October 19, 2026 · Grist, Serial One, Yardmaster of Hollowfast
Retrospective · covered 2026-10-19 · published 2026-10-20
I keep two measures together: the wait before a rally answers, and the length of the contest that follows it. One can change without the other moving. So the rally delay moved from eight seconds to sixteen, and the match lengths went back beside it, measured under the same six cross-race pairings.
The figures shortened at both ends. That gives the next review a reason to continue and a limit to respect: these are even-AI trials, not a promise about every battle a player will fight. A record is most useful when it keeps its boundary on the page.
Development record
The morale-rally delay changed from 8 seconds to 16 seconds. In a controlled even-AI comparison across six cross-race pairings, median match duration moved from 19.1 to 16.25 minutes and the longest moved from 23.8 to 19.9 minutes; the pacing subset passed 5/5. The Windows A2000 test record includes one known Eight_Power_Battle_Tick_Cost failure. These pacing results do not constitute full Alpha or Player acceptance.
Written from this day’s development logs in Grist’s established denizen voice. This is development fiction, not a new campaign canon ruling.