Skip to main content

ThreatSimulator Drone Game Enhancements Documentation

Overview​

This document outlines planned and suggested improvements to the ThreatSimulator drone game, focusing on enhancing gameplay by adding support for multiple drones, improving control intuitiveness, and introducing auto-defense and manual mode features.

1. Improvements for Adding Multiple Drones​

Current Behavior​

The game currently spawns individual threats (including drones) randomly within the game area. Threats approach the center and can be neutralized manually by clicking on them. Swarm attacks are simulated by generating multiple threats through delayed batches.

Proposed Enhancements​

  • Explicit Multiple Drone Support:
    • Allow players to add and manage multiple drones simultaneously.
    • Introduce UI components to display and select from active drones.
  • Drone Grouping and Management:
    • Group drones in formations or squads for coordinated defense/offense.
    • Enable issuing commands to groups such as move, attack, or defend.
  • Spawning Logic:
    • Extend current spawnThreat and generateSwarm methods to support controlled drone deployment.
    • Allow user-triggered drone deployments aside from random spawns to strategically place drones.
  • Visual Indicators:
    • Enhance the UI to clearly differentiate each drone, possibly by unique colors or labels.
    • Show drone statuses (health, active mode, weapon type).

2. Design for More Intuitive Controls​

Current Controls​

  • Pause/Resume the simulator.
  • Reset game state.
  • Spawn single threats or swarms.
  • Select weapon type from buttons.
  • Neutralize threats via click interaction.

Proposed Enhancements​

  • Control Layout Improvements:
    • Group related controls logically; e.g., separate drone controls from general threat controls.
    • Use toggle switches for modes such as auto-defense/manual.
  • Direct Drone Controls:
    • Add draggable control points or command inputs for precise drone navigation.
    • Keyboard shortcuts for quick actions, e.g., switching between drones or weapons.
  • Feedback & Simplification:
    • Provide real-time feedback on control actions through animations or sound.
    • Simplify the weapon selection with icons or tooltips explaining effects.
  • Tutorial or Help Overlay:
    • Add a short interactive overlay guiding users through controls on first launch.

3. Auto-Defense and Manual Mode Features​

Feature Definition​

  • Manual Mode: User manually controls drone attacks and defense, selecting weapons and targets.
  • Auto-Defense Mode: The simulator autonomously manages drone defense systems, attacking threats based on priority heuristics.

Implementation Considerations​

  • Mode Toggle:
    • Introduce a toggle button/switch to switch between manual and auto-defense modes.
    • Reflect mode status clearly in the UI.
  • Auto-Defense Logic:
    • Use threat prioritization (e.g., proximity, threat type, health) to decide attack targets.
    • Automatically select weapons best suited for threat types.
    • Manage cooldowns and resource constraints if applicable.
  • Manual Override:
    • Allow quick manual override in auto-defense mode to target specific threats or change weapons.
  • State Management:
    • Extend gameState to track current mode, drone statuses, and automated decisions.
  • User Notifications:
    • Notify the user of auto-defense actions taken (successful neutralizations, mode switches).

Summary​

These enhancements aim to deepen the gameplay experience, making the ThreatSimulator more engaging and strategically rich by enabling multiple drones management, intuitive user interactions, and flexible control modes. Implementation will require extending current state management, UI components, and event handling logic within the ThreatSimulator.tsx component.