ok well i looked everywhere for a picture of the Skies of Arcadia: Ship to ship combat system grid but could not find a single picture... YARG so i made some crappy paint visuals
ill do my best to describe it (dont flame its a really simple but good system)((worth looking into))
If you havent played the game, theres 2 types of combat, the usual turn based random encounter system, and the innovative one of a kind ship to ship combat system.
the idea is when your airship encounters an enemy airship the ships face off in a turned based grid strategy battle.
When it is your turn a menu appears with a 4 x 4 grid like this:
you select all 4 of your character's moves at one time by placing the icons onto the corresponding grid which will then be executed at the end of the turn in a cinematic 8 turn sequence.(4 moves for you, 4 for the enemy)
each character(the poorly drawn smiley faces) has a horizontal line, depending on which turn you select the character to perform an action on, the desired action's icon will appear on the grid in accordance to the x and y axis, so if the first character(smiley) is selected to attack on turn one the "attack" icon will appear like so:
Also when a character is selected to perform the "attack" function a drop down list of which cannon to attack with is shown, each cannon has a specific attack power and specific amount of points it costs to use.
the points are displayed at the top of the screen with a bar and a box with the specific number
A specific amount of points is allotted per turn to ensure a limited amount of attacks. however if the player elects not to select an attack and doesnt use any of his turn's points, the points carry onto the next turn. this contributes to the tactical feeling of the ship battles.
each red X is a block that can no longer be used, this ensures only one character action is performed each turn.
When enough points are acquired a special devastating move may be utilized, only one per turn is allowed
The enemy's AI works the same way as the player in it's completetion of a 4x4 tactical grid each turn
so when you are done selecting your four moves, your enemy will also have completed his grid
the result is an 8 turn alternating tactical ship battle of corresponding ship cinematics for each action
for example, movie of your ship will be shown, firing a cannon, and then a movie of the enemy ship wil be shown getting hit. This could be accomplished utilizing pictures and animations instead of cinematics
also to add another tactical point to the grid, each turn (1 2 3 4) is marked by a color(either red yellow or green)
the corresponding colors on the turn give hints as to what the enemy AI is about to do,
for example if turn 1 is yellow, caution is advised to the player when selecting an action for a character to perform. if the turn color is red, it is usually a sign that an enemy is going to use a special attack, and it would be wise to defend or use a repair kit.
Im not sure how well i explained it but this battle system seems to me to be doable with advanced knowledge of menus and such,
If you still dont understand the system, i apologize, and suggest you research it by buying the game (Skies of Arcadia Legends for GC) or reading a better review by a good website like GameFAQs
i hope i could help,
this is a monster of a post!feel free to ask more
==== EDIT====
youtube clip of this battle system at work!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rP3VMD_pxjsi hope this can clear things up a bit