- Nebula gas layer: soft coloured cloud sprites at depth 3, tinted with a
per-system palette color assigned deterministically at galaxy generation
(SystemGenerator stamps content.atmosphere.color). Only nebula-type
systems render it; all other types are untouched.
- Ripple effect: a full-screen WebGL composite on the world camera that
displaces the starfield and world objects while the HUD stays crisp via
a new UI/world camera split (UiCameras.js). Data-driven per archetype in
data/systems.json (nebula = ripple, all others = none). Canvas fallback
degrades to no effect.
- Demo mode: ?fx=<type> URL param retargets the run to the richest system
of that archetype, fully charted with all gates active, for judging the
effect in isolation.
- New ice and lava planet art (slots 9–14 in planets.png) replacing the
placeholder terran/rocky/gas reuse.
- Node test suites for the nebula palette/determinism/cloud texture and
the ripple math/data contract/shader/facade (50+ checks, bare Node).
- Replace the square star field with a wide (width × height) field whose
aspect matches the map plate, so the fully-zoomed-out galaxy fills the
plate instead of letterboxing; recompute zone edges for equal-area thirds
under the new diagonal CDF.
- Add fitPadded() in SystemChart.js and use it in GalaxyView.js to frame
the galaxy as a true rectangle fit with a plate-pixel margin, replacing
the old world-unit padding that left stars on the plate edge.
- Rework the JumpNetwork spanning-tree heuristic to "save the stranded
first" (attach the candidate with the fewest unvisited non-barren
neighbors) and strengthen the repair pass: never attach to barren nodes,
guard swaps against cycles via inSubtree(), and add a last-resort
fallback that preserves strong connectivity.
- Update tests (galaxy.test.mjs, system-chart.test.mjs) for the field
bounds and the new fitPadded behavior; refresh README, PROJECT_NOTES,
and data comments to document the 2:1 field and platePadding knob.
- Replace the sparse disk (radius, flatten, spiral arms, per-type radiusBand)
with a seeded square domain placed by Bridson Poisson-disk sampling for
even, organic star spacing (no clumps/voids).
- Add a home→far difficulty axis: each record now carries `d` (0 at the home
corner, 1 at the opposite corner) and a named zone; type distribution is
mixed per zone via `distribution.zoneMix` instead of radial bands.
- Move the starting system to the star nearest the configured corner
(`startingSystem.policy: "corner"`, default SE / lower right), with
`center` and `random` policies still supported.
- Increase default system count from 60 to 90 and retune settlement density
gradient, landing video slots, and test expectations to the new layout.
- SystemReport now returns a tight {title, subtitle, faction, population, status} shape instead of per-settlement/gate line lists; the HUD shows only the name, "<Type> system · star <class>", and "Faction: Neutral · Pop ~X" (or "Unclaimed").
- Drop the settlements/gates/summary/seed lines from the GameScene HUD render and update the decode/collapse docs to the new two-line layout.
- Fix planet kindLabel lookup to key on rec.class instead of rec.name so the comms/surface panels don't repeat the proper name.
- Update asteroid, galaxy, and system-hud tests plus PROJECT_NOTES to match the compact report shape.
- Introduce StationFrames.js galaxy-wide pass that spreads spacestations.png
variant frames across the galaxy, avoiding collisions among neighbor stars
- Stamp settlement.stationFrame in SystemGenerator so content carries the
assigned variant (lazy === eager)
- Render deep-space stations from the spritesheet when available; keep
procedural fallback for waypoints and missing textures
- Extend comms target with isStation/frame and allow REQUEST LANDING on
deep-space stations, passing station flag into SurfaceScene
- Add landing.stationVideos entries and music.stationFrames slots keyed by
variant frame; surface/shop clips degrade gracefully until authored
- Add dev tooling: station-shot page/runner for world/panel/land/deck states
and a Node test asserting variant spread beats naive random assignment
- Draw the active SET DESTINATION path in orange on galaxy lanes and circle the destination star with a breathing ring
- On the current-system chart, circle the destination object when it is in this system, or show the route exit gate plus a dashed ship-to-gate line when the destination is elsewhere
- Carry `route` edge keys and `destinationId` through `buildGalaxySnapshot`, `mapChartSnapshot`, and `systemChartSnapshotFor` so views can render the course
- Add dev screenshot harnesses (route-shot, exit-gate-shot) and extend galaxy-map tests to cover route/destination flags
- Document the new visualization in PROJECT_NOTES.md and add a takeoff video asset
- New `js/galaxy/Route.js` derives the unique path between systems over the spanning-tree jump network (Dijkstra), exposing `planRoute` / `nextSystem`; pure and Node-tested in `dev/route.test.mjs`.
- Persist only the destination (`systemId`, `objectId`) in save data; the route itself is recomputed from the current system, so following it shortens automatically and a detour re-plots.
- Compass marks the route's next gate in orange (shown even while undiscovered) and suppresses that gate's ordinary cyan entry.
- On jump, resolve arrival / on-course / detour before `captureState` and queue REACHED / RE-PLOTTED notices to surface after the destination scene spawns.
- Map console SYSTEM tab now charts a charted star's system; confirming an object sets the destination and closes the map.
- Fix galaxy stars bleeding through the system chart: plate culling respects overall visibility, fog skips when no tethers anchor it, and the boot reveal finalizes to full alpha on tab switch.
- Add `assets/videos/ss-land-03.mp4` and document the route feature in PROJECT_NOTES.
- New "System" socket in MapWindow: a charted star's chart drawn by the
same painter as Current System (no ship/tethers), armed until the player
picks that star on the Galaxy tab, then wakes with its map.
- Galaxy tab click flow changes: a visited star opens its chart in the
System tab (onStarOpen) instead of confirming a jump; uncharted stars
are readouts only and a lit lane to an uncharted star pops nothing.
- Zoom-bloom star art (GalaxyChart.starArtSpec + GalaxyView blit):
diffraction spikes, per-type crowns (granulation, prominences, binary
companion, habitable rings, nebula disc, void horizon) and a surface
wobble fade in as you zoom; all angles/phases seeded per system.
- Star hit-testing now scales with the dot size and includes a crowded
cluster dead band so lanes/empty space between stars no longer trigger
hover.
- New systemChartSnapshot() in SystemChart.js plus tests covering shape,
coverage, discovery flags, stats and determinism.
- Set Destination dialog (System tab) acknowledges the pick via
onSetDestination; destination model is still being defined.
- Added spacestation image/video assets for future use.
- New `GalaxyView` renders glowing stars per archetype (pulsing heartbeat),
the jump-lane web (traveled/frontier/unexplored), the charted region's
convex hull, HOME/SHIP markers, hover readouts, and CONFIRM JUMP on a
live lane (reuses the existing gate transport).
- `GalaxyChart.js` provides the pure model + geometry: edgeKey, snapshot
builder, convex hull / padded polygon, star pulse/color, and plate
clipping (Liang-Barsky + Sutherland-Hodgman) — all Node-testable.
- Run's footprint (`visitedSystems`, `usedGates`) is captured/restored/
reset in SaveData; legacy saves default to "current system charted,
nothing traveled".
- MapWindow gains tab switching between the system chart and the galaxy
view, with shared stats/legend/status chrome per mode.
- Two dev tests cover the galaxy model, save round-trip, hull geometry,
plate clipping, and a regression for the star-label blink bug.
- Sort gate candidates by destination-side before tier, so an on-ray point behind the center loses to any destination-side aimed/scan point
- Add a new soft "facing from the center" check in tests: when some anchor's tether circle reaches the destination side (maxProj + tether > 0), the gate must lie there; a single far planet may still take the best aimed point
- Prefer a destination-side aimed candidate in the clearance fallback
- Shrink the roster from 200 to 60 systems and drop spiral arms / core bulge for a uniform-in-area sparse disk (data/galaxy.json)
- Turn the jump network into a pure spanning tree (shortcuts off): exactly one route between any two systems, barren systems become single-gate dead-end leaves
- Remove the rendered Star entity; non-home system centers are now empty space with the star kept only as invisible dossier flavor
- Gate anchors restricted to planets (stations no longer anchor) and every non-barren system guaranteed ≥1 planet so a buildable world always exists
- Give barren dead ends 1–2 asteroid clusters drifting inside their gate's level-1 tether as the stop's only payload
- Bump save format to 2 and reject legacy format-1 saves with a clear toast message
- Update tests, docs, and README to reflect the maze layout, leaf dead ends, empty centers, and new barren cluster rules
- Introduce MapWindow (js/ui/MapWindow.js): full-screen cartography overlay
with a left video feed, CURRENT SYSTEM / GALAXY(standby) tabs, a canvas
system chart (discovered planets/stations/gates/rock fields, tether union
boundary, fog-of-war dim outside the tether), and a discovery/resources
readout with segmented bars + legend. Clicking a discovered object plots
the course via autopilot.
- Add SystemChart.js (js/galaxy/SystemChart.js) with pure geometry/stats:
chartBounds, fitToRect, navDiscoveryStats, resourceStats — Node-testable
in dev/system-chart.test.mjs.
- Wire MAP into the deck (ActionBar + GameScene): new 'map' slot right of
SHIP, full-screen open/close contract, ESC handling, snapshot polling,
and video preload for assets/videos/map.mp4.
- Add data/map.json (manifest entry) driving all map colors, tabs, stats,
legend, sweep, glitch, hover, and click copy.
- Two-beat menu intro synced to the mainmenu track crescendo: beat 1 shows
console chrome + subtitle; beat 2 (revealDelay, default 3200 ms) reveals
title, bloom, buttons, seed decode, and a signature glitch.
- Fix rocky landing surface/takeoff assets in data/landing.json to point at
the new rocky-surface-01.mp4 / rocky-takeoff-01.mp4 clips.
- Dev tooling: dev/map-shot.{html,mjs} (headless screenshot driver),
dev/menu-intro-test.{html,mjs} (intro verification), and updated
research-builds.test.mjs for the new MAP slot ordering.
- Introduce Star entity (procedural texture per spectral class) drawn at the origin of every non-home system; only the starting system's central body is the home world
- Freeze `homeSystemId` at roster build so lazily generated content for newly arrived systems no longer misreads as home and deals a second home world
- Anchor tether-l1 builds on newly discovered worlds (effects.tether in data/builds.json) and re-materialize installed tethers after jump cuts / scene rebuilds
- Discovery now reports the central body in every system ("Home World" vs. spectral-class star label); stars are solid but not comms targets
- Add dev tools: nav-reach-probe (soft-lock analysis), star unit tests, tether-newworld browser test; fix landing video references and Phaser stubs
- Add JumpTravel.js with pure arrival geometry (return-gate lookup, spawn point past keepout) and wire it into GameScene.jumpThroughGate to re-stage the run via the save pipeline and scene restart
- Add gate hit-test (gateAt) so active gates trigger the jump on click while dormant ones show a console nudge and fall through to fly-here
- Add jump config block to gates.json (feature switch, arrival gap, delay, toast templates) and update landing.json gasgiant shop clips
- Add dev/jump-travel.test.mjs covering config, geometry, real-galaxy coverage, and determinism; refresh PROJECT_NOTES for the new mechanic
- Galaxy shrunk to 200 systems (data/galaxy.json) — always fully known,
generation ~15 ms; roster/content two-level design unchanged.
- Object composition replaces planetCount (data/systems.json → objectCount):
10% barren (jump-gate-only), else 2/3/4/5 objects (planets + free-space
stations) at 15/30/30/15. One unified roll (rollSystemComposition) shared
by the content generator and the frame pass.
- Barren systems: no planets, no stations, no asteroid clusters; their
single gate sits on the star→destination ray at barrenDistance (8192 px).
Strong connectivity keeps them reachable.
- Jump gates are DORMANT by default: every gate record carries
active:false, the entity renders dim with a still field. Activation is
the seam for the tether mechanic (an activated gate anchors a level-1
tether). data/gates.json gains barrenDistance.
- Frame diversity (js/galaxy/PlanetFrames.js): one galaxy-wide pass spreads
(class, frame) across the galaxy — fixed spatial order, least-used face
among already-assigned nearest stars, seeded tie-breaks. Stamps
planet.frame + content.homeFrame, read by GameScene.
- Tests: dev/frames.test.mjs added; jumps/galaxy/discovery/jumpgate/asteroids
suites updated to the new rules (composition buckets, barren gates,
active flags, frame determinism/spread, 5-object max, index clamps).
- Docs (README, PROJECT_NOTES) and stale 40k references updated.
- Introduce data/gates.json + js/galaxy/JumpNetwork.js: a strongly-connected, degree-limited spanning tree over the nearest-star graph (plus local shortcuts) so every system holds 1–3 gates, all jumps are local, and no system is closed or trapped
- Place each gate on the tether circle of an anchor (planet / space station / home world), facing its destination star; enforce radius band, clearance from anchors, and gap between gates in SystemGenerator.layoutGates
- Add the JumpGate entity (procedural twin-pylon portal) with the same solid contract as Planet/Station, discoverable in cyan, listed in the HUD dossier; wire into GameScene solids + discovery
- Guarantee every system holds at least one gate anchor (barren systems get a deep-space station); cap the home system at 3 objects so it fits the tighter band
- Rework solar-system layout to a full pairwise band [minSpacing, maxSpacing] with rotation tuned toward gate bearings; update tests and docs accordingly
- Planet count is now a single global rule (20% barren, else 2–4 planets)
instead of per-type spreads; the starting system always holds a gas giant
plus a rocky world beside the home world.
- Every planet hosts one settlement by class (habitable rocky → colony, other
rocky/ice/lava → mining station, gas → cloud base); free-space stations and
beacons still roll per archetype with the core→rim gradient.
- Old probabilistic planet-settlement path kept behind allPlanetsSettled flag.
- Layout max drops to 6 objects (4 planets + 2 stations); the 11-object
two-orbit case remains as a defensive fallback.
- Update tests, docs, and add rocky-land video asset.
- Change radiusGrowth from 1.25 to 2.0 so level N doubles the previous
level (L2 = 10240, L3 = 20480, L4 = 40960 px)
- Update all data descriptions, docs, and test defaults to match
- Add refreshHudTetherLevel() in SurfaceScene so the HUD line re-decodes
when a tether build completes while on-surface
- Rename rocky-planet-02 asset (typo fix), add 03-a/03-b variants,
point rocky frames at indices 6–8 in planets.json
- Add dev/tether-flow harness to exercise the full L2 build flow end-to-end
- Introduce Reputation module (js/reputation/Reputation.js) tracking player standing on planets and space stations on a −20…+20 scale, with the home world pinned at +20
- Add data/reputation.json config for scale bounds, neutral default, and home-world standing
- Assign stable seed-deterministic ids to planets (<systemId>-p<ordinal>) and settlements (<systemId>-s<n>) in SystemGenerator so saved standing lines up with regenerated galaxies
- Wire reputation into the save system (captureState/prepareLoad/resetRunState) with backward-compatible loading of pre-reputation saves as all-neutral
- Add faction-check placeholder: standingFor() resolves home → stored → owner/faction → neutral, with factionStanding() stubbed for the upcoming factions layer
- Register a single Reputation instance in GameScene via the shared registry (same pattern as Discovery)
- Add dev/reputation.test.mjs covering scale clamping, home pinning, serialization round-trips, legacy/corrupt record handling, save integration, and place-id stability
- Replace the old per-rock placement retry loop with a deterministic pairwise relaxation pass (relaxRockGaps) that enforces a gapFactor x (r1+r2) separation between every pair, so rocks keep a subtle visible gap instead of interpenetrating
- Add cluster.gapFactor (default 1.12) and asteroids.compassColor (#c8d2e0) config keys, with updated comments in data/asteroids.json and SystemGenerator.js
- Tint the DiscoveryCompass arrow per target: bake the arrow texture white and tint it to the target's color (worlds keep theme neon cyan, clusters use their light gray)
- Extend dev/asteroids.test.mjs to assert every rock pair respects the gapFactor separation
- Generate 4–8 rock groups per system with seeded placement, spacing, and slow tumble/drift motion driven by data/asteroids.json
- Add AsteroidCluster entity (Phaser container) with halo, dust motes, per-rock spins, and ship keep-out collision reusing Planet.resolve
- Integrate clusters into GameScene: load spritesheet, constrain ship post-physics, include in click-to-fly/autopilot/discovery/compass
- Synthesise unique cluster names via NameGenerator.asteroid (syllables + field suffix)
- Add dev test suite and ?seed= param for deterministic galaxy generation
- Replace the annular-band scatter (minOrbit/maxOrbit/minEdgeGap) with a ring-based placement: objects sit on one or two orbits around the home world, governed by center-to-center `minSpacing` and `maxNeighbor`
- Free-space stations (deep-space stations, waypoints) are now layout objects alongside planets; planet-bound settlements stay features of their planet
- Handle the N=11 case (9 planets + 2 stations) with an inner 3-ring + outer 8-ring; chain outward defensively for any larger N
- Update tests to verify the new spacing invariants, the two-orbit case, and determinism including station positions
- Refresh PROJECT_NOTES and the data-file comment to describe the orbit model
Two small naming/labeling fixes:
1. The home planet was always the generic "Terra". It now takes the first
name off the STARTING system's planet-name deck (SystemGenerator), so it
reads as a real place and can never clash with one of that system's
planets. Stored as content.homeName (only the starting system has one);
the old planets.homeName stays as a fallback. Used for the compass
home chip and the tether anchor label.
2. Confirmed/sharpened the compass name tag: each discovered off-screen
object's arrow chip already renders TYPE + NAME — now the home world
shows its bank name too (e.g. "HOME WORLD · ESHKAELURA").
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Planets and space stations were previously made by stitching a root word to
a kind noun ("Kest Skyspire", "New Natick IV"), which read like labels, not
names. They now draw from deep, hand-picked name BANKS in data/naming.json:
- banks.planet — colonial "New Denver"/"Port Tucson" worlds mixed with
alien "Klaxoria"/"Vexithunhal" worlds (269 names).
- banks.station — official designations ("Deep Space SC-145", "Nav Relay
V-77") mixed with smuggler hangouts ("Hell's Hideout",
"The Rusty Anchor") (165 names).
Assignment is a seeded shuffle of the whole bank (NameGenerator.planetDeck /
stationDeck), dealt out per-system in order, so a system never repeats a
name until the pool is exhausted (impossible at these sizes). The decks come
from dedicated Rng.derive(...) streams, keeping generation order-independent
(lazy === eager). Stars and the galaxy still synthesize from syllable pools
(unbounded), and the home world keeps its configured name.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Discovery rule: ship within `discovery.distance` (540 px) of a world's edge discovers it once per system; state is pure, save-ready (`Discovery.toJSON/fromJSON`)
- Off-screen compass (`DiscoveryCompass`): themed screen-edge arrows with type/name chips point back at discovered worlds; geometry helpers (`edgeAnchor`, `circleInView`, `lerpAngle`) exported for Node tests
- Solar-system layout: `layoutSystemPlanets` places generated worlds in a deterministic annular band around the home world, enforcing edge-to-edge separation and per-class scale/tint from `data/planets.json`
- All system planets are solid to the ship (collision + click-clamp), not just home
- Rim ping + HUD toast on discovery (`celebrateDiscovery`)
- New planet class pools (rocky/gas/ice/lava) with frames, `classScale`, `classTint`, and `typeLabels`
- Smoke-game dev hooks: `?ship=x,y` and `?near=px` for screenshotting discovery/compass states
- Node test suite (`dev/discovery.test.mjs`) covering rule boundaries, per-system state, JSON round-trip, layout bounds/determinism, compass geometry, and class pools
The galaxy was settled long before the player arrives. Systems now
host colonies on habitable worlds, mining stations over resource
worlds, cloud bases riding gas giants, stations adrift in open
space, and beacons — or report "charted · unclaimed" when empty.
- data/settlements.json: the shared kind vocabulary (label, theme,
population range, anchor type); add a kind = JSON + naming pool.
- Per-archetype rates in data/systems.json (chance + required
planet class) and a core→rim density gradient in data/galaxy.json
(falloff/floor), keyed off each record's new rNorm.
- Draws stay in a stable order on the system's own Rng stream, so
lazy and eager generation still produce identical content.
- Every settlement keeps owner: null, a reserved seam for the
factions/pirates that will claim them later.
- NameGenerator.station() names from anchor + kind ("Kest Skyspire").
- SystemReport.js is a pure, testable formatter (dossier lines,
"charted · unclaimed" for empty); GameScene's HUD renders it and
Node tests cover structure, mix, gradient, naming, lazy === eager.
- Main menu Galaxy Seed panel: displayed, editable, rerollable; the menu
previews what the seed builds (galaxy name, scale, archetypes) before
committing. Same seed always generates the same galaxy.
- js/galaxy/Galaxy.js: seeded roster of 40k systems (disk + core + spiral
arms, type weights, radial bands) with spatial hash for neighbor queries;
contents generated lazily on arrival — identical to eager generateAll()
because each system draws from Rng.derive(seed, 'system', id).
- js/galaxy/SystemGenerator.js + data/systems.json: six themed archetypes
whose attributes (star classes, planet count spread, class weights,
moons, belts, habitability, hazard) steer content generation.
- data/galaxy.json layout/distribution knobs, incl. distribution.rules[]
hook for future proximity/clustering rules; data/naming.json name pools.
- GameScene: current system name/identity HUD (lazy content generation
on arrival); dev boot without a menu falls back to a dev galaxy.
- dev/galaxy.test.mjs: determinism, distribution, bands, lazy==eager,
neighbor brute-force checks (40k roster in ~70ms).
- Docs: world model, determinism rules, roadmap update.
Brian Fertig
Brian Fertig