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claudeandClaude Opus 5.5 855669a665
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Fog lit by rays: shadows cut through tiles, and walls stay visible
The fog asked one question per tile -- can I see its centre? -- and drew or
skipped the whole tile on the answer. Every shadow was a staircase, tiles
snapped in and out as you walked, and a wall beside you vanished whenever
its centre happened to sit behind its neighbour.

Visibility casts rays from the eye instead: a fixed sweep, plus two aimed
either side of every wall corner, which is what makes each shadow edge a
straight line rather than a smear between rays. The view now draws terrain
and actors first and then darkness over whatever the rays did not reach,
so a shadow runs straight through a tile and an enemy rounding a corner
appears a slice at a time. Bullets are a child node and are still drawn
over the dark; telegraphs are drawn after it, as they must be.

"A bit less strict" is three specific things. A wall face you can see is
lit 26 units in, measured perpendicular to the face; shadows end in a
short fade rather than a line; and sight fades over its last 64 units
rather than stopping at a circle. Still hard fog -- nothing remembered.

The first version measured that depth along the ray, and a screenshot
caught what no test had: a wall you look along got a sliver, so the wall
beside you in a tunnel looked missing -- the old fog's own complaint.
Perpendicular depth fixes it, and light stops the instant a ray steps
back into the open, so it never rounds a corner, never reaches the far
side of a one-tile wall, and never leaves a stepped wall through its
other face. Two tiles touching only at a corner are closed.

About half a millisecond a frame. Measured against the old fog in the
same scene: hub 68 fps against 62, dungeon 240 against 240. The hub's
own low rate predates this.

MapGrid gains a revision counter so the corner list is rebuilt only when
the map changes or the eye crosses a tile. screenshot.tscn now captures a
dungeon, a tunnel and the tunnel with F1's overlay, which draws where
each ray stopped -- and makes SHOT_DIR rather than failing every capture
when it does not exist.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-05 10:07:33 +02:00

203 lines
11 KiB
Markdown

# Architecture
## The shape
```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ src/sim/ -- plain RefCounted objects │
authoritative │ SimWorld, SimPlayer, SimEnemy, SimBoss, │ replica
(server) │ BulletPool, emitters │ (client)
│ no nodes · no physics · no rendering │
└───────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
│
┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
┌───────▼────────┐ ┌────────▼────────┐ ┌────────▼────────┐
│ src/instances/ │ │ src/net/ │ │ src/view/ ui/ │
│ lobby, dungeon │ │ codec, server & │ │ read-only draw │
│ progression │ │ client runtimes │ │ │
└────────────────┘ └────────┬────────┘ └─────────────────┘
│
┌────────▼────────┐
│ src/autoload/ │
│ net.gd (RPC) │
└─────────────────┘
```
Dependencies point inwards only. `src/sim/` imports nothing from `net`, `view`,
`ui` or `instances`, and never touches the `Net` autoload. That is what makes
the simulation runnable in a unit test, in a headless server and inside a client
without a single conditional.
## Why the simulation is not made of nodes
Godot's instinct is `CharacterBody2D` + `Area2D` + `MultiplayerSynchronizer`.
This project deliberately does not, for four reasons:
1. **Bullet count.** Hundreds of live bullets. A node and an `Area2D` each would
cost more than the entire simulation does. `BulletPool` is parallel packed
arrays; a tick over ~350 bullets costs 0.24 ms including AI and hit checks.
2. **Headless cost.** The dedicated server allocates no nodes and touches no
physics server.
3. **Testability.** A `SimWorld` is `SimWorld.new()`. The suite drives thousands
of ticks in ~2 s with no SceneTree, no awaits and no frame timing.
4. **Replication control.** `MultiplayerSynchronizer` is excellent for
prototyping and wrong for this shape: it would replicate per-bullet state and
saturate the link. See [NETCODE.md](NETCODE.md).
The trade is that there is no physics engine, so collision is hand-written.
Since Stage 1 that means a tile grid ([MapGrid](../src/sim/map_grid.gd)):
circle-vs-tile for actors, a point test for bullets, and Bresenham line of sight
for aggro. Actor-vs-actor hits stay circle-vs-circle, which is the genre
convention anyway. The client's fog no longer shares that line test: it casts
exact rays through the same grid ([Visibility](../src/view/visibility.gd)), so
shadows cut through tiles rather than snapping to them.
That was the right call rather than a compromise: the same grid answers
collision, sight, and per-peer interest management as array lookups. On arbitrary
polygons all three become intersection tests, and the fog query in particular
stops being cheap enough to run every frame.
What it costs: geometry is axis-aligned and 32px-quantised, and bullets must
travel less than one tile per tick or the point test steps over walls (pinned by
`test_bullet_speeds_stay_below_the_tunnelling_threshold`).
## Where the layers sit now
Four things are worth knowing before reading any file:
- **Geometry is per-world.** There is no global arena. `SimWorld.map` is a
[MapGrid](../src/sim/map_grid.gd); the hub and every dungeon have their own,
and the client holds a *partial* copy streamed to it in chunks.
- **`src/meta/` is server-only.** Accounts, characters, levels, experience,
inventories and upgrades live there. The simulation reads a player's level and
maximum health and moves items between the ground and a bag; it never writes
progression or touches the store. It announces what happened and
`ServerRuntime` banks it. One writer means a level cannot disagree with the
experience that earned it.
- **Derived, never stored.** Level comes from lifetime experience; combat
numbers come from the upgrade list ([PlayerStats](../src/sim/player_stats.gd));
maximum health comes from the level and the upgrades. Nothing that can be
recomputed is persisted, so nothing saved can disagree with what produced it.
- **`src/core/settings.gd` is the exception to "shared".** Everything else in
`src/core/` is agreed by both sides; settings are the player's own machine
and never reach the server.
## Tick
Everything runs on Godot's physics tick, pinned to 60 Hz in `src/main.gd`
(asserted in code, because `project.godot` drops settings equal to the engine
default). `SimConfig` holds every constant both sides must agree on; per-machine
options live in `GameOpts` and must never affect the simulation.
## Content pipeline
```
BulletEmitter (Resource, abstract)
├── RingEmitter count, arc, spin per shot -> rings and spirals
├── AimedSpreadEmitter fan at nearest player -> punishes standing still
├── WallGapEmitter curtain with a sliding gap -> forces a committed dodge
└── ArcSweepEmitter rotating arms -> forces tracking
EnemyDef = stats + movement enum + emitters
BossPhase = hp threshold + telegraph + looping timeline of emitters
BossDef = stats + ordered phases
```
`SimWorld._run_emitters()` is shared by enemies and bosses, so any pattern can
be dropped on either. A boss is four phases layering one idea at a time; a new
boss is a new function in `src/content/content.gd` and zero simulation changes.
`SimWorld._move_boss()` is the same idea for movement: the mode is a field on
the phase, and adding a boss that walks needs no code.
Emitters are **stateless**. They are shared resources — two bosses of the same
kind would otherwise stomp each other's timers — so anything an emitter needs to
remember between two ticks has to be derived instead. `TelegraphedStrikeEmitter`
computes its strike positions from the volley number for exactly this reason.
## Entry point
One executable, one `src/main.tscn`. `GameOpts.parse()` reads the command line
after `--`:
- `--server` → `ServerRuntime`, no view, `max_fps` pinned to the tick rate.
- `--join` / `--bot` → connect immediately, skipping the menu.
- otherwise → the connect menu, which can also start a listen server.
## File map
Grouped by layer. The rule the whole thing hangs on: **`src/sim/` imports
nothing from `net`, `view` or `ui`, and never touches `Net`.**
### Shared constants and helpers
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/core/sim_config.gd` | Every constant server and client must agree on. |
| `src/core/movement.gd` | Pure movement + overlap helpers. Shared by prediction. |
| `src/core/game_log.gd`, `game_opts.gd` | Static; usable from tools and tests. |
| `src/core/settings.gd` | Client-local preferences. Never reaches the server. |
| `src/core/credits.gd` | Third-party assets and their licences. Two are CC BY, so this is a legal requirement. |
### The simulation
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/sim/sim_world.gd` | The simulation. The authority flag decides what runs. |
| `src/sim/bullet_pool.gd` | Struct-of-arrays bullet storage and integration. |
| `src/sim/input_frame.gd` | The only thing a client may assert about itself. |
| `src/sim/player_stats.gd` | Combat numbers derived from a character's upgrades. |
| `src/sim/poison_track.gd` | Damage over time. O(1) per actor per tick however many doses. |
| `src/sim/sim_loot.gd` | An item on the ground: world-shared, or owned by one peer. |
| `src/sim/sim_portal.gd` | A dungeon entrance, and which dungeon it opens. |
| `src/sim/map_grid.gd` | Tile grid: collision, line of sight, chunked streaming. |
| `src/sim/map_gen.gd` | Dungeon generation. **Server-side only** — the client is never given the seed. |
| `src/sim/patterns/` | Bullet emitters. Stateless; the authoring surface for every fight. |
### Content (data, in code)
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/content/content.gd` | Every enemy and boss. `ALL_ENEMIES` / `ALL_BOSSES` are what the tools and tests iterate. |
| `src/content/items.gd` | Every item. `Items.ORDER` doubles as the wire format. |
| `src/content/upgrades.gd` | The seven upgrades and their draw weights. |
| `src/content/dungeons.gd` | The kinds of run. `ORDER` is a wire format *and* the hub's portal order. |
| `src/content/rooms.gd` | Hand-authored stamps: the hub and each boss arena, as text. |
| `src/actors/` | The `Resource` definitions those tables build: enemy, boss, item, loot, upgrade, dungeon. |
### Server-owned state
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/meta/progression.gd` | XP curve and what a level is worth. Pure functions. |
| `src/meta/character.gd`, `character_store.gd` | Characters and their JSON persistence. |
| `src/meta/auth_provider.gd` | Identity, shaped like Steamworks so it swaps out. |
| `src/instances/instance.gd` | The hub and one dungeon run: a world plus a peer list. |
### Network
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/net/net_codec.gd` | Every binary codec: snapshot, events, input, roster, characters, map chunks, portals, upgrade state. |
| `src/net/server_runtime.gd` | Instances, ticking, transfers, interest, progression, persistence, map streaming. |
| `src/net/client_runtime.gd` | Prediction, reconciliation, interpolation, bot input. |
| `src/net/protocol.gd` | Wire version and constants. Bump `VERSION` whenever a layout changes. |
| `src/autoload/net.gd` | ENet lifecycle, RPCs, local loopback for listen servers. The only autoload. |
### View and UI (read-only; decides nothing)
| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `src/view/world_view.gd` | Everything that is not a bullet. Fog, actors, loot, telegraphs. Draw order is the fog's mechanism: everything it may hide, then the darkness, then what it must not. |
| `src/view/visibility.gd` | The fog's geometry: rays from the eye, wall corners, the shadow mesh. Pure, so `test_visibility.gd` asks it which points are lit. |
| `src/view/bullet_renderer.gd` | The bullet field: one MultiMesh per bullet kind. |
| `src/view/art.gd` | Every atlas rect and sound path, in one table. |
| `src/view/ui_theme.gd` | The control theme, built in code from the UI pack. |
| `src/view/debug_draw.gd` | F1 overlay: what the simulation collides against. |
| `src/view/game_scene.gd`, `sfx.gd` | Wiring the view to whatever client `Net` currently has. |
| `src/ui/hud.gd` | Bars, inventory, prompts. Drawn, not built from controls. |
| `src/ui/main_menu.gd`, `game_menu.gd` | Connect screen and the in-game menu. |
| `src/ui/character_select.gd` | Roster screen: pick or create. |
| `src/ui/upgrade_screen.gd` | The quartermaster's three choices, and what you hold. |
| `src/ui/settings_screen.gd`, `credits_screen.gd` | Controls, volumes, attribution. |