- Faction-controlled systems now spawn only opposing-faction hostiles (never pirates/neutrals), and local-faction fighters join the player as allies during the fight.
- Rework patrol, bounty, and escort side-quests to the faction war model: patrols are always in-system vs one seeded rival; bounties target a rival's member in a hostile neighbor gated on jump-gate access; escorts rescue a trapped transport in hostile space and deliver it back through the gate into friendly territory.
- Implement per-faction reputation standing (setFaction/changeFaction) with save persistence; faction-owned places now resolve standingFor() via the controlling faction.
- Job boards on faction worlds post only faction-context missions with generic war-voice descriptions ({enemy} placeholder); neutral boards unchanged.
- Update all dev test suites (encounters, bounty-hunts, escort, escort-flow, reputation, sidequests) to cover the new faction rules and gate locks.
- Add `_syncEscortSpeed()` in GameScene: when an escort contract is open, the transport is on screen, and combat is inactive, cap the player hull and escort fighters at the transport's own top speed; restore each craft to its normal/roster speed otherwise.
- Fighters keep their base speed on `_baseSpeed` so the restore is exact even after a jump re-form.
- Per-frame writes only on change to avoid steady-state churn or steering disturbance.
- Hook the sync into `updateSideQuestRoute()` so it runs each frame off the escort lane (no-op elsewhere).
- Cover the new behavior in `escort-flow.test.mjs`: match applies in view/out-of-combat, restores on combat open, transport off-screen, and contract end; give test crafts distinct speeds so match and restore are observable.
- Hold jumps while the escort convoy is linked or setting down: the
player must have the transport, its surviving escorts, and the gate
all on screen before leaving the system.
- Close the destination world's landing door until the transport has
reached it (phase delivered) or been destroyed (phase failed), so a
lost convoy never blocks the reset remedy.
- Arm OAC's escortDeny visual beat plus flat toasts on both denials.
- Register the transport captain character and add neutral-transport-link
(convoy link greeting) and neutral-transport-delivery (delivery thanks)
comms with audio pools, all once:false so they re-arm per contract.
- Require the convoy to be on screen before the delivery begins, not just
the destination world.
- Update escort-flow and comms tests for the new witness gates, landing
door, and transport captain beats.
- Replace the instant "delivered" completion with a two-phase flow:
phase `delivering` (convoy breaks off, glides beside the destination
world, fades out) followed by the seal/payout on fade close.
- The delivery now requires the destination world to be visible in the
camera's world rect (`_escortObjectOnScreen`) rather than merely within
a distance radius.
- Add `_runEscortDelivery` (time-driven ease-out approach + alpha/scale
fade, frame-rate independent) and `_sealEscortDelivery` (tear down
convoy, close phase, complete quest, toast).
- Extend `normalizeEscort` to accept the new `delivering` phase.
- `_escortDestinationObject` now returns the world's rendered radius so
the landing slot can anchor just off the planet/station disc.
- Add `escortArrivingToast` UI string for the "convoy inbound" moment.
- Update escort-flow test to assert the delivering → delivered sequence
and add a standalone repro script (`dev/escort-delivery-repro.mjs`).
- New "Escort" contract type on neutral job boards (minLevel 3): the player
links a persistent transport + 1-2 escort fighters at a local waypoint,
flies them through a seeded 1-2 hop gate route to a planet/station, and
delivers with the sky clear.
- TransportShip extends NeutralShip with a lapsed break-off window and a
`persistent` flag so CombatSystem's active/neutralOnly gates skip it; the
convoy never holds the jump gate or landing door open.
- Dedicated escort EncounterDirector (9-18s rolls, 85-100% chance) fires
mixed-fighter waves ~5x more frequently than normal encounters; one wave at
a time via the patrol contact's law.
- Transport loss fails the contract; landing on a planet resets it with a
fresh rendezvous in the current system and full-armor transport, same
destination.
- 20 unique escort dossier descriptions, reward band raised to 120-175 CR.
- Three new test suites: escort.test.mjs (model), escort-flow.test.mjs
(scene flow), escort-browser.test.mjs (real browser boot + board render).
Brian Fertig