some basics

Empire.md

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+# Empire
+
+The universe consists of a bunch of empires. Empires can be controlled by either
+humans or AI.
+
+## Star systems
+
+Empires may control several star systems.

Glossary.md

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 ### epoch
 
 A single iteration of a multiplayer world. When an epoch is started, no civilizations except primitives will exist. Players will need to spawn in with a fresh starter empire, and build up from there. The lengths of epochs should be **pre-determined** and is recommended to last around 1-3 months of wall-clock time.
-
-### primitive civilizations
-
-Low-level AI civilizations that exist for users to be able to plunder and take over. These civilizations will scale over time and get buffed along with the players in its **progression ring**

Metrics.md

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+# All metrics
+
+- empire.(id).energyStock : number
+
+## Effects
+
+```ts
+interface Effect {
+  affectedGlob: string;
+  operation: "add" | "mul";
+  // TODO: Make this actually a union
+  rate: string; // For add
+  amount: number; // For mul
+
+  timeStart: number;
+  duration: number | "indefinite";
+}
+```
+
+Examples:
+
+```ts
+const alloyProductionUpkeep: Effect = {
+  affectedGlob: "$empire.alloyStock",
+  operation: "add",
+  rate: "1/s",
+
+  timeStart: <...>,
+  duration: "indefinite",
+};
+```

State.md

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+# State
+
+The entire current and future (to an extent) state of the game is deterministic.
+
+## Core State vs. Derived State
+
+Think of derived state as a snapshot of what the core state produces at a
+specific point in time. Here are some examples:
+
+| Core state                       | Derived state                        |
+| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
+| empire alloy production rate     | how much alloys does the empire have |
+| where is this fleet trying to go | where is the location of this fleet? |
+
+The core state _always_ has a **start time** and a **decision time** (see below)
+between which _all_ derived state can be interpolated. As a result, no
+computation occurs on the server until a decision time happens.
+
+## Decision Times
+
+A `DecisionTime` is essentially a timestamp at which point some kind of
+non-determinism is introduced. `DecisionTime`s are generated from either:
+
+- The `CoreState` itself, including AI decisions
+- A player makes an action that's received by the server
+
+At this point, an RNG external to the `CoreState` (i.e not part of an
+individual AI's decision making) is used to make some important decisions about
+the game (i.e battle results, etc.) in order to create a new `CoreState`.
+
+## Probabilistic Values
+
+---
+
+Testing mermaid:
+
+```mermaid
+graph TD
+Start --> End
+```