2026-09-16 19:34:08
Anonymous:
Threat ranking and shot-pull decided (owner, 2026-09-16)
hold the flood/combat rules.md ..
@@ 4,7 4,7 @@
## What a fight is
-
Crossing this station means crossing crowds. Ordinary weapons fire automatically, and by default each one picks the nearest visible valid target. So the player's combat is about **where to be**: which route to take, how close to let the crowd come, which line through it to walk, which automatic effects are connected, and when to press a manual special.
+
Crossing this station means crossing crowds. Ordinary weapons fire automatically, and by default each one picks the nearest visible valid target among the most urgent threats: a Caller mid-call before anything already coming for you, and those before bodies still standing (owner decision, 2026-09-16). So the player's combat is about **where to be**: which route to take, how close to let the crowd come, which line through it to walk, which automatic effects are connected, and when to press a manual special.
A rig may carry more than one ordinary weapon output. What limits it is power, heat, rig space and carrying capacity; [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) owns those limits and how outputs connect.
@@ 174,7 174,7 @@
[Combat And Enemy Roster](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20And%20Enemy%20Roster) owns each creature's warning, action and recovery. In a crowd they play distinct parts. **Pressers** are the slow majority that fills the lane. **Flankers** are the fast packs on side routes. **Callers** wake the next stage. A **Boltspitter** demands a ranged line, a **Clampcrawler** occupies the control you are working, and a **Veilbearer** briefly hides the crowd behind it. Three special creatures — **Bellback**, **Shutterback** and **Glass Siphon** — change force, cover or your oxygen clock enough to deserve a featured entrance.
-
Everything attacks on sight, investigates recent noise and pursues what it saw, then searches locally and gives up. Nothing knows where you are without perceiving you, and nothing tracks you across the station.
+
Everything attacks on sight, investigates recent noise and pursues what it saw, then searches locally and gives up. A body that is shot knows where the shot came from and comes; ordinary fire is quiet beyond a few metres, so a shot pulls one body rather than waking a room, while loud work carries across the ward. Nothing knows where you are without perceiving you, and nothing tracks you across the station.
## A climax
@@ 190,7 190,7 @@
## Open questions
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- Target overrides and aim assistance, including whether nearest-visible stays the default.
+
- Target overrides and aim assistance beyond the threat ranking decided on 2026-09-16 (nearest within urgency: Caller mid-call, then anything coming, then standing).
- Damage, health, warning timings and displacement.
- Exact crowd sizes, performance and effect density on screen.
- Renewal placement for other station arrangements after permanent doors, joins and source seals change their routes; the two worked route states and the moving scan do not cover every arrangement.
