I've been thinking about how players cast spells in video games versus how they're cast in works of fiction. There's something too easy about how we handle it in most games. I like to think of magic as arcane knowledge few have attained and even fewer are able to wield. Spells to me aren't as easy as using your force powers in Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (R1 to force push). They require procedure.

A quick Google search for magic control systems more involved than "push button, do spell" shows some interesting ideas like using the mouse cursor to draw sigils, or having a spell creation system where you build a spell recipe and then unleash it.

I'm interested in the idea of the sigils or the patterns that make up spells and the idea that magic is a language that you learn and then can experiment with. Kind of like how playing the right notes in the right order to the right rhythm makes a recognizable melody.

That's the idea. Magic as music. Think a fighting game system where the right sequence of button presses results in a pre-scripted combo attack animation— only you do those button presses to a specific rhythm to execute a spell.

I don't intend for this to go the direction of Crypt of the Necrodancer and be something where you aim to do every action in rhythm. There's something interesting about magic being something that's done in harmony with the rhythm of your environment. You can walk around freely and take actions however you'd like, but when it's time to do magic, it must be done to a specific rhythm and that rhythm is determined by your environment.

I imagine something like a workshop where there’s a big clock ticking out a steady beat and say a fan that if spun will open a door. If you know the spell to generate wind, you can tap it out to the rhythm of the clock to make the turbine spin and open the door. If you’re off-beat, the spell will fail.

My other thought is that the combo sequences should be intuitive enough that there's a certain language to them that the player can extrapolate and experiment with to discover new spells. Say for instance wind spells (on Xbox) require you to hold LB and then press A, B, X, or Y in a specific sequence on rhythm. The spell to generate wind could be to Hold LB and press A, A, Y, Y. If water spells require you to hold RB, then maybe the spell to generate water is Hold RB and press A, A, Y, Y. The button sequence is "generate" and the shoulder button is what you're generating.

In some ways I think about it like Punch-Out. There's a specific timing and rhythm you have to master to defeat every boxer and there's no tooltip that pops up and says "try punching hippo in the bandaid over his belly button".  It's something you learn through experimentation (or from that one friend of yours who figured it out or read a Nintendo Power). It's a sort of sacred knowledge that you feel some pride in having acquired.

All that is to say that I intend to prototype a magic system that is based around executing button combinations in a certain rhythm.

Initially, my principles are:

• Discovery over learning - intuitive spell language that encourages experimentation
• Allow for expressive execution - it's musical so give people room to be expressive
• Players should feel they have a sacred knowledge - not gonna spell it out for you