Change Log
- References to a “run” have been replaced with the term “run”.
Turn Loop
The low-level loop detailing how a “turn” in a battle plays out. This applies to both the player’s team and enemy’s team.
- The enemy AI will decide which actions to take during the section labelled “Decision-Making Period”.
- The player will be given UI and controls to do the same. During their Decision-Making Period, they’ll can move the camera, click on each tile to view information, assess the state of the battle, and take their time making a decision. They generally won’t have control outside of that, as the battle will process and unfold in front of them.
Battle Loop
The loop for individual battles, which encapsulates both player and enemy turns.
- The player always goes first.
- If the outcome of a battle is a victory, the player proceeds with the run.
- If the outcome of a battle is a defeat, a game over is triggered.
District Loop
The loop for discrete districts (areas) within a run, detailing what happens between battles. The player must progress through several districts in order to win the run.
The general flow is that the player is presented with a map with branching paths, they select an available room to go to, that room plays out, and the player is returned to the map screen.
- The first room is always a battle room.
- The last room is always a boss room, and boss rooms do not appear anywhere else on the map.
- Some functions may run right at the start of the district, before the first room starts (such as fully healing the party).
- The “Decision-Making Period” in this loop is the map screen.
- Game overs currently only occur in battles, but game overs should be supported in any type of room, in case we add ways to die outside of battles. (With the current game design, your party members can’t drop below 1HP unless you’re in a battle.)
Run Loop
The highest-level loop in a play session.
- The run doesn’t officially “start” until the player has selected their characters, abilities, etc. and pressed the start button. This is important for save data and progression reasons (don’t abandon/overwrite in-progress runs until the player commits to the start of a new one, etc.)
- Currently there will be 3 districts to progress through, but the system should support any number of districts.
Save File Loop
Pretty much all that goes on in a save file. The goal of this entire game is to play runs, fail a bunch, eventually succeed, try to beat a high challenge rating run, and try to get every achievement.
After each completed run, new stuff is unlocked (if the conditions to unlock them was met by or during the run).
