Vault Re-Alignment

Docs/Vault/07_Sessions/_Decisions/DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First.md

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+---
+id: DR-028
+title: Combat is the primary braided verb — depth-before-breadth, and the combat-depth track
+status: accepted
+date: 2026-06-08
+tags:
+- decision
+- design
+- roadmap
+- combat
+- scope
+permalink: gamevault/07-sessions/decisions/dr-028-combat-primary-verb-depth-first
+---
+
+# DR-028 — Combat is the Primary Verb (braid, don't co-equal) + Depth-Before-Breadth
+
+## Context
+
+After M0–M7 + inventory/equipment (Phases 0–1), the project is engineering-rich but "doesn't feel like a game" (operator, 2026-06-08). Diagnosis this session: development has been **breadth-first and correctness-first** — every milestone proved a *system replicates deterministically* (server==client, EditMode green); almost none proved a *loop is fun*. The tell: **"Live interactive fire test" sat OPEN in the [[Backlog]] after a dozen milestones** — combat, pillar #1, was never once playtested for enjoyment. Result: enormous, correct infrastructure over hollow content. Combat = ONE verb (a projectile with stat variants, a single `AbilityRef.Id`); SIX enemy prefabs share ONE brain (`EnemyAISystem` seek-nearest + contact melee); NO dodge/dash; death = free respawn. "Skill expression over stat-checks" is unmet because there is no skill surface — and aim is already decoupled from move, so kite-strafe-and-click trivially beats the only brain.
+
+The four [[Pillars]] read as **four co-equal genres** — action combat + co-op base + automation + netcode. That is three deep genres in one game, which a solo dev (even Claude-accelerated) cannot make co-equally deep, and building them all breadth-first is *why* there is no fun. Operator intake (2026-06-08): wants ALL THREE (the fusion is the identity), **co-op NON-NEGOTIABLE**, **passion/craft** (no deadline), **solo + Claude** (content-light). Grounding in real small-studio games that fuse combat+base+automation — **The Riftbreaker** (combat-led), **Core Keeper** (mining-led, literal conveyors+drills, co-op) — confirms the fusion is achievable but ALWAYS picks one primary verb and braids the others around it; none makes all three co-equal.
+
+## Decision
+
+1. **Combat is the PRIMARY VERB.** Base-building and automation are not cut — they **braid around combat** as its stakes and economy: automation makes what you fight *with* (charges/munitions/turrets/upgrades); sieges threaten what automation lives *in* (the base/machines, with a real loss beat); the sortie feeds both. See [[Path_to_Fun]]. "All three" stays the identity, but as ONE braided loop with a single primary verb — never three co-equal, independently-deep modes (which is the current state and the thing that doesn't feel like a game).
+2. **Why combat (not base/automation) is the verb:** co-op-non-negotiable points at *shared combat* (the most reliable co-op fun — Deep Rock Galactic / Risk of Rain 2 / Vermintide); combat is structurally furthest along; combat is the most hollow, so it has the highest fun-per-hour return.
+3. **Depth-before-breadth is the operating rule.** No new SYSTEM until one braided loop is genuinely fun. The validation culture shifts: green EditMode + server==client are **necessary, not sufficient** — every milestone now ends with a **fun-gate** (play it, with a friend, and not want to stop). The netcode/determinism rigor stays (it is a real strength); "done" stops meaning "tests pass."
+4. **Pause inventory/equipment Phases 2–4 and automation breadth** (recipe/throughput). They are more breadth on systems whose payoff is combat power — premature while combat is hollow. Redirect to the combat-depth track. The shipped Phases 0–1 stand; only the forward phases pause.
+5. **The combat-depth track** ([[Path_to_Fun]], MC-1…MC-6) is the next work, designed this session via a multi-agent pass (5 design lenses grounded in real games + the actual DOTS code → synthesis → 3 adversarial critics: netcode-feasibility / solo-scope / fun, all "go-with-changes"). Keystone: a **dodge + a committed, whiff-punishable enemy + a readable telegraph** = the smallest "fight in a box" that turns stand-and-click into a conversation. The dash is the *answer*, the committed lunge is the *question*; they ship together.
+
+## Consequences
+
+- **The braid is the highest-leverage design change** and costs less than half of what's already built — most parts exist; they're pointed at a ledger instead of at each other.
+- **Pillar ordering changes; no code is deleted.** [[Pillars]] revised to name combat the primary braided verb + the depth-before-breadth rule; [[Identity]] gains the braid section. The automation/base records ([[DR-014_M6_Build_Structures_Automation_Foundation]] / [[DR-020_M7_Automation_Production_Chains]]) stand — their role becomes "support the fight."
+- **Combat was never play-tuned**, so MC-1 onward validates by PLAYING, not tests. The team's reflex is correctness; the discipline now is feel.
+- **Two MC-1 netcode blockers are pre-caught** (must be honored at code time): (a) the dash i-frame must negate damage per-`DamageEvent` against the tick it was authored (`HealthApplyDamageSystem` runs in the predicted group and drains the prior-tick melee event) — stamp a non-replicated `uint SourceTick` on `DamageEvent`, not "is DashState active now"; (b) `CharacterControl` has no sharpness field — a flat `MoveVelocity` write ramps ("walk faster"); also drive `CharacterComponent.GroundedMovementSharpness` near-instant for the dash window. Plus the precondition: telegraphs must read off a **replicated absolute-tick countdown** (`AttackWindup`-style `[GhostField] uint`), not interpolated motion (~100ms late). Details in [[Path_to_Fun]].
+- **Falsifiable / owner-revisitable:** if, building the braid, the factory turns out to be the operator's true love, re-cut around automation-as-heart (Factorio/Dyson model, combat as defense). The combat-first call is a recommendation the operator can reverse.
+- **Refined 2026-06-08 (same session)** via a second multi-agent pass (4 deepen lenses → synthesis → 3 code-grounded adversarial critics, all go-with-changes): [[Path_to_Fun]] is now split into a **committed Path A** (MC-0/MC-1/MC-4/EB-1/EB-2/END-1/END-2 — the minimal path to *fight-fun + braided-with-stakes + a win/lose condition*, a shippable game-with-a-point) and a **provisional, NOT-scheduled Path B** forever-track, with a **mandatory logged Decision Gate** after END-2 before any Path B work (the enforcement teeth of depth-before-breadth). The critics' code audit added a **third `DamageEvent` stamp site** (`TurretFireSystem`) to the i-frame `SourceTick` fix and required `DashState` carry an explicit `StartTick` (the window-start the negation compares against, via `NetworkTick` — the strike is appended a tick earlier in a different system group than the drainer). Net-new replicated state stays minimal — structure `Health` (EB-1) and `CoreIntegrity`/`RunPhase`/`RunOutcome` bytes on the existing global ghost (END-1/2). Ten operator forks are catalogued in [[Path_to_Fun]] (top: lose-severity, enemy-aggro, charge-cadence).
+- Supersedes the implicit "four co-equal pillars" framing of [[Pillars]]; sets [[Path_to_Fun]] as the new north-star roadmap. [[Milestones]] remains the historical record.

Docs/Vault/07_Sessions/_Decisions/DR-029_Path_A_Fork_Locks.md

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+---
+id: DR-029
+title: Path A forks locked + the present-the-forks ritual (no auto-deciding gameplay)
+status: accepted
+date: 2026-06-09
+tags:
+- decision
+- design
+- roadmap
+- combat
+- process
+permalink: gamevault/07-sessions/decisions/dr-029-path-a-fork-locks
+---
+
+# DR-029 — Path A Forks Locked + the Present-the-Forks Ritual
+
+## Context
+
+[[Path_to_Fun]] (refined per [[DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First]]) carried ~20 open forks — the committed **Path A** could not be built without locking the ones that shape its feel. The operator made a **process correction**: gameplay-design forks are the operator's to call — **present each fork with a recommendation and let the operator decide; never auto-decide a gameplay question or mark a default "official" without an explicit okay.** (An attempt to auto-lock every fork via a workflow was halted mid-run.) The forks were then worked through interactively.
+
+## Decision
+
+**1. Path A forks are LOCKED** (2026-06-09), via a present-the-forks exercise. The set (also tabled in [[Path_to_Fun#Locked decisions (Path A)]]):
+
+- **MC-1 dash:** free aim during the dash · whole-window i-frames (the recovery tail punishes spam).
+- **MC-1 Charger:** a new Husk **variant prefab** (distinct silhouette + telegraph), not a brain-byte.
+- **MC-4 cleave:** its **own button** + its **own cooldown** (dash→cleave→shoot stays live).
+- **EB-1 aggro:** Husks **push for the base/structures** (attacking players in the way) — you defend; live singleton.
+- **EB-1 / END-1 persistence:** a **wounded base persists** across save/quit (structure HP + Core integrity in SaveData v3).
+- **EB-2 ammo:** **turret ammo only** (server-only) from the factory; player abilities stay free for now. **One** munition type ("Charge"). Run-dry = **soft-fail** (turrets go quiet).
+- **END-1 lose:** **soft loss** — a breach drains the shared ledger / damages structures, the siege ends, the base persists wounded (Tuning byte). A breach drains the **Core bar only**; structure destruction stays EB-1's job.
+- **END-2 win:** the meter fills from **BOTH** surviving sieges AND Aether deposited at the Engine (the operator's one non-default pick — the stronger braid; two server-only single writers summed into `GoalProgress.Charge`). Winning = **keep playing** (the base is yours; NG+/endless is the later END-5). Final beat = **one big escalating wave** (boss deferred).
+- **`EnemyStatus`** co-op damage-amp stays in **MC-5**.
+
+Live-singleton picks remain tunable at playtest (a lock is a starting default, not a cage). The one departure from the safe default — **charge cadence = both** — wires the win condition into the economy braid and costs END-2 a little extra deposit-charge wiring.
+
+**2. The fork-locking ritual is a standing process rule.** Path B forks stay **open**; before building any Path B milestone (chosen at the [[Path_to_Fun#The Decision Gate (MANDATORY STOP after END-2)|Decision Gate]]), **its forks are locked first via this same present-the-forks exercise.** No auto-deciding gameplay-design questions.
+
+## Consequences
+
+- Path A is concretely specified — Claude can build MC-0 + the MC-1 code/tests autonomously; the first genuine operator touchpoints are the **Burst-affecting `CharacterProcessor` edit** (focused editor) and the **MC-1 fun-gate** (feel + ideally a friend).
+- [[Path_to_Fun]]'s "Open decisions" section is replaced by **Locked decisions (Path A)** + the ritual note; [[Backlog]] updated.
+- Reversible by the same ritual — live-singleton locks flip at playtest; structural locks (cadence-both, persistence v3, turret-only ammo) are committed shapes a re-run can revisit.
+- Reinforces [[DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First]]'s depth-before-breadth: Path B is not pre-decided, so breadth cannot creep in via a stale default.