Fights were ~3-5s; the user wanted 20-30s. Tuned the table (and added one
mechanic) so they land there, re-validated against the sim throughout.
- Engine: a `global_cooldown` (the genre swing timer, §10 "attack delay") — an
actor can't start a new action until it elapses, so no button-masher can
out-DPS the intended tempo. Config-driven (`global_cooldown` ticks; 0 = off).
Actor gains `next_action_at`; engine gates decisions on it.
- Controller: ScriptedPlayer now pressures with its heavy proactively when
healthy (not only on the exact overrun frame), so the sim measures what a real
player experiences instead of an unrealistically patient bound.
- Config rebalance: damage cut + flattened, fatigue/regen/recovery co-tuned, and
the kit made roughly **DPS-neutral** with auto-attack (each ability's cooldown
matched to auto's damage-per-second). Under the global cooldown that's the key
insight: abilities win through stagger leverage + timing, not raw throughput —
otherwise strong abilities trivialize the pace and flat ones aren't worth their
fill (the guardrail kept inverting until this landed). Auto-attacks (difficulty
0) also no longer fizzle.
- Front-end: cache-bust the config fetch so edits are always picked up; widened
the sim's archetype sweep to all six monsters.
Result (sim, skilled play ≈ real play): monster fights 16-38s (centered ~24s);
guardrail steep and green (even-con auto 0% → skill20 2% → skill50 12% →
skill80 44% → skill100 78%); all six monsters winnable. Verified live in-browser:
realistic play lands ~15-30s and a clean mid-fight reads perfectly on the dual bar.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Parley Hatch
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