A pure .NET 8 / WinForms battlefield simulation that demonstrates how to build real-time 2-D graphics without any third-party rendering libraries. Everything you see — nebulae, stars, moving comet, rotating planet, ships, lasers, repair-beams, the grid, shadow effects, and color blending — is drawn directly with System.Drawing (Graphics, Pen, Brush, Font, Unicode symbols, planet image dynamic resize/wrap for rotation).
- What It Is
- Features
- Ship Types and Stats
- Fleet Configuration
- Revive / Recovery System
- Architecture
- Controls (Keyboard)
- Getting Started
- Project Structure
- Dependencies
- Contributing
SpaceBattleSim has no interaction except to look at stats. It spawns a configurable fleet of spaceships dynamically on a dark grid with 3 Nebulae, many stars, a flying comet, rotating planet, and Raiders fighting against Friendly autonomously. Ships move randomly across the canvas, detect enemies inside their hitbox radius, fire lasers, take damage, and either die or get revived by a healer, if friendly. The entire simulation runs with no game engine or graphics framework — it is a showcase of raw WinForms OnPaint / Timer-driven rendering with zero jumpiness or lag.
Single Monitor - Full Screen
All Monitors - Full Screen
Config: TotalBattleShips: 150, ScreenViewType: FullScreenAll, ShowMatrixGrid: True, ShowStars: True, NaturalStarfield: True, ShowComet: False, ShowNebulae: true, ShowPlanets: False, ShowVersion: False
Can run by itself or with project in Visual Studio. Press (F5) at any time to revive all the dead. This will happen automatically within 30 seconds of all healers or all raiders being destroyed, but you can also trigger it manually with F5. The F1 and F2 keys show different levels of ship info overlays.
AI keeps telling me to do things differently in some places, but any time it's done, it destroys the simulation and rendering doesn't work anymore. So I have to keep it the way it is, even if it's not how I would do it if I were writing it from scratch. It's a bit of a mess as there are things I need to break up into other classes/methods, but it works, it's fast, and that's the point of the project — to show how to build a real-time simulation with pure
System.Drawingwithout any game engine or rendering framework.
- Flawless and Pure
System.Drawingrendering — no Unity, MonoGame, SkiaSharp, or similar. - Space background — Nebulae, radom Stars, rotating planet, and a flying Comet. All to make it more of a space simulation.
- Config Space background — At the root you will find
SpaceBattleSim.dll.config.- This file has settings for the space background elements to be visible or not, such as:
- Nebulae, Stars, Planet, Comet, NaturalStarfield, Version to be
trueorfalse. Total BattleShips (int), Planet Size (int) and Planet Spin Speed (float) can also be configured.
- Nebulae, Stars, Planet, Comet, NaturalStarfield, Version to be
- This file has settings for the space background elements to be visible or not, such as:
- 100+ ship fleet — configurable via constants in
BgPlatform.cs. - 4 active ship classes — RepairRig/Healer, Capital Ship, Fighter, Raider — each with unique stats and behavior.
- Per-ship independent threads — every ship runs its AI loop on its own background thread.
- Thread-safe shared state — a
ConcurrentDictionarytracks every ship's current position and health, readable by all threads simultaneously. - Conflict-free repair assignments — a second thread-safe dictionary ensures only one RepairRig claims a dead ally at a time.
- Dynamic color health indicator — ship color shifts as shields drops as hitbox diameter changes base on power transfer if enabled.
- Laser and repair-beam rendering — red laser lines for attacks, blue repair-beam lines for recovery.
- F-key HUD overlays — press F1/F2 to view live ship stats; press F5 to instantly revive all dead ships.
- Unicode ship symbols — each class is rendered as a distinct Unicode glyph using the Arial font. Found in SpaceBattleSim\models\ships\ShipStats.cs.
- Transparent-background mode — Mouse over the top left title and click to toggle
_transparentBGand make the grid background transparent and click through. - Audit Logging — All ship actions (Kills, Deaths, Heals, CriticalTransfers, Damage taken at those last moments.) are logged to a file with timestamps for post-simulation analysis.
- Audit files are stored in the
.\\audit\\directory with filenames like260509_1504.log(YearMonthDay_HourMin.log). You can see 3 examples of these audit files found here: SpaceBattleSim\auditLogs
- Audit files are stored in the
| ConfigName | Value Type | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
ShowNebulae |
bool | true | Toggle visibility of nebulae background elements |
ShowStars |
bool | true | Toggle visibility of random stars in the background |
NaturalStarfield |
bool | false | Toggle natural starfield background layer vs artificial starfield |
ShowPlanet |
bool | false | Toggle visibility of the rotating planet in the background |
ShowComet |
bool | false | Toggle visibility of the flying comet in the background |
PlanetSize |
int | 150 | Diameter of the rotating planet in pixels |
PlanetSpinSpeed |
float | 0.1 | Rotation speed of the planet (degrees per frame) |
TotalBattleShips |
int | 30 | (10-150) Total number of ships (Fighters + Raiders) to spawn in the simulation |
ShowVersion |
bool | true | Show the app version near the bottom left of the screen. |
CriticalTransferRaiders |
bool | false | If true, this allows a raider to transfer half their power for 100% to their shields, when their shields drop below 25%. |
CriticalTransferAlly |
bool | false | If true, this allows all allies to transfer half their power for 100% to their shields, when their shields drop below 25%. |
ShowMatrixGrid |
bool | true | Toggle visibility of the background "Matrix"-style grid |
DisableAutoLock |
bool | false | If true, disables automatic locking of the Windows and stops screensavers. |
TopmostWindow |
bool | false | If true, keeps the window always on top of other windows, unless they are also set to topmost. |
ScreenViewType |
string | FullScreenCurrent |
Default: FullScreenCurrent - Full screen. FullScreenAll - Set to FullScreen across all monitors. Windowed - for a resizable window with title bar |
SpaceBattleSim.dll.config is found at the root of the application. CriticalTransfer settings enable a risky but powerful last-ditch survival tactic for ships on the brink of destruction. When enabled, if a ship's shields drop below 25%, it can sacrifice half of its remaining firepower to instantly restore its shields to full. This creates dramatic comeback moments and adds strategic depth, as even a heavily damaged ship has a chance to turn the tide of battle with a well-timed transfer. Raiders with this ability become particularly dangerous, as they can survive long enough to unleash devastating counterattacks after recharging their shields. The firepower cannot drop below 2 for either ally or raiders, so this is a last-ditch move that can be used multiple times per match based on original firepower the each ship. This means Raiders can use this 4 times, Fighters once, and Capital Ships can use this twice within one battle. Shield Transfer Color: When a ship performs a critical transfer, the hitbox displayed around the ship changes color. Based on the amount of times the ship has performed a critical transfer, the color changes to reflect the increasing risk and desperation of the move. During each of as a shipt takes damage, the color will get dim until it's unable to transfer on the last 25%. Original power, hitbox is green/25%-red. Half power, Cyan/25%-DarkOrchid. Quarter power, Orange/25%-BlueViolet. Eighth power, Silver/25%-HotPink.
All values are defined in SpaceBattleSim/models/ships/ShipStats.cs.
| Ship Type | Shields | Power | Speed | Hitbox | Recovery Priority | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RepairRig (Healer) | 400 | 2 | 2.0 | 20 px | Critical (1st) | Smallest hitbox, fastest; sole purpose is recovery |
| Capital Ship | 800 | 8 | 0.3 | 75 px | High (2nd) | Slowest, Twice Raider shields, but half their power |
| Fighter | 200 | 4 | 1.0 | 50 px | Low (3rd) | Balanced grunt unit; home-team protector |
| Raider (Enemy) | 400 | 16 | 1.0 | 50 px | None | Twice Capital Ship power; never revived when destroyed |
| 400 | 6 | 0.5 | 60 px | Medium | Reserved — not currently deployed | |
| 2000 | 0 | 2.0 | 40 px | Low | Reserved — not currently deployed |
Raider vs Capital comparison: Raiders carry twice the firepower (16 vs 8) but only half the shields (400 vs 800), making them glass-cannon enemies.
Default counts are set in BgPlatform.cs:
// configuration:
const float _percentRepairRigs = 0.10f; // set percentage of total ships that are repair rigs, rest will be Fighters and Raiders.
const float _percentCapitalShips = 0.10f; // set percentage of total ships that are capital ships, rest will be Fighters and Raiders.
private int _totalBattleShips = 100; // pulled from app config, Total number of Fighters and Raiders combined, default 100
private int _capShipCount = 0; // calculated later, _totalBattleShips / 10, do not modify this here.
private int _repairRigCount = 0; // calculated later, _totalBattleShips / 10, do not modify this here.
private int _planetSize = 150; // pulled from app config, diameter of the planet in pixels, default 150
private int _planetWrapWidth = 0; // calculated later, _planetSize * 2, do not modify this here.The _totalBattleShips is split so that Raiders outnumber Fighters by roughly 2:1**, creating strong enemy pressure that if 100 total fighters, the 10 Healers and 10 Capital Ships must balance. The result is a tight, fluctuating battle where neither side easily dominates. The exact numbers can be tweaked by changing the constants, but the default configuration is designed to create a dynamic and engaging simulation. Currently a fight with 100 fighters, with CriticalTransferRaiders set to true, can last around 10-12 minutes before one side is completely wiped out, at which point the (30sec) auto revive is used or F5 key can be used to revive all the dead and start a new battle.
| Group | Default Count |
|---|---|
| Raiders (enemy) | ~67 |
| Fighters (home team) | ~33 |
| Capital Ships | 10 |
| TowRigs / Healers | 10 |
| Total ships | ~120 |
When a home-team ship's shields reach zero it enters the Dead state. RepairRigs scan for dead allies and revival them. The order in which they are prioritized is driven by the RecoverOrder enum:
| Priority | Value | Ship |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 4 | RepairRig / Healer — revived first |
| High | 3 | Capital Ship — revived second |
| Low | 1 | Fighter — revived last |
| None | 0 | Raider — permanent death, never revived |
RepairRigs are revived first so the recovery pipeline never collapses. Capital Ships follow because of their high combined shield and firepower value. Fighters are last. Raiders are never revived — when destroyed they are gone for the remainder of the session.
Each SpaceShip instance runs its AI on an independent background thread. A shared ConcurrentDictionary<string, SpaceShip> (keyed by ship name) allows every thread to read the current position and health of any other ship without locking. This is the foundation of hit-detection and targeting.
BgPlatform (UI Thread)
└── Timer ──► Invalidate() ──► OnPaint()
└── Iterates ConcurrentDictionary ──► draws each ship
SpaceShip Thread (× N)
└── Move ──► scan hitbox ──► attack / repair ──► update shared dictionary entry
To prevent multiple RepairRigs from all rushing the same dead ship, a second thread-safe dictionary records in-progress repair assignments. Before a RepairRig claims a target it performs an atomic check-and-add. If another RepairRig already holds that entry the current RepairRig skips it and looks for the next unclaimed dead ally.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F1 | Show detailed ship info and stats overlay (hold to keep visible) |
| F2 | Show summary ship status overlay (hold to keep visible) |
| F5 | Revive all currently dead home-team ships |
| Hover over title bar | Reveals the close button |
- .NET 8 SDK
- Windows OS (WinForms is Windows-only)
- Visual Studio 2022 / 2026 or the
dotnetCLI
Open SpaceBattleSim.sln and press F5.
cd SpaceBattleSim
dotnet runSpaceBattleSim/
├── BgPlatform.cs # Main form: rendering loop, fleet init, keyboard handling
├── BgPlatform.Designer.cs # Designer-generated form code
├── Program.cs # Entry point
├── models/
│ ├── ships/
│ │ ├── ShipEnums.cs # ShipType, ShipStatus, ShipMission, RecoverOrder enums
│ │ ├── ShipStats.cs # Read-only per-type stat definitions
│ │ └── SpaceShip.cs # Per-ship state, AI loop, hit-detection, rendering data
│ ├── DRectangleF.cs # Extended RectangleF base for positioned objects
│ ├── DLine.cs # Line drawing model (laser / repair beams)
│ ├── DText.cs # Text rendering model
│ └── ItemReq.cs # Paint request wrapper
├── services/
│ ├── ColorConvert.cs # color blending / damage-color utilities
│ └── Logger.cs # Simple async thread-safe file logger
└── utils/
├── StaticConfig.cs # Global UI style constants (colors, pens, brushes, fonts)
├── DDefaults.cs # Drawing defaults (shadow, border, laser pens)
├── About.cs # Assembly version helper
└── atomic/
├── ABool.cs # Atomic boolean (thread-safe flag)
├── ADateTime.cs # Atomic DateTime (thread-safe timestamp)
└── EventStatus.cs # Named event flag dictionary
| Package | Purpose | Found in... |
|---|---|---|
Chizl.ThreadSupport |
Atomic primitives (ABool, ADateTime, EventStatus) for lock-free thread safety |
SpaceBattleSim/utils/atomic/ |
Chizl.ColorExtension |
color manipulation helpers used during dynamic ship color merging | SpaceBattleSim/services/ColorConvert.cs |
Chizl.Applications |
Application metadata helpers (About) |
SpaceBattleSim/utils/About.cs |
Chizl.StandAloneLogging |
Async thread-safe file logger | SpaceBattleSim/utils/Logger.cs |
All dependencies are classes from first-party Chizl libraries — no third-party game engines or rendering frameworks are used.
Pull requests are welcome. If you would like to add a new ship class, enable the reserved Bomber or Transport types, or improve the rotation logic for Raiders, please open an issue first to discuss the change.
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch:
git checkout -b feature/my-change - Commit your changes
- Push and open a Pull Request against
master
Built with love and pure System.Drawing — no game engine required.