- 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
- Replace direct-click-to-jump with a shared comms panel variant that shows LINK ACTIVE/DORMANT status, REQUEST JUMP (disabled while dormant), and CANCEL
- Render gates from the new 256x256 spritesheet (frame 0 body, frame 1 active swirl) with procedural fallback when the texture is missing
- Active gate swirl spins clockwise and breathes alpha between configurable bounds; dormant gates keep the body at full alpha with the swirl hidden
- Wire CommsPanel to a dynamic primary-button action id so the same panel serves world and gate variants
- Add dev probe page (dev/gate-comms.html/.mjs) and update jumpgate/jump-travel tests for the new sprite path, fallback renderer, and comm-window flow
- Play a cover-scaled video between systems on jump, with an opaque backdrop so the source doesn't show through
- Double-click skips the remaining clip; single press is swallowed while it plays
- Fall back to the short jumpDelayMs cut when no video is configured or missing
- Guard against stalled/overlong playback with a grace and duration cap before restarting
- Add assets/videos/jump.mp4 and document the new behavior in gates.json and PROJECT_NOTES.md
- 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
- Introduce a dynamic "system" research category built at runtime with two techs: `{System} Map` (granted on entry) and `Unlock {System} Jumpgates` (researchable once every NAV point is discovered).
- Wire gate activation through the research effects seam so completing the jumpgate tech activates the system's gates plus linked return gates, anchors level-1 tethers at each activated gate, and saves/restores via a new `activatedGates` set.
- Extend ResearchModel with optional tree hooks (`available`, `lockNote`) so dynamic categories can gate research on live world state without adding static requires.
- Add map and gate procedural icons, update tests for the new category contract and icon roster, and document the system category in project notes.
- 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
Brian Fertig