Battlefield Notation

Battlefield notation is the visual language used throughout the combat system to represent battlefield states, combatant positions, and tactical situations. Each position on the battlefield is enclosed in brackets, with distance connectors between them.

Alicep1>

<Bobc1

Breaking this down:

Brackets enclose all combatants at the same coordinate
Name — the actor’s display name, truncated to 8 characters when necessary
Local ID — the badge (e.g. p1, c1) is the same handle used in commands like strike c1
Chevrons — > or < indicate facing direction
Distance — the number between brackets is the distance in meters
Highlighting — the current actor’s row is emphasized

Actor Labels

Each combatant is displayed by name and local ID. The local ID is the same identifier a player sees when issuing a look command and uses when targeting with commands like strike c1.

p prefix — player characters (p1, p2)
c prefix — creatures and NPCs (c1, c2)

Names longer than 8 characters are truncated in the notation to keep the display compact.

Facing Indicators

Facing indicators show combatant orientation using chevrons:

Right-facing: the chevron > appears after the label
Left-facing: the chevron < appears before the label

Stacking

When multiple combatants share a position, they stack vertically within the same bracket. Left-facing combatants appear first, then right-facing:

<Bobp2

Alicep1>

Charliep3>

<Davidc1

Evec2>

This example demonstrates:

Multiple combatants at the same coordinate (Alice & Bob at 50, David & Eve at 175)
Facing separation within stacked groups
Current actor highlighting (Charlie)
Team color coding (green for player’s team, red for enemies)
Distance connectors between position groups

Boundary Markers

When a combatant is positioned at a battlefield boundary, a ▌ marker indicates the edge:

▌

Alicep1>

100

<Bobc1

Alice is positioned exactly at coordinate 0, the left edge of the battlefield. The boundary marker appears directly adjacent to her bracket.