Project-M/Docs/Vault/06_Roadmap/Backlog.md

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roadmap backlog	2026-06-06	gamevault/06-roadmap/backlog

Backlog

Unordered pool of candidate work. Promote to a Milestones when committed.

2026-06-04 Polish & backlog-clear pass (2026-06-04_Polish_Backlog_Pass, DR-016_Stage_G_Combat_Gameplay) — delivered + validated (EditMode 86→127): hygiene/reconcile; +system tests for every M6 server system; centralized Tuning.cs consts; replicated wave number on the HUD; procedural ambient + combat juice (camera punch / FOV hit-stop, kill-shot fanfare, respawn shimmer, reticle lock-on tether); ghost-prop reskin (Storage/Turret/Node distinct materials) + SSAO/ACES post verified; timed/removable modifiers, enemy knockback, Husk attack telegraph; and the aim-drift fix (movement-based camera look-ahead). Remaining from the selected Stage-G slice: ranged Spitter, multi-prefab abilities, + small fold-ins (storage proximity-gate, pickup auto-grant, standalone-debug RPC). Then Stages H (controls/UI) + I (multi-client harness + operator live runs).

2026-06-04 World-space cohesion pass (2026-06-04_World_Space_Cohesion_Pass, DR-018_World_Space_Cohesion_Pass) — delivered + validated (EditMode 127→142): destructible "clearing" (BlightClutter ghost smashed by the unified harvest sweep → Biomass scrap + smash juice, scattered/cleared with the expedition field); build out the base (additive Wall=5 / Pylon=6 buildables — Wall blocks the player, V/N keys); and a first visual cohesion layer (Aether cyan/orange material pair, the 3 new ghosts recoloured, the barren +1000 Blightfield turned into a 21-piece Synty rock/debris basin + orange wild-lights — relief via props, no terrain). In-editor Play introspected via execute_code; a 4-lens adversarial review (23→4) caught + fixed an immortal-shot-sink (fractional ScrapPerHit truncation). Base-side cohesion accents + clearing-as-gating deferred (see the 2026-06-04 follow-ups below).

2026-06-05 Game infrastructure (2026-06-05_Game_Infrastructure_Menu_Settings_Saves, DR-019_Frontend_Menu_Settings_Saves_Build) — delivered + runtime-validated (EditMode 142→152): a UI Toolkit main menu (Single/Host/Join+IP/Continue/Settings/Quit) on the Netcode frontend pattern (on-demand Create*World, subscene streams into them, frame-boundary DisposeAllWorlds teardown, MenuWorld recreated on return); Graphics + Audio settings that drive the engine (SettingsService JSON at persistentDataPath; GameVolume Master/Music/Sfx buses); a saves foundation (versioned single-slot JSON, born-correct goal/ledger load at director spawn, autosave on Siege→Calm + quit-to-menu); editor ProjectM/Build/Windows Player + Boot-Into-Menu toggle; build order MainMenu(0)/Game(1). Editor instant-play + MPPM loop unchanged by default.

2026-06-05 M7 — Automation (2026-06-05_M7_Automation, DR-020_M7_Automation_Production_Chains) — delivered + runtime-validated (EditMode 152→190): the full Harvester → Conveyor → Fabricator self-running chain (server-only, deterministic), auto-gathering EXISTING resources (default 2 Ore → 1 Aether) into the global ledger; SaveData v2 structure persistence (quit autosave → Continue restore, charge-free, born-correct, chain resumes); deterministic conveyor (ConveyorMath.ResolveMoves, shuffle-invariant); single gated catch-up (ProductionMath); one-shot BaseRestoreSystem; RuntimePlacedTag source-of-truth; 3 machine prefabs duplicated from Turret.prefab + catalog rows.

2026-06-06 Cleanup & alignment (2026-06-06_Cleanup_Alignment) — repo hygiene before more dev (no gameplay change): deleted crash-recovery scenes (_Recovery/) + a stray empty Assets/Resources.meta; removed the legacy IMGUI ConnectionUI (3 scenes + script + 4 stale comments); DRY'd the duplicated UITK Round/Border helpers into MenuUi (canonical) + small HUD/build-input tidy (husk-count cache, table-driven build hotkeys); re-aligned CLAUDE.md (scene split, on-demand frontend, M7 Automation, disk persistence, UITK HUD, new build-gotchas) + the vault roadmap to the three 2026-06-05 sessions. EditMode green, console clean; landed as grouped commits.

2026-06-06 Cleanup follow-ups

• Optional further code-tidy (low value; deliberately skipped this pass to limit churn on freshly-validated systems — none affect behavior): SettingsService migrate-then-clamp ordering; ConveyorTransportSystem's 6 parallel snapshot arrays → one struct array; WorldFeedbackSystem.TintForResource if-chain → byte→Color lookup; PlayerInputGatherSystem device-active dedup. 2026-06-06_Cleanup_Alignment.

2026-06-05 M7 Automation follow-ups

• Throughput visuals (item-on-belt): server-only machine buffers don't reach the client (clients see only PlacedStructure.Type); add ONE small replicated byte if live belt visuals are wanted.
• Build-palette HUD + ghost preview — done 2026-06-05: UITK build-palette bar (6 buildables + cost + affordability + selection) + click-to-place with a green/red ground ghost, conveyor rotate, fire-suppress. Conveyor-facing arrow/icons still open. DR-021_HUD_UITK_BuildPalette, 2026-06-05_HUD_Rework_UITK_BuildPalette.
• Relevancy ceiling — RegionRelevancySystem's O(structures×connections)/tick scan becomes load-bearing at higher conveyor counts (DR-014 ceiling note); batch it when counts grow.
• Recipe depth — multi-input fabricator recipes; fabricator→conveyor output chaining (additive: give the fabricator a MachineOutput); per-machine distinct meshes (machines reuse the Turret mesh as a placeholder).
• Operator live play-through of the chain + a real 2-build LAN run under latency (single-client validated this pass).

2026-06-05 Game-infrastructure follow-ups

• Build the standalone — the first player build hit a pre-existing URP blocker (UniversalRenderPipelineGlobalSettings m_AssetVersion=11 > package k_LastVersion=10, from the reverted 6.6 alpha; URP migrates forward-only so its build preprocessor rejected it — blocked builds, not editor Play). Fixed (reset the stamp to 10); ProjectM/Build/Windows Player now produces a complete Mono Win64 standalone (Builds/Windows/, both scenes + baked subscene). See 2026-06-05_Game_Infrastructure_Menu_Settings_Saves.
• Operator-run validation: launch Builds/Windows/ProjectM.exe → confirm it boots the menu → Single/Host/Join play; a real 2-build LAN Host↔Join; MPPM co-op regression in default-editor mode.
• Controls settings + key rebinding (Input System rebinding UI) — deliberately out of the Graphics/Audio scope this pass.
• Full base-state saves (placed structures / threat / storage) — the SaveData schema is versioned so this is additive (no migration of the ledger/goal slice).
• Unity Relay for remote (non-LAN) Host/Join — swap the endpoint source feeding ConnectionConfig (the frontend lifecycle is transport-agnostic).
• Dedicated-server build — the RequestedPlayType==Server auto-host branch is in but UNTESTED this pass.
• Remove the legacy IMGUI ConnectionUI — done 2026-06-06 (cleanup pass): the NetConnectionUI GameObject removed from Game.unity / DevSandbox.unity / SampleScene.unity, ConnectionUI.cs deleted, and the 4 stale doc-comments repointed to the UITK MainMenuController / WorldLauncher. The UITK frontend menu now owns Host/Join+IP everywhere. 2026-06-06_Cleanup_Alignment.
• Volume-slider theming: sliders render via the default runtime theme; if a real build shows them unstyled, swap to +/- cycle rows (the enum settings already use cycle rows).
• Upgrade Unity 6.4 → 6.6 — done (now 6000.6.0a6). Entities/Collections/Graphics → 6.5.0; Netcode → 6.6.0 and Physics → 6.5.0 also renumbered into the editor line (not independent 1.x as DR-001_Netcode_Test_Harness assumed). See 2026-05-30_M1_Player_Slice.
• Define the core gameplay loop and the first predicted player ghost — delivered as M1 (2026-05-30_M1_Player_Slice).
• Re-validate the M1 play-tick on a stable Unity 6.x — moot/subsumed 2026-06-04: M1–M6 are all runtime-validated on the stable 6.4.7 line (the 6.6 alpha netcode bug never affected 6.4.7). The original "blocked on 6.6 alpha" framing (DR-002_Unity66_Alpha_Netcode_Transport) no longer applies.
• Replace template SampleScene with a dedicated bootstrap scene + gameplay subscene — done 2026-06-04 (DR-017_Persistent_Base_Player_Driven_Pacing): dedicated Game.unity (duplicated from SampleScene to preserve the SubScene _SceneAsset/_SceneGUID Hash128 MCP would drop) is now EditorBuildSettings index 0; a minimal DevSandbox.unity carries the dev overlay. SampleScene retained as a reference (retire later).
• Optional template cleanup: remove com.unity.visualscripting, Assets/TutorialInfo/, Assets/Readme.asset — done 2026-06-03 (pre-M6 cleanup; see the "2026-06-03 Visual & Controls Polish" section below + 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup). Duplicate of the now-checked item there.
• Decide relay provider before M4 — resolved: Direct IP/LAN now, Unity Relay later (DR-005_M4_Connection_Model_Direct_IP, 2026-06-01_M4_LAN_CoOp_And_Classification_Fix).
• Decide home-base grid 2D vs 3D before M6 — resolved 2026-06-02: planar single-level int2 grid, CellSize 1.0, 32×32 plot (full 3D/stacked deferred). Locked in BaseGridMath — DR-008_M5_HomeBase_BaseLayer_Storage.
• Decide production replication (predicted vs server-only) before M7 (automation) — resolved 2026-06-05: server-only (production runs in the plain server SimulationSystemGroup [UpdateAfter(PredictedSimulationSystemGroup)]; results replicate via the existing global ledger + PlacedStructure ghosts, never predicted; per-machine I/O buffers stay server-only). Delivered as M7 (DR-020_M7_Automation_Production_Chains, 2026-06-05_M7_Automation).
• M2 follow-up — Burst cache health — confirmed clean 2026-06-03: warm focused play shows no "not a known Burst entry point" managed-fallback messages + fast (~3s) play-enter. The M2-era corruption is gone. 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup (orig 2026-05-31_M2_Combat / DR-003_M2_Combat_Netcode_Architecture).
• M2 follow-up — live interactive fire test (focused Play Mode: press Space / LMB / RT → predicted projectile + dummy HP drop). The server combat loop + replication are validated; the input→AbilityFireSystem→predicted-spawn→classification path is only validated structurally.
• M2 follow-up — mouse-cursor aim for KBM — done 2026-06-03: client-side camera ground-ray cursor aim rides the existing PlayerInput.Aim [GhostField] (no new netcode surface); device auto-switch (KBM/gamepad) replicated as a byte; strafe-while-aiming free. DR-012_Aim_Controls_Cursor_Gamepad, 2026-06-03_Aim_Controls_Cursor_Gamepad.
• M2 follow-up — player death/respawn — done in M5.5: derived Dead enableable gate (from replicated Health) + server PlayerRespawnSystem (full HP + reposition to base after a delay). DR-009_GameFeel_Identity_FirstBlood
• M2 polish — projectile/dummy visuals (primitive meshes/materials currently); optional predicted client-side auto-target if the soft server reconcile feels off.
• M3 follow-up — UI/icon/description pipeline for abilities (managed lookup keyed by AbilityId, off the blob). Deferred from M3 (2026-05-31_M3_Data_Driven_Abilities).
• M3 follow-up — timed / removable modifiers — done 2026-06-04 (DR-016_Stage_G_Combat_Gameplay): a SEPARATE server-only TimedModifier{SourceId,UntilTick} buffer (keeps the replicated StatModifier layout byte-identical → no re-bake) + TimedModifierExpirySystem (expiry on NetworkTick) + TimedModifierUtil.RemoveBySourceId (clear-by-type). +4 EditMode tests.
• M3 follow-up — multi-prefab abilities (a per-ability different projectile ghost) needs ProjectileClassificationSystem generalized beyond the single shared prefab.
• M3 follow-up — standalone-server debug modifier path via IRpcCommand — done 2026-06-04 (DR-017_Persistent_Base_Player_Driven_Pacing): the dev-tools DebugCommandRequest RPC (unconditional wire type; #if UNITY_EDITOR send/receive) drives modifiers/resources/state over a real connection, superseding the in-editor-only static-poke DebugModifierInjectionSystem. (Still editor-gated; flip the systems' guard to DEVELOPMENT_BUILD to ship in a dev player build.)
• M3 follow-up — rate-limited turning — done 2026-06-03 (pre-M6 cleanup): PlayerAimSystem now rotates PlayerFacing toward the aim target at EffectiveCharacterStats.TurnRateRadiansPerSec (authored 720°/s) instead of snapping; deterministic in the predicted loop (fixed-step dt, replays on rollback). 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup.
• M3 polish — pickup visuals (primitive sphere/default material currently); pickup auto-grant feel (continuous overlap).
• M5 follow-up — base/expedition subscene split + streaming (Option C) — superseded 2026-06-03 by DR-013_M6_Aether_Cycle_Region_Split (coordinate-region + per-connection GhostRelevancy delivered the split without SceneSystem streaming). Kept only as a note for a future larger-world milestone where true async streaming is wanted; do NOT build streaming now. Original framing: the persistent-space split the locked world design ultimately needs (SceneSystem.LoadSceneAsync/UnloadScene, per-world load on the listen-server, enter-expedition/return-to-base transition). Deferred to its own world-architecture milestone — M6/M7 only need the anchor + grid, now done (DR-008_M5_HomeBase_BaseLayer_Storage). The physics-in-prediction + base-layer slices of M5 are done (DR-006_M5_Physics_In_Prediction, DR-008_M5_HomeBase_BaseLayer_Storage).
• M5 follow-up — shared-storage disk persistence (host-only): runtime structures don't exist until M6, so nothing to save yet; add a thin per-record serialization slice (replayed through M6's placement path) after M6. BaseAnchor/StorageEntry are already flat/serialization-friendly.
• M5 follow-up — storage interaction polish: proximity gate the deposit/withdraw (the container carries HitRadius); real item/UI model beyond the fixed test item; multi-writer ordering beyond first-come server apply.
• M5 follow-up — multi-client shared storage: validate two clients see identical shared-storage buffer state (pairs with the deferred M5b multi-client interpolation + M4 two-build tests).
• M5 follow-up — home-base visuals: only an editor plot-bounds gizmo + a placeholder primitive container today; real ground/walls/structures arrive with M6. Partly addressed 2026-06-04 (DR-018_World_Space_Cohesion_Pass): the +1000 Blightfield got a real rock/debris basin + wild-lights and the buildable Wall/Pylon read in-palette; the base-side cohesion accents (cyan lights / perimeter relief / tiled ground) remain open.
• M5 follow-up — same-tick movement — moot after M5b (the CC character runs in the predicted fixed-step group; M5's PlayerMoveSystem is deleted). See DR-007_M5b_Character_Controller_Package.
• M5b follow-up — multi-client CC interpolation validation: live two-build / thin-client run to confirm remote-peer interpolation smoothness (predicted-only CharacterInterpolation variant is in; only single-client validated). Pairs with the deferred M4 real-LAN two-build test.
• M5b follow-up — player-vs-player collision: currently non-physical (SimulateDynamicBody=false); enable + handle masses if mutual push is wanted.
• M5b follow-up — KinematicCharacterBody velocity ghost variant (replicate RelativeVelocity/IsGrounded) if owner-prediction reconciliation looks jittery under latency.
• M5b follow-up — gravity/verticality: CC character is gravity-free + planar (no floor collider). Add gravity in the processor + a ground collider + reconsider SnapToGround if terrain/verticality is introduced.
• M5b follow-up — CC package version: 1.4.2 declares entities/physics@1.3.x (resolves via SemVer floor on our 6.4.0/1.4.6). Move to a CC build explicitly targeting Entities 6.x when published.
• M5 follow-up — physics lag compensation (NetCodePhysicsConfig.EnableLagCompensation + PhysicsWorldHistorySingleton) if/when physics-based hit detection replaces the swept-segment server check.
• M5 follow-up — projectiles as physics bodies (currently kinematic + swept hit); convert for projectile-vs-world collision.
• M5 follow-up — hard rotation lock (PhysicsMass.InverseInertia=0); Rigidbody.FreezeRotation is not honored by the DOTS baker, so rotation is held by per-tick angular-zero + aim write.
• Game identity defined — sci-fi frontier colony fiction (Identity), layered over Pillars with no mechanical rework. Resolves the "mechanics without a fiction" gap. Delivered with M5.5 (DR-009_GameFeel_Identity_FirstBlood).
• M2 polish — projectile/dummy visuals — addressed by the M5.5 emissive palette + URP post-processing (cyan crew, cyan projectiles, orange Husks, dark walls/ground). Real models/animation still deferred.
• M5.5 follow-up — auto-target on Husks — done (deepening pass): AbilityFireSystem candidate query .WithAny<TrainingDummyTag, EnemyTag>(). 2026-06-02_GameFeel_Deepening
• M5.5 follow-up — respawn safety — done (deepening pass): replicated RespawnInvuln window (server-enforced damage immunity + HUD SHIELDED cue). 2026-06-02_GameFeel_Deepening
• M5.5 follow-up — enemy variety + wave/threat director — done (deepening pass): WaveSystem escalating waves (lull → spawn → clear → bigger) + 3 melee Husk variants (Grunt/Swarmer/Brute) round-robin from a baked pool. Ranged spitter + broodmaker/boss still open. 2026-06-02_GameFeel_Deepening
• Deepening follow-up — ranged Husk (Spitter): a server-spawned enemy-projectile subsystem for dodge depth (the next variety type; melee-only today).
• Deepening follow-up — wave number on HUD: needs a replicated game-state ghost (WaveState is server-only); the live "HUSKS N" count conveys threat for now.
• Deepening follow-up — boss / per-wave composition weighting (brutes later, swarms early) instead of flat round-robin; a "broodmaker" that spawns.
• Deepening follow-up — server perf under wave load: in-editor tick-batching (~1.25–1.75 ticks/frame) investigated 2026-06-03 — Burst ruled out (confirmed healthy), so single-process multi-world cost (ServerWorld + ClientWorld + physics + Husk waves in one editor) is the likely factor; validate in a real standalone build remains open. 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup.
• M5.5 follow-up — real assets: authored audio (replace procedural SFX), stylized hard-surface crew/structures + corrupted-biomech Husks (replace primitives), TextMeshPro HUD; add the URP SSAO renderer feature for more depth.
• M5.5 follow-up — multi-client juice/HUD: validate remote-player death VFX (interpolation-timeline Health==0) + per-client HUD under two clients (pairs with the deferred M4/M5b two-build tests).
• M5.5 follow-up — difficulty balance: Husks tuned for a real moving/shooting player (dmg 5, strike 48 ticks, speed 3, MaxAlive 6); revisit once movement/fire feel is tuned and enemy variety lands.

2026-06-03 Visual & Controls Polish follow-ups

Surfaced by the art/Synty/aim sessions (DR-010_Art_Import_URP_Conversion_Visual_Upgrade, DR-011_Synty_World_VFX_Integration, DR-012_Aim_Controls_Cursor_Gamepad).

• Cleanup — prune orphaned Materials/Env/ materials — done 2026-06-03 (pre-M6 cleanup): GUID-swept the retired BefourStudios decorative materials; zero-reference ones deleted, still-referenced kept. 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup.
• Cleanup — remove Unity-template cruft — done 2026-06-03 (pre-M6 cleanup): com.unity.visualscripting package, Assets/TutorialInfo/, Assets/Readme.asset. 2026-06-03_Pre_M6_Cleanup.
• DR-010/011 follow-up — decor LOD → client-only/cosmetic subscene: cosmetic prop LOD hierarchies currently bake into both worlds; move pure cosmetics off the server for tick budget.
• DR-011 follow-up — character models / DOTS skeletal animation: player + Husks remain primitives; swap for real rigged models when the character pack lands.
• DR-011 follow-up — VFX-Graph hit/beam packs: the GabrielAguiar VFX-Graph subset needs separate URP setup if wanted (Shuriken packs already wired).
• DR-011 follow-up — ghost-prop Synty reskin: Storage/UpgradePickup ghosts still use BefourStudios meshes; reskin to Synty-style or simple emissive.
• DR-011 follow-up — mixed-theme danger zones: BioHorror/Synty corrupted-zone art for high-threat areas (deferred from the scope gate). Partly addressed 2026-06-04: the Blightfield now reads orange-wild via all-Synty recolour (rock/debris basin + wild-lights + orange clutter/nodes) per the DR-018_World_Space_Cohesion_Pass art fork; the BioHorror organic-corruption accent set is still deferred.
• DR-012 follow-up — auto-target tuning: priority/feel refinement; optional controller soft-target reticle snap (V Rising/Diablo-style).
• DR-012 follow-up — rebindable controls + multi-ability slots.
• Pre-M6 cleanup follow-up — higher material fidelity: ORM channels don't map uniformly to URP; a per-channel repack or small ORM ShaderGraph + baked reflection probe would deepen the look.

2026-06-04 World-space cohesion follow-ups

Surfaced by DR-018_World_Space_Cohesion_Pass (the balanced-slice scope deliberately left these for later).

• Base-side cohesion accents: cyan ordered-Aether lights + perimeter relief + re-enabled tiled base ground (deferred this pass to avoid clashing with the tuned SSAO/ACES look — the Blightfield got the dressing budget).
• Clearing as a spatial mechanic: shipped as juice + scrap only; make cleared cells buildable / reveal hidden nodes (the "functional gating" fork from the intake gate).
• Build-palette HUD + ghost-preview — done 2026-06-05 (UITK palette + click-to-place ground ghost). DR-021_HUD_UITK_BuildPalette.
• Per-Variant clutter meshes: BlightClutter.Variant is replicated + round-robined but the prefab is single-mesh; swap per-variant meshes (additive, no schema change).
• Focused-editor validation (2026-06-04): confirmed in Play — Wall stops the player CC at the collider face (X 2.50→3.257, server==client); Blightfield reads orange-wild rock basin vs cyan base (real player-view shots); clutter-clear loop deposits Biomass + shatters + replicates (BIO 0→10, clutter 14→13); node harvest works (AETHER 0→30). Console clean. Still open: deep basin density/lighting feel-tuning.