Adding Objectives

Objectives award or deduct points automatically when the simulation state meets a condition. They are the mirror image of events: an event changes the world at a time, while an objective watches the world and scores it. Objectives run without any operator input, which makes them ideal for rewarding correct flying rather than correct answers.

Objectives compared with questions and events

Mechanism	Trigger	Scores	Needs operator input
Question	Operator submits an answer	Yes	Yes
Objective	Simulation state meets a condition	Yes	No
Event	Configured simulation time	No	No

Use a question to test what a participant knows, and an objective to reward or penalize what the spacecraft actually does.

Reviewing the fields

Each objective is organized into a header, a Condition group, and an Award group. The header carries the enabled toggle and a running points badge, and a preset dropdown at the top of the tab lets you start from a shipped objective instead of a blank one.

Group	Field	Purpose	JSON key
Header	Enabled	Toggle on the objective header; whether it is active	objectives[].enabled
Header	Name	The objective label	objectives[].name
Header	Description	What the objective rewards	objectives[].description
Header	Assets	Which spacecraft the objective watches; defaults to Any	objectives[].assets
Header	Target Class	The component class to watch, such as Battery	objectives[].target
Header	Target Component	The specific named component, when narrowing to one	objectives[].target name
Header	Target Model	An optional error model on the component to watch	objectives[].target (model suffix)
Condition	Variable	The specific value being compared	objectives[].variable
Condition	Operator	The comparison, shown with friendly names such as ≥ (Greater or Equal)	objectives[].operation
Condition	Value	The value compared against	objectives[].value
Condition	Min Time	Optional lower time bound; enable it with the toggle	objectives[].min_time
Condition	Max Time	Optional upper time bound; enable it with the toggle	objectives[].max_time
Award	Points	Points awarded, or negative to deduct	objectives[].award.points
Award	Repeatable	Whether it can score more than once	objectives[].award.repeatable
Award	Hidden	Whether participants see its name before it scores	objectives[].hidden

NOTE

The Studio UI splits the target into Target Class, Target Component, and Target Model. In the JSON these collapse into target (class or component name, with a -Model suffix for a model) and target name (the component name). There is no domain field in the UI; every objective is a spacecraft objective.

Choosing an operator

The operator decides how Variable is compared to Value. The dropdown shows friendly names for each:

• ≥ (Greater or Equal) and ≤ (Less or Equal)
• > (Greater) and < (Less)
• == (Equal) and != (Not Equal)
• passes, which fires when the value crosses the threshold in either direction

Use ≥ or ≤ to reward reaching a threshold. Avoid == on a continuously changing value, since it almost never matches exactly; reserve it for discrete values such as a bool or an integer state.

Adding an objective to Pathfinder Checkout

Reward operators for keeping the battery healthy:

• Name: Maintain Battery
• Assets: SC_001
• Target Class: Battery
• Variable: Charge Fraction
• Operator: ≥ (Greater or Equal)
• Value: 0.5
• Points: 10

Optionally add a penalty objective that deducts points if the charge fraction drops below 0.1, using a negative Points value.

WARNING

The Variable and Target Class must match names and values the simulation actually produces. A misspelled variable silently never scores. Verify each objective by running the scenario and watching the score change.

Testing objectives

1. construct the scenario
2. run through the condition window
3. confirm the score changes by the expected amount
4. confirm a non-repeatable objective scores only once
5. confirm a hidden objective stays hidden until it scores

Next, create the scored questions.