The core fantasy is kitbashing historical naval vessels into something that shouldn't exist but does. Aviation destroyers. Torpedo battleships. Radar picket cruisers turned into makeshift carriers. The mod and equipment system exists to enable this creativity. If a player can imagine a cursed configuration, the game should let them try it.
### Pillar 2: Reward preservation
This inverts the typical roguelite formula:
- **Standard roguelite:** Seek combat → get rewards → get stronger → beat boss
- **This game:** Avoid unnecessary combat → preserve fleet → navigate intelligently → arrive at boss in fighting shape
Combat is **high-risk, average-return**. Battles are attrition you manage, not treasure you hunt. The "reward" for surviving a battle is mostly *having survived*. Real value comes from non-combat nodes: dockyards, events, salvage.
This is closer to a convoy escort mindset. Victory isn't "kill everything" - it's "arrive at destination with force intact."
### Pillar 3: Naval battles are rare
Oceans are vast. Fleets miss each other. The game respects this by making combat encounters scarce but consequential. The strategic game happens on the map - route selection, recon investment, risk assessment. Combat is the validation of your preparation choices.
However, I personally hate grindy grinds, so unlocks should be rather easy, ceremonial, like a breeze; players should be able to fiddle with all possibilities as soon as possible.
**Recon tradeoff:** Ships optimized for scouting (recon equipment, SCOUT tag) are generally weaker in direct combat. You trade firepower for information.
**Player choice - Fight or Flight:**
When approaching a node revealed as hostile, player can:
- **Engage:** Proceed to battle
- **Avoid:** Take alternate route (if available) or accept the cost of bypassing
Avoiding combat is usually the smart play (reward preservation). The cost of avoidance is opportunity cost - you don't get whatever that node might have offered.
**Loot**: Modest. Maybe 'choose 1 equipment from 2-3'. Combat is not the primary reward mechanism.
**Pre-Battle: Mentality Selection**
Before combat resolves, player chooses fleet mentality:
**Design note on loot:** Since combat is high-risk/average-return, the "losing spiral" is less of a concern. Players who fight unnecessarily *should* feel the attrition. The catch-up mechanic is: stop fighting, reach dockyards, recover.
'Elite' nodes are combat nodes with stronger enemies (optimized compositions, better equipment, or slightly boosted stats). These should be clearly telegraphed by recon so player can choose to engage or avoid.
- **The boss is the mandatory engagement.** All your preservation strategy, your careful navigation, your recon investment - it serves the purpose of arriving here with a fleet capable of decisive action.
- Two patterns for PoC stage: super battleship force or super carrier force, with screening ships (up to 6 total).
Remember that the game has no 'money', so these nodes are:
- free, but some options are conditioned e.g. require specific stats/tags/traits/synergies... or has tradeoff
- mostly upgrading (improvement should always be positive at micro)
**Possible services**, I'm just listing. Not every one should make into the PoC or final game. (if there ever is a final game):
- Repair hull damage
- Upgrade equipment (a random better one of same type, or stat boost)
- New equipment / hull
- Trade equipment (no type guarantee, but generally better) **[How to determine 'better'?]**
- Apply mod (on the spot, like 'enchant') *this is a strong one, should have some sort of cost*
- Remove any mod (positive or negative)
- Trade mods
***Note***: overall number of visitable nodes are relatively low per map. I would like the player to have more freedom to customise, so each dockyard node might offer multiple (2~4?) charges of service.
Also that it might be more gameplay if each dockyard node is different and offer a unique set of services. But might as well offer all of them for the first version.
#### Event Node
- Random event from pool
- Must force tradeoff (no pure upgrades)
- **[DECIDE: Examples?]** (Fill in 3-5 example events with choices and consequences) - Still thinking, might do this later
Example template:
```
EVENT: Salvage Drifting Hulk
Choice A: Strip for parts → Gain random equipment, -0~20% HP on one ship (represents overwork/risk) (but not deadly)
Choice B: Claim as prize → Gain damaged hull
Choice C: Ignore → Gain nothing, but also risk nothing
```
```
EVENT: Storm
Choice A: Take plain damage (all the fleet incl. reserves lose 5% HP)
Choice B: (available if RADAR >= 2) Take less or no damage. # Not sure what RADAR could be, but it requires specific deckbuilding
```
**[DECIDE: Fill in 3-5 event examples like above]** - Still thinking, might do this later
#### Salvage Node
Can already get hulls from the Refit/Dockyard node, so this is part of that
- **Depth**: Roughly 8-12 nodes from start to boss depending on route. Boss always visible at end.
- **Width per row**: 2-5 paths per row. Includes 'skip' nodes and lateral paths. Generation should guarantee total run length is reasonably consistent.
### Node Visibility & Recon (Core System)
**Always visible nodes:**
- Boss node (endpoint marker)
- Dockyard/repair nodes (infrastructure is known)
- Starting area immediate connections
**Uncertain nodes (default state):**
Most nodes start as "unknown contact" until recon provides information.
**Recon reveals:**
- Node type probability (hostile/safe/event)
- If hostile: fleet composition ranges ("0-3 capitals, 1-4 screens")
- Environmental conditions ("50% chance of storm")
**Recon mechanics:**
- Fleet recon rating = sum of SCOUT tags + recon equipment bonuses
If map is always similar shape (e.g., always 8 rows, always ends at boss), players will plan perfectly. If too random, they'll feel helpless. Consistency in structure, variance in content.
**What happens when a ship is destroyed mid-run?**
- **Ship is lost for the run**
- Equipments on sinking ships are lost as well
- but certain mechanisms can be used to recover equipments (e.g. planes can emergency rebase to another carrier if certain conditions are met)
- Player might or might not have ships in reserve. It's ok to activate reserve ships after the ship-losing battle.
- Also, revival mechanisms that can prevent that loss (e.g. emergency repair - just like KanColle)
- Still ripping off KanColle, ships above a certain health (not 'heavy damage') won't be sunk in battle but could become heavily damaged. This is a very good guardrail by KanColle in my opinion.
# Actual KanColle has medium damage (0.25 * maxShipHp < currentShipHp <= 0.5 * maxShipHp), light damage (0.5 * maxShipHp < currentShipHp <= 0.75 * maxShipHp), and slight damage (0.75 * maxShipHp <currentShipHp) which has more uses. But currently we might only need this simplest form.
```
**Sinking Rules:**
- Ship enters battle at `HEAVY_DAMAGE` (≤25% HP): **Can be sunk** during that battle (if damage exceeds remaining HP)
- Ship enters battle at `SAFE_DAMAGE` (>25% HP): **Cannot be sunk** this battle. Any killing blow is hard capped to leave ship at **1% HP minimum** (non-lethal).
- Protection is determined at **battle start**, not recalculated mid-fight. If you enter SAFE, all hits are capped for the entire battle, even if you drop below 25% mid-fight.
**Implementation note:** "Non-lethal cap" means: if ship is at 30% HP and takes a hit that would deal 29%+ damage, reduce final damage to leave ship at 1% HP. Keeps it simple and dramatic.
### Damage Persistence
**Does hull damage carry between fights?**
- YES: Adds attrition strategy, refit nodes become crucial
**How much can you heal outside refit nodes?**
- Equipment/Tag-based healing (repair cranes, damage control, etc.), these check out at different stages. (e.g. DamCon can activate during or outside battle, but repair cranes can only repair outside battles)
- Dockyard nodes. Now thinking about it, dockyards should heal (repair) ships unconditionally on entrance.
- Event nodes. Requires some good storytelling but as a mechanism this works.
The separation: **Structure is deterministic** (who can shoot whom, fire rates, armor vs penetration). **Execution has bounded variance** (hit chances, damage rolls within tight ranges).
**Design note:** Keeping randomness small (d6 not d20) means faster ships reliably act first, but there's enough variance that exact order isn't perfectly predictable. Preparation matters more than luck.
**Design intent:** This makes mixed fleets (screens + capitals) more resilient than pure capital fleets. Going all-battleships is powerful but brittle against torpedo-focused enemies.
- Both sides took damage; you paid the cost of engagement without the benefit
**If Player Disengaged (Grade D):**
- No loot
- You survived - that's the win
**If Player Loses (fleet destroyed or forced retreat):**
- Ship losses are permanent for this run
- Equipment on sunk ships is lost
- If 0 ships remain: Run ends (return to port, start new run)
**Design note:** Combat rewards are intentionally modest. The game doesn't want you seeking fights. Dockyards and events are where real upgrades happen. Combat is the tax you pay when you can't avoid it.
Hulls are the canvas. Equipment and mods are the paint. The "weird warships" pillar means any hull should be *modifiable* into something unexpected - aviation destroyers, torpedo battleships, radar cruisers.
Base hulls provide:
- Starting stat profile (HP, Speed, Armor, Evasion)
1.**Combat pacing:** If fights take >2min to watch, 30min promise breaks. Need fast-forward or instant resolve option. (With fewer fights, this is less critical but still relevant.)
2.**Recon balance:** If recon is too strong, players always avoid fights (boring). If too weak, feels random. Need careful tuning of confidence ranges.
5.**Disengagement abuse:** If defensive mentality is too safe, players might default to it. Boss exception helps, but regular combat needs risk for fleeing.
6.**Equipment scarcity vs. 9-ship fleet:** With 9 potential ships and modest combat loot, equipment might be too scarce. May need generous dockyard offerings.
