The current system for defining a standing count of defenders is too rough because it relies on numbers without regard to power. For example, if a station specifies a standing count of 4 defenders, then it will get 4 defenders regardless of their level.

A better method would be to specify a total score value to satisfy. The engine would then continue rolling ships until the specified score value is reached. This is similar to the value= and levelValue= attributes for item tables.

Example:

<Ships challenge="1000">
   <Table>
      <Ship chance="80" {a level 11 ship}/>
      <Ship chance="20" {a level 13 ship}/>
   </Table>
</Ships>

The table would continue creating random ships from the table until the ship scores totaled 1,000. We also provide some default values so we don't have to lookup the appropriate score values. For example:

<Ships challenge="standard">
...

This will pick a standard score value based on the system level. We define the following defaults:

VALUE        SCORE EQUIVALENT
-------------------------------------
easy         1.5x ships of system level
standard     2.5x ships of system level
hard         4x ships of system level
deadly       6x ships of system level

Old Version

A better method would be to specify a certain count of defenders of a given level, and then allow the engine to adjust for higher or lower level ships. For example, imagine a table like this:

<Ships standingCount="L:11 x4">
   <Table>
      <Ship chance="80" {a level 11 ship}/>
      <Ship chance="20" {a level 13 ship}/>
   </Table>
</Ships>

The table specifies that the station should have 4 level 11 defenders or equivalent. The table gives us a random choice of either a level 11 or a level 13 ship. The engine would roll on the table until it had the equivalent of 4 level 11 ships.

The engine would convert levels into points in order to compare ships. For example, a level n+1 ship might be worth 1.4 level n ships, and an n+2 ship might be worth 2 level n ships.

In the table above, a level 13 ship would count for 2 level 11 ships. If we had 2 level 11 ships and rolled a level 13 ship, we would have the equivalent of 4 level 11 ships and thus fulfill the standing count requirement.

NOTE: We could also omit the level specifier and assume the system level, which would allow defender power to scale with level. For example, the definition could be:

<Ships standingCount="x4">
...

This means 4 ships of the system level (or equivalent).