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Battle Mechanics

This page explores how combat resolves in Living Universe Online — how battles are structured, how long they last, and what makes them more than a single calculated outcome.

It does not describe final game behavior. It captures the current direction and unresolved design choices.

Goal

The goal is a battle model that:

  • produces meaningful outcomes without requiring players to be actively present during combat
  • avoids the purely deterministic, calculable feel of spreadsheet-driven combat
  • rewards strategic planning before battle and interesting decisions during it
  • creates drama and narrative through emergent events rather than scripted outcomes

Core Problem

Browser-based strategy games typically resolve combat in one of two ways: instant calculation (Ogame-style) or real-time player control (EVE-style). Neither fits the design goals here.

Instant calculation is too deterministic. Players can pre-calculate outcomes exactly, which removes tension and makes combat feel mechanical. Real-time control excludes players who are not online, which punishes all but the most active players.

A wave-based model that unfolds over time occupies the space between these extremes.

Working Direction: Wave-Based Battles

Battles do not resolve in a single instant. They play out in rounds — waves — over a period of time proportional to the fleet sizes involved. A small raiding fleet might engage in three or four waves. A major siege fleet might sustain ten or more.

Each wave represents a phase of fighting. After each wave, losses are applied, debris accumulates, and both sides may issue standing orders (advance, hold, retreat).

Why waves matter

  • A small fleet may still extract partial value — stealing some resources or destroying some infrastructure — before being destroyed or retreating
  • The attacker can reassess after each wave and retreat if losses are mounting faster than expected
  • Debris accumulates wave by wave, creating a contested field that grows throughout the battle

RNG events

Each wave has a chance to trigger a special event — outcomes that fall outside the expected calculation. These events are not purely random noise; they reflect real in-world factors like crew quality, commander decisions, and equipment failures.

Examples:

  • Tactical maneuver — a commander executes a precise strike pattern, destroying additional infrastructure or ships beyond the base damage calculation
  • Elite garrison response — surface defenders rally unexpectedly, inflicting higher-than-expected casualties on attackers
  • Engine failure — a key attacker ship breaks formation, reducing that wave's effective firepower
  • Debris collision — wreckage from earlier waves interferes with incoming fire, reducing damage on both sides this wave

Events are drawn from a pool filtered by what is actually present in the battle. A battle with no commander-class ship cannot trigger commander events. A colony with no elite garrison cannot trigger garrison events.

Battle Phases

Phase 1 — Approach
  Fleet travels to target over hours.
  Defender receives an alert when the fleet enters detection range.
  Both sides may issue standing orders before engagement begins.

Phase 2 — Engagement
  Battle resolves in waves.
  Each wave: weapons fire, losses applied, debris accumulates, events checked.
  After each wave: attacker may advance, hold, or retreat.
  Defender may reinforce if forces are available and close enough.

Phase 3 — Resolution
  Attacker withdraws voluntarily, is destroyed, or retreats forced by losses.
  Final debris field established.
  Raid resources transferred (if applicable).
  Infrastructure damage logged.

The Retreat Decision

After each wave the attacker evaluates whether to continue. This can be set as a standing order before the fleet departs:

  • Press until objective complete — continue regardless of losses
  • Retreat if losses exceed X% — automatic withdrawal threshold
  • Manual — wait for player input after each wave (risky if the player is offline)

The defender cannot force a retreat directly, but high enough casualties per wave will trigger automatic thresholds.

Open Questions

  • How long is each wave in real time — minutes or hours?
  • How is total battle duration determined — fleet size, objective type, or both?
  • Can a player intervene manually during a battle if they happen to be online?
  • How are RNG event probabilities weighted — flat chance, or scaled by relevant factors?
  • Does the attacker see the battle log in real time, or only after resolution?
  • Can the defender issue standing orders after the battle starts, or only before?