2026-09-08 10:42:16
Anonymous:
Clarify clearance, condition, persistent stages, and automatic fire
hold the flood/combat rules.md ..
@@ 1,60 1,66 @@
# Hold The Horde — Combat Rules
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**Status.** Provisional contract for ordinary horde encounters, not owner canon, a full enemy roster or a balance claim. The brief requires hostile massed enemies, meaningful combat, powerful combinations, limited oxygen, clear controls and discovery first. Everything below is proposed except the owner-confirmed journal pause and requirements quoted from the brief.
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**Status.** Provisional ordinary-horde contract, not a roster or balance claim. The brief requires hostile masses, meaningful combat, powerful combinations, limited oxygen, clear controls and discovery first. It now also requires mostly automatic ordinary fire with manual special abilities. Targeting details below remain proposed; the journal pause is owner-set.
## Minimum player control
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Movement and aim are independent. The player can move, set an aim/facing direction, activate clearly mapped manual rig controls, interact or cancel, and open the journal. A manually activated projectile or shove follows the shown aim; a directional barrier uses the shown facing. The interface always exposes current oxygen, condition, carried reserve/capacity and available controls.
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Ordinary weapons fire mostly automatically; specials are manual, as the owner requires. The player moves, activates mapped specials, aims/faces a special where its inspected rule requires, interacts/cancels and opens the journal. Oxygen, condition, reserve/capacity, selected automatic target and special controls remain visible.
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Assembly assigns each manual trigger to a visible control. A part acts automatically only when its inspected rule says so: Arc Emitter selects eligible nearby targets by its public chain rule, while Impact Dynamo reacts to qualifying impacts. There is no hidden global auto-fire or target selection beyond the visible encounter. Exact input bindings, fire cadence and aim assistance remain implementation questions.
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**Proposed target rule.** Each ordinary actuator shows its reach and line-of-sight requirement. When ready, it highlights and selects the nearest visible valid hostile; without one, it holds fire. Positioning therefore changes the target. Arc Emitter applies its public chain rule from that initial target. Overrides, assistance and equipment exceptions remain undecided.
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An ordinary weapon becoming ready with a valid target is a proposed external equipment event and starts one causal wave. Readiness advances only through stated world time; rig output cannot ready the controller again or mint a launch event. Descendants retain the launch wave. Assembly labels manual specials: a chosen Capacitor release, aimed shove or directional Barrier starts a manual external wave. Dynamo and other reactive parts remain automatic only on inspected triggers.
| State or interaction | Player-readable cue | Rule and persistence |
|---|---|---|
| Enemy unaware | Facing, movement and sight line are visible | Quiet movement and looking do not create global attention |
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| Ordinary weapon ready | Eligible target is highlighted | Automatic launch starts one wave; no target holds fire |
| Investigating | Enemy moves toward a recent sound/last seen place | Losing the cue leads to local search, then disengagement |
| Local alert | Source flashes/sounds; connected entrance answers before arrival | Existing adjacent groups travel in; the source creates no enemies |
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| Staged world action | Current stage and completed checkpoints are shown | Cancel loses the unfinished stage only; completed stages remain if the mechanism is unchanged |
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| Staged world action | Current stage and completed checkpoints are shown | Cancel loses the unfinished stage; completed physical checkpoints persist |
| Record commit | Framed view and commit progress are shown | Cancel yields no record; completion preserves one still and location |
| Journal open | Frozen current view and stored records | Enemies, oxygen, projectiles, alerts and action progress all pause; nothing advances or completes |
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| Hit taken | Condition loss and any displacement are shown | Condition persists for the expedition; damage alone does not cancel an action |
## Ordinary enemies needed by the encounters
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This milestone needs behaviors, not a catalogue of species.
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- A **presser** moves along a reachable route toward the perceived astronaut and strikes at close range. Groups crowd a lane without sharing omniscient tracking. Their separate attacks are separate external events in the build grammar, so Counterwall can be repeatedly fed while strikes continue.
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- A **flanker** takes a visible connected side approach when the direct lane is obstructed. It never teleports or knows an unseen route. This makes facing and movement matter without making enemy steering the experiment.
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- A **caller** is an ordinary target that visibly braces and sounds a local warning. If allowed to complete it, the area's alert source calls eligible adjacent groups. Forcing it to move, blocking the act or defeating it first prevents that call.
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- A **presser** follows a reachable route and strikes close. Groups crowd lanes without shared omniscience. Separate attacks are separate external events, so Counterwall can be repeatedly fed while strikes continue.
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- A **flanker** uses a visible connected side approach when the direct lane is obstructed. It never teleports or knows an unseen route, making facing matter without making enemy steering the experiment.
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- A **caller** visibly braces and warns. If completed, it calls eligible adjacent groups. Displacement, obstruction or defeat prevents the call. At the jammed door, the caller and connected entrance are cued before cutting begins.
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All attack on sight when they see the astronaut. As a proposed extension, they investigate recent loud events in the same connected area: force impacts, Cycler discharges, a grinding pressure door or a stated mechanism alarm. They pursue a visible target or last perceived location. After losing both sight and fresh sound, they search locally and return to their authored route/holding behavior rather than tracking the astronaut across the station.
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All attack on sight. They also investigate recent local force impacts, Cycler discharges, grinding doors or stated alarms. They pursue sight or the last perceived location, then search locally and return to their route/holding behavior rather than track across the station.
## Pressure and reinforcements
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A route crowd can simply occupy space; it need not escalate. Reinforcements require a readable local source, either an authored mechanism alarm or a caller completing its warning. Lights or sirens identify the active source, then sound and moving doors identify the connected entrance before another group arrives. An alert draws only groups already assigned to adjacent connected spaces. It cannot spawn bodies, place them behind the player or refill a crowd because the rig killed efficiently.
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A route crowd can occupy space without escalation. Reinforcements require a readable mechanism alarm or completed caller warning. Lights/sirens identify the source; sound and door movement identify the connected entrance. Alerts move only existing adjacent groups. They cannot spawn behind the player or refill a crowd because the rig killed efficiently.
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Stopping the source prevents unanswered calls; a group already moving continues. An active source and groups already alerted remain so if the player withdraws within the same expedition. Once all eligible groups have answered, the source cannot manufacture more. Quiet observation, framing a record and journal use never call reinforcements by themselves. A particular mechanism may be noisy by authored rule, and its cue must be present before commitment.
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Stopping the source prevents unanswered calls; groups already moving continue. An active source with unused eligible groups means its area is not clear. After every eligible group answers, it manufactures no more. Quiet observation, record framing and journal use make no call; a noisy mechanism must cue that rule before commitment.
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The lit run ending at the vestibule entrance is one readable boundary. Clearing its visible crowd removes that encounter population for the expedition, not the distinct door caller, an active source or unused adjacent groups. A living enemy outside may later walk or investigate through a connected route with sight, sound or door cues. That is ordinary movement, not success-triggered replacement.
## Action interruption and discovery
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World-time actions state their checkpoints. For the long pressure route, each visibly jammed bolt released with the baseline cutter is a checkpoint, followed by each completed hand-cycle step of the door. Canceling or moving out of reach discards only the current unfinished stage and still costs elapsed oxygen. Damage alone does not cancel. An enemy interrupts only through a readable physical consequence, such as forcing the astronaut away or occupying the control point. Returning can resume from the last completed checkpoint if power and mechanism state have not changed.
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World-time actions state checkpoints. Each cut bolt and each completed hand-cycle leaves a visible physical state that survives later expeditions. Canceling or leaving reach loses only the unfinished stage and spent time/oxygen. Damage alone does not cancel; readable displacement or an occupied control can. A later obstruction, powered brake or damage may block the next stage, but cannot replace a bolt or erase a latched position. Backing out still requires reaching an exit past any obstruction or pursuer.
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Recording is atomic rather than partly useful: interruption before commit produces no record, while a completed record persists under Oxygen and Observation. Opening the journal freezes the world even during combat, as the owner requires, but cannot finish the door, attack, alarm, record or any other action. This leaves quiet looking and paused thought available; only sampling or changing the world uses running time.
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Recording is atomic: interruption before commit yields no record; completion persists. The journal freezes the world even in combat but finishes no door, attack, alarm or record. Quiet looking and paused thought remain; sampling or changing the world uses running time.
## Winning, withdrawing and returning
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Within one expedition, defeated enemies stay defeated. Surviving pursuers search and then disengage locally; they do not reset merely because the player crossed a doorway. A disabled alert stays disabled when the disabling act is a completed persistent infrastructure change. Otherwise its later power follows that mechanism's stated state rather than a universal reset.
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Within an expedition, defeated enemies stay defeated. Survivors search and disengage locally rather than reset at a doorway. A deliberately disabled alert persists as infrastructure; otherwise later power follows the mechanism's stated state.
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A decisive rig can decide an encounter. Cascade clearing the run defeats that crowd; a quiet return stays clear unless a separately cued living enemy approaches. The wider door area is quiet only after its caller/source, present enemies and travelling groups are resolved, with no unused eligible groups behind an active source. Counterwall can preserve completed door stages; Cycler can spend cargo to open a temporary lane, not a solid lasting barrier. None causes replacement elites, invisible escalation or reduced reward. Victory buys access, time, oxygen margin and discovery opportunity.
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A decisive rig is allowed to decide the encounter. If Cascade clears the route crowd and every already-called group, the route remains clear for that expedition. If Counterwall holds the mechanism entrance while the player completes its stages, the player keeps the completed access or record. If Cycler spends valuable cargo to shove open a lane, that sacrifice is already its chosen cost. None causes a replacement elite, invisible escalation or reduced reward. The win buys access, time, oxygen margin and the chance to notice or manipulate what the horde occupied.
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A hit visibly reduces condition and narrows the margin before damage death. Lost condition persists for the expedition with no passive field recovery in this proposal. Returning alive or reviving aboard restores ordinary condition for the next expedition; field healing and lasting injuries remain undecided. Working under attack therefore risks condition/death and spends time and oxygen even when progress survives.
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Withdrawal is also valid. The player keeps completed records and mechanism checkpoints, but leaves unfinished actions unfinished. A detour spends oxygen and may defer an objective; abandoning a noisy mechanism may leave its alert active. On a later expedition, authored evidence and deliberate persistent changes remain, while horde population, density and location may differ under Exploration Structure. The breadcrumb identifies the traversed return path without promising it is safe.
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Withdrawal is valid but physical. Completed records/checkpoints remain; unfinished stages do not. Detours spend oxygen and may defer the objective; abandoned alarms may stay active. Later, authored evidence and deliberate changes persist while population may differ. Breadcrumbs promise no safety.
## Encounter policy and alternative
**Preferred scope:** route pressure is common; mechanism alarms and investigative defence are selective authored encounters. Crowds then alter access and expedition choices without making every clue demand combat, while a few moving mechanisms let defence builds protect world-time observation.
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**Credible alternative: a visible continuous attention meter.** Loud combat and most world actions add attention; thresholds bring nearby groups. Its strength is a uniform systemic connection between action and pressure with fewer authored alarm sources. Its cost is turning recording, doors and experimentation into one repeated noise tax, potentially making harassment universal and encouraging players to optimize the meter instead of the mystery. It would also need exceptionally clear spatial provenance to avoid invisible punishment.
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**Alternative: visible continuous attention.** Loud combat and most world actions fill a meter that brings nearby groups. It offers one systemic pressure rule with fewer authored sources. Its cost is a repeated noise tax on doors and experimentation, encouraging meter optimization over mystery; spatial provenance must stay clear.
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Prefer the limited local-source policy because the player can understand why pressure arrives and quiet discovery remains possible. Reopen it if local alerts are too sparse or easily neutralized for ordinary combat to matter, or if authoring sources makes encounters formulaic. No prose establishes frequency, readability, fun, balance, performance or campaign pacing.
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Prefer local sources because arrival is understandable and quiet discovery remains possible. Reopen if alerts are too sparse/easy or their authoring becomes formulaic. Prose establishes no frequency, readability, fun, balance, performance or pacing.
## Self-check and dependencies
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Manual versus automatic aim, attack-wave ancestry, reinforcement sources, interruption and persistence are explicit. Successful power stays successful; avoidance retains opportunity costs without being declared failure. The proposal imports no attack-on-recording rule or global enemy reset. Exact enemy senses, population placement, controls, accessibility support and encounter frequency remain dependencies for later authorized work.
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Attack ancestry, reinforcement scope, interruption and persistence are explicit. Successful power stays successful; avoidance has opportunity costs without becoming failure. No attack-on-recording or global reset is imported. Enemy senses, population placement, targeting overrides/assistance, accessibility and frequency remain dependencies.
