chore: initial plan

This commit is contained in:
2026-07-27 10:02:54 -04:00
commit bd3f0d99ee

269
PLAN.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,269 @@
# Pot Patrol — Plan
A single-screen, sprite-based, widescreen browser game built with **Kaplay**
(the JS/TS game library, successor to Kaboom.js). Link (AI) rampages across a
procedurally generated scene smashing pots; you (the player) chase him and sweep
up the shards before he leaves the screen.
---
## 1. Concept & core loop
- **Actors:** `Link` (computer-controlled) and `Player` (you).
- **Link's behavior:** wander toward the nearest pot, pick it up, and throw it in
a random direction. The pot flies 23 tiles, shatters, and scatters 13 shards
onto nearby tiles. Along the way Link gets **distracted**:
- **Grass** — he detours to cut it.
- **Chickens** — he hits one once, then it chases him, so he **flees briefly**
before resuming.
- **Player's job:** follow Link and clean up shards by touching them.
- **Win:** zero shards remain at the moment Link leaves the screen (or after his
last pot, once the board is clear).
- **Lose:** Link leaves the screen with shards still on the ground.
- **Balance:** Link is slightly faster than the player, but loses time to
distractions — that lost time is the player's window to catch up.
---
## 2. Tech: Kaplay
Kaplay gives us the game loop, rendering, sprites, input, collision, scenes,
timers, tweens, vectors, and seeded RNG out of the box — so most of the old
"engine" work disappears and we focus on game logic.
- **Load:** ES-module import from a CDN, keeping a no-build setup:
```html
<script type="module">
import kaplay from "https://unpkg.com/kaplay@3000/dist/kaplay.mjs";
// ... or import ./src/main.js which imports kaplay
</script>
```
Serve over HTTP for module loading: `python3 -m http.server` → `http://localhost:8000`.
*(Alternative, better DX: `npm create kaplay@latest` scaffolds a Vite project.
We can switch to that if we want bundling/TS; the plan below is engine-API
identical either way.)*
- **Init:** `kaplay({ width: 960, height: 560, background: [...], letterbox: true, global: false })`.
`letterbox` keeps the widescreen aspect ratio and scales to the window.
- **Seeded RNG:** `randSeed(seed)` + `rand()`, `randi()`, `choose()` — reproducible
scenes for debugging and "retry same level" (no custom PRNG needed).
- **Delta time:** `dt()` for frame-independent movement.
- **Depth:** set `obj.z = obj.pos.y` each frame for top-down y-sorting.
Kaplay features we lean on hardest:
- **`state()` component** — a built-in finite state machine, ideal for Link's AI
(`onStateEnter/Update/End`).
- **`addLevel()`** — turns an ASCII tile map into game objects, matching our
procedural grid.
- **`area()` + `onCollide` / `body({ isStatic })`** — collision & obstacle
blocking (top-down, gravity 0).
- **`scene()` / `go()`** — game / win / lose screens.
- **`tween()`** — pot throw arc, sweep juice.
---
## 3. Coordinate system
- Tile-based grid, continuous pixel positions (Kaplay `vec2`).
- Config constants (tunable in `config.js`):
- `TILE = 40` px
- `COLS = 24`, `ROWS = 14` → `960 × 560` canvas (≈16:9 widescreen).
- AI reasoning in tile coordinates; movement continuous. `addLevel` uses
`tileWidth/tileHeight = TILE`.
---
## 4. File structure
```
index.html # imports src/main.js as a module
styles.css # page bg, canvas centering
src/
config.js # tunable constants (sizes, speeds, counts, radii)
main.js # kaplay() init, load assets, register scenes, go("game")
gen.js # seeded procedural tile map + entity placement
sprites.js # loadSprite / placeholder object factories
scenes/
game.js # main scene: build level, spawn actors, wire collisions
end.js # win & lose scenes (result + retry / new-seed)
actors/
player.js # player object + input-driven movement
link.js # link object + state() FSM (the AI)
chicken.js # chicken idle + chase behavior
pots.js # pickup, throw arc, shatter, shard spawning
hud.js # shard counter, pots-remaining, dev state readout
```
Kaplay's built-in RNG/loop/render/input mean no `rng.js`, `render.js`, or
`input.js` — that logic is inline via Kaplay APIs.
---
## 5. Procedural scene generation (`gen.js`)
Seeded via `randSeed(seed)`. Produce a level the game scene consumes:
1. **Grid & ground:** fill a `COLS × ROWS` map with floor tiles (optionally 2
variants for noise).
2. **Obstacles:** scatter impassable decor (rocks/trees), light count (612),
keeping the interior open. Border walkable except one **exit gap** (§9).
3. **Pots:** place `POT_COUNT` (58) on random passable, unoccupied tiles.
4. **Grass:** place `GRASS_COUNT` (815).
5. **Chickens:** place `CHICKEN_COUNT` (24).
6. **Spawns:** Link at one edge; player opposite/center. Keep spawn tiles + their
neighbors clear.
7. **Validation:** flood-fill from Link's spawn; reroll any unreachable pot (or
regenerate) so the level is always solvable.
Two build options (either works — leaning toward **B** for dynamic control):
- **A.** Emit an ASCII map and hand it to `addLevel()` with a `tiles` map of
component factories per symbol.
- **B.** Emit a data structure (tile types + entity list) and `add()` each object
directly — more flexible for entities that move, spawn, and despawn at runtime.
---
## 6. Entity model — Kaplay components
Every actor is a Kaplay game object: `add([...components, "tag"])`.
- **Player:** `[sprite/placeholder, pos, area(), body(), anchor("center"), "player"]`,
moved from input; `PLAYER_SPEED`.
- **Link:** `[..., area(), body(), state("seek", [...]), "link"]`; `LINK_SPEED`
(≈1.15× player). AI in the `state()` FSM (§8).
- **Pot:** `[..., area(), "pot"]`; static until targeted, then handled by `pots.js`.
- **Shard:** `[..., area(), "shard"]`; removed on player overlap.
- **Grass:** `[..., area(), "grass"]`; destroyed/stubbed when cut.
- **Chicken:** `[..., area(), body(), state("idle",[...]), "chicken"]` (§chickens).
- **Obstacles:** `[..., area(), body({ isStatic: true }), "obstacle"]` — block movers.
Movement helper: `obj.move(dir.scale(speed))` toward a target `vec2`; `body`
resolves collisions against static obstacles. Update `z = pos.y` for depth.
---
## 7. Pots, throwing & shards (`pots.js`)
- **Target:** Link's FSM picks the nearest `"pot"` still on the board
(`get("pot")` + min distance).
- **Pickup:** within `INTERACT_DIST`, pot attaches to Link (brief wind-up).
- **Throw:** pick a random 8-way direction and **23 tiles** distance. Animate
with `tween()`: linear travel along the path **plus** a parabolic height offset
(tween a `z-height` up then down, drawn as vertical sprite offset + a shadow) so
it visibly arcs.
- **Shatter on land:** spawn **13 shards** on the landing tile + random adjacent
passable tiles (dedupe to one per tile). `addKaboom()` / small particle pop +
`shake()` for juice.
- If the target tile is impassable, land on the nearest passable tile.
---
## 8. Link AI (`link.js`) — `state()` FSM
States, checked by priority each `onStateUpdate`:
1. **`flee`** — active for `FLEE_TIME` after hitting a chicken; run away from the
nearest chasing chicken, then return to `seek`.
2. **`distracted`** — if grass/chicken within `DISTRACT_RADIUS`, with per-tick
probability divert:
- grass → move adjacent → **cut** (destroy grass), brief pause → `seek`.
- chicken → move adjacent → **hit** once → triggers chicken chase + Link `flee`.
3. **`seek`** — move to nearest pot → transition to `throw`.
4. **`throw`** — run the throw sequence (§7) → back to `seek`.
5. **`leave`** — no pots remain (or a max-time fuse fires): walk to the exit gap
and off-screen → end the round (§9). Detected with `offscreen()`.
"More distractions" = generous `DISTRACT_RADIUS` + divert probability + flee
detours, so Link squanders his speed edge. `enterState()` transitions log to
console in dev; HUD shows current state.
---
## 9. Win / lose (`scenes/`)
- `game` scene tracks `shardCount` (count of `"shard"` objects) live in the HUD.
- **Link leaves:** his `leave` state + `offscreen()` ends the round; evaluate:
- `shardCount === 0` → `go("win")`.
- `shardCount > 0` → `go("lose", { left: shardCount })`.
- **Early win:** last pot thrown **and** `shardCount` hits 0 before he exits → win
immediately.
- End scenes show result + **Retry (same seed)** and **New scene (new seed)**
(`go("game", { seed })`), driven by key press.
---
## 10. Player input & shard cleanup
- Kaplay input: `onKeyDown("left"/"a"/…)` or `isKeyDown()` to build a direction
`vec2`; normalize so diagonals aren't faster; `player.move(dir.scale(PLAYER_SPEED))`.
- Cleanup: `player.onCollide("shard", (s) => { destroy(s); shardCount--; })`,
with an optional sweep tween.
- Obstacle blocking handled by `body()` vs static obstacle bodies.
---
## 11. Rendering & HUD
Kaplay renders automatically; we control **order via `z`** (set each frame to
`pos.y` for actors/chickens; fixed low `z` for ground/decor, high `z` for the
flying pot + HUD). Sprites via `loadSprite`; **placeholders** first so it's
playable immediately:
- Placeholder glyphs with `text()` — Link 🧝, player 🧹, pot 🏺, shard 🔶,
grass 🌿, chicken 🐔, rock 🪨 — or colored `rect()`/`circle()` components.
- HUD (`hud.js`): shard counter, pots remaining, Link state (dev), win/lose
banner — `add([text(), fixed(), z(top)])`.
- `image-rendering: pixelated` on the canvas for crisp sprites.
---
## 12. Milestones (build order)
1. **Skeleton:** `index.html` + `main.js` with `kaplay()` init, empty `game`
scene, letterboxed canvas. Runs via local server.
2. **Procgen:** `gen.js` builds a seeded level; `game` scene renders ground,
obstacles, pots, grass, chickens, spawns; reachability validated.
3. **Player:** input-driven movement + obstacle collision via `body()`.
4. **Link seek+move:** `state()` FSM with `seek` targeting nearest pot (no throw).
5. **Throw + shards:** pickup → `tween` arc → shatter → 13 shards.
6. **Cleanup + HUD:** `onCollide` shard pickup; live counter.
7. **Distractions:** grass cut; chicken hit → chase → Link `flee`.
8. **End states:** `leave` + `offscreen` → win/lose scenes + retry/new-seed.
9. **Polish:** real sprite atlas, `addKaboom`/particles, sfx (`loadSound`/`play`),
`shake()`, tuning pass on speeds / radii / counts.
Each milestone is independently runnable for playtesting.
---
## 13. Tunable constants (initial guesses, `config.js`)
| Constant | Value | Meaning |
|--------------------|--------------|-------------------------------------------|
| `TILE` | 40 px | tile size |
| `COLS × ROWS` | 24 × 14 | grid → 960×560 canvas |
| `PLAYER_SPEED` | 130 px/s | player movement |
| `LINK_SPEED` | ~150 px/s | ≈1.15× player |
| `POT_COUNT` | 58 | pots per scene |
| `GRASS_COUNT` | 815 | grass tufts |
| `CHICKEN_COUNT` | 24 | chickens |
| `THROW_TILES` | 23 | pot flight distance |
| `SHARDS_PER_POT` | 13 | shards on shatter |
| `DISTRACT_RADIUS` | ~4 tiles | how far grass/chickens tempt Link |
| `FLEE_TIME` | ~1.5 s | how long Link flees after hitting chicken |
First-pass numbers; §12 step 9 tunes them against playtests.
---
## 14. Assumptions & open questions
- **"Your PC"** = the player-controlled character (Link is the AI). Assumed.
- **Kaplay delivery:** CDN ES-module import for a no-build start; can switch to
`npm create kaplay` + Vite for bundling/TypeScript if we want it.
- **Sprites:** no Zelda art bundled; starting with emoji/`text()` and shape
placeholders, swappable for a real atlas via `loadSprite` later.
- **Link leaves when** out of pots (max-time fuse as backstop); a fixed round
timer is a one-line alternative in `config.js`.
- **Chicken chase:** only the hit chicken chases (simplest); could expand later.
- Audio is polish (step 9), not core.