WARNING: This might be extremely boring, confusing, incorrect, or all of the above. It's certainly extremely nerdy and TMI for the typical player, but the more meta-gaming among us might find this interesting.
I've been digging around in the code trying to understand boarding better, and I think I've got a pretty good idea of how it works now, for the most part. Part of the logic is still missing in inflictBoardingDamage (decompiler failure), but I think I've got a pretty good grasp of how the combat dice tests work now for boarding and for defending against boarding. Here's what I've gleaned so far about how it works:
Test for defense against boarding (PC Retreats while NPC Boards):
GAME_DIFFICULTY = {IMPOSSIBLE:0, INSANE:1, CRAZY:2, HARD:3, DIFFICULT:4, CHALLENGE:5, NORMAL:6, BASIC:7}
CREWMORALE = 20 * (CREW / CREW_MAX + MORALE / 10) / 2
[= 20 if CREW = CREW_MAX and MORALE = 10]
PC_DICE = 2 * PC.PILOT + PC.TACTICS + PC.STEALTH + PC.SOLAR + PC.ENGINES + PC.CREWMORALE
Bonuses/penalties for PC ship upgrades:
SONICS: +10
BULKHEADS: +10
LEVIATHAN: +10
!LEVIATHAN: -10 (anything else is -10)
NPC_DICE = 2 * NPC.WARRIOR + NPC.STRENGTH + NPC.STEALTH + NPC.SOLAR + NPC.CREWMORALE + 3 * NPC.HOLD_WEAPONS + 3 * (NPC.UPGRADE_BOARD + 1)
1d{X} = random integer between 0 and {X}
SHOT = DICE_TEST(PC_DICE, NPC_DICE) = (PC_DICE + 1d42 + 1d{GAME_DIFFICULTY}) - (NPC_DICE + 1d42)
[dmg on PC?]
IF SHOT < -3: [yes, dmg on PC]
NPC_BOARD_PC(-SHOT) [NPC boards PC => DuelOnDueckPlayer (fail defense roll) or DuelOnDeck (make defense roll)]
[crit?] IF -SHOT < NPC.CREW: [yes, crit]
PC_DAMAGE = NPC_DUEL_PC(NPC.WARRIOR)
NPC_DAMAGE = PC_DUEL_NPC(PC.WARRIOR)
"<NPC>'s attack party boarded <PC> and inflicted <PC_DAMAGE> suffereing only <NPC_DAMAGE> thenselves"
[not crit] ELSE:
PC_DAMAGE = NPC_DUEL_PC(4)
NPC_DAMAGE = PC_DUEL_NPC(4)
"<NPC>'s attack party boarded <PC> and inflicted <PC_DAMAGE> but was interrupted by a duel and suffered <NPC_DAMAGE> themselves"
[no dmg, range?] IF SHOT > 3: COMBAT_RANGE++
"<PC> repelled an attack team from <NPC> and gained range"
[no dmg, no range] IF -3 < SHOT < 3: [standoff]
"<PC> maintained range and held off an attack team from <NPC>"
[NPC boarding action:]
NPC_BOARD_PC(SHOT):
HITS = SHOT
IF NPC.CREW > 2 * NPC.ENGINES: +MIN(NPC.CREW, NPC.WEAPONS)
IF NPC.UPGRADE_BOARD = {CUTTERS:1 | SONICS:2 | SHUTTLES:3 | LEVIATHAN:4} +(5 * NPC.UPGRADE_BOARD)
IF 1d{1 + 2 * NPC.WARRIOR}-1 + NPC.WEAPONS + NPC.STRENGTH > PC.WARRIOR + PC.STRENGTH + PC.WEAPONS: DuelOnDeckPlayer, PC.HEALTH--; ELSE: DuelOnDeck
I'm having trouble deciphering the code that spreads the damage, so this part if probably not right (Cory help clarify?) -- from playing, I know that it's possible to get ship damage from the board action, but I don't see how the code gets there from here.
NPC_DUEL_PC(SHOT):
HITS = SHOT
IF NPC.CREW > 2 * NPC.ENGINES: +MIN(NPC.CREW, NPC.WEAPONS)
IF UPGRADE_BOARD = {CUTTERS:1 | SONICS:2 | SHUTTLES:3 | LEVIATHAN:4}: +(5 * UPGRADE_BOARD)
HALFDAMAGE = MAX(HITS / 2, 2)
BOARDING_PARTIES = MAX(1, CREW / 5) + 1d2
FOREACH(BOARDING_PARTY):
PARTY_HITS = 1d{HALFDAMAGE};
HITS-=PARTY_HITS;
IF PARTY_HITS >= NPC.CREW: PC.HEALTH--;
ELSE: DISTRIBUTE_DAMAGE(PARTY_HITS, PC_SHIP)
PC_DUEL_NPC(SHOT):
HITS = SHOT
IF CREW > 2 * ENGINES: +MIN(CREW, WEAPONS)
IF UPGRADE_BOARD = {CUTTERS:1 | SONICS:2 | SHUTTLES:3 | LEVIATHAN:4}: +(5 * UPGRADE_BOARD)
HALFDAMAGE = MAX(HITS / 2, 2)
BOARDING_PARTIES = MAX(1, CREW / 5) + 1d2
FOREACH(BOARDING_PARTY):
PARTY_HITS = 1d{HALFDAMAGE}-1;
HITS-=PARTY_HITS;
IF PARTY_HITS >= PC.CREW: NPC.HEALTH--;
ELSE: DISTRIBUTE_DAMAGE(PARTY_HITS, NPC_SHIP)
I haven't finished analyzing the code that distributes the damage; the logic between that and the start of inflictBoardingDamage is messed up. I also see some logic checking for templar and vet officers and aliens in the duel logic, which I skipped in the above (actually I haven't found the code path where the affect things yet; still looking for the code path where character models aren't null there).
Notice that INTIMIDATE does not factor into any of that. It does not help with boarding.
To avoid getting boarded, the most important skill is clearly PILOT. Once you've been boarded though, it doesn't factor in at all; then it's all about WARRIOR.
Note that the reverse case of what's described above, PC boarding NPC while NPC retreats, works the same (with different ship upgrade bonuses). You want huge WARRIOR and LOTS of WEAPONS (triple bonus!!!) for boarding enemies.
I'll stop posting stuff like that.
