Gameplay Loops

This document details the distinct, interlocking gameplay loops of CROSS for viewers, streamers, and cross-channel economy.

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🔁 Overview: The Interactive Loop

graph TD
    subgraph Viewer Progression
        VA[Active in Chat/Stream] -->|Spawns Avatar| VB[Participate in Combat/Defense]
        VB -->|Earns XP & Gold| VC[Upgrade Gear & Skills]
        VB -->|Earns Resources| VD[Donate Resources to Streamer Rooms]
    end

    subgraph Streamer Progression
        SA[Customize & Build Rooms] -->|Buffs Chatters| SB[Increase Chat Engagement]
        SB -->|Stronger Defense| SC[Unlock High-Tier Rooms & Bosses]
        SC -->|Global Stream Standing| SD[Cross-Stream Alliances / Raids]
    end

    VD -->|Upgrades rooms| SA
    SC -->|Drops better loot| VB

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1. The Viewer Loop (Leveling & Loot)

The viewer’s primary goal is to grow their character, customize their appearance, and unlock rare classes/professions.

1. Entering the Scene: The viewer joins the Twitch stream. By typing a command (!join) or opening the Twitch Extension, their avatar spawns onto the streamer’s base.
2. Active vs. Passive Play:
   • Passive state: The avatar stands in the “Tavern” or sits in custom chairs. If they have a profession like Herbalist, they passively harvest herbs that periodically sprout on the stream canvas.
   • Active state: When a wave is active, the viewer switches their state to Combat (!attack or clicking an enemy in the extension). The avatar moves to fight.
3. Earning Rewards:
   • XP: Gained by dealing damage, absorbing hits (tanks), healing allies (supports), or harvesting materials.
   • Gold: Awarded when waves are cleared. Gold is spent on their personal character (purchasing gear, upgrading abilities) in the Standalone Client or Extension.
   • Building Materials: Wood, Stone, Iron, and Magic Essence drop from waves and passive gathering. These are kept in the player’s persistent inventory.
4. Auto-Sleep / AFK Prevention:
   • If a viewer is inactive in chat or doesn’t interact with the extension for 15 minutes, their avatar transitions to “Sleep” mode.
   • Sleeping characters sit down, close their eyes, and do not participate in active defense or earn passive resource drops. This prevents 24/7 lurker bot farms.

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2. The Streamer Loop (Base Building & Stream Events)

The streamer’s goal is to build an impressive base, boost chat engagement, and unlock stream-wide bonuses.

1. Building & Upgrading Rooms: The streamer has a limited number of building slots. They select which rooms to build (e.g., Tavern, Blacksmith, Alchemy Lab).
   • Viewers donate Wood, Stone, and Gold to upgrade these rooms.
   • Fully upgraded rooms grant passive bonuses (e.g., +15% chat XP, weapon stat multipliers, custom cosmetics).
2. Triggering Invasions (Waves):
   • Automatic Interval: Small skirmishes occur every 30-45 minutes.
   • Streamer Triggered: The streamer can trigger hard waves manually (e.g., to celebrate a raid, sub milestone, or just to interact with chat).
   • Twitch Alert Integration: Integrations with subs, bits, or channel points spawn special mini-bosses.
3. Base Damage & Defeat:
   • If monsters breach the player defenses and attack the streamer’s Core/Keep, the base takes damage.
   • If the Core reaches 0 HP, the base is “Ruined”. All rooms are temporarily disabled (disabling viewer buffs) until the streamer or viewers pay a Gold/Stone fee to repair it.

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3. The Cross-Stream Loop (Inter-Stream Economy)

The defining feature of CROSS is that viewer progression is globally persistent.

1. Resource Portability: A viewer can farm Stone on Streamer A’s channel and use it to help Streamer B construct a high-level Barracks. This fosters cross-community collaboration.
2. Global Standing & Prestige:
   • Viewers compete on global leaderboards.
   • Streamers can showcase their “Base Level” (the sum of their room levels), comparing it to other streamers in the community.
3. Raid Boss Events:
   • When Streamer A raids Streamer B, the Master Server triggers a Raid Event.
   • Streamer A’s avatar (scaled up to a giant Boss) invades Streamer B’s screen.
   • Viewers from both chats fight the boss. If defeated, viewers of both channels receive a “Raid Bounty” (shared gold/loot chest).

⚖️ Small vs. Big Stream Synergy (Depletion vs. Scaling)

To naturally boost smaller streamers and prevent all viewers from concentrating on a few massive streams, we implement a balancing resource-vs-experience mechanic:

[Small Stream: Low Population]  --->  High Resource Gathering Rates (No Depletion)
[Large Stream: High Population]  --->  High Combat XP Rates (Elite/Boss Waves)

• Resource Depletion (The Crowding Penalty):
  • Concept: Shared node depletion. The more players are actively harvesting/mining on a single stream canvas, the lower the individual gathering yield becomes.
  • Formula: $\text{Gathering Yield Modifier}=\frac{1.0}{1.0+0.08\times (\text{Active Gatherers}-1)}$
  • Impact: If a player is alone on a small streamer’s channel, they gather resources at a full $1.0x$ rate. On a stream with $50$ gatherers, the rate drops to $0.2x$. This drives players to seek out quiet, low-viewer streams to farm wood, stone, wheat, and herbs.
• Combat XP Scaling (The Group Morale Buff):
  • Concept: Massive battles yield bigger rewards. Larger streams trigger harder monster waves (Elites, Champions, and Bosses) with higher baseline XP drops.
  • Formula: $\text{Combat XP Bonus (\%)}=\text{Base Wave XP}\times (1.0+0.005\times \text{Active Defenders})$ (Capped at $+50\%$).
  • Impact: Fighting in a massive raid group of 100 players on a big stream gives a large XP boost, making large channels the go-to destination to level up characters and farm gold.