Raid loop

Source: PROJECT_CONTEXT.md §1, §2, §3, §8.2; config.js map, extraction, enemyScale; game.js callExtraction/updateExtraction/tickWorldEvents/triggerCataclysm. Status: ✅ Implemented

What it is

The core session loop of Shadow Raiders. The player drops into a hostile top-down map, loots as much as possible while dodging AI mobs, bosses, and rival raiders, then tries to extract alive before a round timer ends. The genre's signature twist: no gear-loss penalty — death forfeits only this raid's loot, never equipped or stashed gear — keeping extraction tension while staying accessible to a casual mobile audience.

How it works

• Drop in. Procedurally placed handcrafted POIs each run; player spawns with a no-enemy safe radius around them (map.spawnSafe).
• Loot / survive / fight. The map holds rival raider bots (varying Power), AI mobs, a boss, valuable resources, chests, and extraction zones. A character or mob can only attack a target inside its vision range (fog of war + per-enemy vision cones; §3).
• Extract. Reach an extraction point, call the portal (callExtraction), and board it. Extraction takes time and you must be clear of nearby enemies first; boarding is a presence timer (updateExtraction). Some exits close earlier than others (§8.5: Old Well @180s, Hollow Stump @300s).
• Round timer → Wildmagic Storm. A 10-minute round timer (map.roundTime 600s). As it winds down, escalating one-shot world beats fire (tickWorldEvents): @420s the Wildmagic stirs and creatures grow restless (vision radius/cone bumped); @180s and @90s storm warnings; in the final 30s the storm intensity ramps and deals escalating damage (~5%/s of max HP scaled by intensity), triggerCataclysm consumes the map — everyone still on the map dies.
• No gear loss on death. Only the current raid's loot is forfeited; equipped/stashed gear is safe (§1, §3).

Player strategies the design must support (§2)

• Grab-and-go — take valuable loot and leave, avoiding all fights.
• Hunt mobs — kill mobs for their drops.
• Hunt rival raiders — kill other (bot) players for their haul.
• Raid special/locked zones — high-risk zones (The Vault) for the rarest loot; entry needs a key, or wait for another player to unlock it and ambush them.
• Any combination of the above.

Tunables

Group	Key	Default
map	roundTime	600 (s)
map	spawnSafe	760
map	bots	5 (rival raiders)
map	roamDiv	450 (1 roaming mob per N tiles)
map	coreBias	0.45 (roaming pull toward deadly core)
map	ringCore / ringMid	0.34 / 0.66 (risk-ring thresholds)
extraction	incoming	0 (portal travel time, s)
extraction	window	32 (open window to board, s)
extraction	boardPassive	9 (board while free to act, s)
extraction	boardForce	3 (rooted force-board channel, s)
extraction	boardBot	9 (rival board time, s)
extraction	guardCap	4 (creatures guarding one portal)
extraction	spawnGap / spread	1000 / 850 (exit placement, px)
enemyScale	enemySpeedMul	1.0 (non-boss speed vs player base pace)
enemyScale	atkCdMul	1.5 (× on every enemy attack cooldown)
enemyScale	powerRef	1500 (player Power where creatures use base stats)
enemyScale	hpPerPow / dmgPerPow	0.7 / 0.5 (PvE scaling above ref)

Design intent

Serves Accessible extraction (all the suspense, none of the gear-wipe punishment) and Route over reflexes — the timer + storm force a route-planning decision (how greedy can I be before I must run for an exit), and enemyScale keeps a geared raider from trivializing the map so the PvE pressure stays real. The open strategy menu (§2) is the loop's replay value.

Open questions / deltas

• Single-player vs simulated multiplayer (§9.3): "other players" are AI bots matched to your Power, not networked humans — consistent with the concept, but real PvP is out of scope for the prototype.
• 2.5D camera (§9.1): rendered with an isometric tilt (map.tilt 0.67, faux-height walls), not the pure flat top-down the concept names. Unity port must decide which to keep.
• Added-systems carry-forward (§9.5): noise propagation, portal-guarding AI, and the storm cataclysm are prototype additions not in the concept doc; carry forward unless deliberately cut.