Lifespan

At the beginning of a combat, the lifespan of each fighting icon is computed by adding the following values:

• Current Lifespan:

  Special rule concerning the Shapeshifter: Versus an elemental, his Lifespan is equal to 10, otherwise it gets the original value of the opposing icon type. So, the Shapeshifter never needs any healing.

• Square color lifespan bonus (Not applied to elementals):

  Square Color	Lifespan Bonus
  	Light Side	Dark Side
  	+7	+0
  	+6	+1
  	+4	+3
  	+3	+4
  	+1	+6
  	+0	+7

• Casted Spell lifespan penalty (Only applied to the Wizard and the Sorceress, they lose 1 lifespan for each spell casted):

  # Spells Casted	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  Lifespan Penalty	-0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7

At the end of the combat, the remaining Lifespan of each fighting icon becomes their current Lifespan.

Obstacles

18 Obstacles, classed in 3 groups of 6 Obstacles, are randomly scattered in the Arena:

Obstacle Color	Group	Initial Combat Time Direction
	Starting color Group 1	To Dark Peak
	Starting color Group 2	To Light Peak
	Starting color Group 3	To Light Peak

During the combat, the color of each group shifts according to the Combat Time Direction and reverses when it reaches a Peak. The shifts of all groups occur at the same time: every 5.12 seconds (PAL) or 4.27 seconds (NTSC):

Obstacle Color	Description
	Lightest
	Group 1 initial color
	Group 2 initial color
	Group 3 initial color, Darkest

The obstacles are barriers to the players and missiles motions, but:

• When a group is exactly of the same color than the fighting Square Color, the obstacles of the group temporary disappear until the color shifts and don't alter any motion.
• When a group has a color next to the fighting Square Color, the obstacles of the group only slow down the motions.

Computer Difficulty

The computer player adapts his level to the player level by adding latency before and after an attack.

The latency is computed at the beginning of the combat and will be the same throughout this one.

The value of the latency (in jiffies) is equal to the base 3 added by the number of icons alive he has, minus the number of icons alive his enemy has. If the combat is held on a Power Point, the latency is deducted by 3 (harder). The minimum value of the latency is 1.

AI

The computer player has 2 behaviors in combat, depending of the state of his attack:

• His weapon is loaded: Ready behavior.
• His weapon is reloading: Reloading behavior.

1. Ready

   The computer player has the Ready behavior when his attack is reloaded.

   He will attack as soon as the enemy red point enters the attacking area and no obstacle is on the path of his line of sight.

   When the enemy isn't in the attacking area:

   • If his enemy attacks, he dodges the enemy attack using the dodging area (like in the Reloading behavior).

   • Else, he positions himself:

     • If his enemy is located in the attacking range: Aim enemy by approaching his nearest axis toward his enemy until he enters the attacking area.
     • If his enemy is located outer the attacking range: Reach attacking range by approaching him using the shortest path.

   The properties of the attacking area are:

   Direction	Thickness	Length
   Horizontal	18 pixels	Attacking Range
   Diagonal	18 pixels	Attacking Range*2 (Manhattan distance)
   Vertical	12 pixels	Attacking Range

   The attacking area (in dark green) and the attacking range (in yellow) of the Djinni:

   

   To sum up, the order of his actions is:

   • Dodge all attacks.
   • Reach attacking range.
   • Aim enemy.
   • Attack enemy.

2. Reloading

   The computer player has this behavior when his attack is reloading:

   • If his enemy is reloading and will reload after him, he positions himself to attack like in the Ready behavior (Reach attacking range and aim enemy).

   • If his enemy is located in the dodging area:

     • He will try to make him leave (with a side step) to avoid the line of sight of his enemy.
     • If his enemy is located in the fleeing range (and in the dodging area), he will move away his enemy.

   • If his enemy is located outer the dodging area, he moves randomly.

   The properties of this dodging area are:

   Direction	Thickness	Length
   Horizontal	Horizontal Dodging Thickness	Fleeing Range
   Diagonal	Diagonal Dodging Thickness	Fleeing Range*2 (Manhattan distance)
   Vertical	Vertical Dodging Thickness	Fleeing Range

   The dodging area (in dark green) and the fleeing range (in yellow) of the Djinni:

   

Hint

The hint to beat the computer player is to use the AI against him. The fact is that when he dodges, he doesn't pay attention of the projectile, but only of the line of sight toward the player. Thus, if the player fires and stays away of the enemy dodging area, the computer player will not try to avoid anything.

The objective is to have the projectile comes through the enemy path without entering his dodging area. The slower the projectile is, the easier it is to temporize.

Here's an example. The Dragon player fires and moves away staying outer the dodging area while the enemy is going down: