fleet-builder-project/planning_docs/GAMEPLAY.md

Naval Composition Roguelite — Gameplay Specification

Purpose: Translate DESIGN.md into concrete gameplay mechanics. Half-filled proposals, half-questionnaire. Fill in the [DECIDE: ...] sections.

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0. Design Pillars

Before mechanics, establish what this game is.

Pillar 1: Build weird warships

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.

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1. Run Start: Fleet Selection

What We Know

• Player starts with 4 ships (not a full fleet - room for growth)
• Meta-progression unlocks options, not power
• Choice should set strategic direction

Proposed Mechanic

For the initial concept, player starts with a preset, relatively modest 'default fleet':

• 2 orthodox destroyers
• 1 orthodox cruiser
• 1 orthodox battleship

This leaves 2 active slots and 3 reserve slots empty. Acquiring new hulls during the run is meaningful because you have capacity to use them.

Future extension: Cost-based custom presets (one shiny all-rounder or 6 rustbuckets), more preset options, etc.

Unlock Progression

Not important in initial version.
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.

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2. Map Structure

What We Know

• Branching paths (think Slay the Spire)
• Combat is scarce - maybe 30-40% of nodes could be hostile, fewer will actually be fought
• Target runtime: 30 minutes

Math Check (revised)

• 30 min run = ~15-20 nodes total (traversed)
• Potential combat nodes: ~6-8 (but player may avoid some)
• Actual fights per run: ~4-6 (player choice + recon)
• Non-combat nodes: ~8-12 (dockyards, events, safe passage)

The reduction in combat frequency means each fight carries more weight. Battles are not the grind - navigation is the game.

Between Nodes

Player can change equipment on a ship (swap, substitute with inventory items, take off, etc.) as long as not in battle or stat check events. Player can also swap ships in/out of the 6 active sortie slots (can have up to 3 reserve ships), similarly restricted.

Node Types

Starting Node

'Home port'.
Just a placeholder for picking the starting deck. Does this and only this.
Might also do the whale stuff (of Slay the Spire) later but not now.

Combat Node Types

Tributes to KanColle here (the fancier way of saying 'ripoff') Several kinds of battle, not every comes in PoC/MVP/alpha alpha.

• Normal - surface-to-surface fights, enemy might have planes but will never have subs.
• ASW - submarine-only enemy fleet.
• Aerial - aviation-focussed fights.

For MVP, only normal nodes: surface combat nodes. Add more varieties later if ever.

Enemy fleet size: 1 to 6 ships (matching player capacity).

Enemy composition reveal - The Recon System: Nodes exist in states of uncertainty until revealed by recon. This is now a core system, not a future extension.

Recon confidence ranges:

• Low recon: "Unknown contact - possibly hostile"
• Medium recon: "0-3 capital ships, 1-4 screen ships, 40% storm chance"
• High recon: "2 capital ships, 2 screen ships, clear weather" (narrow/exact ranges)

Higher fleet recon power narrows these ranges. The SCOUT tag and recon equipment contribute to fleet recon rating.

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:

• Aggressive: Seek decisive engagement. Higher damage output, higher risk taken, no disengagement.
• Balanced: Standard engagement parameters.
• Defensive: Prioritize preservation. Lower damage output, fleet will attempt to break contact if things go badly.

This is the Football Manager moment. You've done the preparation. Now you declare intent and watch the simulation run.

Enemy mentality: AI calculates rough "us vs them" strength comparison. Weaker enemies tend toward defensive (may disengage). Stronger enemies press aggressively. Exception: Boss never disengages.

Disengagement mechanics (Defensive mentality): When conditions trigger (e.g., losing badly), fleet attempts to break contact. Actions that aid disengagement but reduce combat effectiveness:

• Make smoke (reduces visibility both ways)
• Radio silence (reduces coordination but harder to track)
• Hold fire (don't reveal position, prioritize escape)

Disengagement is not guaranteed. It's a chance to escape a bad situation, not a "get out of jail free" card.

Battle termination - Tick System: Battles use a tick-based system rather than "turns" (which imply guaranteed action per turn). One action takes multiple ticks.

• Scale reference: The major battle phase (gunnery) should run ~100 ticks total, supporting ~2 large caliber salvos (~45 ticks per salvo).
• Small guns fire more quickly (fewer ticks per salvo), torpedoes slower, etc.
• Battle ends when: (1) one side eliminated, (2) one side successfully disengages, OR (3) tick limit reached

Battle result grading: Derived from enemy sunk ratios and damage delivered/received.

• S: All enemies sunk
• A: Over half enemies sunk or enemy flagship sunk
• B: Enemy damage percentage > player damage percentage
• C: Mutual withdrawal or inconclusive
• D: Player disengaged under pressure (survived but didn't achieve objective)

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 Combat Node

'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.

Boss Node

• Fixed endpoint, no branching after
• 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).
• Boss structure
  • 1 flagship with a "cheating" hull (high HP/armor/firepower, extra equipment slots)
  • Sink flagship to win
  • Escort ships are relatively standard but competent
• Boss never disengages. Defensive mentality on boss just reduces your damage output for no benefit. The game should warn players about this.

Refit / Dockyard Node

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

Map Generation

• 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
• Higher rating = narrower confidence ranges, farther visibility
• Recon is calculated at map level, not per-battle

The strategic game: With good recon, you can plan routes that avoid fights you'd lose and pick fights you'd win. With poor recon, you gamble on every uncertain node.

[DECIDE: Exact recon rating thresholds and what they reveal]

Known Vulnerability

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.

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3. Fleet Persistence & Loss

The Hard Question

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.

KanColle style heavy damage protection

Pseudocode here.

#
def getShipDamageLevel(maxShipHp: int, currentShipHp: int):
  if (currentShipHp <= (maxShipHp * 0.25)):
    return HEAVY_DAMAGE
  else:
    return SAFE_DAMAGE 
  # 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.

Reserve Ships System

Core Rules:

• Max fleet size: 9 ships total (6 active sortie slots + 3 reserve slots)
• Starting fleet: 4 ships (2 destroyers, 1 cruiser, 1 battleship) - leaves room for growth
• Acquiring new hulls: From dockyard/event nodes only
• Hull acquisition philosophy: Scarce and NOT immediately rewarding

The Balance: When you get a new hull (free at dockyards), it's just a hull - no equipment, no mods. It does nothing useful immediately.

The strategic choice becomes:

• Option A: Invest resources (equipment, mods) into your existing ships → stronger specialized fleet
• Option B: Distribute resources across more ships → flexibility, redundancy, but weaker individuals

Getting a new hull is potential, not power. Equipment scarcity makes specialization vs diversification a real tradeoff.

6-ship active fleet enables:

• More composition variety (2 capitals, 2 screens, 2 utility/recon)
• Meaningful recon confidence ranges (0-3 capitals means something when 6 is max)
• More tag synergies across the fleet
• Fleet specialization vs. generalization choices

Between-node management:

• Can swap ships in/out of active sortie slots anytime between nodes (not during battle/stat-check events)
• Can swap equipment between any ships in fleet (active or reserve)
• Reserves can replace losses or adapt to known enemy types (once you have intel)

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4. Combat Resolution - The Actual Rules

Design Philosophy

Combat should be:

• More deterministic than KanColle - preparation matters, outcomes are learnable
• Still has variance - naval battles have fog of war, uncertainty
• Readable - player should understand why they won or lost
• Fast - fewer fights means each can resolve quickly without stretching run time

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).

Pre-Combat: Mentality

(Detailed above in Combat Node section)

Chosen: Simple stance system - Aggressive/Balanced/Defensive. This is the only pre-combat decision.

Formations (positioning, named formations) add complexity without proportional depth for an auto-battler. May revisit later.

Phase-by-Phase Resolution

Each phase needs:

1. Initiative order (who acts first)
2. Targeting logic (who shoots whom)
3. Hit resolution (to-hit calculation)
4. Damage resolution (how much damage)

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PHASE 1: Detection / Initiative

Purpose: Determine action order for the engagement.

Proposed (leaning toward):

• Initiative = Base Speed + Equipment Modifier + small random factor (d6, not d20)
• Order set for entire combat (not re-rolled each tick)
• SCOUT tag grants fleet-wide initiative bonus (+2 per SCOUT ship?)
• Higher initiative = act first in each tick cycle

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.

[DECIDE: Accept or adjust random factor magnitude?]

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PHASE 2: Air Operations

Participants: Ships with AVIATOR tag

Chosen model: Abstract strike value (Option A) Reasoning: Keeps MVP scope manageable. Individual plane tracking adds complexity without proportional depth.

Mechanics:

• Each AVIATOR ship contributes Air Power (from aircraft equipment)
• Compare: Fleet Air Power vs Enemy Air Power
• If one side has air superiority (>50% of total), they deal strike damage to enemy surface ships
• Strike damage distributed weighted by ship size (capitals take more hits)

Anti-air defense:

• All ships have base AA rating (small)
• AA equipment adds to rating
• Fleet AA total reduces incoming air strike damage

[DECIDE: Exact formulas for air power comparison and strike damage]

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PHASE 3: Surface Gunnery

Participants: Ships with gun-type equipment (probably everyone)

Initiative: Use order from Detection phase

Targeting - Chosen: Weighted random with SCREEN priority

• Base: Random target selection from valid enemies
• SCREEN tag ships have higher targeting weight (draw fire, act as tanks)
• If mentality is Aggressive: slight preference for high-value targets
• If mentality is Defensive: spread fire, no focus

This keeps outcomes somewhat unpredictable while making SCREEN tag meaningful.

Hit Calculation:

Hit Chance = Base Accuracy (from gun) + Fire Control Bonus - Target Evasion
Roll d100, hit if <= Hit Chance

• Base accuracy: 60-85% depending on gun type (larger guns slightly less accurate)
• Fire control equipment: +5 to +15 accuracy
• Target evasion: Speed stat / 2 (fast ships harder to hit)
• ARTILLERY tag: +5% accuracy (gunnery specialists)

Damage Calculation:

Base Damage = Weapon Damage × (0.9 to 1.1 random factor)
Penetration Factor = if Pen >= Armor: 1.0, else: (Pen/Armor)^0.7
Final Damage = Base Damage × Penetration Factor

The 0.9-1.1 variance is tight - damage is mostly predictable, not swingy.

[DECIDE: Exact numbers for guns, armor values, etc. - see Section 5]

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PHASE 4: Torpedo Attacks

Participants: Ships with torpedo equipment or TORPEDO_SPECIALIST tag

Torpedo characteristics:

• Lower accuracy than guns (40-60% base)
• Much higher damage when they hit
• Slower to reload (more ticks between attacks)

SCREEN + CAPITAL synergy (torpedo protection):

• If fleet has >=1 SCREEN and >=1 CAPITAL:
  • Torpedoes targeting CAPITAL ships have a chance to be intercepted by SCREEN
  • Interception chance = 30% base + 10% per additional SCREEN
  • Intercepted torpedo hits the SCREEN instead
• If no SCREEN present:
  • CAPITAL ships are fully vulnerable to torpedoes

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.

TORPEDO_SPECIALIST tag:

• +15% torpedo accuracy
• +1 torpedo salvo per battle (extra attack)

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PHASE 5: Damage Control / Disengagement Check

This phase handles:

1. Disengagement attempts (if either side is on Defensive mentality and losing)
2. Damage control (minor in-battle repairs from equipment)

Disengagement check:

• Triggers if: Defensive mentality AND (lost >40% fleet HP OR lost >=2 ships)
• Base success chance: 30%
• Modifiers:
  • +15% if fleet has SCOUT ships (better situational awareness)
  • +10% per "evasion action" taken (make smoke, hold fire - these reduce combat effectiveness)
  • -10% if enemy has SCOUT ships (they track you better)
• If successful: Battle ends, disengaging fleet escapes (result grade D)
• If failed: Battle continues, can attempt again next phase

Damage control:

• Ships with damage control equipment repair 5-10% of damage taken this battle
• Only activates if ship is still alive at phase end
• Minor effect, but can keep ships above the 25% sinking threshold

[DECIDE: Tune disengagement percentages after playtesting]

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Combat Outcome

If Player Wins (Grades S/A/B):

• Modest loot: Choose 1 equipment from 2 options (grade S gets 3 options)
• The real reward is having won - you preserved your fleet and can continue

If Inconclusive (Grade C):

• No loot
• 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.

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5. Ship Stats & Equipment - The Numbers

Hull Philosophy

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)
• Equipment slot count and types
• Inherent tags (if any)
• Mod slot count

Hull Base Stats

MVP hull types: 4 (Destroyer, Cruiser, Battleship, Carrier) More hull variants can be added later (light cruiser, battlecruiser, escort carrier, etc.)

[DECIDE: Exact stats - rough proposals below]

Destroyer:
  HP: 40
  Speed: 12 (fastest)
  Armor: 5 (paper thin)
  Evasion: 25 (hard to hit)
  Equipment Slots: 3 (small)
  Mod Slots: 1
  Inherent Tags: SCREEN

Cruiser:
  HP: 80
  Speed: 9
  Armor: 15
  Evasion: 15
  Equipment Slots: 4 (medium)
  Mod Slots: 1
  Inherent Tags: None (jack of all trades)

Battleship:
  HP: 150
  Speed: 6 (slowest)
  Armor: 35 (heavily armored)
  Evasion: 5 (easy to hit, hard to hurt)
  Equipment Slots: 4 (large)
  Mod Slots: 1
  Inherent Tags: CAPITAL

Carrier:
  HP: 100
  Speed: 7
  Armor: 10 (vulnerable)
  Evasion: 8
  Equipment Slots: 5 (many, but aircraft-focused)
  Mod Slots: 1
  Inherent Tags: AVIATOR (if aircraft equipped), CAPITAL
  Special: 3 slots must be aircraft or empty

[DECIDE: Validate these numbers against damage formulas]

Equipment Pieces

[DECIDE: Define 8-10 equipment items for MVP]

Template (fill in 8-10 of these):

[Equipment Name]:
  Slot Type: [Main Gun / Torpedo / Aircraft / Utility]
  Stats: [e.g., +20 damage, +15 penetration]
  Tags Granted: [e.g., ARTILLERY if gun, AVIATOR if aircraft]
  Special Effect: [e.g., "Fires twice per phase if target HP < 50%"]

Example:

5-inch Dual Purpose Gun:
  Slot Type: Main Gun
  Damage: 15
  Penetration: 10
  Accuracy: 75
  Tags Granted: None
  Special: Can engage aircraft (contributes +5 AA rating)

[DECIDE: Fill in your 8-10 equipment items]

Mods

[DECIDE: Define 5-6 mods for MVP]

Template:

[Mod Name]:
  Effect: [Mechanical change]
  Tags Granted/Modified: [...]
  Tradeoff: [What's the cost?]

Example from DESIGN.md:

Flight Deck:
  Effect: +1 Equipment Slot (must be aircraft), +20 HP cost (weight)
  Tags Granted: Enables AVIATOR if aircraft equipped
  Tradeoff: Reduces armor by 5 (structural weakness)

[DECIDE: Fill in 5-6 mods]

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6. Tag System - Derivation Rules

What We Know

• Tags are derived from equipment + mods + hull
• Tags must affect >=2 systems
• Tags used by combat phases and events

Required Tags for MVP (from DESIGN.md)

1. AVIATOR
2. SCREEN
3. CAPITAL
4. SCOUT
5. TORPEDO_SPECIALIST
6. ARTILLERY

[DECIDE: Define exact derivation rule for each tag]

Template:

Tag: AVIATOR
Derived When: [Ship has aircraft equipment AND hull/mod provides flight capacity]
Affects:
  - System 1: [e.g., Participates in Air Phase]
  - System 2: [e.g., Events may reference "aviator ships"]

[DECIDE: Fill in derivation + effects for all 6 tags]

Example:

Tag: SCREEN
Derived When: Hull is Destroyer OR ship has "Anti-Torpedo Net" equipment
Affects:
  - System 1: Can intercept torpedoes aimed at CAPITAL ships
  - System 2: Events may offer "screen-only" upgrades
  - System 3: Targeted first in gunnery phase (acts as tank)

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7. Fleet Chemistry - Specific Synergies

What We Know (from DESIGN.md)

• SCREEN + CAPITAL = torpedo protection
• No SCREEN = +firepower, +torpedo vulnerability
• Multiple AVIATOR = strong air, weak surface

[DECIDE: Define exact mechanical effects]

Template:

Synergy: [Tag Combo]
Condition: [e.g., ">=1 SCREEN and >=1 CAPITAL in fleet"]
Effect: [Exact mechanical benefit]
Tradeoff: [Any cost or weakness introduced]

[DECIDE: Fill in 4-6 fleet chemistry effects]

Example:

Synergy: Carrier Battle Group
Condition: >=2 AVIATOR + >=1 SCREEN
Effect:
  - Air Phase attacks deal +25% damage
  - SCREEN ships provide +10 AA to fleet
Tradeoff:
  - If all AVIATOR ships lost, fleet has -30% surface firepower (over-specialized)

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8. Event Design - Concrete Examples

Design Rules (from DESIGN.md)

• Must force commitment or introduce risk
• No pure free upgrades

[DECIDE: Write 5-8 event cards]

Template:

EVENT: [Name]
Flavor: [1-2 sentences of context]
Choice A: [Option] → [Mechanical effect]
Choice B: [Option] → [Mechanical effect]
Choice C (optional): [Option] → [Mechanical effect]
Tag Requirements: [e.g., "Only appears if you have AVIATOR ship"]

[DECIDE: Fill in 5-8 events]

Example:

EVENT: Experimental Ammunition
Flavor: A supply ship offers prototype shells. Experimental. Unproven. Powerful.
Choice A: Load AP Rounds → All guns +5 penetration, but 10% chance to misfire (miss automatically)
Choice B: Load HE Rounds → All guns +10 damage vs low-armor targets (<10 armor), -5 damage vs high armor
Choice C: Decline → No change
Tag Requirements: None

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9. Boss Design

[DECIDE: Define the MVP boss encounter]

Boss Option A: Single Super-Unit

Name: [DECIDE]
Hull: [Custom super-hull]
HP: [DECIDE: 3x battleship HP?]
Special Mechanics: [DECIDE: e.g., "Regenerates 5% HP each phase"]
Weakness: [DECIDE: e.g., "Vulnerable to torpedo damage"]

Boss Option B: Elite Fleet

Name: [DECIDE]
Composition: [DECIDE: e.g., "2 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers, 1 Battleship"]
Special Mechanic: [DECIDE: e.g., "All ships have +1 mod slot filled"]
Weakness: [DECIDE: e.g., "No air power"]

Boss Option C: Phased Fight

Name: [DECIDE]
Phase 1: [DECIDE: e.g., "3 Destroyers with TORPEDO_SPECIALIST"]
Phase 2 (if Phase 1 defeated): [DECIDE: e.g., "1 Battleship + 2 Cruisers"]
Special Mechanic: [DECIDE: e.g., "Phase 2 starts with you at current HP"]

[DECIDE: Pick A, B, or C and fill in details]

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10. Meta-Progression

What We Know

• Unlocks options, not power
• No permanent stat buffs

[DECIDE: What unlocks after each run?]

Proposed structure:

• Win Run 1 → Unlock [DECIDE: 1 new hull? 1 new starting fleet? 2 equipment items?]
• Win Run 2 → Unlock [DECIDE]
• Win Run 3 → Unlock [DECIDE]
• Lose Run (any) → Unlock [DECIDE: Nothing? Small consolation prize?]

[DECIDE: Fill in unlock tree for first 5 wins]

Unlock Categories

Check which categories you want:

• New hulls
• New equipment
• New mods
• New starting fleet options
• New events
• New bosses (variants)
• Cosmetics (ship skins, names, etc.)

[DECIDE: Check boxes above]

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11. Victory Condition

[DECIDE: What constitutes winning a run?]

• Option A: Defeat the boss (regardless of fleet state)
• Option B: Defeat the boss with at least X ships remaining
• Option C: Reach score threshold (score = enemies defeated × fleet HP remaining?)

[DECIDE: Pick one]

[DECIDE: Are there difficulty tiers or modifiers?] (e.g., Ascension levels like Slay the Spire)

• YES → [DECIDE: What do they change?]
• NO → Just one difficulty for MVP

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12. Known Vulnerabilities Log

Things that will probably bite later but are acceptable for MVP:

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.

3. Tag discovery: Players won't know what tags do without a codex/help. Either add tutorial or accept confusion for first 2-3 runs.

4. Event repetition: With only 5-8 events, you'll see repeats in same run. Either need more events or smart draw-without-replacement system.

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.

7. "Optimal route" problem: If recon reveals everything, skilled players find the one best path every time. Some uncertainty must remain.

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13. Open Questions Not Covered Above

Answered:

• Fleet size limits → 6 active + 3 reserve, start with 4
• Retreat option → Yes, via route avoidance (recon system) and defensive mentality disengagement
• Difficulty indicators → Recon confidence ranges show estimated enemy strength

Still open:

1. Currency system: Is there scrap/gold/resources, or purely loot-based?

   • Leaning toward: No currency, purely loot/equipment based. Simplifies economy.

2. Ship naming: Do ships have persistent names/identity, or just "Destroyer #1"?

   • Leaning toward: Names add flavor. Auto-generate or let player name.

3. RNG seed exposure: Is seed visible to player (for challenge runs/sharing)?

   • Not critical for MVP. Nice-to-have later.

4. Save system: Save between nodes, or full run in one sitting?

   • [DECIDE] - Important for 30-min target. Probably save between nodes.

5. Recon rating thresholds: What fleet recon values unlock what visibility?

   • [DECIDE] - Needs playtesting to tune.

6. Equipment slot types: Are slots generic or typed (gun/torpedo/aircraft/utility)?

   • Leaning toward: Typed slots on carriers, generic elsewhere. Enables weird builds.

7. Maximum inventory size: How much loose equipment can you carry?

   • [DECIDE] - Prevents hoarding, forces decisions.

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Fill-In Instructions

1. Search for every [DECIDE: ...] tag in this document
2. Replace with your actual design decision
3. Delete options you're NOT using
4. If you add new mechanics, document them in same format
5. When you've filled it all in, this becomes the gameplay spec

Don't overthink it - make a decision, document it, test it. Wrong answers are fine; unknown answers will kill the project.

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Status: PARTIALLY COMPLETE

Decided:

• Design pillars (weird warships, reward preservation, naval scarcity)
• Fleet size (6 active + 3 reserve, start with 4)
• Combat philosophy (more deterministic, mentality system, disengagement)
• Recon system concept (confidence ranges, strategic layer)
• Basic combat phases and formulas

Still needs decisions:

• Exact stat numbers (hull stats, equipment stats)
• Equipment and mod definitions (8-10 items, 5-6 mods)
• Tag derivation rules
• Fleet chemistry / synergies
• Event cards (5-8)
• Boss encounter specifics
• Recon rating thresholds
• Meta-progression unlock tree