Mini Looper Buildings and Resources

Summary

Built the RTS/strategy-layer foundation for Mini Looper (SNKRX × tower-defense on Anchor 2) — the project's third and final fun-gate (the loop economy). The session took the game from "a fixed one-screen loop running a hardcoded ramming build" to "a pannable multi-screen map with a resource economy: place extractor buildings next to wood nodes and earn wood per completed lap." Followed the documented v0 plan (economy on the fixed loop) and the design-brief-then-code discipline throughout.

Alignment & roster reset:

• Read prior logs + ideas.md + the project_mini_looper memory. v0 plan: economy on the EXISTING fixed loop, deterministic tech tree, enemy pressure keyed to gates; the fun question = "is managing the loop + tech line vs rising pressure fun?" Per-run loop-shape/node generation is Slice v1 (the thrown-away road/piece/turtle-editor infra from 2026-05-27 is the named relapse alarm — not rebuilt).
• Train roster changed in builds.lua to "all implemented units except Detonator, blocks, Poisoner, Earthshaker" → Juggernaut (head) + archer, magician, cannoneer, outlaw, geomancer, swordsman; RAMMING_BLOCKS = 0 (count-scaling degrades to base+flat).

Map + RTS camera (main.lua / grid.lua / loop.lua / enemy.lua / wave.lua / snkrx/projectile.lua):

• Introduced world-space map_w/map_h. Settled on 2 screens wide × 2 tall, then bumped to exact odd-cell multiples (984×552 = 41×23 cells of 24px) so the placement grid covers the map edge-to-edge with no leftover margin (grid.lua's centering offset works out to 0; base stays dead-center).
• grid.lua now sizes to the map (not the screen); loop built at map center; camera starts on the base; bounds = map + a 48px void margin so panning to an edge frames the boundary.
• RTS panning: camera_pan_update(dt) — edge-scroll (cursor within cam_pan_edge px of a viewport edge) + keyboard (WASD/arrows; no zoom, no drag, per user choice). Tightened cam_pan_edge 14 → 3. Later removed the building-panel screen-clamp so it follows the building and slides off-screen when panned away (the "world space" fix — the clamp was pinning it to the edge).
• Required screen→map fixes: projectile off-screen cull → map bounds (map_w or width fallback) — without it the whole loop sits outside the old screen rect and unit projectiles get deleted on spawn; surge telegraph (wave.lua) moved to screen-space debug_layer; debug E/B spawner + director spawn_group retargeted to spawn from the exact map edges (ray from loop center to the map rectangle, scattered along the edge), replacing the old SPAWN_RADIUS ring.
• Floor became the darker panel_fill "void"; a bg-colored map slab is drawn camera-attached.

Engine change — mouse window grab (Anchor2/engine/src/anchor.c):

• Added mouse_set_window_grab(grabbed) using SDL_SetWindowGrab (confines the cursor to the window, stays visible/absolute) — distinct from the existing mouse_set_grabbed (SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode, which hides the cursor / relative mode and is wrong for edge-scroll). Registered it, rebuilt the engine (build.bat), copied anchor.exe into mini-looper. Later disabled the call (-- mouse_set_window_grab(true)) per user.

ESC quit: bound quit_game to key:escape; calls engine_quit() (sets running=false) at the very top of update(), so it quits from any state.

Scope decision — loop extension deferred: Discussed a loop-extension mechanic (grow the defended area: more resources/slots vs slower laps + more enemy leak). Decided to DEFER it — it's an amplifier on the core verbs, not a verb itself; deferring isolates the v0 fun read; the inside-loop test gets built either way, only the dynamic loop-regen + rebalance is deferred. Fixed loop only slightly enlarged (rx/ry 115/82 → 138/98, ~+20%). When built later it must cost the shared resource (else "always extend to max" with no opportunity cost).

Step 1 — Buildable region (loop.lua / grid.lua / building.lua): loop_contains(x,y) (ray-cast point-in-polygon); compute_buildable_cells() marks cells whose center is inside the loop; cell_buildable(col,row); building_place gates non-objective buildings to buildable cells (objective base exempt). Visualized F2-only at first, later became the placement overlay.

Step 2 — Resource nodes (resource.lua, new): 2 wood nodes at random buildable cells. Marker = an unfilled rounded rect at a fixed 45°, rendered through the effect system (local linear_gradient pattern, orange→snkrx_neutral ramp, bayer4_8). Established a key effect-system fact: the shader's pattern/dither only show when color≠none (palette tokens); there is no brown token and no off-palette color through the shader except a flat color='none' draw — so "brown wood that shimmers" is impossible; settled on a warm orange/tan woodgrain.

RTS building selection UI (building_ui.lua, new) — several iterations:

• Click a building → floating panel (name / HP / buy-list). Went screen-space-toolkit → world-space hand-drawn (rejected — user wanted the toolkit) → back to the snkrx toolkit, positioned at the building's screen anchor via camera_to_screen so it floats beside the building and follows the camera. Reconciliation: the toolkit is screen-space (shared ui_layer; ui_interact reads the screen mouse), so a true camera-layer + toolkit panel isn't practical; screen-positioned-at-world-anchor looks identical with no zoom.
• Panel content: a mini render of the building (its own spec; a circle for shape='circle', rounded square otherwise — the header icon was wrongly always a rectangle), the name in the header font ALL-CAPS, an HP bar (ui_bar, moved to directly under the name with a gap before the description), the description, and buy items as inventory slots (ui_slot + a symbol circle, driven by the toolkit's ui_interact/ui_juice so they hover like real slots). Hovering a buy slot fills a reserved detail area with that item's header + description. Panel width is sized to content (a fixed 150 left bare panels too wide). Local word_wrap helper.
• Selection feedback: clicking any building springs it (spring_pull); a panel_spring pops the panel on appear (force 0.5 → halved to 0.25); the selected thing shows a cell-sized green selection box (draw_selection_box, shared by buildings + resources). Fixed a panel-position bug: the entrance scale-push was a single layer_push(center, scale) that offset every absolute-coord draw — fixed with the camera's two-push idiom (translate-to-center + scale, then translate back).
• Resources made selectable too (renamed selected_building → selected; nodes carry name/desc/spec/world-pos/spring; resource_at_world); they pop + flash + get the green box; the wood node's panel shows "N units of wood." (dynamic).

Step 3 — Extractor (building.lua / building_ui.lua / main.lua / economy.lua / train.lua / resource.lua):

• 3a Placement: clicking the Extractor slot enters placement mode (deselects, so the panel stays hidden after placing). Overlay: buildable cells gray, valid cells (inside loop + empty + 8-way adjacent to a wood node, via resource_adjacent) green, ghost blue circle + green/red cell outline on the hovered cell. Left-click places, right-click cancels (Esc quits). The extractor is a building with shape='circle', size 14, 20 HP, blue extractor_spec, and remembers its adjacent node.
• 3b Income: train.lua lap detection (train_laps / train_lap_completed, fired when the head's path_index wraps n→1). economy.lua (new): the wood pool, economy_lap() (each extractor draws 1 from its node via resource_extract, +1 wood; the extractor spring-pops, no flash/particles), economy_draw_hud (wood-tinted tile + count, top-left), economy_reset. Nodes are finite (100 units), deplete per extraction, desc updates live; resource_refill on restart. A red dot marks the loop's reset/seam point (loop_points[1]).
• Extraction FX: the node flashes white + spring-pops + emits a hit circle + wood-colored particles (faster/longer after tuning). The in-world building HP bar now shows only for ~2s after damage (cell-relative position, consistent across buildings); otherwise HP lives in the selection panel.

Notable user corrections / decisions:

• "keep the UI in world space ... it should just disappear if we go outside where it is. Isn't drawing in world space just drawing the UI to a layer attached to the camera?" → removed the clamp; explained the toolkit's screen-space constraint.
• "Why did you stop using the normal SNKRX toolkit? I'd like to keep using it." → reverted the hand-drawn world-space panel.
• "the circle on the extractor window on the header is actually a rectangle" → the real fix was the panel header mini-icon respecting shape, not the menu symbol radius.
• Adjacency = 8-way; depletion = finite 100; no zoom/drag; loop only slightly bigger.

Remaining work to finish v0:

• Step 4 — Tech tree. A shallow deterministic tech tree (2–3 gated tiers): spend wood on unit/upgrade unlocks, surfaced through the same building panels (a building's menu produces units/capabilities and gates the next building down the line).
• Step 5 — Pressure + win/lose. Re-enable the director (currently director_enabled = false in main.lua), scale enemy pressure to the tech gates, and add win/lose conditions.
• The v0 fun-gate this all builds toward: is managing the loop economy + committing to one tech line against rising pressure actually fun? Read it as "are the verbs — build / gather / spend / defend / speed-up — satisfying," NOT "would I play 20h" (map/draft variance is intentionally omitted in v0, so it can feel solved early).
• Smaller deferred items: full run-reset on restart (placed extractors persist and nodes don't re-roll — restart only resets wood + refills nodes + revives the base); the wood-counter vertical centering is a best-guess +1px nudge that may still need a final 1px tweak; the F1-panel-vs-building-selection click overlap (clicking the F1 tuning panel while a building is selected can deselect it — dev-only); and loop extension (the deferred mechanic above) once v0's fun is proven.

Let's continue with Mini Looper. In the last session we finished testing if endgame builds feel good (they do), and now we need to test if one final piece is fun, which is the strategy/RTS component of it. Currently the map is divided in a grid of cells, each cell being able to hold a building. We'll proceed using this simple mechanism to introduce resources and other buildings that can be built to extract resources, and then buildings that can add certain units to the train, buy upgrades/modifiers, and unlock further buildings down the tech tree. The first thing we should do is actually defining the map area, which will not be contained just to the single screen we have now, so we need to both define the map and then also add camera movement with the mouse, RTS-style, so we can see the whole map and where our base is located within it. But read previous log summaries and ideas.md to get aligned first.

I'll get aligned first. Let me read the Mini Looper memory, ideas.md, and the recent log summaries.

1    ---
2   name: project_mini_looper
3   description: "Mini Looper — active game (SNKRX × tower-defense, on Anchor 2); both fun-gates passed, entering production as an RTS loop-economy"
4   metadata: 
5     node_type: memory
6     type: project
7     originSessionId: f6d87419-3048-4f13-9948-dad03424ef5a
8   ---
9   
10  Mini Looper (`E:/a327ex/mini-looper/`, forked from snkrx-template) is an active game: an on-rails SNKRX-style **train/snake** runs a fixed **loop** defending a central **base**; enemies march in from all edges, train units auto-attack and the body **rams**. A beat-based director scales pressure. It is NOT in the global CLAUDE.md project list yet, and its `.claude/CLAUDE.md` is still the snkrx-template's — the game lives in root `*.lua` (main, loop, train, units, enemy, building, wave, grid, builds, info_text).
11  
12  As of 2026-06-02 the **ramming endgame build** is built and **fun-verified** (the build-heavy "End" fun-gate passed — see [[feedback_shipping_gate]]; this was correct A-work, testing fun, not B). It's a hardcoded fake build in `builds.lua` (`setup_ramming_build`): Juggernaut head + variable-size inert white blocks (count-scales contact dmg/speed) + Swordsman (cleave) / Earthshaker (Fissure + Looping Fissure unlock) / Detonator (Cascade) / Poisoner (Virulence) + 2 old ranged units (archer, cannoneer). The F1 panel toggles the ramming modifiers; `b` bursts a test crowd. Each unit's special "unlock" is a hardcoded global flag (`*_unlocked`), on by default.
13  
14  **Production direction (decided in the 2026-06-03 strategy meeting — see [[feedback_shipping_gate]]).** Both build-heavy fun-gates have now passed (*beginning* = movement, *end* = ramming build), so the project enters production via the **constraint**. Key decisions:
15  - **Constraint = an RTS loop-economy, NOT a pre-run draft.** Resource-extraction buildings are placed *inside the loop* near map resource nodes; they pay out **per completed lap**, so **speed is the currency** (the satisfying play and the optimal play align — the reason this beat a draft). A **deterministic (non-random) tech tree** gates unit/capability unlocks; enemy difficulty is stepped to the gates. Player commits to one line per run (resource-scarce).
16  - **Replayability via map variance**, not draft randomness: the loop shape + resource-node positions are generated per run, so which tech lines are viable shifts run-to-run while the tree stays deterministic. Chosen over pure-determinism (solved-game risk), run-modifiers, and randomized unlock offers.
17  - **Chose Option A** (build the *whole game* with a reduced unit set → first complete end-to-end run, never reached before) over building more endgame archetypes. The other 3 archetypes (projectile/construct/mage) are deferred content, NOT a fun-gate — one proven archetype (ramming) is enough.
18  - **Sequencing (defers the historically-dangerous procedural-loop work behind the cheap fun-gate):**
19    - **Slice v0** = economy on the EXISTING fixed `loop.lua` (no generator). One resource, shallow tree (2–3 tiers), 3–4 units, enemy scaling keyed to gates, win/lose. This IS the **third fun-measurement**: is managing the loop + tech line vs. rising pressure fun? Read its verdict as "are the verbs (build/gate/defend/speed-up) satisfying," not "would I play 20h" (variance is omitted in v0, so it can feel solved early).
20    - **Slice v1** = add map variance via a **dead-simple perturbed-loop generator** (randomize `loop.lua`'s per-point radius multipliers + scatter nodes). ⛔ This is NOT the genesis road/piece/turtle-editor system — that infra ate the 2026-05-27 session and was thrown away; rebuilding any piece-kit / closure-search / authoring tool is the named relapse alarm.
21    - **Then** content (more units/lines) → juice → web build → itch page.
22  - Scope tripwire: keep the first economy a **toy**. The `ideas.md` "RTS direction… ideally hundreds of units / standard tech tree" is the scope bomb — stays parked until the economy's fun is proven.
23  
24  **Next session:** design-brief Slice v0's economy (resource + buildings + lap-payout + the first 2–3-tier gating) on the fixed loop.
25  
26  Carry-over (lower priority): **Psylooper dropped** (too complex, doesn't fit the archetype); the 3 "spice" modifiers (enter/exit aura, proximity-all-damage, crush-on-kill) unimplemented; high-beat test harness still just the `b` burst key. Method that worked well: port real mechanics from SNKRX source (`E:/a327ex/SNKRX/`) and Invoker-old, one unit per increment, design-brief-then-code each time.
27  

BYTEPATH\libraries\binser\LICENSE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\binser\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\bitser\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\bitser\USAGE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\classic\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\draft\LICENSE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\draft\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\hump\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\mlib\LICENSE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\mlib\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\moses\CHANGELOG.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\moses\doc\tutorial.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\moses\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\ripple\readme.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\ser\LICENSE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\ser\README.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\windfield\mlib\LICENSE.md
BYTEPATH\libraries\windfield\mlib\README.md
BYTEPATH\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\02 - Libraries\libraries\classic\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\02 - Libraries\libraries\hump\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\02 - Libraries\libraries\moses\CHANGELOG.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\02 - Libraries\libraries\moses\doc\tutorial.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\02 - Libraries\libraries\moses\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\03 - Rooms and Areas\libraries\classic\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\03 - Rooms and Areas\libraries\hump\README.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\03 - Rooms and Areas\libraries\moses\CHANGELOG.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\03 - Rooms and Areas\libraries\moses\doc\tutorial.md
BYTEPATH\tutorial\tutorial-code\03 - Rooms and Areas\libraries\moses\README.md
... [71 more lines]

Invoker-old\reference\112020\engine\external\clipper.lua
Invoker-old\reference\BUILDRX2\engine\external\clipper.lua
Invoker-old\reference\112020\engine\external\mlib.lua
Invoker-old\reference\BUILDRX2\engine\external\mlib.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\ripple.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\ripple.lua
Invoker-old\reference\112020\engine\external\ripple.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\particles.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\particles.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\ui.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\ui.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\statics.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\statics.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\main.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\main.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\maps.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\maps.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\entities.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\entities.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\decorations.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\decorations.lua
emoji-ball-battles\reference\emojunky-one\aika.lua
emoji-ball-bounce\reference\emojunky-one\aika.lua
Invoker-old\reference\112020\engine\external\binser.lua
Invoker-old\reference\BUILDRX2\engine\external\binser.lua
BYTEPATH\conf.lua
BYTEPATH\GameObject.lua
BYTEPATH\globals.lua
BYTEPATH\libraries\binser\binser.lua
BYTEPATH\libraries\binser\spec\binser_spec.lua
... [71 more lines]

I have the memory. Now let me read the Mini Looper project files specifically.

mini-looper\main_old.lua
mini-looper\main_scaffold.lua
mini-looper\loop.lua
mini-looper\enemy.lua
mini-looper\grid.lua
mini-looper\wave.lua
mini-looper\building.lua
mini-looper\train.lua
mini-looper\info_text.lua
mini-looper\main.lua
mini-looper\units.lua
mini-looper\builds.lua

mini-looper\README.md
mini-looper\ideas.md

1    # Mini Looper — Ideas
2   
3   Running list of design ideas. Unfiltered; not commitments.
4   
5   ## Solid blocks (non-combat units)
6   
7   Units that are just **solid blocks** — they don't attack and have no HP. Their only purpose is to **increase the train's length**, so the train physically blocks more enemies from reaching the center.
8   
9   - Enables builds that gain **more bonuses the more blocks** you have.
10  - Aids a **ramming archetype**: focus on making the train go fast and deal **contact damage** to enemies as it sweeps, instead of relying on units attacking.
11  
12  ## F3 sound tuner — surface played sounds first (tooling / QoL)
13  
14  When opening the F3 sound tuner, the sounds shown first should be the ones that have **actually played during this run of the program**, ordered **most recently played first**. Makes it fast to find and tune a sound you just heard instead of hunting through the full loaded list.
15  
16  - Played sounds get a **visual indicator** that they played — maybe even the **total number of times** played this run.
17  - Sounds that haven't played get **no indicator**.
18  
19  (Dev-tooling detail, not gameplay — deferred so it doesn't interrupt fun-testing.)
20  
21  ## RTS direction — loop economy, speed, tech tree
22  
23  The game plays like an **RTS**. You start with the looping train and the central **core**. From the core you build **resource-extraction buildings**, each placed **near a resource on the map** — and **inside the loop**, because anything outside the loop is unprotected and gets hit by enemies.
24  
25  **Everything runs on a loop basis.** Resource buildings pay out **per completed loop** — every time the train finishes a full circuit is one logical unit of action. This ties the strategy directly to the action, and makes **speed the most valuable resource**: faster loops = more income, better defense coverage, and it's also what looks cool and plays well (so the optimal play is also the satisfying one).
26  
27  - **Units are bought by constructing new building types** (a building unlocks / produces a unit type or capability).
28  - Ideally **hundreds of units**, but a single run only has the resources to explore **one "line"** of the tech tree if you want to succeed.
29  - **Tech tree works like a standard RTS**: gated by resources and the new buildings you unlock, with upgrades, etc.
30  - Logically simple from a systems perspective — the depth lives in the tuning.
... [5 more lines]

I have the memory and ideas.md. Now let me read the recent log summaries and the current code. Let me find the logs.

a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-01-07-37.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-01-19-37.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-02-10-00.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-02-18-59.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-03-12-30.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-03-15-30.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-03-18-20.md
a327ex-site\logs\2026-01-04-12-15.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-app-design.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-app-phase-1-part-1.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-app-ui-discussion.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-arena-final-and-neovim-diff-tool.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-arena-test.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-1.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-1.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-10.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-11.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-2.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-3.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-4.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-5.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-6.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-7.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-8.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-9.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-2.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-3-part-1.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-3-part-2.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-3-part-3.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-3-part-4.md
... [71 more lines]

Let me find the Mini Looper specific logs.

a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-road-and-editor.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-attacks-and-enemies.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-movement.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-ramming-endgame-build.md

a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-road-and-editor.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-attacks-and-enemies.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-movement.md
a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-ramming-endgame-build.md

No files found

No files found

Let me read the Mini Looper logs to get aligned. I'll read them in order of relevance — the most recent work first.

Read (E:\a327ex\a327ex-site\logs\mini-looper-ramming-endgame-build.md)

That top summary covers the last build session well. Now let me read the road-and-editor log's summary (the thrown-away procedural-loop work — to know what NOT to rebuild), plus the actual current code I'll be modifying.

1    Title: Mini Looper Road and Editor
2   Date: 2026-05-27 23:40:57
3   
4   # Mini Looper Road and Editor
5   
6   ## Summary
7   
8   Genesis session for `mini-looper`. Started from an empty folder and built: a procedural road/track system (lines + arcs with arc-length parametrization), a SNKRX-style snake of 8 kinematic units that rides the road, a tile grid data structure for future building placement, a closed-set kit of pre-designed road pieces, an F5 gallery overlay browsing the kit, an F6 turtle-style editor for interactive path authoring, and a save/load pipeline (`map.lua`) so authored paths persist across sessions.
9   
10  **Project initialization:**
11  - Created `E:/a327ex/mini-looper/` by copying `snkrx-template` contents (`anchor/`, `assets/`, `snkrx/`, `.claude/`, `main.lua`, `anchor.exe`). Skipped `main_old.lua` (frozen reference, not runnable).
12  - Updated `run.bat` to invoke `anchor.exe mini-looper` from the parent dir.
13  - Initialized git, created **private** GitHub repo at `a327ex/mini-looper` via `gh repo create --private --source=. --remote=origin --push`. SSH protocol, account `a327ex`.
14  
15  **Path system v1 (`path.lua`):**
16  - Two-phase API: authoring (`path_new`, `path_move_to`, `path_line_to`, `path_arc(cx, cy, sweep)`, `path_close`) followed by lazy bake via `path_finalize(p)`. Pieces emit `path_*` commands; bake walks them and produces a single sampled polyline with cumulative arc length.
17  - `path_arc` convention: cursor must already be on the arc; the call infers radius from `dist(cursor, center)`. Positive sweep = visually clockwise in screen y-down coords.
18  - Lines emit 2 samples; arcs emit `max(2, ceil(arc_length * samples_per_unit))` samples with analytical tangent per sample (`theta + sign(sweep)*pi/2`).
19  - Each new segment overwrites the previous sample's tangent so corner sharing is handled in one place; consecutive samples never share a position.
20  - Runtime: `path_at(p, s) -> x, y, angle` does binary search on `cumlen` + linear interpolation between bracketing samples. Wraps `s % total_length` for closed paths, clamps for open.
21  - `path_draw(p, layer)` renders the road as a thick ribbon: one trapezoid per consecutive sample pair, each emitted as two `layer_triangle` calls. Edition-bracketed.
22  - Initial bug: used `math.atan2` (removed in Lua 5.4); fixed to `math.atan(y, x)`.
23  
24  **Snake (`snake.lua`):**
25  - `snake_unit` class: 10x10 kinematic box collider tagged 'snake'. Rotatable (`set_fixed_rotation(false)`). Draws as a rounded rect via `set_edition`-bracketed `layer_rounded_rectangle`, color = `edition_base_color(self.edition)`. Identical geometry to `player.lua` but per-unit edition picks from a fixed list.
26  - Global `snake = {path, head_s, speed, spacing, units}` table populated by `snake_build(path, opts)`.
27  - `snake_update(snake, sdt)` advances `head_s` and for each unit: `path_at(snake.path, head_s - (i-1) * spacing) -> x, y, angle`, writes to unit + collider via `set_position` + `set_angle` + `set_angular_velocity(0)`.
28  - Kinematic body choice (not dynamic): Box2D won't move it under forces, contact events still fire normally. Path-pinned entity meets scripted-motion model. No constraint-solver churn since snake-to-snake collision is deliberately disabled.
29  - Physics matrix in main.lua: snake-to-enemy collision, snake-to-wall collision, snake-to-projectile sensor.
30  - Default piece order in palette: ruby/rose/amber/gold/lime/emerald/cyan/sapphire (8 editions from `edition_cycle[2..9]`).
... [60 more lines]

1    --[[
2     snkrx-template / main.lua — clean reference scene.
3   
4     This is your file. It is a complete, minimal scene: a player you can
5     move (WASD / arrows), the five-layer render stack, a camera, physics,
6     the update / draw skeleton, AND the UI render pipeline — all wired
7     and ready, but firing no attacks and drawing no UI widgets. Read it
8     top to bottom; it is the contract you build on.
9   
10    TWO TOOLKITS, ONE REQUIRE.  `require('snkrx')` pulls in BOTH:
11  
12      snkrx/<carrier>.lua     attack toolkit — projectile / area / beam
13                              / flicker / prop, the effect draw-shader
14                              stack, fx, sounds, example entities.
15      snkrx/ui/<module>.lua   UI toolkit — panel / button / slot / bar /
16                              tabs / checkbox / radio / slider /
17                              list_row / card / text_input / modal /
18                              bracket_tag / stat_chip / pips / ...
19  
20    Both are plain, readable Lua, not opaque modules — open the files.
21  
22    ADDING AN ATTACK.  Every carrier already has its object list and its
23    update / draw loop wired below. To add an attack:
24      1. bind a key in the INPUT section,
25      2. call the carrier's spawn_* helper on that press inside update()
26         — see the ATTACKS comment block there.
27    Nothing else: no new list, no new loop.
28  
29    DRAWING UI.  The UI toolkit is immediate-mode: call widget functions
30    in update() and they queue draws onto `ui_layer`. The render pipeline
... [487 more lines]

Now let me read the loop, grid, and the camera framework to understand exactly what I'm working with for the map + camera task.

1    --[[
2     loop.lua — the waypoint loop the train follows (mini-looper, step 1).
3   
4     `loop_points` is just an ordered list of {x, y} points. There is no
5     baked path geometry and no arc-length table — the train walks this
6     list with the `steering_follow_path` behavior and wraps back to point
7     1 at the end, so in practice it loops forever. `loop_cx, loop_cy` hold
8     the loop center (used for the inward test-push).
9   
10      build_loop_ring(cx, cy, rx, ry, n)  -- n points on a plain ellipse
11      build_loop_track(cx, cy)            -- a fixed IRREGULAR loop (twists,
12                                          -- sharp turns, concave notches)
13      nearest_loop_index(x, y)            -- index of the closest loop point
14      loop_draw(layer)                    -- debug: dots + connecting lines
15  ]]
16  
17  loop_points = {}
18  loop_cx, loop_cy = 0, 0
19  
20  -- Place n points evenly around an ellipse centered at (cx, cy) with
21  -- radii rx / ry. Replaces loop_points wholesale.
22  function build_loop_ring(cx, cy, rx, ry, n)
23    loop_cx, loop_cy = cx, cy
24    loop_points = {}
25    for i = 1, n do
26      local a = (i - 1)/n*2*math.pi
27      loop_points[i] = { x = cx + rx*math.cos(a), y = cy + ry*math.sin(a) }
28    end
29    return loop_points
30  end
... [55 more lines]

1    --[[
2     grid.lua — the logical placement grid (mini-looper).
3   
4     A grid of square cells covering the whole screen. Purely logical: it owns
5     the cell math (world <-> cell) and an occupancy map, so buildings snap to
6     cells and a future placement layer can query what's filled. Buildings draw
7     themselves; the grid only draws faint lines under the F2 debug overlay.
8   
9       grid_cell_center(col, row) -> x, y      (cell center, world space)
10      grid_cell_at(x, y)         -> col, row  (clamped into the grid)
11      grid_get / grid_set(col, row[, b])      (occupancy)
12      grid_draw(layer)                        (debug lines)
13  
14    Cells are 1-indexed: col in 1..grid_cols, row in 1..grid_rows.
15  ]]
16  
17  
18  grid_cell_size = 24
19  -- Odd cell counts so a single cell sits dead-center on the screen, plus a
20  -- centering origin offset so the whole grid is centered (leftover margin from
21  -- non-exact division is split evenly on both sides).
22  grid_cols = math.floor(width/grid_cell_size)
23  grid_rows = math.floor(height/grid_cell_size)
24  if grid_cols % 2 == 0 then grid_cols = grid_cols - 1 end
25  if grid_rows % 2 == 0 then grid_rows = grid_rows - 1 end
26  grid_origin_x = (width  - grid_cols*grid_cell_size)/2
27  grid_origin_y = (height - grid_rows*grid_cell_size)/2
28  
29  grid_cells = {}   -- occupancy: grid_cells[(row-1)*grid_cols + col] = building
30  
... [37 more lines]

Now the camera framework — I need to understand the camera API to know what panning facilities exist.

1    --[[
2     camera — procedural 2D camera with follow, bounds, and integrated shake.
3   
4     Usage:
5       main_camera = camera_new(width, height)
6   
7       -- In update:
8       camera_update(main_camera, dt)
9   
10      -- In draw:
11      camera_attach(main_camera, game_layer)
12      layer_circle(game_layer, 100, 100, 20, red())
13      -- ... more draws to game_layer
14      camera_detach(main_camera, game_layer)
15  
16      -- Follow a target:
17      camera_follow(main_camera, p1)
18      camera_follow(main_camera, p1, 0.9, 0.3)   -- 90% distance in 0.3s
19      camera_follow(main_camera, nil)             -- stop following
20  
21      -- Bounds:
22      camera_set_bounds(main_camera, 0, map_w, 0, map_h)
23  
24    Shake is an integrated sub-structure accessible as camera.shake.
25    Use the shake_* functions on it:
26      shake_push(main_camera.shake, angle, amount)
27      shake_shake(main_camera.shake, 10, 0.3)
28      shake_trauma(main_camera.shake, 0.5, 0.3)
29  
30    Design notes:
... [185 more lines]

The road/editor session is clearly the thrown-away procedural-loop work — I won't touch any of that. Before writing the brief, let me check what currently references the screen dimensions (width/height), since expanding the map means anything hardcoded to the screen needs to move to map space.

mini-looper\grid.lua:22:grid_cols = math.floor(width/grid_cell_size)
mini-looper\grid.lua:23:grid_rows = math.floor(height/grid_cell_size)
mini-looper\grid.lua:26:grid_origin_x = (width  - grid_cols*grid_cell_size)/2
mini-looper\grid.lua:27:grid_origin_y = (height - grid_rows*grid_cell_size)/2
mini-looper\enemy.lua:239:  Spawn one enemy just outside a random screen edge. `width` / `height` are
mini-looper\enemy.lua:241:  (0,0)-(width,height), so a small margin past an edge puts the enemy
mini-looper\enemy.lua:249:    x, y = random_float(0, width), -m
mini-looper\enemy.lua:251:    x, y = random_float(0, width), height + m
mini-looper\enemy.lua:253:    x, y = -m, random_float(0, height)
mini-looper\enemy.lua:255:    x, y = width + m, random_float(0, height)
mini-looper\anchor\camera.lua:5:    main_camera = camera_new(width, height)
mini-looper\anchor\camera.lua:41:  Creates a new camera. Defaults width and height to global `width`/`height`
mini-looper\anchor\camera.lua:45:  local cw = w or width or 480
mini-looper\anchor\camera.lua:46:  local ch = h or height or 270
mini-looper\info_text.lua:77:      local th = f.height
mini-looper\main.lua:67:  width  = 480,
mini-looper\main.lua:68:  height = 270,
mini-looper\main.lua:141:main_camera = camera_new(width, height)
mini-looper\main.lua:142:main_camera.x = width/2
mini-looper\main.lua:143:main_camera.y = height/2
mini-looper\main.lua:155:build_loop_track(width/2, height/2)
mini-looper\main.lua:378:  layer_rectangle(floor_layer, 0, 0, width, height, bg())
mini-looper\main.lua:447:    layer_text(debug_layer, title, f1, math.floor(width/2 - f1:text_width(title)/2), height/2 - 14, tcol)
mini-looper\main.lua:448:    layer_text(debug_layer, t2, f2, math.floor(width/2 - f2:text_width(t2)/2), height/2 + 4, text())
mini-looper\main.lua:452:    layer_text(debug_layer, label, f, math.floor(width/2 - f:text_width(label)/2), 4, text())
mini-looper\main.lua:455:      layer_text(debug_layer, warn, f, math.floor(width/2 - f:text_width(warn)/2), 16, red())
mini-looper\main_old.lua:17:  width  = 480,
mini-looper\main_old.lua:18:  height = 270,
mini-looper\main_old.lua:251:main_camera = camera_new(width, height)
mini-looper\main_old.lua:252:main_camera.x = width/2
... [170 more lines]

Let me confirm the input API available for camera panning (edge detection, drag, scroll-wheel zoom).

No matches found

14:    bind('shoot', 'mouse:1')
21:    'mouse:<num>'   -- mouse button (e.g., 'mouse:1' for left, 'mouse:2' for right)

4:  The C engine provides input_bind/is_down/is_pressed/is_released/etc.
25:function bind(action, control) input_bind(action, control) end
26:function unbind(action, control) input_unbind(action, control) end
27:function unbind_all(action) input_unbind_all(action) end
28:function bind_chord(name, actions) input_bind_chord(name, actions) end
29:function bind_sequence(name, sequence) input_bind_sequence(name, sequence) end
30:function bind_hold(name, duration, source) input_bind_hold(name, duration, source) end
33:function input_down(action) return is_down(action) end
34:function input_pressed(action) return is_pressed(action) end
35:function input_released(action) return is_released(action) end
38:function input_axis(neg, pos) return input_get_axis(neg, pos) end
39:function input_vector(left, right, up, down) return input_get_vector(left, right, up, down) end
40:function input_hold_duration(name) return input_get_hold_duration(name) end
41:function input_last_type() return input_get_last_type() end
42:function input_pressed_action() return input_get_pressed_action() end
45:function input_capture_start() input_start_capture() end
46:function input_capture_get() return input_get_captured() end
47:function input_capture_stop() input_stop_capture() end
50:function input_deadzone(d) input_set_deadzone(d) end

242:mouse_position() -> x, y
243:mouse_delta() -> dx, dy
244:mouse_set_visible(visible)
245:mouse_set_grabbed(grabbed)
246:mouse_is_down(button) -> bool
247:mouse_is_pressed(button) -> bool
248:mouse_is_released(button) -> bool
249:mouse_wheel() -> wx, wy

I have the input primitives I need: mouse_position(), mouse_delta(), mouse_wheel(), mouse_is_down(button). Let me read the enemy spawn and director code, since a bigger map means enemy spawning (currently keyed to screen edges) must become map/loop-relative for the map to function.

230    local e = enemy(x, y, args)
231   enemies[#enemies + 1] = e
232   return e
233 end
234 
235 
236 --[[
237   spawn_enemy_at_edge(args)
238 
239   Spawn one enemy just outside a random screen edge. `width` / `height` are
240   the engine globals for the game resolution; the camera shows world
241   (0,0)-(width,height), so a small margin past an edge puts the enemy
242   off-screen. It then steers to the loop center.
243 ]]
244 function spawn_enemy_at_edge(args)
245   local m = 16
246   local edge = random_int(1, 4)
247   local x, y
248   if edge == 1 then                      -- top
249     x, y = random_float(0, width), -m
250   elseif edge == 2 then                  -- bottom
251     x, y = random_float(0, width), height + m
252   elseif edge == 3 then                  -- left
253     x, y = -m, random_float(0, height)
254   else                                   -- right
255     x, y = width + m, random_float(0, height)
256   end
257   return spawn_enemy(x, y, args)
258 end
259 

1    --[[
2     wave.lua — continuous pressure director (mini-looper).
3   
4     Replaces discrete waves: enemies trickle in continuously from ALL around the
5     perimeter so the train is always sweeping into something and the whole loop
6     earns its keep. Pacing is authored, not random.
7   
8     BEATS carry the fractal difficulty. Time is chopped into beats; beat b has
9     difficulty D(b) = (1 + (b-1)*0.5)*(1 + v3(b)) — the 1-2-3 fractal (two calm
10    beats, then a spike; bigger spikes every 9th/18th). Survive past
11    beat_count_max -> WIN (game_won).
12  
13    AMBIENT trickle: a timer fires every ambient_interval(D) seconds (shrinks as
14    D rises), dropping a small group at a uniform-random angle around the center,
15    off-screen, marching in. So the small fractal spikes (v3==1) just crank this
16    omnidirectional rate on their own.
17  
18    SUPER-SPIKE SURGE (v3>=2: beats 9, 18): a telegraphed flank assault. At the
19    beat start a warning bar pulses on ONE SIDE — left or right only, never
20    top/bottom — then after telegraph_time a dense swarm pours from that side
21    while ambient dampens, so the threat reads as coming from there. The
22    "defend the flank" moment (and where you'll reinforce with buildings later).
23  
24    main.lua: director_update(dt) in the sim, director_draw_telegraph(game_layer)
25    in draw, director_reset() on restart; game_won folds into the freeze gate.
26  ]]
27  
28  
29  -- Tunables (the balance surface — flow rate vs the train's kill rate).
30  beat_count_max   = 18
... [150 more lines]

I'm fully aligned now. Here's where things stand and what I propose.

Where we are

Mini Looper's two build-heavy fun-gates (movement "beginning" + ramming "end") are passed. We're now opening the third and final fun-test: the RTS/strategy layer — resource extraction → tech tree → unit/upgrade unlocks, all paid out per completed lap (speed = currency). Per the plan in memory, this is "Slice v0": economy on the existing fixed loop, deterministic tech tree, enemy scaling keyed to gates.

Your step-1 framing is right: before any of the economy, we need a map bigger than one screen plus an RTS camera to survey it and see where the base sits. (And I've noted the alarm I'm meant to watch — this is not the thrown-away road/piece/turtle-editor infra from the 2026-05-27 session; it's a fixed loop on a bigger canvas + camera panning. Different thing, and it's the substrate the economy test needs.)

One good-news finding from reading the code: the real spawner is already world-space — wave.lua's spawn_group spawns on a radius around loop_cx/cy (SPAWN_RADIUS=300), not screen edges. So the director doesn't break on a bigger map. Only a few screen-coupled spots need adapting (listed below).

Design brief — map area + RTS camera

Approach

• Introduce world-space map_w, map_h (bigger than the 480×270 viewport). The map becomes the world; the screen is a window onto it.
• The grid covers the whole map (origin at world 0,0) so building placement spans the map, not just the screen.
• The loop + base sit centered in the map.
• The camera gets bounds = the map, starts centered on the base, and gains RTS panning + optional scroll-zoom (with a min-zoom that fits the whole map in view, so you can survey it).
• A visible map slab drawn camera-attached (a lighter rectangle on the darker screen-space "void") so the map's extent and the base's position read at a glance.

Interfaces (what it touches / reuses)

• map_w, map_h — new globals in main.lua, defined right after require('anchor') and before require('grid') (grid sizes itself at load).
• grid.lua — swap width/height → map_w/map_h, origin → 0,0 (map spans exactly 0..map_w / 0..map_h; pick dims as multiples of the 24px cell). The old odd-cell-centering trick is dropped — the base now snaps via grid_cell_at(loop_cx, loop_cy) as it already does.
• anchor/camera.lua — reused as-is. camera_set_bounds already clamps to a world rect accounting for zoom; camera.zoom already exists. No framework change.
• main.lua SCENE — build_loop_track(map_w/2, map_h/2); camera starts at the loop center; camera_set_bounds(main_camera, 0, map_w, 0, map_h).
• main.lua draw — draw the map slab on a camera-attached layer; the screen-space floor fill stays as the void color outside the map.
• snkrx/projectile.lua (required adaptation) — its off-screen cull tests width/height assuming a static camera; on a bigger map that deletes unit projectiles the moment they cross world (480,270). Change to cull at map bounds.
• wave.lua director_draw_telegraph (required adaptation) — currently drawn at screen coords on the camera-attached layer; with a moving camera it'd land mid-map. Move it to screen space so the flank-warning bar hugs the viewport edge (the RTS-correct behavior). SPAWN_RADIUS may need bumping to reach the chosen map's edges.
• enemy.lua spawn_enemy_at_edge (minor) — the debug E/b spawner uses screen edges; retarget it to a ring around the loop center so the burst test still works.

Functions

• camera_pan_update(dt) (new, main.lua) — the RTS control. Edge-scroll: mouse within pan_edge px of a screen edge → add pan_speed*dt to main_camera.x/y. Drag: pan-button held → subtract mouse_delta (grab-the-world). Zoom: mouse_wheel() adjusts main_camera.zoom, clamped [zoom_min, zoom_max] (zoom_min = whole-map-fits). Calls mouse_position / mouse_delta / mouse_wheel / mouse_is_down. Runs in update() just before camera_update(main_camera, sdt), which then applies the map-bounds clamp.
• grid.lua top-level (changed) — size to map.
• main.lua SCENE + draw (changed) — as above.
• projectile cull + director telegraph (changed) — as above.

Honest scope note

This is a tight, finite task — define dims + a pan function + a handful of screen→map fixes. The only judgment call is that a bigger map is itself more than the documented "economy on one fixed screen" plan; it adds camera infra before the economy's fun is proven. I think it's justified (an RTS needs room and a sense of place to test the build/place/defend verbs), but I'm flagging it so the choice is conscious — and I've put a "keep it modest 2×" option below so the cheap path stays on the table. I won't run the game; you test. I'll syntax-check before handing off.

Three decisions before I write:

Your questions have been answered: "How big should the map be, relative to the current 480×270 screen?"="Let's try 3 screens wide, and 2 screens tall, so half a screen up and half a screen down vertically from here.", "Should the loop scale up with the bigger map, or stay its current size?"="Stay current size", "Which RTS camera controls do you want? (pick any)"="Edge-scroll,Keyboard pan". You can now continue with these answers in mind.

Locked in:

• Map: 1440×540 (3 screens wide, 2 tall — half a screen of new space above and below).
• Loop stays current size, centered in the map (so it's a defended bubble at map center, with contested space around it).
• Camera: edge-scroll + keyboard pan (WASD/arrows). No zoom, no drag — you survey the map by panning.

The brief's approach is unchanged by these (they just drop the zoom/drag code and fix the dims). One thing I'll flag that the answers surface: with the loop centered at map center (720, 270), the entire loop now lives outside the old 480×270 screen rectangle — so the projectile cull fix isn't optional, it's required, or the archer/cannoneer projectiles get deleted the instant they spawn.

Let me verify the palette background tokens for the map slab, then implement.

56:bg            = color(34, 40, 46)
58:panel_fill    = color(31, 33, 38)
59:charcoal      = color(45, 48, 51)
60:panel_border  = color(56, 60, 65)
61:grey          = color(74, 77, 80)
82:bg_color      = bg
122:  bg = bg, slot_fill = slot_fill, panel_fill = panel_fill, charcoal = charcoal,
123:  panel_border = panel_border, grey = grey, text_muted = text_muted,
165:  bg = 'slot_fill', slot_fill = 'panel_fill', panel_fill = 'charcoal',
166:  charcoal = 'panel_border', panel_border = 'grey', grey = 'text_muted',

Palette confirmed. Plan for the map slab: make the floor (void) panel_fill (darker) and draw the playfield as a bg-colored slab — so everything inside the map looks exactly as it does now (loop lines stay visible) and the map edge reads as a subtle shade change. The decisions don't change the brief's structure, so I'll implement now. Let me read the exact projectile cull lines first.

86   
87  function projectile:update(dt)
88    timer_update(self.timer, dt)
89    spring_update(self.spring, dt)
90    self.collider:sync()
91  
92    -- Die once well off-screen — the catch-all so a projectile that never
93    -- hits anything (no max_range) doesn't live forever. No FX: it's not
94    -- visible. width/height are the game-resolution globals; the camera is
95    -- static, so world (0,0)-(width,height) is the view.
96    local m = 120
97    if self.x < -m or self.x > width + m or self.y < -m or self.y > height + m then
98      entity_kill(self)
99      return
100   end
101 
102   -- Max range expiry. Skip if not set (projectile lives forever until
103   -- it hits something).
104   if self.max_range then
105     self.distance_traveled = self.distance_traveled + self.speed*dt

All clear. Implementing now — all edits across main.lua, grid.lua, snkrx/projectile.lua, and enemy.lua.

1. main.lua — map globals (before the game requires, so grid.lua sees them at load):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

2. main.lua — camera starts on the base + map bounds:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

3. main.lua — SCENE: build the loop at the map center:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

4. main.lua — the camera_pan_update function (defined just before update):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

5. main.lua — call camera_pan_update before camera_update:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

6. main.lua — floor becomes the darker "void"; draw the bg-colored map slab on wall_layer:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

7. main.lua — move the surge telegraph off the camera-attached game_layer (remove it there; redraw screen-space on debug_layer):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

8. main.lua — redraw the telegraph screen-space on debug_layer:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

9. grid.lua — size the grid to the map instead of the screen:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

10. snkrx/projectile.lua — cull at the map bounds, not the screen (with a map_w or width fallback so the toolkit still works standalone):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\projectile.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

11. enemy.lua — retarget the debug spawner (E / b keys) to a ring around the loop center (the screen-edge version would now drop enemies in the map's top-left corner):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\enemy.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

All edits done. Now syntax-check the four changed Lua files (compile-only via loadfile + assert, so undefined cross-file globals won't false-positive):

OK  main.lua
OK  grid.lua
OK  enemy.lua
OK  snkrx/projectile.lua

All four compile. One refinement before I hand off: with bounds set exactly to the map, the camera clamp guarantees the viewport never shows past the map edge — so the darker "void" (and thus the map boundary itself) would never actually be visible, defeating the "see where the base sits within the map" goal. The standard RTS fix is to let the camera pan a small margin past the edge so the boundary frames into view. Let me add that margin:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK main.lua

Done. Map + RTS camera are in. Here's the full change set, mapped to the brief:

Map (1440×540 = 3 screens wide, 2 tall):

• main.lua — new map_w = 3*width / map_h = 2*height globals, defined before the game requires so grid.lua sees them at load.
• grid.lua — grid now spans the map (map_w/map_h), still odd-count + centered so a cell sits dead-center. The base snaps to that center cell → it lands exactly at world (720, 270), the loop center.
• The loop is now built at build_loop_track(map_w/2, map_h/2) — same size as before, centered in the bigger map (the "defended bubble" you chose).

Camera:

• Starts centered on the base; bounds = the map plus a 48px void margin so panning to an edge frames the map boundary into view.
• camera_pan_update(dt) — edge-scroll (cursor within 14px of a viewport edge) + keyboard (WASD/arrows, repurposed from the dead player-move binds). Diagonals normalized. Runs on unscaled dt before camera_update, so it works during hit-stop and the win/lose freeze too.
• Floor is now the darker panel_fill "void"; the playfield is a bg-colored slab drawn camera-attached, so the map edge reads as a subtle shade change against the void when you pan to a boundary.

Required screen→map fixes (the bigger map breaks these otherwise):

• snkrx/projectile.lua — off-screen cull now uses map bounds (map_w or width fallback). Without this, every archer/cannoneer projectile would be deleted on spawn, since the whole loop now sits outside the old 480×270 rect.
• wave.lua telegraph — moved off the camera-attached layer to screen-space (debug_layer) so the flank-warning bar hugs the viewport edge wherever you've panned, instead of drawing mid-map.
• enemy.lua — the debug E/B spawner now drops enemies on a ring around the loop center (was spawning at screen edges → would've clustered in the map's top-left corner).

All four edited files syntax-check clean.

How to test:

1. Run it. The base + loop should sit centered; the train rams as before.
2. Pan — push the mouse to each screen edge (and try WASD/arrows). The world should scroll smoothly, stop at each map boundary, and you should see a strip of darker void framing the map edge so you can tell where the map ends and where the base sits within it.
3. Ranged units fire — confirm archer/cannoneer projectiles actually appear and travel (the cull fix). Press B to burst a crowd and watch the ram + projectiles.
4. Surge telegraph — let it reach a surge beat (or just confirm later); the red warning bar should hug the viewport edge regardless of camera position.

Tunables if the feel's off: cam_pan_speed (360 px/s), cam_pan_edge (14px), map_view_margin (48px) — all at the top of main.lua near the camera setup.

Two notes, honestly:

• Per your choice, no zoom/drag — you survey by panning only. That means you can't see the whole 1440-wide map at once; if that feels cramped while placing buildings later, scroll-zoom is a small add.
• Minor: edge-scroll triggers near the F1 panel's top-left corner too. The actual controls (sliders/checkboxes) sit far enough inside that it's rarely an issue; flag it if it annoys you and I'll gate edge-scroll while the panel's open.
• I left SPAWN_RADIUS (300, around the loop center) unchanged — enemies still converge from around the base, which is what current gameplay wants. The far thirds of the wide map are empty for now; that's the space the resource economy will fill, so where enemies spawn vs. that territory is a question for the economy step, not this one.

Your turn to test the panning and confirm nothing regressed. Once it feels right, the next step is the economy itself (resource + extractor building + per-lap payout).

Stop enemy spawns for now.

Trivial toggle — the automatic spawns come from the director (wave.lua). I'll gate its update behind a flag so it's a one-line flip to re-enable later. (Leaving the manual E/B debug keys alone — those only fire when you press them.)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Exit code 1
E:\a327ex\Anchor\reference\love-compare\tools\lua54.exe: (command line):1: cannot open /e/a327ex/mini-looper/main.lua: No such file or directory
stack traceback:
    [C]: in function 'assert'
    (command line):1: in main chunk
    [C]: in ?

OK main.lua

Done. Automatic enemy spawns are off — director_enabled = false in main.lua gates the director_update call, so no ambient trickle or surges. The beat readout will just sit at its start value, and nothing new spawns.

To test: run it — the field stays clear, so you can pan around and check the map/camera in isolation. (The E and B debug keys still spawn enemies if you want some on screen to watch the ram; they only fire on press.)

To re-enable later: flip director_enabled back to true (one line, near debug_draw_enabled).

Let's make the units all the units we have implemented except Detonator, inert blocks, Poisoner, Earthshaker. Let's make the map also 2 screens wide, half a screen left and right. Make sure that enemies get spawned from the edges of the map (the exact edge location) only. Implement mouse grabbing, so the mouse can't go outside the window, this is an engine change. Make it so that mouse panning only activates when it actually gets really close to the edge of the window, right now it's a bit too lose.

Several distinct tasks here. Let me investigate the code before touching anything — the roster composition, the current build setup, and especially the mouse-grab situation (the engine may already expose it, or it may need a real C change).

1    --[[
2     builds.lua — hardcoded "fake" endgame builds for fun + perf testing (mini-looper).
3   
4     These are NOT a build system — just per-archetype setup functions that string a
5     maxed train roster and set global modifier knobs, so we can fun-test the endgame
6     power fantasy (and engine performance under load) WITHOUT first building the
7     unit-acquisition / upgrade systems a real run would use to grant them. This is
8     the build-heavy "End fun-gate": hardcode the endpoint, test the fun, then decide.
9   
10    RAMMING (this build): a long snake of inert steel BLOCKS interleaved with the
11    attacker units. Blocks are variable-length (size 1/2/3 -> a 10/20/30 px segment),
12    one unit / one collider each, so a bigger block is a wider rammer and a longer
13    wall. The train's contact damage + patrol speed scale with the block COUNT
14    (ramming_apply_scaling). The body is the weapon — the ram math in main.lua already
15    reads the globals this sets (train_contact_damage / train_max_speed); knockback
16    (train_ram_force) stays low, since this flavor wants enemies to stay in the sweep.
17  
18      setup_ramming_build()    build + activate the ramming train (replaces train_build)
19      ramming_apply_scaling()  recompute the scaling globals from the live block count
20  ]]
21  
22  
23  -- Ramming modifier knobs. Each "+" modifier toggles live in the F1 panel
24  -- (ram_mod_enabled); ramming_apply_scaling rebuilds train_max_speed /
25  -- train_contact_damage from whichever are on. The _base values are the snake's
26  -- intrinsic stats with NO modifiers active.
27  ramming_build_active  = false
28  ram_speed_base        = 120   -- intrinsic patrol speed (no modifiers)
29  ram_speed_flat        = 60    -- "+speed" modifier
30  ram_speed_per_block   = 10    -- "+speed per inert block" modifier
... [75 more lines]

1    --[[
2     units.lua — the shared unit auto-attack scaffold + the per-character
3     attack registry (mini-looper).
4   
5     Every train unit is an auto-attacker: on a cooldown it finds the nearest
6     enemy in range and fires a carrier at it. The shared machinery (target
7     acquisition, cooldown tick, fire) lives here; each character is ONE entry
8     in unit_defs. Adding a unit = add a registry entry — no new plumbing,
9     since the carrier update / draw / damage loops already live in main.lua.
10  
11    train_unit (train.lua) owns self.character + self.attack_cooldown, takes
12    its color (self.spec) from its def, and calls unit_attack_update(self, dt)
13    each frame.
14  
15    Desync: cooldowns are seeded with a random phase AND jittered on every
16    reset (cooldown_jitter), and an idle unit (no target in range) re-arms
17    after a small random delay — so a cluster of units never fires on the
18    same frame. Without this they collapse to "ready" while idle and volley
19    in lockstep the instant enemies arrive.
20  
21    unit_defs[name] = {
22      cooldown,         -- seconds between attacks (number OR function -> number,
23                        --   so it can read a live tuning knob)
24      cooldown_jitter,  -- optional ± fraction applied on each reset (default 0.15)
25      range,            -- target-acquisition radius (px)
26      spec,             -- effect spec = the unit's (and its projectiles') color
27      attack,           -- function(u, target): fire the unit's carrier at target
28    }
29  ]]
30  
... [540 more lines]

Now the units. The implemented set is: archer, magician, cannoneer, outlaw, geomancer, swordsman, earthshaker, detonator (full attackers) + block, juggernaut, poisoner (inert/contact). "All implemented except Detonator, blocks, Poisoner, Earthshaker" resolves to juggernaut (head), archer, magician, cannoneer, outlaw, geomancer, swordsman — 7 units.

Now let me investigate the mouse-grab situation before deciding whether it's a real C-engine change or already exposed.

mini-looper\anchor\camera.lua:209:  local mx, my = mouse_position()

8336:static int l_mouse_set_visible(lua_State* L) {
8342:static int l_mouse_set_grabbed(lua_State* L) {
8343:    bool grabbed = lua_toboolean(L, 1);
8344:    SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode(grabbed ? SDL_TRUE : SDL_FALSE);
9380:// Must poll BEFORE SDL_PollEvent to grab WM_HOTKEY thread messages first.
9702:    lua_register(L, "mouse_position", l_mouse_position);
9704:    lua_register(L, "mouse_set_visible", l_mouse_set_visible);
9705:    lua_register(L, "mouse_set_grabbed", l_mouse_set_grabbed);
10452:    // Poll global hotkeys BEFORE SDL events (grab WM_HOTKEY thread messages first)

Important: the engine's mouse_set_grabbed exists but calls SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode — that hides the cursor and switches to relative-delta mode (FPS-look style), which would break edge-scroll entirely. The user's right that this needs an engine change: confining the cursor to the window while keeping it visible and absolute is SDL_SetWindowGrab, a different SDL call. Let me check how the window is referenced in anchor.c and whether mouse_set_grabbed is used anywhere, so I can decide between repurposing it vs adding a new function.

8330 
8331        lua_pushnumber(L, (float)mouse_dx / scale);
8332        lua_pushnumber(L, (float)mouse_dy / scale);
8333        return 2;
8334    }
8335    
8336    static int l_mouse_set_visible(lua_State* L) {
8337        bool visible = lua_toboolean(L, 1);
8338        SDL_ShowCursor(visible ? SDL_ENABLE : SDL_DISABLE);
8339        return 0;
8340    }
8341    
8342    static int l_mouse_set_grabbed(lua_State* L) {
8343        bool grabbed = lua_toboolean(L, 1);
8344        SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode(grabbed ? SDL_TRUE : SDL_FALSE);
8345        return 0;
8346    }
8347    
8348    static int l_mouse_is_down(lua_State* L) {
8349        int button = (int)luaL_checkinteger(L, 1);

2557:static SDL_Window* window = NULL;
9216:    window = SDL_CreateWindow(
9223:        return luaL_error(L, "SDL_CreateWindow failed: %s", SDL_GetError());

Found 40 files
Anchor2\engine\src\anchor.c
a327ex-site\logs\thalien-lune-gameplay.md
a327ex-site\logs\orblike-hideout-1.md
a327ex-site\logs\orblike-core-gameplay.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-yuescript-to-lua.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-runtime-configuration.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-rewrite.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-7.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-5.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-11.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-phase-10-part-10.md
a327ex-site\logs\anchor-app-phase-1-part-1.md
Anchor\engine\src\anchor.c
Anchor2\docs\ENGINE_API.md
Anchor2\reference\Anchor_v1\anchor_v1\init.lua
Anchor2\docs\ENGINE_API_QUICK.md
Anchor\framework\anchor\init.lua
Anchor\docs\ENGINE_API.md
Anchor\docs\ENGINE_API_QUICK.md
Danpenzero\anchor\init.lua
emoji-ball-battles\anchor\init.lua
Anchor-YueScript\reference\analysis\input-system-research.md
Anchor-YueScript\reference\archives\ANCHOR_IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md
Anchor-YueScript\reference\archives\PHASE_10_PROGRESS.md
Anchor-YueScript\framework\anchor\init.yue
Anchor-YueScript\framework\anchor\init.lua
Anchor-YueScript\framework\init.yue
Anchor-YueScript\engine\src\anchor.c
Anchor-YueScript\docs\ENGINE_API.md
... [11 more lines]

Everything I need is confirmed. Key facts:

• window is a static SDL_Window* (anchor.c:2557) — accessible.
• The existing mouse_set_grabbed uses SDL_SetRelativeMouseMode (hides cursor + relative mode) — wrong for our need. I'll add a new mouse_set_window_grab using SDL_SetWindowGrab (confines cursor to window, stays visible/absolute), leaving the existing function untouched so nothing else breaks.

These are all specified imperatives with clear paths, so I'll implement directly (explaining as I go) rather than a brief-and-wait. Let me do all source edits, then build the engine and copy the exe.

Engine — add the window-grab function:

The file E:\a327ex\Anchor2\engine\src\anchor.c has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\Anchor2\engine\src\anchor.c has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

builds.lua — the new roster (all implemented units minus the four excluded; no blocks):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\builds.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — map width to 2 screens, confine the cursor, tighten the pan edge:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

enemy.lua — map-edge spawn helpers + retarget the debug spawner to the exact perimeter:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\enemy.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

wave.lua — director spawns at the exact map edge (replace the center-radius ring; drop the now-unused SPAWN_RADIUS):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\wave.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\wave.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Now build the engine to verify the C change compiles, then copy the exe to mini-looper. Let me check the build setup first:

1    @echo off
2   setlocal
3   
4   cd /d "%~dp0"
5   
6   :: Find and run vcvarsall.bat for Visual Studio
7   if exist "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" (
8       call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 >nul 2>&1
9   ) else if exist "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" (
10      call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 >nul 2>&1
11  ) else if exist "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" (
12      call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 >nul 2>&1
13  ) else if exist "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" (
14      call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 >nul 2>&1
15  ) else (
16      echo ERROR: Could not find Visual Studio
17      exit /b 1
18  )
19  
20  if not exist build mkdir build
21  
22  :: Build Lua library if it doesn't exist
23  if not exist lib\lua.lib (
24      echo Building Lua library...
25      if not exist build\lua_obj mkdir build\lua_obj
26      cl.exe /nologo /O2 /W3 /c /I"include/lua" ^
27          include/lua/lapi.c include/lua/lauxlib.c include/lua/lbaselib.c ^
28          include/lua/lcode.c include/lua/lcorolib.c include/lua/lctype.c ^
29          include/lua/ldblib.c include/lua/ldebug.c include/lua/ldo.c ^
30          include/lua/ldump.c include/lua/lfunc.c include/lua/lgc.c ^
... [76 more lines]

Build outputs to engine/build/anchor.exe, then I copy it to mini-looper. Building is fine (verify compilation); I won't run the engine. Let me build:

src/anchor.c(10271): warning C4996: 'strcat': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcat_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10276): warning C4996: 'strcpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10280): warning C4996: 'strcat': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcat_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10286): warning C4996: 'strcpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10290): warning C4996: 'strcat': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcat_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10296): warning C4996: 'strcpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10300): warning C4996: 'strcat': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strcat_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10839): warning C4996: 'strncpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strncpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10841): warning C4996: 'strncpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strncpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10844): warning C4996: 'strncpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strncpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
src/anchor.c(10847): warning C4996: 'strncpy': This function or variable may be unsafe. Consider using strncpy_s instead. To disable deprecation, use _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS. See online help for details.
gl.c
Generating Code...
LINK : warning LNK4098: defaultlib 'MSVCRT' conflicts with use of other libs; use /NODEFAULTLIB:library
Build successful: build/anchor.exe

Build succeeded. Now copy the new exe to mini-looper:

Copied. Size: 4192256 bytes, modified 06/03/2026 10:36:18

Now syntax-check the four changed Lua files:

OK  main.lua
OK  builds.lua
OK  enemy.lua
OK  wave.lua

All four Lua files compile, the engine rebuilt cleanly, and the new exe is in place. Here's the full batch:

1. Roster — builds.lua: the train is now Juggernaut (head) + archer, magician, cannoneer, outlaw, geomancer, swordsman — every implemented unit except the four you named (Detonator, blocks, Poisoner, Earthshaker). RAMMING_BLOCKS = 0, so it's a pure attacker roster now; with no blocks the count-scaling degrades to base+flat → patrol speed 180, contact damage 6 (the Juggernaut head still one-shots on contact via its own 999). If 180 feels sluggish, bump ram_speed_base/ram_speed_flat in builds.lua.

2. Map width — main.lua: map_w = 2*width (960). Now 2 screens wide (half a screen of margin left and right), still 2 tall (540). The base re-centers to map center (480, 270) and stays dead-center on its grid cell.

3. Enemies spawn from the exact map edge — new map_edge_point() / random_map_edge_point() helpers in enemy.lua:

• The director (wave.lua) now casts a ray from the loop center along its chosen direction to the map's rectangular boundary and spawns there, scattering the group along that edge (no more 300px ring around center). Dropped the now-unused SPAWN_RADIUS.
• The debug E/B keys spawn at a uniformly-random point on the map perimeter.
• Note: enemies now travel farther (up to ~480px from a side edge to the loop) than the old 300px ring — that's inherent to "from the edges," and the director's pacing was tuned for the shorter distance, so timing will feel different when it's running.

4. Mouse grab (engine change) — added mouse_set_window_grab(grabbed) to anchor.c using SDL_SetWindowGrab (confines the cursor to the window, keeps it visible and absolute — unlike the existing mouse_set_grabbed, which uses relative mode and hides the cursor; I left that one alone). Rebuilt the engine and copied the new anchor.exe into mini-looper. main.lua calls mouse_set_window_grab(true) at startup. SDL drops the grab on focus loss, so alt-tab still frees the cursor.

5. Pan tightness — cam_pan_edge 14 → 3 virtual px (≈9 physical px at scale 3). Edge-scroll now only fires when the cursor is right at the window edge; the grab lets you slam into the edge reliably.

How to test:

1. Run it — base centered, train is the 7-unit roster, no automatic enemies.
2. Mouse grab — the cursor can't leave the window. Alt-tab to confirm it frees, click back to re-grab.
3. Pan — push the cursor to a window edge: it should pan only when right at the edge (tighter than before). WASD/arrows still pan too.
4. Edge spawns — press B: ~20 enemies appear on the map's exact perimeter (top/bottom/left/right edges) and march in. Confirm they come from the edge line, not a ring around the base.

One thing I left as-is, flag if wrong: automatic spawns are still off (director_enabled = false from your earlier "stop spawns for now" — you didn't say to resume). The B key shows the edge-spawn behavior without it. Say the word (or flip director_enabled = true) and continuous edge-spawning turns back on.

(The rebuilt anchor.exe is a new binary in mini-looper — worth committing alongside the source when you next commit, so the repo's exe matches anchor.c.)

Perfect, ESC should quit the game immediately. Now let's fix the map a little so that the grid fits it fully. Currently the edges of the map in all directions have some leftover space where the grid doesn't apply, let's increase the map horizontally and vertically so that the grid fully covers it.

Two quick fixes. Let me first find the engine's quit function (for ESC), then handle the grid/map fit.

349:os_popen(command) -> output_string, exit_status

9786:    lua_register(L, "engine_quit", l_engine_quit);

There's engine_quit. Let me verify what it does:

9142-    }
9143-    return 1;
9144-}
9145-
9146:static int l_engine_quit(lua_State* L) {
9147-    (void)L;
9148-    running = false;
9149-    return 0;
9150-}
--
9782-    #endif
9783-    lua_register(L, "engine_get_args", l_engine_get_args);
9784-    lua_register(L, "engine_get_drops", l_engine_get_drops);
9785-    lua_register(L, "engine_get_typed_text", l_engine_get_typed_text);
9786:    lua_register(L, "engine_quit", l_engine_quit);
9787-    lua_register(L, "engine_init", l_engine_init);
9788-    \ --- System: Clipboard ---
9789-    lua_register(L, "clipboard_get", l_clipboard_get);
9790-    lua_register(L, "clipboard_set", l_clipboard_set);

engine_quit() cleanly ends the main loop — that's the right call for ESC, no engine change needed. Let me confirm the key name convention (the engine lowercases SDL scancode names — key:left/key:f2 already work, so escape should be key:escape, but let me verify):

2801:    if (strcmp(name, "escape") == 0 || strcmp(name, "esc") == 0) return SDL_SCANCODE_ESCAPE;
2900:        case SDL_SCANCODE_ESCAPE: return "escape";
3788:        "space", "enter", "escape", "backspace", "tab",

Confirmed — key:escape works. Both fixes are pure Lua (no engine rebuild): engine_quit() already exists, and the map just needs exact grid-multiple dimensions.

ESC quits — bind it:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

ESC quits — handle it at the top of update (fires from any state):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Map fits the grid — exact odd-cell multiples so coverage is edge-to-edge:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK main.lua

Both done, main.lua only — no engine rebuild needed.

1. ESC quits immediately — bound quit_game to key:escape and call engine_quit() at the very top of update(), so it fires from any state (during the sound tuner, the win/lose freeze, anywhere). engine_quit just ends the main loop cleanly.

2. Grid now fully covers the map — the map was 960×540, but 960/24 = 40 and 540/24 = 22.5 don't land on the odd-cell counts grid.lua wants, so it shrank the grid (39×21 cells) and centered it, leaving a 12px horizontal / 18px vertical uncovered strip on each edge. I bumped the map up to exact odd-cell multiples:

• map_w = 41*24 = 984 (was 960)
• map_h = 23*24 = 552 (was 540)

Now floor(map/24) lands exactly on 41×23 (both odd, no shrink), grid.lua's centering offset computes to 0, and the 41×23 grid spans the whole map corner-to-corner. The base still snaps dead-center (col 21 of 41, row 12 of 23 → world (492, 276) = map center), and the camera bounds/loop recenter automatically.

To test: run it, press F2 to show the grid overlay — the cells should now reach every edge of the map with no leftover border. ESC should close the window instantly.

Great, now we need to decide on how we want to handle resources, buildings to gather those resources, loop extensions. The issue is, the map will have resources all around it, and we want to place buildings inside the loop because that's where we can defend. But the initial size of the loop is small, resulting in a low number of possible buildings, so we need a mechanism to extend to the loop itself. We have to decide it we want this mechanism to be free, or have some cost. There are pros and cons to increasing the loop's area, you get more resources, but it also takes longer for a single loop to complete, and you'll let enemies leak in more because the area covered by the train is higher. So this is the primary tension with increasing your base's size. Do you think for this slice we should have all these features or leave loop extensions for later?

Good question — this is the scope call that decides whether the slice stays cheap. My answer is defer loop extension; build v0 on a fixed loop sized generously enough to be interesting. Here's the reasoning, including the part that argues against me.

What v0 is actually testing

The gate for this slice is one question: are the core economy verbs fun? — build an extractor → watch it pay per lap → spend on a tech line → defend rising pressure. Loop extension is not one of those verbs. It's an amplifier layered on top of them. You build/gather/spend/defend with or without it.

That matters for experiment ordering: if those four verbs aren't fun on a fixed loop, extension won't rescue them — it'll just be more machinery on an unfun core. And if they are fun, you've validated cheaply and earned the right to build extension as the next depth layer. Either way, fixed-loop-first is the correct order. Including extension now means that if v0 isn't fun, you can't tell whether the economy is the problem or just the extension tradeoff is mistuned — you'd be tuning two coupled unknowns at once.

There's a sharper version of this: the tension you described (more slots/resources vs. slower laps vs. more leak) is a second-order tradeoff built on first-order quantities — income/lap, lap time, kill-rate vs. leak. You can't feel "extending costs me lap-efficiency and defense" until lap-efficiency and defense are themselves tuned and felt. Build and tune the first-order quantities first.

The thing that defuses your "small loop = trivial economy" worry

The small starting loop isn't a design law — it's just the current number (rx=115, ry=82). For v0, set the fixed loop big enough that the interior holds a satisfying number of build slots (say ~8–15 cells) so the economy has real spatial choices. The "we need extension because the loop's too small" pressure only exists if we keep the loop small, and there's no reason to in v0.

Better still: you can probe the small-vs-big tension for free, with zero new code — just edit the loop radius between test runs and replay. If "small loop run" vs "big loop run" feels meaningfully different to play, that confirms the extension mechanic is worth building before you build it. That's the cheapest possible de-risk.

And note: the one piece extension needs that v0 needs anyway is "which grid cells are inside the loop?" (a point-in-polygon test — buildings must be placed inside the defended ring even on a fixed loop). We build that now and reuse it. The deferrable chunk is specifically the expensive part: runtime loop-geometry regen + re-pinning the train's lap state + rebalancing pressure against a variable-size loop. Clean separation.

The honest counter-argument

If the heart of the fantasy is "start as a tiny ring and watch your defended domain sprawl into a fortress-loop," then a fixed-loop v0 doesn't test that arc at all — it tests a static-domain economy, which is a reduced game. If you think the growth arc itself is the main draw (not just the per-moment verbs), that's the real case for including extension early. I still come down on defer, because the growth arc is just the verbs repeated at escalating stakes — so the verbs have to be fun first regardless — but you know the intended fantasy better than I do. If it's fundamentally an expansion game, weight that heavier.

On free vs. cost (for when we build it)

It has to cost, in the same currency as everything else, probably escalating per extension. Free extension has only the leak penalty as a limiter, so every run you'd just extend to the maximum you can defend — that's an execution ceiling, not a decision. A resource cost makes extension compete with buying units/tech, which is exactly the "one line per run, scarcity" fork the game wants: grow my domain (more future income + slots) or buy power now (survive current pressure)? With per-lap income, a costed extension even gets a clean payback-period read: "this costs X, adds Y/lap, but slows my lap Z% — does it pay back before the run ends?" That's a rich, legible decision — but it needs the first-order quantities tuned to be legible, which is again why it comes after.

Proposed v0 feature set

• One resource type, scattered as nodes across the map (some happen to fall inside your loop — reachable; some don't — a spatial read).
• An inside-loop test to define buildable cells (built now, reused by extension later).
• An extractor building placed on an in-loop resource node; pays out per completed lap.
• A shallow deterministic tech tree (2–3 tiers) spending that resource on units/upgrades, with gated unlocks.
• Enemy pressure scaled to the gates; win/lose.
• Fixed, generously-sized loop. No extension, no free-vs-cost yet.

So the v0 fun read stays "is build/gather/spend/defend against rising pressure satisfying" — and "is the grow-tradeoff fun" becomes the next gate, built only if v0 passes.

Your questions have been answered: "How should we scope loop extension for this slice (v0)?"="Only increase the size of the current loop slightly, not a lot.". You can now continue with these answers in mind.

Locked: defer the extension mechanic (no dynamic growth, no cost system in v0), and the fixed loop only gets a slight bump, not a big one. That's a deliberate, sensible tradeoff — a small loop keeps laps fast, which keeps the per-lap income feel punchy and responsive (a big loop would make income sluggish), and a tighter interior means the few build slots are genuinely scarce decisions rather than a sprawl. The economy will be constrained but real. We're choosing to live with a modest slot count rather than build extension to relieve it — correct for the gate.

Proposed v0 build sequence

1. Buildable region — slightly bigger loop + "which cells are inside the loop" (the defended, buildable zone) + visualize it + gate placement to it. (the foundation everything sits on — and it lets you judge the slot count before we build on top)
2. Resource nodes — one resource type, scattered across the map; some fall inside your loop (reachable), some don't.
3. Extractor + per-lap payout — click an in-loop node to build an extractor; it pays the resource each completed lap; resource counter UI.
4. Tech tree — 2–3 deterministic tiers spending the resource on unit/upgrade unlocks, gated.
5. Pressure + win/lose — enemy scaling keyed to the gates; re-enable the director.

Each is a design-brief-then-code increment, tested between. Here's the brief for step 1.

Design brief — buildable region + slight loop bump

Approach

Enlarge the fixed loop a little, then define the buildable region as the grid cells whose center lies inside the loop polygon — the defended interior where you're allowed to place buildings. Precompute it once at scene init (the loop is fixed in v0), tint those cells faintly so the zone reads at a glance, and restrict building placement to them.

Interfaces

• loop.lua — build_loop_track gets a modestly larger rx/ry (proposing ~+20%: 115→138, 82→98). New loop_contains(x, y) — a ray-cast point-in-polygon over loop_points (which is already a clean angle-sorted simple polygon, so the test is straightforward).
• grid.lua — owns the region since it's about cells: a buildable set + compute_buildable_cells() (walk every cell, test its center with loop_contains) + cell_buildable(col, row) query + buildable_draw(layer) (faint fill of each buildable cell). Reuses the existing grid_cell_center / grid_key.
• main.lua — call compute_buildable_cells() in SCENE right after build_loop_track; call buildable_draw on a camera-attached layer in draw (so the zone tint sits under the loop/train).
• building.lua — building_place gains a cell_buildable guard (refuses out-of-zone cells). The central base is at map center = inside the loop, so it's unaffected.

Functions

• loop_contains(x, y) (loop.lua) — ray-cast PIP over loop_points; returns bool.
• compute_buildable_cells() (grid.lua) — fills buildable (keyed by grid_key) by testing each cell center via loop_contains.
• cell_buildable(col, row) (grid.lua) — membership query. (Geometric only — "inside the loop." Placement separately checks grid_get for occupancy, so the two concerns stay clean.)
• buildable_draw(layer) (grid.lua) — low-alpha tint per buildable cell.
• building_place (building.lua) — add the cell_buildable guard.

Open choices

1. Loop bump amount — I'm proposing ~+20% (rx 138, ry 98). You said "slightly," so tell me if you want even less (e.g. +10%) — it's a one-line tune and you'll eyeball the slot count when you run it.
2. Zone tint visibility — always-on subtle tint (the defended interior is always legible), vs. only-while-placing. I lean always-on subtle for v0; the zone is core to reading the board.
3. Perimeter cells — include any cell whose center is inside (simplest), or inset by one so buildings never sit on the train's path. I lean include-for-now, inset later only if buildings visibly collide with the train.

How do you want to call the three, and is the sequence right?

Go ahead.

[Request interrupted by user]

No tint needed on the buildable region, we just show it once we're about to build a building later.

Got it — no buildable-region tint now; that visualization belongs to the future build/placement mode. So for step 1 I'll compute and gate the region but leave it invisible in normal play — with one exception: I'll surface it under the F2 debug overlay only (a dev aid, clearly not the gameplay highlight), so you can actually verify the inside-loop computation and eyeball the slot count this increment. The real "show the zone when you're about to place" highlight comes with the extractor step.

Brief's agreed, so I'll implement. Let me read building.lua to place the gate correctly:

1    --[[
2     building.lua — generic grid-placed building (mini-looper).
3   
4     A square static obstacle on a grid cell, with HP. Enemies (which seek the
5     center) pile against it; the building<->enemy collision in main.lua knocks
6     each enemy back and calls building:hit, so a swarm chips it down. The
7     CENTRAL building (objective = true) is the base you defend: when it dies the
8     run is lost (building_destroyed -> main.lua freezes the field + shows the
9     "BASE DESTROYED" overlay; R restarts via building_reset).
10  
11    Draws a breathing square + an HP bar below it (fill + numeric hp/max).
12  
13      building_place(col, row, opts) -> building   opts: objective, hp, spec, size
14      building_reset()                              restore the objective, clear enemies
15  
16    Generic (non-objective) buildings just die + free their cell on 0 HP — the
17    hook for the future placement layer; only the central one exists today.
18  ]]
19  
20  
21  buildings          = {}
22  central_building   = nil
23  building_destroyed = false
24  
25  building_size       = 20    -- square side (px); cell is grid_cell_size (24)
26  building_max_hp     = 100
27  building_push_force = 8      -- knockback applied to an enemy that hits a building
28  
29  -- A polychrome linear-gradient (cyan -> violet -> pink) — the only ramp/gradient
30  -- object in the game, so the base reads as special, distinct from the solid-hue
... [129 more lines]

All clear. Implementing step 1.

loop.lua — slightly bigger loop + loop_contains (point-in-polygon):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\loop.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\loop.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\loop.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

grid.lua — buildable-cell set, compute, query, and an F2-only debug draw:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — gate placement to buildable cells (the objective base is exempt):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — compute the region after the loop is built; draw it under F2:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  loop.lua
OK  grid.lua
OK  building.lua

All four compile. Step 1 is in.

What changed:

• loop.lua — loop bumped from 115×82 to 138×98 (~+20%, "slightly bigger") + new loop_contains(x, y) (ray-cast point-in-polygon; safe on the loop's simple angle-sorted polygon).
• grid.lua — compute_buildable_cells() marks every cell whose center is inside the loop; cell_buildable(col, row) queries it; buildable_draw(layer) faint-fills those cells (F2 only).
• building.lua — building_place now refuses cells outside the loop; the objective base is exempt (it's at center, inside anyway).
• main.lua — compute_buildable_cells() runs in SCENE right after the loop is built; buildable_draw is wired into the F2 overlay only.

No always-on tint — in normal play it looks exactly as before, just a slightly larger loop. The buildable zone is computed and enforced invisibly; the player-facing highlight waits for the placement mode (step 3).

How to test:

• Run, press F2: you'll see the slightly bigger loop with its interior cells filled faint lime — that's the buildable region. Eyeball whether the loop size and the resulting slot count feel right. (Tune rx, ry on the build_loop_track line in loop.lua if you want it smaller/larger.)
• F2 off: normal view, no tint, base centered as before.

One thing worth flagging on your earlier "small loop → few buildings" worry: with the interior counted cell-by-cell, even this modest loop yields a fair number of buildable cells (~50–60). So slot count probably won't be the limiter — resource cost will be (you won't afford to fill them). That's the healthier source of scarcity anyway, but check the F2 view and tell me if the interior still feels too cramped (or too sprawling) for the feel you want.

Your turn to look. Once the region/size feels right, step 2 is resource nodes (one resource type scattered on the map, some falling inside your loop).

Lua draw() error: grid.lua:101: attempt to call a nil value (global 'with_alpha')

When pressing F2.

with_alpha isn't a global here — my mistake (I assumed it from a usage that must be local/scoped). Let me check the actual color API rather than guess again:

12:    red.a = 128              -- set alpha
18:    shifted = color_from_hsl(h, s, l, red.a)
21:    copy = color_clone(red)
29:    - Procedural functions (color_mix, color_clone, etc.) return NEW colors,
36:function rgb_to_hsl(r, g, b)
56:function hsl_to_rgb(h, s, l)
86:    math.floor(c.a + 0.5)
94:function color_new(r, g, b, a)
111:function color_from_hsl(h, s, l, a)
123:function color_to_hsl(c)
128:  color_clone(c)
131:function color_clone(c)
132:  return color_new(c.r, c.g, c.b, c.a)
140:function color_mix(a, b, t)
146:    a.a + (b.a - a.a)*t
155:function color_darken(c, factor)
162:  return color_new(r, g, b, c.a)
170:function color_lighten(c, factor)
178:function color_invert(c)
179:  return color_new(255 - c.r, 255 - c.g, 255 - c.b, c.a)

Confirmed — the real API is color_clone(c) + set .a (0–255), exactly the idiom wave.lua already uses; there's no with_alpha global. I'll use green (confirmed global — building.lua draws its HP bar with green()):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\grid.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK grid.lua

Fixed — grid.lua:101 now uses color_clone(green) + .a = 50 (the alpha idiom that actually exists in this codebase; with_alpha was never a global). Compiles clean.

Press F2 again — you should now see the buildable interior cells filled faint green inside the slightly-bigger loop, no error.

Great, what's next?

Next is step 2 of the v0 sequence: resource nodes — the deposits your extractors will sit on. (Recap of the plan: ✅ region → ▶ nodes → extractor + per-lap payout → tech tree → pressure/win-lose.)

Design brief — resource nodes

Approach

Introduce one resource type and a fixed, hand-authored set of nodes — cell-aligned deposits scattered on the map. A node on a cell inside the loop is harvestable (an extractor can later be built on it); nodes outside are drawn but unreachable — a teaser for the future extension mechanic. Each node draws as a grey-box marker (a small gem) in world space. No income yet — that's step 3. Fixed placement (not random) keeps v0 deterministic and reproducible; node scatter is explicitly the Slice-v1 map-variance job, so it stays out here.

The key consequence: the number of inside-loop nodes is your income ceiling for v0 (each can host one extractor). That's the main number to get right, hence the question below.

Interfaces

• New resource.lua (resources are their own concept) — required in main.lua after grid/building. Owns the node list, placement, the "node at cell" query, and the draw.
• main.lua — require('resource'); call resource_setup() in SCENE after compute_buildable_cells() (so each node's inside-flag reads the computed region); draw nodes in the game_layer pass; clear/replace on restart if needed.
• grid.lua / loop.lua — reused read-only: nodes are cell-aligned (grid_cell_center), and a node's inside = cell_buildable(col, row).

Functions

• resource_nodes = {} — list of { col, row, inside }.
• resource_setup() — place the authored set: inside nodes selected from the buildable region, spread out (auto-adapts if the loop size changes); outside nodes at a few authored map positions. Called in SCENE.
• resource_at(col, row) — the node on a cell, or nil (step 3's extractor placement uses this).
• resource_draw(layer) — a gem marker per node; inside ones bright, outside ones dimmed.

Two decisions before I write:

Your questions have been answered: "How many harvestable (inside-loop) resource nodes? This is your v0 income ceiling — each can host one extractor."="Let's have two resource nodes inside the loop only. Let's have them at random locations, and both of them will be wood resources, drawn as a rotated brown rectangle (unfilled) of thickness 2. No resources outside the loop, just those 2.", "Show unreachable resource nodes outside the loop?"="No — inside only". You can now continue with these answers in mind.

Two nodes, random spots inside the loop, both wood, drawn as a rotated unfilled brown rectangle (line thickness 2), nothing outside. Random placement (not the fixed set I'd assumed) — noted. Let me check the palette for a brown/wood token before I commit to a color (the palette is blues/greens/purples/reds/yellows, so there may not be one):

40         list AND bump the shader's `uniform vec4 u_palette[N]` + index
41        comment.
42  ]]
43  
44  -- =============================================================================
45  -- LOCKED PALETTE — 18 canonical tokens. Tweak with extreme caution; this is
46  -- the project's visual identity. (Mirrored in Invoker's main.lua; the same
47  -- 18 tokens are referenced by reference/ui_primitives_spec.md and the four
48  -- reference/mockup_ui_kit_*.html files.)
49  -- =============================================================================
50  
51  -- Chrome / grayscale ladder, dark → light. Use these for backgrounds,
52  -- panels, borders, and text. The 9-step ladder gives enough resolution to
53  -- distinguish UI strata without going cluttered. It also doubles as a
54  -- LIGHTNESS ramp: mixing a token with its neighbor in this list is a
55  -- lightness breathe (used by the UI's optional shimmer — see ui/paint.lua).
56  bg            = color(34, 40, 46)
57  slot_fill     = color(27, 31, 34)
58  panel_fill    = color(31, 33, 38)
59  charcoal      = color(45, 48, 51)
60  panel_border  = color(56, 60, 65)
61  grey          = color(74, 77, 80)
62  text_muted    = color(140, 140, 145)
63  white         = color(200, 200, 200)
64  text          = color(240, 240, 235)
65  
66  -- Accents, roughly by hue (a hue wheel: red → … → pink → back to red).
67  -- Mixing an accent with its neighbor here is a warm/cool hue breathe — the
68  -- SNKRX "polychrome" feel — which is how the entity specs reproduce the old
69  -- edition shimmer.
... [55 more lines]

No brown in the palette (it's a locked 26-token set, all cool hues + red/orange/yellow). Since the node marker is a flat outline (drawn bracketed color='none', not through the palette shader), I'll use a dedicated brown for the new "wood" resource — that's a justified game-specific color, not overriding a palette token. Let me confirm the available outline-draw primitives:

108:function layer_rectangle(lyr, x, y, w, h, color)
109-  eng.rectangle(lyr_handle(lyr), x, y, w, h, color)
110-end
111-
--
116:function layer_rectangle_line(lyr, x, y, w, h, color, line_width)
117-  eng.rectangle_line(lyr_handle(lyr), x, y, w, h, color, line_width or 1)
118-end
119-
--
124:function layer_line(lyr, x1, y1, x2, y2, width, color)
125-  eng.line(lyr_handle(lyr), x1, y1, x2, y2, width, color)
126-end
127-
--
148:function layer_polygon_line(lyr, vertices, color, line_width)
149-  eng.polygon_line(lyr_handle(lyr), vertices, color, line_width or 1)
150-end
151-
--
198:function layer_push(lyr, x, y, r, sx, sy)
199-  eng.push(lyr_handle(lyr), x, y, r, sx, sy)
200-end
201-
202:function layer_pop(lyr)
203-  eng.pop(lyr_handle(lyr))
204-end
205-

layer_rectangle_line exists and layer_push does rotation — so a rotated outline is clean (push→rect_line→pop, bracketed flat). Implementing step 2 per your spec: 2 wood nodes at random inside-loop cells, rotated brown unfilled rectangles, thickness 2.

New file resource.lua:

File created successfully at: E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — require, place in SCENE, draw:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  resource.lua

Both compile. Step 2 is in.

• resource.lua (new) — resource_setup() picks 2 distinct random buildable cells (excluding the base), marks each as wood with a random rotation; resource_at(col,row) for the extractor step; resource_draw() renders each as a rotated unfilled brown rectangle (16×10, thickness 2), flat-bracketed so the brown shows directly.
• main.lua — requires resource.lua, calls resource_setup() in SCENE (after the base is placed, so its cell is excluded), and draws nodes on game_layer just above the loop.

A dedicated wood_color brown is defined in resource.lua — there's no brown in the locked palette, and the marker draws flat (outside the palette shader), so it doesn't touch the visual identity.

How to test: run it — two brown rotated rectangles appear at random cells inside the loop (re-roll each launch). Press F2 to confirm both sit on green (buildable) cells. No income or interaction yet — that's step 3.

Two notes:

• Nodes persist across restart (R revives the base but keeps the same 2 nodes). Easy to re-roll on restart if you'd prefer a fresh draw each run — say so.
• With pure-random placement the two can occasionally land adjacent or clustered on one side. Fine for now; if you want them guaranteed spread out I can add a min-distance.

Tunables in resource.lua: resource_node_count (2), resource_marker_w/h/lw, wood_color.

Your turn to look. Next up is step 3: the extractor — click a node to build an extractor on it, it pays wood each completed lap, with a resource counter. That one introduces the first real interaction (click-to-place) and the per-lap income, so I'll brief it before coding.

Rounded rectangles, they should use the pattern + dither effects too so they aren't just flat. Their rotation should be 45 degrees always.

Two of these are quick, but "use the pattern + dither effects so they aren't just flat" has a subtlety worth checking: the effect shimmer is driven by the color axis (a mix/ramp over palette tokens), and color='none' (what flat draws use) passes the base color straight through — so pattern/dither may not actually show on a color='none' brown. I need to see how the shader treats none + dither before I pick the approach. Let me check the draw shader:

9://       f   = dither(f, pixel_pos)                     // {0, 1/n, …, 1}
35://   u_dither_kind    int   0=off, 1=bayer4_2, 2=bayer8_2, 3=noise_2
36://   u_shape_kind     int   0=none, 1=circle(size), 2=circle(hard)
39://   u_color_kind     int   0=none (passthrough), 1=solid, 2=mix, 3=ramp
64://   1. Add a branch in apply_color() for a new kind id. The recipe receives
69://   1. Add a branch in apply_dither() with the quantization math.
70://   2. In effect.lua: add to dither_kinds + dither_cycle_names.
96:uniform int   u_dither_kind;
97:uniform int   u_shape_kind;        // 0=none 1=circle(size) 2=circle(hard) 3=sprite(bg) 4=sprite(field)
105:uniform int   u_color_kind;
112:                                   // 1 = the drawn image's own luminance (dither/recolor a real image)
114:                                      // image's field before dither (0 = static, →1 = flowing)
211:// normalised to spend most of its range mid-band so the dither stays visible
353:// black/white) or compresses (<1, more uniform mid-grey → more dither
359:    // so the dither flows over time (PATTERN AMT). This routes the image through
360:    // the SAME field path as the gallery, so shape/dither/color all apply to it.
379:// per-pixel threshold function. apply_dither returns a value in
390:// snkrx-template (which inherited them from Surma's ditherpunk catalog +
391:// Invoker's orb dither). Procedural patterns (line/cluster/triangle/hearts)
436:// sufficient for stochastic dither stipple.
437:float dither_noise(vec2 pix) {
442:float dither_line_diag(vec2 pix, float n) {
448:float dither_line_diag_flip(vec2 pix, float n) {
453:float dither_line_horiz(vec2 pix) {
458:float dither_line_vert(vec2 pix) {
466:float dither_cluster_dot(vec2 pix, float n) {
473:float dither_triangle(vec2 pix, float n) {
480:float dither_hearts(vec2 pix, float n) {
490:// Standard ordered-dither math: high-threshold pixels jump to the next
492:float dither_quantize(float field, float levels, float threshold) {
... [32 more lines]

Let me see apply_color and main to understand how color=none (kind 0) combines with the field/dither:

540  
541     // Triangle / diamond, sizes 5..7.
542     if (mode == 31) return dither_quantize(field,  5.0, dither_triangle(pix, 5.0));
543     if (mode == 32) return dither_quantize(field,  6.0, dither_triangle(pix, 6.0));
544     if (mode == 33) return dither_quantize(field,  7.0, dither_triangle(pix, 7.0));
545 
546     // Hearts (n = 6, the only tuned size).
547     if (mode == 34) return dither_quantize(field,  6.0, dither_hearts(pix, 6.0));
548 
549     return field;  // off (mode == 0) or unknown
550 }
551 
552 // =============================================================================
553 // SHAPE — re-express the field as a grid of shapes (circles for now). Runs
554 // between effect_field and dither. The field has TWO independent roles, kept on
555 // SEPARATE channels (this is the key — conflating them turns the gaps and dot
556 // edges into color_ramp's stop 0, the "everything goes red" trap):
557 //
558 //   * COVERAGE — *where* a dot is. The mask `m ∈ [0,1]`, a disc whose SIZE is
559 //     driven by the per-cell field `fc` (sampled once at the cell center via
560 //     effect_field_shaped, so the boundary is a TRUE circle that doesn't warp).
561 //     Coverage drives compositing (alpha, or the blend over the backing) — NOT
562 //     the color. For an image shape, `m` would be the sprite's alpha at the
563 //     cell-local UV; nothing downstream changes.
564 //   * COLOR — *what hue*. The field value handed to dither + the color recipe,
565 //     at FULL strength (never multiplied by the mask). circle (size) uses the
566 //     per-FRAGMENT value `ff` (color varies inside the dot); circle (hard) uses
567 //     the per-CELL value `fc` (one flat color per dot).
568 //
569 // Compositing happens in main() per u_shape_backing:
... [100 more lines]

Let me read apply_color and main (the end of the shader):

669  // =============================================================================
670 // COLOR — recipe over (base_rgb, f, palette[color_a], palette[color_b]).
671 // =============================================================================
672 
673 // ramp: map f across an ordered list of palette tokens (u_ramp_tokens, count
674 // u_ramp_count), linearly interpolating between adjacent stops. Generalizes
675 // `mix` from 2 tokens to N — "polychrome", kept on the Ricochet palette.
676 // f drives WHERE along the ramp we land; the pattern axis decides what f is, so
677 // an animated pattern sweeps the ramp over time and a gradient pattern sweeps
678 // it across space — the color recipe itself stays a pure function of f.
679 vec3 color_ramp(float f) {
680     int n = u_ramp_count;
681     if (n <= 1) return u_palette[u_ramp_tokens[0]].rgb;
682     float x = clamp(f, 0.0, 1.0) * float(n - 1);   // [0, n-1]
683     int i = clamp(int(floor(x)), 0, n - 2);
684     int ia = u_ramp_tokens[i];
685     int ib = u_ramp_tokens[i + 1];
686     return mix(u_palette[ia].rgb, u_palette[ib].rgb, x - float(i));
687 }
688 
689 vec3 apply_color(int kind, vec3 base, float f, vec3 ca, vec3 cb) {
690     if (kind == 1) return ca;                // solid: ignores base, ignores f
691     if (kind == 2) return mix(ca, cb, f);    // mix: f drives the A↔B blend
692     if (kind == 3) return color_ramp(f);     // ramp: f across N palette tokens
693     return base;                              // none: passthrough
694 }
695 
696 // =============================================================================
697 // MAIN — dispatch by vType, compute alpha from SDF (or sample texture for
698 // sprites), apply effect, output.
... [100 more lines]

798          vec2 local_p = vUV * quad_size;
799         vec2 center = quad_size * 0.5;
800         vec2 half_size = vShape0.zw;
801         float radius = vShape1.x;
802         stroke = vShape1.y;
803         d = sdf_rounded_rect(local_p, center, half_size, radius);
804     } else {
805         discard;
806     }
807 
808     if (stroke > 0.0) {
809         d = abs(d) - stroke * 0.5;
810     }
811 
812     float alpha;
813     if (u_aa_width > 0.0) {
814         alpha = 1.0 - smoothstep(-u_aa_width, u_aa_width, d);
815     } else {
816         alpha = 1.0 - step(0.0, d);
817     }
818     if (alpha <= 0.0) discard;
819 
820     vec3 col = vColor.rgb + vAddColor;
821     // Field computed under the uniform `u_color_kind` test (NOT the per-fragment
822     // `alpha` test) so effect_field_shaped's dFdx/dFdy stay in uniform control
823     // flow. Color and coverage are separate channels (see SHAPE): color is the
824     // recipe over the field; coverage stencils the shape over the backing.
825     if (u_color_kind > 0) {
826         float coverage;
827         float f  = effect_field_shaped(quad_px, coverage);
... [18 more lines]

Decisive finding from the shader: the pattern/dither/color effect block runs only when color is solid/mix/ramp (palette tokens). With color='none' the base color passes straight through, flat — so pattern+dither literally do nothing on a flat brown. To make the node shimmer, it must use a color recipe over palette tokens — and there's no brown token. So "brown" and "shimmer" are in tension; the best I can do is a warm palette mix that reads as wood. Let me confirm the rounded-rect-outline draw exists, then I'll surface the color choice:

54:  rounded_rectangle = layer_rounded_rectangle,
55:  rounded_rectangle_line = layer_rounded_rectangle_line,
152:function layer_rounded_rectangle(lyr, x, y, w, h, radius, color)
153:  eng.rounded_rectangle(lyr_handle(lyr), x, y, w, h, radius, color)
156:function layer_rounded_rectangle_line(lyr, x, y, w, h, radius, color, line_width)
157:  eng.rounded_rectangle_line(lyr_handle(lyr), x, y, w, h, radius, color, line_width or 1)

Confirmed: layer_rounded_rectangle_line(x, y, w, h, radius, color, line_width) exists.

So here's the honest situation on your three asks:

• Rounded rect ✅ and 45° always ✅ — straightforward.
• Pattern + dither (not flat) — this requires a color recipe over palette tokens (the shader skips the whole effect block when color='none'). There's no brown in the locked palette, and the shimmer can only mix palette tokens — so it can't be literal brown and shimmer. I'm honoring your "not flat" directive and using the warmest wood-ish recipe: an organic orange↔tan breathe (color_a='orange', color_b='snkrx_neutral', dither='bayer4_8'), which reads as warm woodgrain. If you'd rather push it darker/browner, swapping color_b to charcoal or panel_border is a one-line tune (the only way to get "brown" is mixing orange toward a dark chrome token). And if you'd actually prefer true brown, that means going back to flat (no shimmer) — say the word.

Implementing the shimmer version:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK resource.lua

Compiles. Step 2's markers are now: rounded unfilled rectangles, fixed 45°, drawn through wood_spec so they shimmer (organic pattern + bayer4_8 dither) like the rest of the game's entities instead of sitting flat.

How to test: run it — the two nodes inside the loop are now rounded, diamond-oriented (45°) outlines with a warm orange↔tan woodgrain shimmer.

The brown lever (since the palette has no brown and shimmer needs palette tokens): in resource.lua, wood_spec.color_b is 'snkrx_neutral' (tan, lighter wood). Swap it to 'charcoal' or 'panel_border' for a darker/browner grain, or change dither — all one-line tunes. If the warm-tone shimmer doesn't read as "wood" for you and you'd rather have true flat brown, that's the other branch and I'll switch it back.

Your turn to look. Once the look's right, step 3 is the extractor (click a node → build an extractor on it → wood per completed lap + a resource counter).

Use the local linear gradient pattern for the wood, can that one use arbitrary colors or not?

Good question, and the answer is no — and it's worth being precise about why, because it's the same wall we hit before:

linear_gradient is a pattern, not a color mode. The pattern axis only produces the spatial field f (here, a value that ramps corner-to-corner across the shape). The color axis is what turns f into pixels, and it only ever maps onto palette tokens — mix (2 tokens) or ramp (N tokens). The single arbitrary color a draw carries (its base color) is used by exactly one color mode: none — which is flat and skips the pattern/dither entirely. So no pattern, linear_gradient included, can render an off-palette color; you either get palette-token gradients/shimmer, or a flat arbitrary color, never both.

What linear_gradient does give you for the wood: a clean static diagonal gradient across each marker (corner-to-corner), dithered — exactly the look the base building uses — versus the animated organic shimmer it has now. Still palette tokens, so still no true brown.

Switching it per your directive (warm orange→tan ramp, bayer4_8, 45° gradient angle — mirroring building_spec):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK resource.lua

Done. The wood markers now use the local linear-gradient pattern: a static orange→tan ramp swept corner-to-corner across each rounded 45° rectangle, dithered (bayer4_8) — the same idiom as the central base.

To restate the answer plainly: no pattern can use arbitrary colors. Color always resolves to palette tokens (via mix/ramp), and the only off-palette path is color='none', which is flat. So if you ever want a true brown, it has to be flat; if you want the gradient/dither, it's palette tokens (warmest available being this orange→tan, optionally darkened toward charcoal/panel_border for a browner grain — one-line tune in the ramp).

To test: run it — the two inside-loop nodes are rounded 45° outlines with a warm diagonal wood gradient. If the gradient direction or tone is off, pattern_param (angle) and the ramp tokens are the knobs.

Great, let's leave it like this. Now for the next portion, before we do the extractor building, we need to create the general RTS-like UI system. When we click any building, UI should appear showing the building's name, its HP, and then what units/buildings/upgrades are available to buy inside it. To create an extractor, the process is click base -> base has extractor available for free -> use it. Then if the extractor has units inside it (it won't, but if it did), we would click the extractor, click the unit, and the unit would be produced, using the same UI we used for the base. Most RTSs work like this and ours should be no different. The UI element should be "floating", it should appear near the building, not at a fixed position on the screen.

This is the reusable selection UI — the right thing to build before the extractor, since the extractor (and everything after) plugs into it. And it connects to something you said earlier: the buildable-region highlight you deferred ("show it once we're about to build") belongs to the placement mode this system triggers. Let me brief the framework, then confirm one boundary.

Design brief — RTS building selection UI

Approach

Click a building → it becomes selected → a floating panel appears near it (screen-space, but positioned from the building's world→screen point each frame, so it follows as you pan). The panel shows the building's name, its HP, and a data-driven buy-list of what it produces (units / buildings / upgrades). Clicking a buy item fires that item's callback. The panel is fully generic — it renders whatever the selected building's name / hp / menu hold — so the same UI serves the base now and the extractor later (exactly your "same UI" point). Built on the existing snkrx UI toolkit, so it runs in update() (queues widgets onto ui_layer) and composites through the ui_render() pipeline already wired in draw().

Selection control: left-click a building to select, left-click empty ground (or another building) to deselect/switch. (Esc is taken — it quits — so empty-click is the close gesture.)

Interfaces

• New building_ui.lua — owns selected_building + the per-frame selection/panel logic. Required in main.lua; building_ui_update(dt) called in update() after camera_update + ui_begin.
• building.lua — buildings gain a name and a menu (a list of buy entries: { name, cost, kind, on_buy }); plus a building_at_world(wx, wy) box hit-test helper.
• main.lua — require it, call building_ui_update(dt), and define the base's menu in SCENE (one entry: Extractor, free).
• snkrx UI toolkit — ui_panel, ui_heading/ui_text, ui_bar/ui_hud_bar (HP), ui_button (per buy item), ui_stack (layout), camera_to_screen (positioning).

Functions

• building_ui_update(dt) — (1) selection: on left-press, if the cursor isn't over UI, hit-test buildings via building_at_world → set/clear selected_building; (2) if one is selected: compute its screen position, lay out the panel near it (clamped fully on-screen), queue the panel + name heading + HP bar + one ui_button per menu entry; a clicked button calls entry.on_buy(building).
• building_at_world(wx, wy) (building.lua) — the building whose box contains the point, or nil.
• building:new — stores self.name, self.menu from opts.

The one boundary to confirm

The buy-list and the base's "Extractor (free)" entry are in scope. The question is what clicking it does this step — that's where "the UI system" ends and "the extractor building" begins:

Your questions have been answered: "For this UI-system step, what should clicking a buy item (the base's 'Extractor') actually do?"="Nothing for this step.". You can now continue with these answers in mind.

Clear — buy clicks do nothing this step; this is purely the UI framework. The Extractor button will render and respond to hover/click (toolkit juice), but its action is a no-op until step 3. Cleanest possible boundary.

Brief's agreed. Before I write, let me confirm the exact toolkit signatures I'll use (panel, button, HP bar, layout, world→screen, rect helpers):

mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua:224:function ui_button(opts)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-225-  local id      = opts.id
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-226-  local variant = opts.variant or 'secondary'
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-227-  local font    = opts.font or ui_font_pixul
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-228-  local rad     = opts.radius or 4
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-229-  local ed      = opts.spec
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-230-
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-231-  -- Resolve rect: explicit, or auto-sized from x, y + label + padding.
--
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua:331:function ui_bar(opts)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-332-  local r     = opts.rect
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-333-  local id    = opts.id
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-334-  local rad   = opts.radius or 3
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-335-  local color = opts.color or green
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-336-  local track = opts.track or charcoal
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-337-  local back  = opts.back  or white
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-338-  local ed    = opts.spec
--
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua:399:function ui_hud_bar(opts)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-400-  local ed     = opts.spec
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-401-  local h      = opts.h or 12
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-402-  local icon_w = opts.icon and (h + 6) or 0
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-403-  local val_w  = opts.value and (ui_font_body_ark:text_width(opts.value) + 6) or 0
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-404-
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-405-  -- Leading icon tile (square, bar height).
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\widgets.lua-406-  if opts.icon then
--
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\rect.lua:21:function rect_new(x, y, w, h)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\rect.lua-22-  return {x = x, y = y, w = w, h = h}
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\rect.lua-23-end
... [55 more lines]

Let me check ui_bar's value/text params and whether a rect-contains helper exists (for the mouse-over-panel test):

331  function ui_bar(opts)
332   local r     = opts.rect
333   local id    = opts.id
334   local rad   = opts.radius or 3
335   local color = opts.color or green
336   local track = opts.track or charcoal
337   local back  = opts.back  or white
338   local ed    = opts.spec
339 
340   -- Target fraction: value/max in health mode, fill in progress mode.
341   local frac
342   if opts.max then
343     frac = math.clamp((opts.value or 0)/opts.max, 0, 1)
344   else
345     frac = math.clamp(opts.fill or 0, 0, 1)
346   end
347 
348   -- front / back / shown-value / kick: tweened (id) or static (no id).
349   local front_f, back_f, shown_v, y_off = frac, frac, opts.value, 0
350   if id then
351     front_f, back_f, shown_v, y_off = ui_bar_feed(id, frac, opts.value or 0)
352   end
353 
354   -- The cash-register kick draws the whole bar y_off px lower.
355   local dr = { x = r.x, y = math.floor(r.y + y_off + 0.5),
356                w = r.w, h = r.h }
357 
358   -- Track, then the white 'lost health' chunk (only while the back
359   -- trails the front), then the front fill on top.
360   ui_rrect(dr.x, dr.y, dr.w, dr.h, rad, track, ed)
... [38 more lines]

21:function rect_new(x, y, w, h)
26:function rect_cut_left(r, n)
32:function rect_cut_right(r, n)
36:function rect_cut_top(r, n)
42:function rect_cut_bot(r, n)
48:function rect_get_left(r, n)  return {x = r.x,            y = r.y,            w = n,   h = r.h} end
49:function rect_get_right(r, n) return {x = r.x + r.w - n,  y = r.y,            w = n,   h = r.h} end
50:function rect_get_top(r, n)   return {x = r.x,            y = r.y,            w = r.w, h = n}   end
51:function rect_get_bot(r, n)   return {x = r.x,            y = r.y + r.h - n,  w = r.w, h = n}   end
54:function rect_add_left(r, n)  return {x = r.x - n,    y = r.y,        w = n,   h = r.h} end
55:function rect_add_right(r, n) return {x = r.x + r.w,  y = r.y,        w = n,   h = r.h} end
56:function rect_add_top(r, n)   return {x = r.x,        y = r.y - n,    w = r.w, h = n}   end
57:function rect_add_bot(r, n)   return {x = r.x,        y = r.y + r.h,  w = r.w, h = n}   end
61:function rect_contract(r, t, ri, b, l)
65:function rect_expand(r, t, ri, b, l)
71:function rect_center(r, w, h)
77:function rect_split_h(r, n)
89:function rect_split_v(r, n)

Everything's confirmed: ui_bar({rect, value, max, id}) gives the HP bar with "value / max" text; no rect_contains (I'll add a local helper). Writing the system now.

New file building_ui.lua:

File created successfully at: E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — name + menu fields and the building_at_world hit-test:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — require, base's name + menu, and the update call:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All three compile. The RTS selection UI is in.

• building_ui.lua (new) — building_ui_update(dt): click a building → selected_building; a floating panel is queued near it each frame (name, HP bar, one button per menu entry). It's positioned from the building's world→screen point and clamped on-screen, so it follows the building as you pan. Clicking a buy button fires entry.on_buy(building) — and since no entry has an on_buy yet, clicking does nothing (just hover/click juice). Click empty ground (or another building) to deselect/switch; the panel's own area is excluded from that test so clicking buttons doesn't close it.
• building.lua — buildings now carry name + menu, and building_at_world(wx,wy) does the click hit-test.
• main.lua — requires it, calls building_ui_update(dt) after camera_update, and gives the base name='Core' + a menu with a free Extractor entry (no on_buy yet).

It's fully generic and data-driven — the same panel will render the extractor's menu in step 3 with zero new UI code, exactly as you wanted.

How to test:

1. Run, click the central Core → a floating panel appears just right of it: "Core", HP 100 / 100, and an Extractor button.
2. Pan (edge/WASD) → the panel tracks the base.
3. Click Extractor → button pops/clicks but does nothing (intended this step).
4. Click empty ground → panel closes. (Esc still quits.)

One known minor: if the F1 tuning panel is open and a building is selected, clicking inside F1 will also deselect the building (the over-panel guard only knows about the building panel, not F1). Dev-only annoyance; easy to gate later if it bugs you.

Tunables in building_ui.lua: PANEL_W, ROW_H, PANEL_GAP, PANEL_PAD.

Your turn to look. Next is step 3 — the extractor: wire the Extractor on_buy to place an extractor on a node, pay wood per completed lap, and give the extractor its own menu — all through this same panel.

Keep the UI in world space, spawn it with some spacing from the source building itself. Use a header font for the title of the building, all CAPS, also draw a mini-version of the building to the left of the header name. So [mini-building CORE] (without []). "Extractor" should just be the symbol of the extractor building, let's say it's a blue circle. When you hover over it, some text appears elsewhere in that same UI that describes what it does in detail. Below CORE there should also be a description of what the core does and is.

This is a meaningful shift — moving the panel into world space with custom art (mini-building, symbol icons, hover-descriptions) means stepping off the screen-space snkrx UI toolkit and hand-drawing the panel on a camera-attached layer. That's the right call for what you're describing (the toolkit is screen-space and has no notion of "draw a mini building" or "this item's symbol is a blue circle"), but it's an architecture change, so let me brief it before I rewrite.

Design brief — world-space building panel

Approach

Drop the screen-space toolkit panel; draw a hand-built panel on a new camera-attached layer, anchored a fixed world-space gap beside the selected building (it lives in the world and pans with everything). This is the same kind of world-space drawing building:draw already does (rounded rects + text on a camera layer). Layout, top→bottom:

┌───────────────────────────┐
│ ▣  CORE                    │  mini-building (its own breathing spec) + name,
│                            │     header font, ALL CAPS
│ Your base. If it falls the │  building description (auto-wrapped)
│ run ends. Builds extractors│
│ ─────────────────────────  │
│  ●                         │  buy SYMBOLS row (Extractor = a blue circle)
│ ─────────────────────────  │
│ EXTRACTOR                  │  hovered symbol's detail text (reserved area,
│ Sits on a wood node; pays  │     so the panel doesn't resize on hover)
│ wood each completed lap.   │
└───────────────────────────┘

Hover a symbol → its detail text fills the reserved bottom area. Buy-click stays a no-op (step 3). All hit-testing (hover, click, select, over-panel guard) is now in world coordinates against the panel's world rect — cleaner, since everything's one space.

Interfaces

• main.lua — new world_ui_layer (camera-attached), rendered above effects_layer, below the screen HUD. building_ui splits into building_ui_update(dt) (hover/click/select, in update) + building_ui_draw() (render, in draw).
• building.lua — buildings gain desc; menu entries gain symbol (a small effect-spec'd shape descriptor — {shape='circle', spec=<blue>}) and desc (detail text).
• building_ui.lua — rewritten: hand-draw on world_ui_layer, world-space hit-testing, a shared building_panel_layout(b) used by both update + draw, and a local word_wrap.
• snkrx toolkit — no longer used by this panel (F1/F3 keep it).

Functions

• building_panel_layout(b) — world geometry: panel rect, mini-building rect, title pos, building-desc rect, per-entry symbol rects, item-desc rect.
• building_ui_update(dt) — compute layout; set hovered = symbol under the world-mouse; on left-press, route to symbol click (no-op) if over panel, else world-select; stash layout+hover for draw.
• building_ui_draw() — render bg / mini-building (via b.spec) / title (header font, CAPS) / wrapped desc / divider / symbols (each via its spec) / hovered detail.
• word_wrap(text, font, max_w) → lines.

Flags / proposed choices

1. Going world-space loses the toolkit's polish for this panel — no drop shadow, no button hover-sound/scale-pop. I'll add a manual hover highlight on symbols (a ring/brighten) to compensate. OK?
2. Reserved (fixed-height) detail area so the panel doesn't jump as you hover different symbols / nothing — blank when nothing's hovered. (Alternative: panel grows on hover — jumpier.)
3. Symbol = a spec'd blue circle (~10px) drawn through the effect system, so it shimmers like the rest; left-aligned row.
4. I'll write placeholder copy for the Core and Extractor descriptions — you edit the wording.

Confirm the layout/flags (especially #1 — losing the toolkit shadow/juice on this panel) and I'll build it.

Go ahead.

Approved. Rewriting the building panel as world-space, hand-drawn. Let me write it.

building_ui.lua — full rewrite (world-space):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — add the world-space UI layer, render it, and flesh out the base's menu:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. The world-space building panel is in.

• building_ui.lua (rewritten, world-space) — hand-drawn on the new world_ui_layer, anchored a world-space gap to the right of the selected building (it lives in the world and pans with it). Layout: a mini render of the building (its own breathing spec) + its name in the header font, ALL CAPS, the building's description below it, a divider, the buy symbols row, a divider, and a reserved detail area that fills with a hovered symbol's name + description. Hit-testing (hover, click, select, over-panel) is all in world coords now. A manual drop-shadow + 1px border replace the toolkit's shadow; symbols get a hover ring (since there's no toolkit button juice here).
• building.lua — buildings gained desc.
• main.lua — new world_ui_layer rendered above the world (below the screen HUD); the base now carries a desc and an Extractor menu entry with a blue-circle symbol (a blue organic breathe) and its own desc.

How to test:

1. Run, click the Core → a panel appears to its right: a mini gradient-square Core + CORE (header font), the Core description under it, a divider, a blue circle symbol, then the (empty) detail area.
2. Hover the blue circle → the bottom area fills with EXTRACTOR + its description.
3. Pan → the whole panel stays anchored beside the Core in the world.
4. Click the blue circle → nothing yet (no-op). Click empty ground → panel closes.

Notes:

• Descriptions are placeholder copy — edit the desc strings in main.lua (Core) and the menu entry (Extractor) freely. They auto-wrap to the panel width.
• The panel opens to the right with no screen-clamping (it's world-space). Fine for the centered Core; a building near the right map edge would open toward the void — I can flip it left near edges later if needed.
• Tunables in building_ui.lua: PANEL_W, GAP, SYM_R/SYM_PITCH, ITEM_LINES, PAD.

Your turn to look. Next is step 3 — the extractor: wire the blue circle's on_buy (placement on a node), per-lap wood income, and give the extractor its own menu in this same panel.

[Pasted image/png]

Why did you stop using the normal SNKRX toolkit? I'd like to keep using it. A few details: missing core description, hovering over the UI element should visually work the same as when hovering over elements in the UI toolkit generally, text for Extractor: "Extractor - place adjacent to a resource cell to extract 1 resource per loop." Core text: "Core - Your base. If it dies you lose the game." The visual for the core should be smaller than it is now. Description for the extractor is going over the panel size, which means your calculation is wrong somewhere.

1    --[[
2     ui/widgets.lua — interactive UI widgets.
3   
4     Same opts-table / ui_layer convention as ui/primitives.lua. These
5     widgets consult `ui_state` (ui/state.lua) — they derive hover via
6     ui_claim_hot, run the mouse-down→up click machine, and return an
7     interaction result. Each takes opts.id, an explicit caller-provided
8     string identity.
9   
10    Coloring goes through the effect pipeline (ui/paint.lua): draws use
11    the ui_rrect / ui_text wrappers, or bracket effect_set manually for
12    loops (draw_drag_target). Every widget accepts opts.spec to force a
13    specific effect spec for all its draws — the per-element override.
14  
15    They also carry SNKRX-style juice via ui/juice.lua: a per-id scale
16    spring that bounces on hover-enter and click, and the hover sounds.
17  
18    The action-vs-rules split: a widget's *data* states (a slot's
19    selected / occupied / locked / disabled) are caller-owned and passed
20    in via opts. Its *interaction* state (hover, active, focus) is
21    frame-local, derived here from ui_state. The juice + bar registries
22    are the one retained sliver — keyed by the explicit id.
23  ]]
24  
25  -- Clone a palette token with a fixed alpha. Returns a callable color.
26  local function with_alpha(token, a)
27    local c = color_clone(token)
28    c.a = a
29    return c
30  end
... [140 more lines]

Got it — I'll revert to the snkrx toolkit. Reconciling "world space" with "use the toolkit": the toolkit is screen-space, so I'll position toolkit widgets at the building's screen anchor (camera_to_screen) so the panel floats beside the building and follows the camera — visually world-anchored, but using the toolkit's look and hover behavior. For the buy symbol's hover to "work the same as the toolkit," I'll drive it with the toolkit's own ui_interact + ui_juice (the exact machinery ui_slot uses — scale-pop + hover sound) and draw the blue circle scaled by it. Let me confirm ui_divider and the juice signatures:

mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua:62:function ui_interact(id, rect)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-63-  if not id then return false, false, false, false end
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-64-  ui_claim_hot(id, rect)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-65-  local hovered = ui_is_hot(id)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-66-  local pressed = false
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-67-  if hovered and mouse_is_pressed(1) then
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\core.lua-68-    ui_state.active_id = id
--
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua:98:function ui_juice_scale(id)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-99-  return entry(id).spring.main.x
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-100-end
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-101-
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-102--- Kick the widget's spring (a bounce). force defaults to 0.2. Pass
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-103--- `rect` so the pull is area-scaled (big elements pop less) — omit
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-104--- for the legacy fixed-intensity behaviour.
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua:105:function ui_juice_pull(id, force, rect)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-106-  spring_pull(entry(id).spring, 'main', (force or 0.2) * area_scale(rect))
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-107-end
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-108-
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-109--- Feed this frame's hover state. On the hover-enter edge (was false,
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-110--- now true) it bounces the spring and plays the SNKRX hover sound,
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-111--- pitch-jittered so repeats don't sound mechanical.
--
mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua:117:function ui_juice_hover(id, hovered, clickable, rect)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-118-  local e = entry(id)
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-119-  if hovered and not e.was_hovered then
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-120-    spring_pull(e.spring, 'main', 0.2 * area_scale(rect))
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-121-    sfx(sounds.ui_hover, 0.5, random_float(1.3, 1.5))
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-122-    if clickable ~= false then
E:\a327ex\mini-looper\snkrx\ui\juice.lua-123-      sfx(sounds.ui_pop, 0.5, random_float(0.95, 1.05))
... [8 more lines]

Two key findings that shape the rewrite:

1. ui_interact/ui_juice_* are exactly what I need — I'll drive the blue circle through them so it scale-pops + plays the hover sound identically to toolkit widgets.
2. The "missing core description" is a real bug: when I did the world-space rewrite I never actually added self.desc to building:new — so b.desc was nil. Fixing that.

Reverting to the toolkit (screen-space, anchored to the building's screen position so it still floats beside it and follows the camera). Implementing all your points.

building.lua — store desc (the missing-description bug):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building_ui.lua — rewrite back to the toolkit (screen-space, building-anchored), smaller mini-building, toolkit-juice hover on the symbol, content-sized item area:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — remove the world-space layer + its draw block (back to the toolkit's ui_render), and set your exact texts:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. Back on the snkrx toolkit, all your points addressed:

• Toolkit, not hand-drawn — the panel is ui_panel + ui_text + ui_divider, and the blue-circle symbol is driven by the toolkit's own ui_interact + ui_juice (the exact machinery ui_slot uses), so hovering it scale-pops and plays the SNKRX hover sound just like every other toolkit element.
• Missing Core description — fixed. Root cause: when I rewrote for world-space I never actually added self.desc to building:new, so b.desc was nil. Added it; the description now renders under the title.
• Texts set exactly: Core → "Core - Your base. If it dies you lose the game."; Extractor → "Extractor - place adjacent to a resource cell to extract 1 resource per loop."
• Mini-building smaller — 16 → 11px.
• Overflow fixed — the bug was reserving a fixed 2 lines for the detail area while the description wrapped to more. Now the area is sized to the longest menu entry's wrapped height (and the panel height includes it), so it never overflows and never resizes as you hover.

On "world space": the toolkit is inherently screen-space, so I reconciled it by anchoring the panel to the building's screen position (camera_to_screen) — it floats beside the building and follows the camera (with no zoom, visually identical to world-space), while using the toolkit's look + shadow + hover. That's the practical way to have both; a literal camera-layer panel can't use the toolkit.

How to test:

1. Click Core → panel beside it: small mini-Core + CORE, the Core line under it, divider, the blue circle (pops + sound on hover), divider, empty detail area.
2. Hover the circle → toolkit hover feel + the Extractor line fills the detail area, fully inside the panel.
3. Pan → panel follows the building.
4. Click circle → no-op; click empty → closes.

One thing I left out: HP isn't in the panel (your refined layout dropped it, and the building already shows its own HP bar in-world). Say the word if you want it back in the panel. Tunables in building_ui.lua: PANEL_W, MINI, SYM_R, SYM_BOX, GAP.

Let's fix one thing at a time. Core description: "Your base, if it dies you lose." Extractor description: "Place adjacent to a resource cell, extracts 1 per loop." The Extractor portion should have a similar structure to the Core one, header (Extractor) and then the description. The only difference is that the Extractor header should be smaller than the CORE header. Also, the UI element is currently not in world space, when we pan the map it gets to the edge of the map and moves with it, when it should just disappear if we go outside where it is. Why is this the case? Isn't drawing in world space just drawing the UI to a layer that's attached to the camera?

Good questions — let me answer the world-space one directly, then make the three fixes.

On "isn't world-space just drawing to a camera-attached layer?" — Yes, exactly, and you're right. The reason this panel isn't doing that: the snkrx toolkit widgets all draw to one shared ui_layer, which ui_render() composites in screen space (that's also where the drop-shadow pass lives), and the toolkit's hover hit-testing (ui_interact) reads the screen mouse. So making the toolkit panel truly camera-attached would mean retargeting its layer just for this panel and converting its interaction to world-mouse hit-testing — more surgery than it's worth. But the behavior you actually want — anchored to the building, vanishes when you pan past it — doesn't need a camera layer: the panel is positioned by projecting the building's world position to screen (camera_to_screen), so when the building goes off-screen the panel's position does too and it disappears. The bug was the screen-clamp I added — it pinned the panel to the screen edge instead of letting it slide off with the building. Removing it gives you the world-space behavior (identical look, since there's no zoom).

building_ui.lua — remove the clamp + give the hovered item a Core-style header (smaller) + description:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — the two description texts (now without the name prefix, since the name is the header):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. Three fixes, one at a time as asked:

1. Core description → "Your base, if it dies you lose." (dropped the name prefix, since CORE is already the header).
2. Extractor detail now mirrors the Core's structure — a header (EXTRACTOR) then the description ("Place adjacent to a resource cell, extracts 1 per loop."). The Extractor header uses the smaller ui_font_body_ark vs the Core's big ui_font_header_l, so it's clearly smaller. The reserved detail area was resized to include the header line so nothing overflows.
3. Removed the screen-clamp — the panel is now positioned purely by projecting the building's world position to screen, so it follows the building and slides off-screen / disappears when you pan past it, instead of pinning to the screen edge. That was the actual bug behind the "not in world space" feel.

To test:

• Click Core → CORE (big header) + "Your base, if it dies you lose."; hover the blue circle → EXTRACTOR (smaller header) + its description.
• Pan away from the Core → the panel moves with it and disappears off the edge (no longer sticks).

Slightly higher spacing between EXTRACTOR and the description. Change description to: "Place adjacent to a resource. Extracts 1 per loop." Spring juice on core click on the core building itself, in fact, make this juice global for all buildings, and then spring juice when the UI screen appears. When a building is currently selected (UI visible) it needs to be shown as selected, use visual modes of selection in the SNKRX toolkit for this, I think inventory screens have this. Similarly, each things that can be built by a building should appear as an inventory slot, so inventory slot + circle for the extractor, so that it's more clear to users that it's something they should click on. Right now the flat circle just looks like a circle, not clear you need to click it. Disable window mouse grabbing for now.

Several specified tweaks — I'll apply them all precisely. A couple use ui_slot (so the buy item reads as a clickable inventory cell) and the toolkit's juice. Let me implement.

building_ui.lua — slot+circle buy items, panel-appear spring, item header spacing, building-click pop:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — green selection outline on the selected building (the SNKRX selection visual):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — Extractor text + disable window mouse grab:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. Every point applied:

1. More space between EXTRACTOR and its description — the header→desc gap went 2px → 5px.
2. Extractor text → "Place adjacent to a resource. Extracts 1 per loop."
3. Spring pop on building click, for all buildings — clicking any building pulls its spring, so it pops (the building already scales by its spring in building:draw).
4. Spring pop when the panel appears — a panel_spring bounces whenever a new building is selected, and the whole panel scales by it for an entrance pop.
5. Selected building shows as selected — a 2px green outline (the SNKRX slot/card selection idiom) is drawn around the building while its UI is open, scaling with its spring.
6. Buy items are now inventory slots — each buy entry is a real ui_slot (dark cell + toolkit hover juice + sound) with its symbol drawn inside (the blue circle), scaled in sync with the slot's hover pop — so it clearly reads as a clickable cell, not a loose circle.
7. Window mouse grab disabled — the mouse_set_window_grab(true) call is commented out (one line to flip back on).

To test:

• Click Core → it pops, gets a green selection outline, and the panel pops in beside it.
• The Extractor is now a slot with a blue circle; hovering it pops (slot juice + sound) and shows EXTRACTOR + the description with a bit more breathing room.
• Click empty ground → deselects (outline + panel gone). The mouse can now leave the window while panning.

Let me know how it feels.

The UI is not being drawn in world space now. Logically it is in world space, but its being drawn in the wrong position visually.

Diagnosed it — and you described it precisely. The position logic (camera_to_screen tracking the building) is right, but the panel-appear scale-push I added last turn is drawn wrong. I used a single layer_push(center, scale), which translates the draw origin to the panel center without translating back — so every absolute-coord draw inside gets offset by the panel center (and it's offset even when the spring is settled at scale 1, not just during the pop). That's the visual displacement.

The fix is the camera's own idiom: two pushes — translate-to-center + scale, then translate back — so it scales about the center while the draws still use absolute coordinates.

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK building_ui.lua

Fixed and compiles. The panel will now render in the correct spot — beside the building — while still doing the entrance pop and following/disappearing as you pan. (When the spring is settled the two pushes cancel to identity, so it's pixel-correct; during the pop it scales cleanly about the panel's center.)

Test: click the Core — the panel should appear right next to it (not displaced), pop in, track it as you pan, and slide off-screen when you pan away.

Make sure that the spring pull on buildings also applies to HP bars/values, drawn the HP bar 1 pixel below its current position. Let's make clicking also apply to the resources now. WOOD -> "Contains 100 units of the wood resource." What's the current spring value for UI spawn? Halve it anyway.

Several specified changes. To answer your question first: the UI-spawn (panel-appear) spring pull is currently 0.5 — I'll halve it to 0.25. Implementing all of it.

building.lua — HP bar/value now scale with the spring (pop with the building) + drawn 1px lower; selection rename:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building_ui.lua — rename selected_building→selected, select resources too, generic panel anchor, halve the spawn spring:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated. All occurrences were successfully replaced. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

resource.lua — nodes get name/desc/spec/world-pos, a click hit-test, and a selection outline:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua
OK  resource.lua

All compile. Everything applied:

1. HP bar + value pop with the building — they're now wrapped in the same two-push spring-scale (about the building center), so a click/hit pop scales the bar and number along with the body instead of leaving them static.
2. HP bar 1px lower — its offset went +3 → +4 below the building.
3. Clicking now works on resources — wood nodes are selectable. Clicking one opens the same panel showing a mini-wood icon + WOOD + "Contains 100 units of the wood resource.", and the node gets the green selection outline. (Buildings take priority if both are under the cursor.) Implemented via a new resource_at_world hit-test; nodes now carry name/desc/spec/world-position so the generic panel renders them like a building. I renamed selected_building → selected since it now holds either.
4. Panel-appear spring halved — it was 0.5, now 0.25 (a gentler pop-in).

To test:

• Click Core → body + HP bar pop together, HP bar sits a pixel lower, green outline, panel pops in (gentler).
• Click a wood node → panel shows WOOD + "Contains 100 units of the wood resource." with a green outline on the node.
• Click empty ground → deselects.

Note: resource nodes don't pop on click (no spring on them — the click-pop was specified for buildings); they get the green outline + the panel pop. Say if you'd like the node itself to pop too.

Make resource also pop on click. Make the selection around a resource or any building always be the size of the cell that contains it, instead of how you did for the wood right now. Change wood text to: "100 units of wood."

Three changes. Implementing.

building_ui.lua — a shared cell-sized selection box (used by both buildings and resources):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — selection outline becomes the shared cell-sized box:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

resource.lua — nodes get a spring + new wood text, a resource_update, and the marker pops + shared selection box:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — update the node springs:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua
OK  resource.lua

All compile. Done:

1. Resources pop on click — each wood node now has a spring (settled each frame by a new resource_update(sdt)), and its marker scales by it. The existing click handler already pulls hit.spring, so clicking a node pops it with the same feel as buildings.
2. Cell-sized selection box for everything — a shared draw_selection_box draws an axis-aligned green box the size of the grid cell (24px) centered on the thing's cell, scaled by its spring. Both buildings and resource nodes use it, so selection reads identically (replacing the old fit-the-shape outlines — the building's was building-sized, the resource's was the rotated marker).
3. Wood text → "100 units of wood."

To test:

• Click a wood node → it pops, gets a cell-sized green box, and the panel shows WOOD + "100 units of wood."
• Click the Core → pops, same cell-sized green box (now a touch larger than the 20px building, since it matches the 24px cell).
• The selection box is the same size on both now.

The size of the wood UI text is too big compared to the actual text itself. Fix that, and then let's move on to the next issue, which is placing the actual extractor building and all that we need to do to make it happen.

Two parts: a quick fix, then the brief for the extractor.

Fix — the wood panel is too big for its text. You're right: the panel width was a fixed 150px regardless of content, so a bare resource ("WOOD" + one short line) left a lot of empty box. I'll size the panel width to its content (the widest line/element, clamped), so short panels shrink to fit while the Core's wider content still gets its room.

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK building_ui.lua

Fixed and compiles — the wood panel (and any panel) now shrinks its width to fit its content, so a bare resource isn't a wide box with empty space.

Now the extractor. This is the core economy loop (build extractor → wood per lap), so it's a real feature — let me brief it before coding.

Design brief — the Extractor (step 3)

Goal: click the Extractor in the Core's menu → place it next to a wood node → it generates wood each lap.

Pieces & how they connect

• A. Placement mode (building_ui) — clicking the Extractor symbol enters a placing state instead of no-op. While placing: the buildable region + valid cells highlight (finally using the deferred buildable highlight), and a ghost extractor follows the cursor snapped to the grid. A valid cell = inside the loop + empty + adjacent to a wood node (per the "place adjacent to a resource" desc) — valid glows green, invalid red. Left-click a valid cell places it; right-click cancels (Esc quits, so it can't cancel).
• B. The Extractor building (building.lua) — placed via building_place with the blue-circle visual (its symbol), name/desc, and selectable through the existing panel. building.lua gains an optional shape='circle' so it draws round, not the gradient square. By default it's a normal destructible building (has HP; if enemies leak in they can chip it) — say if you'd rather it be indestructible.
• C. Per-lap income (train.lua + a small economy bit) — train.lua gains lap detection (the head wrapping the loop). On each completed lap, every extractor pays 1 wood into a global pool (drawn from its adjacent node), shown in a HUD wood counter; the node's panel shows its remaining units.

Sub-steps (test between)

• 3a — placement + the Extractor building (placeable, selectable; no income yet).
• 3b — lap detection + per-lap income + wood counter + node depletion.

Two decisions shape it:

Your questions have been answered: "What counts as 'adjacent to a resource' for valid extractor placement?"="8-way (incl. diagonals)", "Does extracting deplete the wood node, or is it an endless source?"="Finite — depletes (100 units)". You can now continue with these answers in mind.

Locked: 8-way adjacency, finite depletion (100 units). Implementing 3a (placement + the Extractor building) now; 3b (lap income + counter + depletion) next.

resource.lua — 8-way adjacency lookup (used for placement validity + linking the extractor to its node):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — optional circle shape (for the extractor's blue-circle look):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — the Extractor's spec + place function, and the placement overlay draw:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

<tool_use_error>String to replace not found in file.
String:   director_draw_telegraph(game_layer)
  camera_detach(main_camera, game_layer)
  layer_render(game_layer); layer_draw(game_layer)</tool_use_error>

Let me check the current game_layer draw block:

398      local x = projectiles[i]
399     if x._dead then table.remove(projectiles, i) else x:update(sdt) end
400   end
401   for i = #areas, 1, -1 do
402     local x = areas[i]
403     if x._dead then table.remove(areas, i) else x:update(sdt) end
404   end
405   for i = #beams, 1, -1 do
406     local x = beams[i]
407     if x._dead then table.remove(beams, i) else x:update(sdt) end
408   end
409   for i = #flickers, 1, -1 do
410     local x = flickers[i]
411     if x._dead then table.remove(flickers, i) else x:update(sdt) end
412   end
413   for i = #props, 1, -1 do
414     local x = props[i]
415     if x._dead then table.remove(props, i) else x:update(sdt) end
416   end
417   for i = #debris_pieces, 1, -1 do
418     local x = debris_pieces[i]
419     if x._dead then table.remove(debris_pieces, i) else x:update(sdt) end

503-  for _, x in ipairs(props)         do x:draw(game_layer) end
504:  for _, x in ipairs(debris_pieces) do x:draw(game_layer) end
505:  camera_detach(main_camera, game_layer)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building_ui.lua — placement state, update, overlay, and the slot-click trigger:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua
OK  resource.lua

All four compile. Step 3a (placement + the Extractor building) is in.

• Click the Extractor slot in the Core's panel → enters placement mode (the panel hides while placing).
• Placement overlay (on the map): the defended buildable region shows faint green, valid cells (inside the loop + empty + 8-way adjacent to a wood node) show brighter green, and a ghost blue circle + green/red cell outline tracks the cursor.
• Left-click a valid cell → places a blue-circle Extractor building there. Right-click cancels.
• The placed extractor is a real building: selectable (its own panel — EXTRACTOR + "Extracts 1 wood per lap from the adjacent node."), pops on click, has the cell-sized green selection box, and remembers its adjacent node (e.node) for the income step.

Implementation: resource_adjacent (8-way) drives both validity and the node link; building.lua gained an optional shape='circle'; the Extractor's blue spec is now shared (extractor_spec) between its symbol and the placed circle; the menu entry got a place function and clicking a building-kind slot enters placement (units will produce directly later).

To test:

1. Click Core → click the blue Extractor slot → the map highlights buildable cells, with the cells next to the wood nodes brighter green. Move the cursor → ghost follows (green on valid spots adjacent to a node, red elsewhere).
2. Left-click a green cell next to a wood node → a blue circle extractor appears. Right-click mid-placement → cancels.
3. Click the placed extractor → its panel shows EXTRACTOR + its description; it pops + gets the selection box.

No wood is generated yet — that's 3b (lap detection → +1 wood/lap per extractor, a wood HUD counter, and the node depleting from 100). Your turn to test placement; say go and I'll do 3b.

[Pasted image/png]

Currently it shows two levels of greenness which is confusing. Slots inside the loop which are placeable at all should be gray, and then the slots where you can place that particular building should be green. Extractor should be slightly smaller, HP value (100/100) should be 1-2 pixels higher, HP bar itself should be 1 pixel lower for core and 2 pixels lower for extractor, make sure these distances are consistent for all buildings. Extractor building should have 20 HP. HP bar should only be visible if the building has taken damage recently, otherwise it should be visible inside the UI for the building, there are standard UI HP bar elements in the SNKRX toolkit. Extractor text: "Extracts 1 resource per loop from adjacent resource cells." Extractor symbol in the UI is a rectangle when it should be a circle.

A solid batch of polish. Let me work through them.

main.lua — Extractor: smaller (14), 20 HP, new text (both the menu hint and the placed building):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building.lua — track recent damage; in-world HP bar only shows when recently damaged, repositioned cell-relative (consistent) with the value 1px higher:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

building_ui.lua — bigger symbol circle, gray buildable / green valid, panel HP bar:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Now the panel HP bar — width allowance, height, and the bar itself:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  building.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. Every point done:

1. Placement overlay: gray vs green — buildable cells (anywhere inside the loop) are now gray; only the cells valid for this building (empty + 8-way adjacent to a node) are green. No more confusing two-greens.
2. Extractor slightly smaller — 16 → 14.
3. HP value 1px higher (relative to its bar).
4. HP bar position — now cell-relative, so every building's bar sits at the same offset (consistent, as you asked). Heads-up: the Core lands exactly 1px lower as requested, and the extractor lands on that same line — which is a bit more than 2px for the extractor, because "core +1 / extractor +2" would put them at different offsets (not consistent). I prioritized consistency; tell me if you want the exact per-building values instead.
5. Extractor HP = 20.
6. HP bar visibility — the in-world bar now only appears for ~2s after the building takes damage; otherwise HP shows in the selection panel via the toolkit's ui_bar (value/max + damage tween), always visible when selected. Resources have no HP, so no bar for them.
7. Extractor text → "Extracts 1 resource per loop from adjacent resource cells." (both the menu hint and the placed building's panel).
8. Symbol reads as a circle — the circle was small inside the slot, so the slot's rounded-rect dominated. Bumped the circle radius (6 → 8) so it fills the slot and clearly reads as a circle. (Slot kept for the clickable affordance you wanted — say if you'd rather drop the slot frame entirely.)

To test: placement shows gray buildable + green valid cells; the extractor is smaller with 20 HP; selecting any building shows its HP bar in the panel, and the in-world bar only flashes when it's hit; the Core menu's Extractor icon is a clear blue circle.

Still pending (the actual economy): 3b — lap detection → +1 wood/lap per extractor, a wood HUD counter, and the node depleting from 100. Test this polish, then say go for 3b.

Have the HP bar below CORE/EXTRACTOR instead of below the description text. When you click to place extractor, the UI element for the core should disappear. In general, activating build placement mode = other UI elements disappear. Currently they do disappear temporarily, but once you actually place the building it comes back. You got the circle wrong, change it back to 6 radius, I meant that the circle on the extractor window on the header is actually a rectangle right now.

Got it — and thanks for the clarification on the circle; I misread which one. Fixing all four.

1. Revert the menu symbol radius (8 → 6):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

2. Entering placement deselects, so the panel stays gone after placing:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

3. Header mini-icon matches the building's shape (circle for the extractor) + the HP bar moves directly under the name:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

4. Remove the old HP bar block (it was below the description):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK building_ui.lua

All four fixed, compiles:

1. HP bar moved directly under the name — panel order is now header (mini + NAME) → HP bar → description → menu, instead of after the description.
2. Placement hides the panel for good — entering placement now deselects, so the panel disappears when you click to build and stays gone after you place (or cancel). Nothing's selected afterward; click the new extractor or the Core to bring a panel back.
3. Menu symbol radius back to 6.
4. Header icon matches the building's shape — that was the real "rectangle" bug: the panel header's mini-icon was always a rounded rectangle. Now it draws a circle for the extractor (any shape='circle' building) and a rounded square otherwise.

To test:

• Select the Core → mini square + CORE, HP bar right under the name, then the description, then the Extractor slot.
• Select a placed extractor → mini circle + EXTRACTOR, HP bar (20/20) under it, then its description.
• Click the Extractor slot → panel vanishes; place it (or right-click cancel) → panel stays gone.

Still pending: 3b — lap detection → +1 wood/lap per extractor, wood HUD counter, node depletion from 100. Say go when you want it.

Increase distance between HP bar and description. Then let's move on to the next part.

Quick fix first, then I'll read the train code to build 3b.

Increase the HP-bar → description gap:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\building_ui.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Now let me read train.lua to find how the head tracks loop progress (for lap detection), plus the current wave.lua/main.lua state for wiring 3b:

1    --[[
2     train.lua — the on-rails SNKRX train (mini-looper).
3   
4     The HEAD (unit 1) is a dynamic body driven kinematically: each frame it
5     eases a HEADING (self.move_r) toward the next waypoint and sets its
6     velocity at that heading (scaled down by train_corner_slow in sharp
7     turns). It walks the loop and lays a breadcrumb trail.
8   
9     FOLLOWERS (units 2..n) are pinned each frame to the head's trail,
10    (index-1)*spacing back, so they trace the head's exact path (classic SNKRX
11    snake). No physics chain.
12  
13    Turning auto-scales with speed (train_apply_speed_coupling): as
14    train_max_speed rises, train_turn_t (heading-ease time) shrinks and
15    train_corner_slow grows, so a faster train still tracks the loop and brakes
16    harder into corners. Anchors: 100 -> (t 0.30, corner 0.40); 200 -> (t 0.15,
17    corner 0.75); linear + clamped.
18  
19    Live knobs (tuning UI in main.lua): train_max_speed, train_seek_distance,
20    train_spacing. train_turn_t / train_corner_slow are derived from speed;
21    train_turn_p is a fixed companion to the ease.
22  
23    Each unit also auto-attacks: it carries a self.character and calls
24    unit_attack_update (units.lua) every frame to fire its carrier at the
25    nearest enemy in range. Movement and combat are independent.
26  ]]
27  
28  train_units = {}
29  train_trail = {}            -- rolling breadcrumb of head positions (newest first)
30  train_head_x, train_head_y = nil, nil  -- head's live position, the trail's distance-0 anchor
... [214 more lines]

Now I understand the train — the head's path_index cycles 1→2→…→n→1, so a lap completes when it wraps back down. Implementing 3b (lap detection → per-lap income → wood counter → node depletion). It was covered by the earlier brief; building it now.

train.lua — lap detection:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\train.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\train.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\train.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

resource.lua — node units (starts at 100), dynamic desc, extract + refill:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

economy.lua (new) — the wood pool, per-lap income, HUD, reset:

File created successfully at: E:\a327ex\mini-looper\economy.lua (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

main.lua — require economy, run income on each lap, draw the HUD, reset on restart:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

<tool_use_error>String to replace not found in file.
String:   director_update(sdt)

  train_update(sdt)</tool_use_error>

379-  if director_enabled then director_update(sdt) end
380-
381:  train_update(sdt)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

Now the restart reset and the HUD draw. Let me find the restart handler and the debug-layer HUD section:

371-  if building_destroyed or game_won then
372:    if is_pressed('restart') then building_reset(); director_reset(); info_text_reset() end
--
572-
573:  layer_render(debug_layer); layer_draw(debug_layer)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

560      local f = ui_font_body_ark
561     layer_text(debug_layer, label, f, math.floor(width/2 - f:text_width(label)/2), 4, text())
562     if surge_active and surge_telegraph > 0 then
563       local warn = '!! SURGE !!'
564       layer_text(debug_layer, warn, f, math.floor(width/2 - f:text_width(warn)/2), 16, red())
565     end
566   end
567 
568   -- Surge flank-warning bar: screen-space (debug_layer, no camera) so it hugs
569   -- the viewport edge wherever the camera is panned. (Was on the camera-
570   -- attached game_layer, which put it mid-map once the camera could move.)
571   director_draw_telegraph(debug_layer)
572 
573   layer_render(debug_layer); layer_draw(debug_layer)
574 
575   -- F3 sound tuner (built on the toolkit): fills its dim scrim before the UI

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\main.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  main.lua
OK  train.lua
OK  resource.lua
OK  economy.lua
OK  building_ui.lua

All compile. The HP-bar gap is increased, and 3b — the income loop — is in.

• Lap detection (train.lua) — train_lap_completed fires the frame the head wraps the loop (and train_laps counts total laps).
• Per-lap income (economy.lua) — on each lap, every extractor draws 1 wood from its adjacent node into the global wood pool (until the node's empty).
• Node depletion (resource.lua) — nodes hold 100 units; each extraction decrements, and the node's panel text updates live ("N units of wood."). At 0 the node's dry and the extractor produces nothing.
• Wood HUD — a wood-tinted tile + the count, top-left (screen space).
• Restart resets wood + refills nodes to 100.

To test (director's still off, so the train laps freely):

1. Click Core → Extractor → place it on a green cell next to a wood node.
2. Watch the train complete laps — the wood counter (top-left) ticks up +1 per extractor per lap.
3. Select the wood node → its panel counts down from 100 as it's drained. Place a second extractor next to the other node to double the rate. After 100 laps a node runs dry and its extractor stops.
4. In the panel, the HP bar now has more space above the description.

That completes the build → income half of the economy. Remaining v0 pieces: step 4 (a shallow tech tree — spend wood on unit/upgrade unlocks) and step 5 (re-enable the director, scale pressure to the gates, win/lose). Your turn to test the income; say which you want next.

Show the position where the loop resets on the path as a red dot. When a resource is extracted, make the wood resource flash and spring and spawn some particles of those color as well. Make the extractor also spring pull (no flash, no particles). Text value for wood counter is not centered vertically.

Four tweaks. Implementing.

loop.lua — red dot at the loop's reset/seam point (loop_points[1], where a lap completes):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\loop.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

resource.lua — extraction FX (flash + spring pop + wood-colored particles) and per-node flash in the draw:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

economy.lua — extractor spring pull on extraction (no flash/particles) + center the HUD count vertically:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\economy.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\economy.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  loop.lua
OK  resource.lua
OK  economy.lua

All compile. All four done:

1. Red dot at the loop's reset point — drawn at loop_points[1] (the seam where the head wraps and a lap counts), on top of the loop's debug dots.
2. Wood node reacts on extraction — each time it's drawn from (per lap), it flashes white, spring-pops, and sprays ~5 wood-colored particles.
3. Extractor pops too — a spring pull on each extraction, no flash or particles (just the bump).
4. Wood counter centered — the count text is nudged down 2px so it lines up vertically with its tile (the Ark font renders high).

To test: the loop shows a red seam dot; place an extractor and watch each lap — the node flashes/pops/sprays orange particles, the extractor bumps, and the top-left wood count (now vertically aligned with its tile) ticks up.

That wraps the income loop's feedback. Next v0 pieces whenever you want them: step 4 (shallow tech tree — spend wood on unit/upgrade unlocks) and step 5 (re-enable the director, scale pressure to gates, win/lose).

[Pasted image/png]

Particles faster and longer duration, counter is still not centered.

[Request interrupted by user]

Also hit circle in the center of the resource building.

Three tweaks. Implementing.

resource.lua — faster/longer particles + a hit circle at the node center on extraction:

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\resource.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

economy.lua — counter text up 1px (it overshot low at +2; +1 should land it on the tile's center):

The file E:\a327ex\mini-looper\economy.lua has been updated successfully. (file state is current in your context — no need to Read it back)

OK  resource.lua
OK  economy.lua

Done, compiles.

• Particles on extraction are now faster (velocity 40–90 → 100–200) and longer-lived (0.25–0.45s → 0.5–0.8s), so they spray out and linger.
• Hit circle added at the node's center on each extraction (wood-colored, radius 10), alongside the flash/pop/particles.
• Counter centering — 0 read too high, +2 read too low, so I set it to +1, which should land the digit on the tile's center. If it's still a hair off, tell me "up" or "down" and I'll nudge the last pixel (I can't measure the font's exact baseline, so this is my best read of the two data points).

To test: extract some wood — the node should burst with a hit-circle pulse + faster/longer particles, and the top-left counter digit should sit centered against its tile.

Let's end the session here, name it Mini Looper Buildings and Resources. Make sure to mention in the summary the work we still have to do (the steps you mentioned earlier in the session) to get v0 done.

Launching skill: end-session

Base directory for this skill: E:\a327ex.claude\skills\end-session

End Session Workflow

This skill is invoked from the same conversation where the work was done. You already have the full session context in memory — you do NOT need to read the transcript.

Step 1: Get Session Info

Ask the user for the session title (max 30 characters). Examples: "Anchor Phase 10 Part 5", "Physics Arena Setup", "Timer System Fix", "Thalien Lune Design".

Determine the project yourself from your session context — you know which repo(s) were worked on, which files were created/modified, and where they live. No need to ask. See Step 5 for the list of known project roots; if the session touched something outside the list, infer the root from the paths you actually edited.

Step 2: Write Summary

Write the summary from your conversation memory. You have the full session context — no need to read any files.

The summary should be thorough and detailed. Each major topic deserves its own section with multiple specific bullet points. Don't compress — expand.

Purpose: These summaries serve as searchable records. Future Claude instances will grep through past logs to find how specific topics were handled. The more detail you include, the more useful the summary becomes for finding relevant context later.

Format (this is just an example structure — adapt sections to match what actually happened):

# [Title]

## Summary

[1-2 sentence overview of the session's main focus]

**[Topic 1 - e.g., "Spring Module Implementation"]:**
- First specific detail about what was done
- Second detail - include file names, function names
- User correction or feedback (quote if notable)
- Technical decisions and why

**[Topic 2 - e.g., "Camera Research"]:**
- What was researched
- Key findings
- How it influenced implementation

**[Topic 3 - e.g., "Errors and Fixes"]:**
- Specific error message encountered
- Root cause identified
- How it was fixed

[Continue for each major topic...]

---

[Rest of transcript follows]

Rules: - Be thorough — If in doubt, include more detail, not less. Each topic should be as detailed as possible while still being a summary. - Think searchability — Future instances will search these logs. Include keywords, function names, error messages that someone might grep for. - One section per major topic — Don't combine unrelated work into one section - Chronological order — Sections should match conversation flow - Specific details — Error messages, file names, function names, parameter values - Include user quotes — When user gave notable feedback, quote it (e.g., "k/d variables are not intuitive at all") - Weight planning equally — Research, proposals, alternatives considered, user feedback on approach are as important as implementation - Weight problems solved — Errors, root causes, fixes, user corrections all matter - Technical specifics — Include formulas, API signatures, parameter changes when relevant

Step 3: Proceed Without Approval

Do NOT show the summary to the user for approval. Write it directly. The user can review the committed log after the fact and request a follow-up edit if anything is off.

Step 4: Convert Transcript and Write the Log File

# Find recent sessions (Claude + Cursor + Codex). Same script lives in Anchor2:
python E:/a327ex/Anchor2/scripts/find-recent-session.py --limit 5
# or: python E:/a327ex/Anchor/scripts/find-recent-session.py --limit 5

The script shows sessions sorted by when they ended. The first result is the current conversation (since end-session was invoked here). Use it.

Use a lowercase hyphenated slug derived from the title (e.g., "anchor-primitives-hitstop-animation").

Get the end timestamp for the Date frontmatter — this is the wall-clock time when end-session was invoked, NOT the time the JSONL started. Sessions often span multiple days, and the log should be filed under the day the work was wrapped up:

date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"

Use this output verbatim. Do not substitute the JSONL start timestamp; the log appears in the sidebar sorted by Date, and a multi-day session with a Date pinned to day 1 will sort below sessions that ended later but started later, hiding the most recent work.

Convert the transcript to markdown:

python E:/a327ex/Anchor2/scripts/jsonl-to-markdown.py [SESSION_PATH] /tmp/session-log.md
# or: python E:/a327ex/Anchor/scripts/jsonl-to-markdown.py ...

The same script auto-detects Claude Code JSONL vs Cursor/Composer agent JSONL (~/.cursor/projects/.../agent-transcripts/...) vs Codex rollouts (~/.codex/sessions/...). For Composer sessions, use find-recent-session.py (it merges all sources) and pick the [cursor] line for the current chat.

Replace the default header (# Session YYYY-MM-DD...) at the top of /tmp/session-log.md with the approved title and summary, AND prepend frontmatter. The final file shape:

Title: [Title]
Date: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

# [Title]

## Summary

[approved summary text from step 2]

---

[transcript content from jsonl-to-markdown script]

Frontmatter is non-negotiable. Every log file MUST start with Title: and Date: lines. Without them, the site's sidebar shows the slug as the title and 0 (epoch) as the sort date. The backfill script in a327ex-site/deploy/backfill_metadata.py is a safety net, not a substitute — write it correctly the first time.

Then copy the final file to the log destination:

cp /tmp/session-log.md E:/a327ex/a327ex-site/logs/[slug].md

Step 4.5: Decrement the lock (if active)

Read E:/a327ex/a327ex-site/.lock.json if it exists. If it contains {"remaining": N} with N > 0:

• Decrement N by 1
• Write {"remaining": N-1} back to the file
• If N becomes 0, the lock is cleared. You may leave the file at {"remaining": 0} or delete it; both work.

The lock file lives in the a327ex-site repo, so the change is staged automatically by git add -A in Step 6.

If no lock file exists or remaining is already 0, do nothing. (See the /lock skill for the lock's full design.)

Step 5: Commit Project Repo

Identify the project repo(s) worked on this session from your own context — you already know which repos were touched and which files changed. For the common projects:

Project	Root	Stage command
Anchor	E:/a327ex/Anchor	git add docs/ framework/ engine/ scripts/ reference/
Anchor2	E:/a327ex/Anchor2	git add framework/ engine/ arena/ reference/ scripts/ docs/ .claude/
emoji-ball-battles	E:/a327ex/emoji-ball-battles	git add -A
invoker	E:/a327ex/Invoker	git add -A
thalien-lune	E:/a327ex/thalien-lune	git add -A
a327ex-site	E:/a327ex/a327ex-site	git add -A (this IS one of the web repos — the log file added in Step 4 is staged here automatically)

For a project not listed, infer the root from the files you actually created or modified this session and stage those. If multiple candidate roots look valid, ask the user which files to stage.

cd into the project root, stage, run git status to verify before committing.

IMPORTANT — FULL SUMMARY IN COMMIT: The commit message MUST include the FULL summary from the log file. Read the summary back from the log file to ensure nothing is missing.

IMPORTANT — COMMIT METHOD: The summary contains backticks, special characters, and markdown that WILL break heredocs and git commit -m. ALWAYS use the file-based method below. NEVER try a heredoc first — it will fail and produce a malformed commit that needs amending.

# Skip until we hit the line "## Summary", then take everything after the next
# blank line until the --- separator that precedes the transcript.
awk '/^## Summary$/{found=1; next} found && NR>1 && /^---$/{exit} found' \
    E:/a327ex/a327ex-site/logs/[slug].md > /tmp/commit_msg.txt

# Prepend the title (plain text, no #) and append attribution
sed -i "1i [Title]\n" /tmp/commit_msg.txt
printf "\nGenerated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)\n\nCo-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>\n" >> /tmp/commit_msg.txt

git commit -F /tmp/commit_msg.txt

Step 6: Push the Repos

Two pushes — project (to GitHub) and a327ex-site (to the VPS):

# Project repo to GitHub. Skip this push if the project IS a327ex-site
# (handled by the second push below — don't duplicate).
git push origin main

# a327ex-site to the VPS (post-receive hook restarts the Lua server).
cd E:/a327ex/a327ex-site
git add -A
git commit -m "[Title]"
git push prod main 2>&1 | tail -3

Failure handling: if either push fails, the other still happens. Local commits stay intact, so the user can re-push manually once they've fixed whatever blocked it. Don't roll back; the committed state on disk is the source of truth.

Step 7: Confirm

Tell the user: - Project commit hash + GitHub push result - a327ex-site commit hash + VPS push result

Format:

Logged — "[Title]".
  project (Anchor2):  abc1234  pushed to GitHub
  a327ex-site:        ghi9012  pushed to a327ex.com (post-receive deployed)

If a push failed, surface that explicitly with the error.

Notes

• Frontmatter is non-negotiable. Every log file MUST have Title: and Date: at the top. Enforced at write time in step 4. The backfill script is a safety net, not a substitute.
• If the project IS a327ex-site (e.g., you spent the session writing the renderer or fixing the theme), there's no separate "project repo to GitHub" push — the a327ex-site push at the end IS the project push. Don't duplicate.
• Legacy note: this skill used to also dual-write to anchor.blot.im/logs/ and anchor.blot.im/context/. Post-cutover (May 2026), anchor.blot.im is a JS redirect to a327ex.com and no longer receives content. Drop those steps if you find any older docs that still reference them.

ARGUMENTS: Title: "Mini Looper Buildings and Resources". In the summary, be sure to include a clearly-labeled "Remaining work to finish v0" section listing the still-pending steps from the v0 sequence we worked through this session: (1) Step 4 — a shallow deterministic tech tree where you spend wood on unit/upgrade unlocks (2–3 gated tiers); (2) Step 5 — re-enable the director (currently director_enabled = false), scale enemy pressure to the tech gates, and add win/lose. Note the v0 fun-gate question this is all building toward: is managing the loop economy + a tech line against rising pressure fun? Also note smaller deferred items: full run-reset on restart (placed extractors persist and nodes don't re-roll), and the wood-counter vertical-centering is a best-guess +1px nudge that may need a final tweak.

I'll write the log, then commit and push both repos. First, find this session and get the wrap-up timestamp:

2026-06-03T17:21:16.414Z 0189e4e9-3c44-4baf-a276-2aafbb08cee4 [claude] <-- MOST RECENT
   C:\Users\adn\.claude\projects\E--a327ex\0189e4e9-3c44-4baf-a276-2aafbb08cee4.jsonl

2026-06-03T03:16:50.868Z 389f9f6a-614d-4964-9592-e454c4d2f811 [claude]
   C:\Users\adn\.claude\projects\E--a327ex\389f9f6a-614d-4964-9592-e454c4d2f811.jsonl

2026-06-03T02:51:26.469Z 63c0822f-b16f-4d06-9dff-b885943074fd [claude]
   C:\Users\adn\.claude\projects\E--a327ex\63c0822f-b16f-4d06-9dff-b885943074fd.jsonl

2026-06-03T02:24:26.332Z f6d87419-3048-4f13-9948-dad03424ef5a [claude]
   C:\Users\adn\.claude\projects\E--a327ex\f6d87419-3048-4f13-9948-dad03424ef5a.jsonl

2026-06-02T22:21:40.628Z 19a749d1-fc04-409e-9dc3-8da75161cb61 [claude]
   C:\Users\adn\.claude\projects\E--a327ex\19a749d1-fc04-409e-9dc3-8da75161cb61.jsonl

=== NOW ===
2026-06-03 14:21:58

This session is 0189e4e9.... Converting the transcript: