefore, to find out whether you or anyone else needs to upgrade.

Overview

Wavestorm is an RPG battle engine for mIRC. It offers a multitude of magic, customizable weapons, dynamic battlegrounds, and an infinite number of players. During the game, players take control of Wavestorm Defenders, humans with amazing powers. Wavestorm Defenders, as mentioned in the Story section, use the visible light spectrum to power their abilities. By using the colors, the Defenders have 10 different magic themes to use. Unfortunately, Wavestorm Defenders are attuned to one power only, and that power is their power for life; they cannot switch powers. Well, that's the story. YOU can switch powers in the battle engine, simply by creating and loading a new character file.

The game is basically a versatile RPG battle engine adapted to a multiplayer setting. Imagine an RPG battle with Super Smash Bros. type gameplay and you've got the idea. With the ability to have an infinite number of people attacking each other simultaneously, the battles can get very hectic.

Each Defender has their own physical attacks to use in battle; you can choose from one of ten different weapons (or your own custom attack scheme) combined with one of ten modifiers, as well as up to 7 1st Tier magic spells from their color. Omega Storms and Critical Hits give an edge to physical attack power, and magic power can be combined between teammates to cast 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tier spells.

Fighting Battles

Modes

There are two major gameplay modes in Wavestorm; Melee mode and Team mode. Melee mode is the most often used mode, where there's no distinctions between friends and enemies and anyone whose script is on is part of the battle, making for an infinite number of participants. Unfortunately, seeing as how there's no distinction between anyone, you can cast all spells and use all items on anyone, which means you need to be careful and keep an eye on what you're doing so as not to help your opponents. The script will pop up with a warning box before you cast a beneficial spell or use a beneficial item on an enemy to prevent this; you'll need to click "Yes" to confirm you want to perform your action.

Team Mode does have distinctions between enemies and friends, and is the mode more like standard traditional RPG's. You must set your teammates and opponents before every the battle. Team battles are great for when people are using Wavestorm for role-playing. Also, since people don't come back to life automatically like in Melee mode, and thus attacks will have more staying power, better stratagems are needed. The restore style White Wavestorm spells work best in Team mode when you have friends you're keeping an eye on, and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tier attacks really have the oppurtunity to see some major strategical use in this mode. After choosing Team mode, you'll automatically be sent to a window where you must choose the name of your teammates and opponents. Only 3 teammates and 4 opponents allowed (for 4 on 4 team fighting).

Custom Window

The custom window that appears once you load the script is very much like a standard chat window, only more suited to the Wavestorm game. Your personal stats appear on the right where the nicklist would be, and the actual nicklist is right below that. Outside of battle, the nicklist is normal (the @ symbol indicates a channel op, the + symbol indicates someone who's been voiced, and the - symbol indicates a normal chatter). Double-clicking on a person's nick inside of battle will physically attack them; outside of battle, it'll get their stats if they have the script loaded. The top row of the Datascope have buttons that allow you to check player stats and download your online stats, as well as a box which allows you to set what channel the script works in, and a button to start battles. The second row has a drop-down box that will let you switch your current weapon, and buttons to toggle auto-targeting, customizing, and Melee/Team Mode. The final row allows you to buy items and spells from the Shop. Using the small numbered box, you can buy items in bulk if you wish. Inside of battle, both the nicklist to the right and the Datascope change functions. Your stats are still displayed, but only the ones vital to battle (HP, MP, Omega Meter, and current status). The nicklist itself is split into three different categories; Allies, which contains you and, if you're in Team Mode, your teammates, Opponents, which contains everyone else that's fighting, and Spectators, which contains all the other people in the chat that are currently not fighting. All nicks in the Allies and Spectators section will be colored according to their Wavestorm color, allowing you to see what type of powers they have at a glance. The Datascope has buttons for the three major physical attacks at the top left, the Quit Battle button to the top right, and your current turn status in between them. The row contains the magic spells currently available to you and the "Cast" button to let you use them. Similarly, row 3 contains all your items and the "Use" button. Row 4 has the Fuse buttons, and buttons to check other player's stats while in battle.

Fighting the Battle

Once you've set everything up regarding modes, you're clear to start a battle, which you can do by clicking the "Start Battle" button in the top right corner of the Datascope, or by right-clicking "Wavestorm - Normal - Start Battle". Your starting stats will be displayed, and your character will take a fighting pose. You can see your current stats again at any time by glancing at the nicklist in the custom window, and your current Health Points (HP) and Magic Points (MP) will be displayed at the beginning of every turn. And that's how the battles run, by turns. When you start a battle, 10 seconds must elapse before it's your turn. At that point, you're free to do whatever you want; physical attacks, magic spells, items, Omega Storms, etc. Once you do any of the above, you must wait another 10 seconds before your next turn.

The elapsed time may not always be 10 seconds though; if you've been sped up, it will only be 5 seconds in between turns. Alternatively, if you've been slowed, it takes 25 seconds for your next turn. Being sped up or slowed down can happen by having Beige spells cast on you, specific items used on you, or having various events in certain stages occur.

Also note that the personal weapon you choose, as explained in the Physical Attacks section below, changes your time between turns. While 10 seconds is the standard, the heaviest weapon can drop your speed to 15 seconds, while the lightest could up it to just 7.

The object of the game is to use whatever abilities you have to take down your opponents. In Melee mode, it's a free for all and you come back to life immediately after being KO'ed, so you can fight without worry. In Team mode, you can get KO'ed and not come back right away, so be sure to make use of good tactics and use teamwork with your friends to win battles.

Physical Attacks

While magical attacks are the focus of Wavestorm, physical attacks are the backbone. You start out with nothing but the ability to take your weapon and beat the living daylights out of your opponent, and even though magic attacks will grow to form the brunt of your onslaught, physical attacks are always good to rely on on occasion. Though it's possible to dodge physical attacks, by natural means or through usage of ability-increasing spells, physical attacks tend to be a stable source of damage, and provide a bit of variety to keep things from degrading into a 'cast your best spell over and over' match. Physical attacks don't rely on a meter, so you never have to worry about running out of points to use it with.

Your choice of weapon at the start affects both the power rating of your attacks and your ability to dodge. The weapons in order of lightest to heaviest are knuckles, crossbow, nunchakus, staff, polearm, flail, sword, club, gun, and axe. The lighter your weapon, the higher your dodge rating, but the lower your power, and vice versa. Using the knuckles would give a person up to twice their normal dodge rating, but the physical power of their attacks is only 5% higher than normal. An axe user, on the other hand, would have their dodge rating dropped to half, but their attack power would increase to a massive 25% above normal. Custom attacks don't boost your power.

Weapon choice, as mentioned above, also affects the speed of your turn. The lighter the weapon, the less time you need to wait between turns, but the heavier the weapon, the more time it takes.

Don't forget that magic powers decrease your physical attack power to match, so picking a good weapon to balance your lessened abilities before battle can give you a needed boost. Also remember that you can change which weapon you're using at any time outside of battle. Simply choose what weapon you want through the drop-down box in the bottom left of the Datascope, or right-click and choose "Wavestorm - Normal - Options - Change Weapons".

There's 10 different attacks for each weapon, and attacking will switch randomly between all of them, giving the illusion of dynamic fighting. Using custom attacks, the number can be increased. And as detailed in section 5 below, the Mine stage has an aditional physical attack using a mine cart. This makes for 101+ regularly available physical attacks depending on your choices. You can dramatically increase this number through customization.

In addition to the regular 56 items and 7 spells in the shop, there are also 9 very expensive Modifiers you can buy. These devices attach to your weapon, turning it into a new, unique weapon that grants the user one or more special status effects. You can see more information about these Modifiers in the Items page.

Magical Spells

Magic spells definitely form the core of Wavestorm. The battles are all about casting spells that can give you the necessary edge, whether it's hacking away at your opponent's health, bringing up your own, or tossing about all sorts of status changes. Make sure you know your abilities before going into battle; it's never a fun thing to cast a beneficial status change spell on someone you're trying to defeat. Knowing the spells under your command can keep you on top of the game.

Choice of weapons increases the power of your physical attacks, but, as mentioned above, choice of magic decreases it. Red, Yellow, Green, and Black Wavestorm Defenders suffer a 10% decrease in physical attack power. Blue, Purple, Beige, Orange, and Gray Defenders have a 20% decrease. White Wavestorm Defenders suffer a 30% decrease in power. Note that you have the option of not taking a magic coloration when creating your character; while this gets rid of the more intricate sections of the game, forcing you to rely heavily on physical attacks, Omega Storms, and items, it can give you up to a 60% increase of physical attack power over an opponent.

There are 4 types of spells in this game; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tier spells. 1st Tier spells are your basic spells, from the various versions of elemental spells, to your basic cures, to status changes, to time spells, and so on. These spells differ in who they should be casted on, but they always affect only one person at a time. 2nd Tier spells are combo spells; one Wavestorm Defender gives a little bit of their energy (it costs 50 MP to fuse) to another one, and the second Defender uses the combined color energies to cast a energized combination spell. 2nd Tier spells are more powerful, and can affect one or more people. 3rd Tier spells are like 2nd Tier, except a third Defender lends their energy to the collection, making for some massive attacks. 3rd Tier spells affect all teammates or all opponents on the battlefield. While 2nd and 3rd Tier spells are created by people of different colors lending you their powers, 4th Tier spells are spells of the same color. For example, if you're a Blue Wavestorm Defender, and another Blue Defender lends you his energy, you can cast a 4th Tier spell. 4th Tier spells are summons; casting them will summon a creature of your color and element onto the scene that will do a mass attack. Please note that 3rd Tier spells are still in the design process; none of them are in the game yet.

Items

There are 56 items you can buy from the shop that can be used in battle. Some give you HP, some give you MP, some get rid of status ailments, some add them, most attack people with elemental powers, and one even brings people back to life. Just like physically attacking and using magic spells, you must highlight the name of the person you wish to use an item on, and that includes yourself. Make sure to take a good selection of items into battle with you; they can always provide some help in the heat of the battle. Going into the shop (using the bottom of the Datascope, or through the right-click menu) will show you what's for sale manually, as well as how much omnis and AP you have. You can see detailed information on all the items at the Items page.

Don't forget, you buy your magic spells in the shop too!

Critical Hits

When physically attacking during battle, there's a 5% chance your attack will turn into a critical hit. Critical hits are a sudden increase in your attack power that make for attacks up to 7 times the normal damage. These can really mean the difference in a battle when you're low on options, so be ready to take full advantage of it when it happens.

Omega Storm/Terminus

Omega Storm moves are very much like the standard RPG limit break maneuver. After getting hit by a physical attack or a damage dealing magic spell, your Omega meter will rise. Once it reaches max, you will shift into Omega Storm mode. At this point, the Omega Storm move will be available to use. It's an option though; it has its own command and doesn't replace the regular attack command, so you're never forced to use it right when you get it. You can simply wait a while or save it for a crucial point in battle if you wish. Activating the move will dish out a physical attack with magic or life energy behind it for massive damage. Once you use the move, your Omega meter will empty out, and you must refill it over time by taking more damage before you can do another Omega Storm. The Omega meter will empty regardless after you finish one Team battle, or after you manually quit out of the game in Melee mode.

Terminus moves work just like Omega Storms, except they don't run on a meter. Instead, they activate when your HP drops to 7% of its max or less. At this point, you shift into Terminus mode, and stay in the mode until you're killed or until your HP gets lifted back about 7%, which gives you a very short window of opportunity. When in Terminus mode, you can do Terminus moves as much as you like. Even though Terminus moves are the same as Omega Storm moves, they dish out about 33% less power.

Victory/Defeat

In Melee mode, victory comes whenever you defeat somebody, by attacking them until their HP goes all the way down to 0. In Team mode, your team must win the overall battle, and if you're knocked out while they win, then you won't recieve the rewards. In Melee mode, you claim the victory, then keep fighting. In Team mode, the battle ends completely and you must set options anew.

If a random occurance on a stage in Melee mode gets the final hit on someone, defeating them, no-one gets the win.

When you're KO'ed in battle, you lose, and your opponent gains points from the battle. In Melee mode, you immediately come back to life. In Team mode however, things change depending on who's still alive and who else is KO'ed. Everyone on your team must be knocked out for the other team to win, as mentioned in the paragraph above, so being defeated in Team mode doesn't necessarily mean you're out of the game, especially if a teammate is a White Wavestorm Defender or has a Paragon on hand.

Winning a battle consists of tossing off a victory pose and saying, then gaining a thick number of various types of points. You gain a differing amount of Ability Points (AP), Expereicnce Points (EXP), and Omnis (Credits), depending on the level of the opponent you defeated. In Team mode, the overall point values are added up, then split evenly between you and your teammates.

If your Experience Points go above the max you need at that time, then your Level goes up. A new Level brings with it higher Health and Magic Point values, and more powerful physical attacks.

Don't forget to take your hard-won AP and Omnis over to the shop to stock up on new items and magic after a battle's end! Note that if you've already purchased all your 1st Tier spells from the shop, any AP you gain afterwards will automatically convert into Omnis.

Customizing

Wavestorm is generally cut and dry, but there are various spots open for personalized customization. By customizing your experience, you can give it a personal touch, making for serious, deadly, psycho, or even humorous battles.

There are two types of customizations you can perform; sayings and descriptions. Customized intro poses, end poses, physical attacks, omega storms, and dodges use descriptions. The second type is messages/sayings. Customized intro sayings and end sayings use the second type.

Descriptions

To create descriptions and sayings, you'll need to know a bit of scripting knowledge to make your own attacks. You can add the following identifiers to any of your descriptions or sayings, and the script will replace them with mentioned substitutions:

• !target - who you're attacking
• !enemy - who you defeated
• !me - your current nick
• !weapon - your current modified weapon
• !gender1 - he/she
• !gender2 - him/her
• !gender3 - his/her

Here's an example of a physical attack/description:

• Arrow flings his staff straight up into SoNick's chin, sending SoNick into the air

The attacks in this script use describe $chan to work, which automatically puts your name in front of the action you're doing, so pull your name off the front. That leaves:

• flings his staff straight up into SoNick's chin, sending SoNick into the air

The target (SoNick inthis case) is !target. So replace the target's name with !target, wherever it appears.

• flings his staff straight up into !target's chin, sending !target into the air

Note that it's perfectly okay to attach things to the identifiers. For example, !me's can produce Arrow's. !target, can produce SoNick,. !gender2self will produce himself or herself.

Speaking of gender, your gender is taken care of in the script, so you can type he/she, him/her, or his/her yourself if you want to, but you can make sure your attacks are gender friendly (in case maybe someone of the opposite gender wants to borrow your attacks to base theirs off of). Instead of using he/she, him/her, or his/her for your own gender, use !gender1, !gender2, or !gender3 respectively. These are your OWN gender though; try to use vague attacks so you don't call other people by the wrong gender. Continuing on, we now have this:

• flings !gender3 staff straight up into !target's chin, sending !target into the air

And for even more visual impact, you can include the name of your modified weapon by using !weapon. The final product, after following the above rules, is this:

• flings !gender3 !weapon straight up into !target's chin, sending !target into the air

• Arrow flings his Capacity Staff straight up into SoNick's chin, sending SoNick into the air

Additional things you can do include:

• $chr() with a number inside the parenthesis for specific ASCII characters. Ex: $chr(44) will give you a comma.
• Ctrl+B (  ) for bolding something (put a Ctrl+B before what you want bolded, and another one after)
• Ctrl+U for underlining (same syntax as bolding)
• Ctrl+K (  ) for colors (with a number, then a comma, then a number after the Ctrl+K, all followed by the text you want colored. Ex: 11,2 will produce light blue text over a dark blue background)
• Ctrl+O (  ) to clear all special formatting such as the three above

Sayings

Sayings use many of the same rules as descriptions above, except for one difference; they're /msg $chan. In fact, they're exactly like typing text into a channel. So there's no specific rules about having to use your name or even any of the ideas given; just use your favorite quote and go.

Omega Storm/Terminus

There's only one slight difference between Omega Storms and normal descriptions as shown above; the name of the attack must go out front. Here's an example straight from the list of included Omega Storms:

• performs the Vitality Clash! !me hops into the air and sends a flying kick at !target. Right before contact, !me uses !gender3 own life energy to power up the kick, making !gender3 leg glow with furious energy, and the kick explodes as it hits !target

You can follow the above example, but you don't have to; it's fully possible to do generalized custom Omega Storms without names if you just want to make attacks. Adding names simply makes the attack look interesting and unique.

File Creation

To finish up the customization process, you'll need to put your custom descriptions and sayings into special files. There are 7 specific files needed:

• WSiposes.wvs - Intro Poses
• WSisayings.wvs - Intro Sayings
• WSeposes.wvs - End Poses
• WSesayings.wvs - End Sayings
• WSphysical.wvs - Physical Attacks
• WSomega.wvs - Omega Storms
• WSdodge.wvs - Dodges

Put your descriptions and sayings where they need to go and save them under the appropriate filename above and in the Wavestorm directory. They're text files, just with new extensions. To save such a file in Notepad, in the Save As dialog, put quotes around the name. Ex: "WSiposes.wvs". Otherwise, Notepad might save the file as something silly like WSiposes.wvs.txt.

Turning Customization On

As explained in the Custom Window paragraph in the Fighting Battles section, the Datascope features a Customization button outside of battle. Clicking on this button will open a new dialog with checkboxes for all the above features. Each option has two checkboxes, one for Standard and one for Custom. Checking the Standard box will make the script use default descriptions/sayings for that option. Checking the Custom box will make the script use your new custom versions. You are allowed to check both boxes, in that situation, the script will randomly choose from the standard stuff and your custom ones.

Note that you are not allowed to uncheck both boxes; the script will automatically recheck the Standard box and start drawing from the normal stuff if you attempt to do so. Also, you cannot check a Custom box if you haven't created the associated file yet.