Malte Langkabel
8d0dd6f454
Recipe display names come from the id, so a recipe that shared its id with its output item showed the item's name back to the player. Every recipe id now names the process that runs it: iron_mining, quartz_reduction, steel_rolling, chip_etching, the *_framing hulls, the *_kit module prefabs, and the drop-only shortcuts as direct_rolling/-etching/-hardening. The three shortcut unlock groups are renamed with their recipes, since a group's name is derived from its id the same way. Blueprints and replays store recipe ids, so files recorded before this rename lose their miner and assembler recipe selections. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Ne3mejABZoLWKLh8fgpM3x
Balancing Documentation
Everything about balancing Dota Factory, separated by role:
- rules.md — the design rules and principles. Timeless; changes only when the design changes.
- targets.md — the base numbers (roots/anchors) chosen by design. Change these first; everything else re-derives.
- derived.md — the current tuned state of all derived numbers, mirroring the configs. Updated whenever configs change.
- process.md — how balancing is done: the pass order, tuning discipline, tools, and the checklist for the next round.
- history.md — chronological record of decisions, findings, bugs, and arena rounds.
Related: game content (hull grids, footprint gating, tree design and fiction) in ../content_design.md; rules with REQ-* ids in ../requirements.md.
Status
First full balancing round complete (2026-07-06): targets → tree →
numbers → threat-calculator parity → combat stats (arena-converged) →
pacing. Next step: full-game playtests against the run-shape targets in
targets.md.
Open action items
Agreed changes that require edits to requirements.md, the code, or the
configs. Completed items are removed (their outcomes live in
requirements.md, history.md, and the git history).
- Fill unfillable schematic slots with artifacts. With duplicates removed, the schematic drop pool can run dry — previously unreachable. Decision: every slot in the choice dialog that cannot be filled with a schematic because the eligible pool is exhausted is filled with an artifact option instead (in addition to any artifact option granted by the regular artifact roll). A push therefore always awards a full dialog. Update REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP.
- Confirm wave scaling in playtests.
threat_rate_formulais the only time-scaling axis; verify the tuned curve (seederived.md) produces the intended difficulty race in real runs. - Gate shortcut-recipe drops on their inputs. Extend the assembler recipe schematic pool eligibility in REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP: in addition to the existing station-level and output-item checks, all of the recipe's input item types must be implicitly unlocked as well.
- Resource deposits. Add a terrain deposit layer per the Resource
deposits rules (
rules.md): deposit patches generated in expansion columns (deterministic content per expansion, randomized placement within the new columns), deposit rendering, and a miner condition (a resource recipe is selectable only if the miner's footprint overlaps at least one matching deposit tile). Touches REQ-BLD-MINER ("every asteroid tile is equivalent" no longer holds), REQ-GW-ASTEROID-EXPAND / REQ-EXP-*,world.toml, andvisuals.toml. Until this lands, quartz mines anywhere and the mid-game is knowledge-gated only.