in: Production, Builds, History
Circuit Ranger prototype
Accepted game Production · facts checked 2 November 2026
The Circuit Ranger prototype is the original three-minute opening of the game. It is the only playable build in the accepted main branch. On 29 October the user ruled that it is "an unapproved prototype, not an approved part of the main game". Its code, data and saves are preserved, but the new game does not have to keep its script or structure.
How to play it#
The wiki's How to play page holds a runnable snapshot built from main at acfb2ff. You are a small microglial cell, the Ranger, in a tiny neighbourhood:
- Clear a loose bundle at home.
- Go east to the Glade. Either help Mote in Mote Pocket or gather Supply.
- Prepare at home, then press "Ready for the forecast".
- Defend the home for 60 seconds while bundles land in its sectors.
- Watch the neighbours recover, then read the field report.
- Press Continue to walk the side-on Threadway to Starwell.
Its controls differ from the alpha: WASD or arrows to move, E to tend, Q for the next target, Space to call a helper (1 Supply), X to cancel and Escape to pause. Saving is explicit, with Save home, Load and Restore previous.
How it differs from the current game#
| Prototype | Current direction |
|---|---|
| Real-time home defence on a 180-second clock | Turn-based encounters; home Disturbances are being rebuilt as turn-based boards |
| Five places: Hearth, Glade, Pocket, a side-on Threadway, a top-down Starwell | Six permanent maps plus a live 3D Threadway |
| Pip and Mote as placeholder shapes | Approved named cast sprites |
| A free helper called with Space | Companions join only through quests (Recruitment) |
| Arbors bought at a rosette | Hearth buildings on plots; the rosette is now where neuron lines meet |
Development#
- Accepted: 27 October, as the
circuit-ranger-prototypetag. STATUS records a standard-clock run of 180.6 seconds with a held ending and Continue (lead checks). - Rename: on 31 October the lead renamed the project to Arborwake. The prototype's saves moved to IndexedDB
arborwake-save-v1; older saves are copied once per browser origin. The lead reports 101 unit tests and 10 Edge smoke tests passed. - Correction: on 29 October the user withdrew the opening from the main-game design. STATUS now says its "VERIFIED" labels report technical checks, not creative approval.
- Still preserved: the shared checkout's
npm run buildkeeps this historical entry, and the lead's historical browser suite (10 tests) still passes there. The Arborwake alpha does not reuse its script, Continue bridge or saves as canon.
See also#
Arborwake alpha · Live preview site · Saving and save migration
Sources#
1ded4c01c:docs/ops/STATUS.md1ded4c01c:docs/ops/INTERFACES.mdacfb2ff9b:docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-10-31-lead-arborwake-rename.mdc361bb7fb:wiki/source/pages/play.md- docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-02-lead-full-project-reconciliation-audit.md (working copy, not in Git)