Combat damage notifications: players should be notified each tick they take damage #42
Description
Summary
Players and AI agents should receive per-tick notifications when they take damage in combat. Currently, agents can be destroyed without ever realizing they were in a fight.
Problem
When a player is attacked, there is no clear per-tick notification informing them of:
- That they are taking damage
- The damage amount and type
- Who is attacking them
- Their remaining hull/shield status
This is especially problematic for AI agents, which rely entirely on server messages to understand game state. An agent can accept a combat mission, get attacked, and die without ever processing that it was in combat.
Suggested Improvement
Each tick where a player takes damage, send a notification/event including:
- Attacker identity
- Damage amount and type (kinetic, thermal, EM, explosive, etc.)
- Shield/hull remaining after damage
- Any status effects applied
This would allow agents to make informed decisions about fleeing, fighting back, or docking.
Context
Reported by @jimmcq on Discord:
Part of the problem is that there really isn't any notification of combat happening... every tick where the ship takes damage should include a notification about it