gijs_pong/.planning/STATE.md

STATE: Super Pong Next Gen

Project Reference

• Core Value: Pong reimagined with juice and depth — spectacular visuals, rich mechanics, complete game experience
• Current Focus: Roadmap created, ready for Phase 1 planning
• Key Constraint: Coarse granularity (5 phases max), HTML5 Canvas + vanilla JS, static deployment

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Current Position

Attribute	Value
Phase	Planning complete, ready to plan Phase 1
Plan	None active yet
Status	Roadmap finalized, 37/37 requirements mapped
Progress	0% (0 phases complete)

[                    ] 0% — Roadmap → Phase 1 planning

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Performance Metrics

Metric	Target	Status
Phase Coverage	100% (37/37 requirements mapped)	✓ Complete
Success Criteria	2-5 per phase	✓ Complete
Dependency Chain	Linear (P1 → P2 → P3 → P4 → P5)	✓ Validated

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Accumulated Context

Key Decisions Made

1. Coarse Granularity Compression: Research suggested 10 phases; compressed to 5 by merging:

   • Game loop + input + physics = Phase 1
   • Second paddle + AI = Phase 2
   • Menus + audio + pause = Phase 3
   • Visual effects + power-ups + arenas = Phase 4
   • Performance + testing = Phase 5

2. Phase 5 (Release) Has No Requirements: All 37 v1 requirements covered by phases 1-4. Phase 5 is purely validation (cross-browser, performance, pitfall mitigation).

3. Success Criteria Grounded in Research Pitfalls: Each phase's criteria address critical pitfalls from research:

   • Phase 1: DPI scaling, game loop timing
   • Phase 2: Ball tunneling, input lag, AI balance
   • Phase 3: Audio autoplay policy
   • Phase 4: Power-up balance
   • Phase 5: Performance, memory leaks, cross-browser

Coverage Validation

Total v1 Requirements: 37

• CORE (8): All mapped to Phase 1-2
• AI (4): All mapped to Phase 2
• SCRN (4): All mapped to Phase 3
• VFX (5): All mapped to Phase 1 (DPI) and Phase 4 (particles/glow/trails/shake)
• PWR (7): All mapped to Phase 4
• ARENA (4): All mapped to Phase 4
• AUD (5): All mapped to Phase 3

Unmapped Requirements: 0 ✓ Coverage: 100% ✓

Research Alignment

• Phase 1 addresses Research Pitfalls: #1 (Game Loop Timing), #2 (Canvas DPI Scaling)
• Phase 2 addresses Research Pitfalls: #3 (Ball Tunneling), #4 (Input Lag), #5 (AI Difficulty Balance)
• Phase 3 addresses Research Pitfall: #6 (WebAudio Autoplay Policy)
• Phase 4 addresses Research Pitfalls: #7 (Power-Up Balance)
• Phase 5 addresses Research Pitfall: #8 (Memory Leaks)

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Session Continuity

What Just Happened

Roadmap derived from 37 v1 requirements organized into 5 phases, each with 2-5 observable success criteria. Granularity set to coarse; 10-phase research recommendation compressed by grouping related technical work.

What Comes Next

1. /gsd:plan-phase 1 — Decompose Phase 1 into executable plans
2. Continue through phases 2-5
3. Execute plans in dependency order
4. Validate success criteria at each phase completion

Known Blockers

None. All context available, all requirements mapped, roadmap ready for planning.

Decisions Pending

None. Roadmap finalized; awaiting user approval before phase planning begins.

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State initialized: 2026-03-10