A game of emergent behavior.
Each player deploys a limited supply of boids with varying behavioral parameters and they interact to achieve game outcomes.
Players should be able to save various configurations for quick use in-game. For example, a "scout", or "defender", etc.
How does boid combat work? Maybe they automatically fire at enemies that are within range? Maybe they have some kind of aggression parameter that can make them fire at different ranges and be more or less likely to give chase?
Speed, armor, and weaponry should be trade-offs. Less weaponry and armor means more speed, etc. Can we work sensors into this? It would be cool if some boids could "see" further than others, but how would the trade-off work? Should other parameters also involve trade-offs? Maybe there's a common pool of "points" and they're split between all parameters?
Can boids communicate directly in any way? For example, can they "see" through other boids at all? If so, what are the limitations? Maybe they get updated infrequently, or the information is quantified or otherwise inexact. Maybe communication occurs as a set of signals with no other contextual information attached. For example, "I see enemies", or "I'm under attack".
Should the game be played in real time or should it pause occasionally to allow new deployments / orders? Should existing boids be allowed to receive new parameters? Alternatively, they could be recalled and then reprogrammed.
The goal of the boid fleets might be to capture "planets" (megaboids?). Not sure how that would work. Maybe they "land" on the planet and are absorbed, once a certain number are absorbed the planet becomes captured? Should the number to capture be fixed, or should you be able to insulate your control by pumping more boids in? Can they just fly into the planet or is there some kind of landing process during which time they are vulnerable? Should defenders land if they are about to lose a planet? We probably want a parameter of some kind for whether or not, or how likely, a boid will land / capture if the act causes the boid to be lost. What about orbiting instead of landing? That way the orbiting boids can continue to defend? If only your boids are in orbit then the planet is yours?
Maybe planets generate resources that let you produce more boids? Model those mechanics after Konquest maybe? Should planets be random or should there be "maps"? What about other obstacles? Maybe not, at least at first, because the behavior is random, too many possible weird cases.
Possible boid parameters:
- Aggressiveness
- Capture / orbit affinity
- Defensiveness
- Adventurousness / willingness to scout (fog of war?)
- Cohesiveness (stick together or spread out)
Boid movement is defined by a position and a velocity. At each simulation tick the game logic is responsible for producing a new velocity, and the integrator is responsible for producing a new position.