# Roadmap and Next Steps

# Roadmap and Next Steps

## Spike 1 - tick engine core (first build)

The smallest thing that proves the system:

- Two actors (player fighter vs goblin), one action each with full PER cycles.
- The whirlwind exec window (zone damage while active).
- A spell prep + interrupt case.
- The resolution doctrine (actor loop in initiative order, reaction queue, uniform next-tick reactions).
- **Seeded replay test** - same seed, identical fight.
- Plus the goblin action-profile schema (archetype + ranked triggers as data).

## After the spike

- Terrain-at-borders movement costs and the 3D/falling model.
- Reactions and the cancellation policy (boundary + deep-prep + telegraph).
- Profile data + code evaluator (the decision table) and a few monster types.
- The resolution mechanic (0-1 roll + degrees of success) wired into the sim.

## Later

- Decision-model question pack for intent-reading judgment (hosted/local/fallback).
- A couple of playable classes (the tactical verbs: zone control, feints, prep-heavy spells, delayed effects).
- Knowledge system polish: what monsters and players can read about each other.
- Sensory model (noise, smell, light, patrol rhythm) + attacker attraction (Open Questions 18).

## Far future

- **Autopilot/intent mode**: the user defines the player's intent and the app controls the PC. The player-set decision policy for reactions (Open Questions 15) is the first step toward this.

## Future planning (not yet detailed)

Areas identified but still need their own planning sessions - placeholders to revisit:

- **Treasure, loot, and inventory**: what drops, how inventory works (weight/slots - the encumbrance question folds in here).
- **Equipment and gear**: weapons and armor as PER parameter sets (attack speeds, reach, zone windows, lingering effects).
- **Leveling and progression**: XP, level-up mechanics, how the degrees-of-success math scales with experience.
- **Feat selection**: how players earn and choose feats (zero-phase combos, cancel feats, reactive builds).
- **Framework choice**: build on an existing roguelike framework/library or start from scratch? Also relevant to the tick engine.
- **Character creation**: race/class/stat generation, within the "two classes to start" scope.
- **Dungeon generation and the AI vision**: the original goals (AI-driven dungeon variety, NPC conversations, descriptive text) still need their own planning.
- **Non-combat simulation**: rest, world clocks, patrols (Open Questions 14), senses and attraction (Open Questions 18).