Veterans left idle in a fort should grow rusty, but never lose their rank

Some strategy games want trained units to get rusty when they sit around, so the player keeps them busy. Done the obvious way, the loss is applied every tick, depends on the frame rate and can strip a unit of its rank overnight. This entry gives a version that is the same at any speed and has a floor the player can understand.

Why this works

Rust is about time passing, not about the game running fast. If you work out the loss from how long a unit sat idle, the answer is the same on any device and after any save. A floor keeps the hard-won title safe while the sharpness fades.

When not to use it

Skip it in a relaxed or story-driven game, or one where players cannot keep every unit busy. Punishing idleness there feels like a chore. Reward active units with a small bonus instead of taking something away.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 22 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Veterans left idle in a fort should grow rusty, but never lose their rank" (read_entry idle-veterans-lose-their-edge-but-not-their-rank) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP