Docs: Co-op Hades iteration plan + dev-loop session log + tour screenshots

Direction locked 2026-07-06: trunk fixes + full Co-op Hades conversion
(mothball tower-defense, win expedition-side, hub base, mechanic-changer
boons, 2nd ability, node types, 2nd boss, revive), depth folded in now,
Blender at hero-props+decals scope. Evidence: 9-agent analysis workflow +
live play tour (screenshots referenced by the plan doc).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Docs/Vault/07_Sessions/2026/2026-07-06_DevLoop_Iteration_CoopHades_Phase0.md

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+---
+title: Dev-Loop Iteration — Analysis, Co-op Hades Direction Lock, Phase 0 Stabilize
+date: 2026-07-06
+tags: [session, analysis, direction, coop-hades, phase0, workflow, ultracode]
+permalink: gamevault/07-sessions/2026/2026-07-06-devloop-iteration-coophades-phase0
+---
+
+# Dev-Loop Iteration — Analysis → Direction → Phase 0 (ultracode)
+
+Operator brief: *"the game needs a dev-loop iteration to turn it into something fun & playable — analyze the current
+state, state the gaps (fun, usability, everything), nothing is a hard pillar, do market research, confirm direction,
+then a complete plan that uses Blender; the visual look is lacking immensely (collision, animations, clarity); there
+is enough juice, it just needs more to feel good."*
+
+## How it went
+
+1. **Grounding + live tour:** walked the real loop in Play via MCP (ready-check → launch → room combat → boon →
+   RoomExplore portal → room 2) with screenshots at every beat (`Assets/Screenshots/iter_*.png`). The tour itself
+   surfaced bugs the 456-green suite can't see.
+2. **9-agent analysis workflow** (`wf_8afc6e5a-b9e`, 9/9 clean, ~1M tokens): state map, four grounded critiques
+   (fun / usability / combat depth / visual), three research tracks (market loops / game feel / Blender pipeline),
+   synthesis into ranked gaps + 4 candidate directions.
+3. **Direction fork → operator** (AskUserQuestion): locked **trunk fixes + FULL Co-op Hades** (mothball tower-defense,
+   win fully expedition-side, hub base, mechanic-changer boons + 2nd ability + node types + 2nd boss + revive),
+   **depth folded in now**, **Blender = hero props + decals**. Plan: [[Iteration_2026-07_CoopHades]].
+4. **Phase 0 built + validated same session** (3 commits): the pending portal-visibility fix committed (`274cf3b79`),
+   Phase 0 fixes (`7c1fee097`) — lifecycle-aware phase banner, the missing RoomExplore location-line case, grounded
+   storage crate + portal beacon, tamed beacon HDR. 456/456 EditMode before and after; Play smoke verified crate@y=0.
+
+## Bugs found live (and their stories)
+
+- **The portal-beacon NRE:** the uncommitted working-tree fix had `_portalMat = MakeParticleMaterial();` merged onto
+  the END of a `//` comment line → null material → `OnStartRunning` NRE → **CombatFeedbackSystem dead every session**
+  (no telegraphs/numbers/bars) AND the editor auto-paused via console Error Pause. A raw-line-merge defect — one more
+  reason for the MCP-edit + verify discipline.
+- **The "editor keeps pausing itself" mystery:** the MCP bridge's game-view screenshot utility calls
+  `EditorApplication.Step()` (pauses by design) and never restores — **every composited screenshot left Play paused**.
+  Diagnosed by hooking `EditorApplication.pauseStateChanged` with a stack-trace logger. Workaround: check
+  `isPaused` first, unpause after captures. See native memory `mcp-screenshot-step-pause-bug`.
+- **Self-inflicted frozen-world reads:** `execute_code` runs on the editor main thread — `Thread.Sleep` poll loops
+  freeze the sim for their whole duration; the world only advances BETWEEN MCP calls. This produced a false
+  "WasAllReady save deadlock" diagnosis (retracted: `CycleDirectorSpawnSystem` restore builds `RunRuntime` fresh;
+  the "stuck" run had actually launched between calls). **Never sleep-poll; act → return → observe next call.**
+- **Grid-Y is the capsule plane:** `GridOrigin.y=1` = the CC capsule-CENTER plane; `CellToWorld` returns it. Meshes
+  with centered pivots (Turret/Wall) look grounded there; base-pivot meshes (Storage crate, and the beacon's pos.y)
+  float 1 u. Watch every future grid-placed base-pivot mesh.
+- **Debug-op gap:** `ClearEnemies` destroys entities without kill credit (room quota unmoved) — killing through the
+  `DamageEvent` path works. A `KillRoom` op is queued in the plan's tooling phase.
+
+## Analysis headlines (full detail in [[Iteration_2026-07_CoopHades]])
+
+Half of all rooms (sub-slot X+1500) are a void (no ground/colliders/decor); enemies have no colliders/separation and
+blob; every reward is a flat stat mod; kit = 3 verbs/class; run 2 ≡ run 1; threat is walk-out-able and death is a free
+heal; the boss is a 1.6× Charger with one attack; animation misses death/spawn/hit-react/fire/dash. The code-side feel
+layer is genuinely strong — the gap is the asset/scene layer under it. Market: the loop is demo-sized (Windblown bar);
+the base-attacked-after-victory hook is unique in the 2024–26 field but currently a stub — operator chose to mothball
+it and go Co-op Hades.
+
+## Validation
+
+456/456 EditMode ×2 (before/after Phase 0) · clean compile after every MCP edit batch · Play smoke: worlds up, no NRE,
+crate grounded, banner correct at Staging · portal-fix + Phase 0 + docs committed in 3 logical groups on main.
+
+## Next session
+
+Phase 1 trunk, starting with the X+1500 void room + per-room collidable props, then enemy separation, animation triage
+(Synty packs), threat repair, live knobs, teaching, clarity swaps — see [[Iteration_2026-07_CoopHades]] Phase 1.
+Phase 2 (hub-ification) requires the adversarial design review before code.