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Encounter director

Pro packv3.0.0-32DArcade

Timed plans of warned hazards across lanes, and a director that plays them. Every plan always leaves a lane to stand in, warns long enough to get there, and never puts more danger live at once than its budget allows.

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Released October 14, 2026 · updated October 19, 2026

Encounter director: a screenshot of its demo
A note about these graphics

Expansion packs don't come with graphics. This screenshot is one way of drawing what the pack does, made for its demo: none of the sprites, tiles or backgrounds in it are in the pack.

That's by design. A pack is a game's logic, mechanics and effects, and it works with whatever art you give it. Some packs draw effects, backdrops or 3D scenes of their own, but none carries a game's sprites.

So the look is yours. Make the art on phaser.io, bring your own, or let your agent draw it in code: the same pack can look like anything.

The pack

encounterDirector

function encounterDirector(): Pack<{ encounterDirector: EncounterDirectorApi }>

The encounter-director pack: game.encounterDirector. No options.

Helpers

createEncounter

function createEncounter(plan: EncounterPlan): EncounterDirector

Play a plan. Throws, with every fault, on a plan validateEncounter refuses.

encounterKinds

const encounterKinds: HazardKind[]

The built-in hazard kinds.

encounterPhases

const encounterPhases: EncounterPhase[]

The built-in phases.

generateEncounter

function generateEncounter(options: EncounterOptions = {}): EncounterPlan

Generate a plan. Throws, with every fault, when the options cannot make a fair one.

validateEncounter

function validateEncounter(plan: EncounterPlan): string[]

Check a plan: timing, lanes, a safe lane at every moment, the budget, and time to reach safety. Empty when fair.

Types

EncounterDirector

interface EncounterDirector

A plan being played.

  • readonly plan: EncounterPlan — The plan.
  • readonly time: number — Seconds played.
  • readonly done: boolean — True once the plan has run out.
  • readonly phase: string — The phase now.
  • tick(dt: number): void — Advance dt seconds.
  • hazards(): (HazardCue & { active: boolean; left: number })[] — The hazards warning or live now, with active true for the live ones and left the seconds to the next change.
  • safeLanes(): number[] — The lanes no live hazard covers.
  • live(lane: number): boolean — True when a lane is covered by a live hazard.
  • drain(): EncounterEvent[] — Events since the last call.
  • snapshot(): { time: number } — The time, as plain JSON, to restore.
  • restore(save: { time: number }): void — Go back (or on) to a saved time.

EncounterDirectorApi

interface EncounterDirectorApi

What the encounter-director pack adds to a game: game.encounterDirector.

  • create: typeof createEncounter — Play a plan.
  • generate: typeof generateEncounter — Generate a fair plan by seed.
  • validate: typeof validateEncounter — Check a plan.
  • kinds: typeof encounterKinds — The built-in hazard kinds.
  • phases: typeof encounterPhases — The built-in phases.

EncounterEvent

type EncounterEvent = | { kind: 'warning' | 'active' | 'ended'; id: string; time: number } | { kind: 'phase'; name: string; time: number } | { kind: 'complete'; time: number }

Something the director says.

EncounterOptions

interface EncounterOptions

What an encounter is generated from.

  • seed?: number — The seed. Default 1.
  • lanes?: EncounterRange — How many lanes. Default [5, 7].
  • duration?: number — Its length in seconds. Default 40.
  • budget?: number — The most cost live at once. Default 3.
  • warning?: number — The least warning, in seconds. Default 1.6.
  • laneTime?: number — Seconds to cross one lane: warnings stretch so the furthest lane can reach a safe one. Default 0.7.
  • gap?: number — Seconds of calm after a hazard before the next, at no pressure. Default 1.6.
  • kinds?: HazardKind[] — The hazard kinds. Default encounterKinds.
  • phases?: EncounterPhase[] — The phases. Default probe, pressure and finale.
  • intensity?: number — Raises every phase's pressure: 0 as written, 1 as hard as it goes. Default 0.

EncounterPhase

interface EncounterPhase

A stretch of the encounter.

  • name: string — Its name.
  • at: number — Where it starts, as a fraction of the encounter.
  • pressure: number — How hard it presses, 0 to 1: how many lanes a hazard takes, how close hazards follow, whether they overlap.

EncounterPlan

interface EncounterPlan

A plan: what the director plays.

  • seed: number — The seed the plan was generated from; 1 for the default.
  • lanes: number — How many lanes the encounter has, a whole number from 2 to 100; cues name lanes 0 to lanes - 1.
  • budget: number — The most cost that may be live at once.
  • minWarning: number — The least warning a cue may have.
  • secondsPerLane: number — Seconds to cross a lane.
  • duration: number — Seconds.
  • phases: { at: number; name: string }[] — Phases by start time in seconds.
  • cues: HazardCue[] — Every hazard in the encounter.

EncounterRange

type EncounterRange = number | [number, number]

A number, or [min, max] picked by seed.

HazardCue

interface HazardCue

One hazard in a plan.

  • id: string — Its unique name within the plan, such as 'cue-0'; events refer to the cue by it.
  • kind: string — Its kind's name.
  • at: number — When its warning starts, seconds into the encounter.
  • warning: number — Seconds of warning.
  • duration: number — Seconds live after it.
  • lanes: number[] — The lanes it hits.
  • cost: number — Its cost against the budget.

HazardKind

interface HazardKind

A kind of hazard.

  • id: string — Its name: 'beam', 'pulse', a game's own.
  • cost?: number — What it costs against the budget while it is live. Default 1.
  • duration?: EncounterRange — Seconds it is live. Default [0.65, 1.3].
  • shape?: 'block' | 'scatter' | 'alternate' — How the lanes it hits lie: side by side ('block'), anywhere ('scatter'), or every other ('alternate'). Default 'scatter'.
  • weight?: number — How common against the other kinds. Default 1.