Combat Simulation IV

I have made a great deal of process on the combat simulator, to the point where I was able to use it to run a simple combat for my party. That was a useful exercise, as it revealed a couple of places where I needed to clean it up. Two main uses for this tool have emerged more clearly in my mind: running a combat under various conditions to get a better idea of difficulty, and automating the choices of NPCs during a manual combat. Currently, it's not super easy to input PC actions without manually writing JSON - which can be done of course, but is not very scalable.

But it works! I'm trying to avoid premature optimization. I also haven't added some of the more complex effects yet, such as spells or difficult terrain conditions.

Among other benefits, the tool adds up all gained experience (and will work for hirelings and henchmen later on), and provides a useful double-check on the final disposition of health. I encourage players to keep track of their own health, but things slip through the cracks, and more so online.

This fight was rather simple and even blase; an orcish ambush (red) on the party (blue), who was inspecting the aftermath of yet another previous (and successful ambush). With so few combatants and evenly matched in numbers, there is little opportunity for much strategy once melee is met.

True, the display leaves a lot to be desired here. But I don't intend to spend a great deal of time on that, preferring instead to focus on usability and features.