Code Map

The combat engine for Lancer Tactics follows the 3-layer Celestial Order that Olive describes here. Resources and nodes can be in one of three layers: Stateless Resources, Persisted Resources (aka Cores), and Ephemeral Nodes.

Stateless Resources are where the bulk of the logic for the game and abilities are stored. These resources define behavior and their values are constant; their state does not change as a result of processing events. Contact with player-facing ephemeral nodes (to trigger visual effects and request player input) is mediated through a signal bus system. They are the metaphorical "heavens"; the stars remain eternal.

Persisted Resources (or "Cores") store game state that we care about preserving, e.g. equipped systems and current HP. These resources generally have few functions that contain game logic. Their purpose is to serialize and deserialize their variables to JSON, and to provide utility functions for access and setting of said variables. They are the metaphorical "souls", or ghosts; they have long memories but do not have the ability to affect the world on their own.

Ephemeral Nodes make up the scene tree. Everything the player sees (i.e. UI, 3D world) is represented in a node. Any state they have is disposable; they can sync themselves to a Core to show its values and respond to player input to change those values (perhaps through triggering an event in the top layer), but the game should be able to at any point throw them all away and not lose anything that needed to be saved. They are the metaphorical "bodies"; made of crude mortal matter, but vessels of souls and the initiators of change.

This is an (incomplete) map of the elements of Lancer Tactics' combat engine, following this 3-layer system.