Specified · Specification

Logiston

A strategy MMO you play by writing Python that runs on the server.

DWMM Holdings · Specified · Python, Specification, Game design

Abstract

Logiston takes the idea behind Screeps, a persistent world you control by writing code, and makes it about logistics. You write Python that runs on the server around the clock and spend your time building and tuning supply networks. You beat other players by out-supplying them. This page covers the idea, how a fight is decided, and how the docs are set up. Nothing is built yet.

1The idea

You don’t play Logiston by clicking. You write a function that runs every tick on the server, and it decides where your supply goes. Here’s that loop in miniature, with two fronts that go to whoever gets more supply to them.

supply.py runs on the server, every tick

def tick(world):
    d1 = world.depot("D1")   # 10 crates a tick
    d1.send("north", )
    d1.send("south", )

Red’s script sends 7 north and 3 south. Each of your roads carries at most 6 crates a tick.

Every crate goes out. Change a number and the next tick uses it.

Tick 0

Ticks you’ve held: north 0 · south 0

Fig. 1. A sketch of the idea. Your script decides where supply goes, and each front goes to whichever side delivered more that tick. It runs in your browser. The Python and the numbers are made up for this page and aren’t Logiston’s API.

2How a fight is decided

Combat results come straight from supply, and they’re meant to be dull. There’s no separate stats system to learn. If you want to win a fight, you get more supply to it than the other player does.

Decides a fight

How much supply each side gets to it. That comes from the networks players build and the Python that runs them.

Isn’t modeled

Fuel, unit movement, and a separate combat stats system. The spec leaves these out on purpose so logistics stays the whole game.

3How it’s meant to be built

The repository holds the design docs and the build docs. They’re laid out as tickets, so a coding agent can work through the build one ticket at a time.

Piece	What it covers
The world	A persistent world that keeps ticking whether or not you’re logged in.
Your code	Python that runs on the server every tick, for every player.
Supply	The networks you build and tune. This is where the game is played.
Combat	Resolved from supply, with nothing else feeding into it.

4Status

Specified. The design and build docs are written. The game itself hasn’t been built, so there’s nothing to play or sign up for yet.

If this is useful to you, or you’d like to see it built, get in touch