Pressure front VFX

Pressure front VFX draws the pressure fronts that threaten connections in turn-based rooms. On 1 November the user said "The front needs to be animated", then approved its five states.

How it works#

• Coming (one or more rounds left): a rounded 3 px ring, rust outside and amber inside, with thin ochre ripples creeping inward. One amber chevron on the top edge stands for each round left. A jolt's ring is dashed and its ripples run outward.
• Striking (this round): a thick 5 px ring with bold ripples rushing inward. Fronts strike one at a time; a front waiting its turn sits a step lower and still.
• Resolving: a round crest closes on the connection, corner brackets press in as deep as the hit, and the lost stretch of the meter breaks off. A hit unit gets two squeeze bars. The crest breaks up over warded tiles and on a quiet front.
• Lingering: a dotted arch and diamonds over the neuron, in vessel reds.
• Overload: clasps and a cradle in teal. It is a calm hold, clearly different from loss, and nothing is removed.
• Forecast: a telegraph seen early through Survey or Alert tuning draws as a quiet, dotted ochre ring.

Every colour reads by hue and is darker than the pale floor; a test checks this. Ground marks sit above the floor and below walls and bodies, so wall art covers a front correctly.

Telegraph edge above units#

On 2 November a larger Ranger study covered about 85% of its tile, hiding the ring underneath. Claude B asked the front to draw the threatened tile's edge above units, and General approved it (c33b9fb1). The larger Ranger was later withdrawn, but the edge stays because it is real readability. The user approved it with the front clips.

Development#

• Restyle: on 1 November the front was restyled to the Room building session's palette and layers (2712a766). States, timing and interface did not change.
• 24 px, then 24×20: the scale changed with the tiles; upright marks follow Claude B's ctx.foot (1f6a96e58).
• User review, 2 November: fronts 1–6 approved, including the forecast and the edge above units.
• In the alpha: pinned at 1f6a96e58. It replaces the prototype's own front and lingering drawing.

Gallery#

See also#

• VFX
• Pressure front
• Ward VFX
• Care VFX

Sources#

1. 1f6a96e58:docs/vfx/groups/pressure.mdcopy
2. b89f778c2:src/main-game/alpha/public/encounter/src/skills/turns/.pinned/vfx/pressure-front.PIN.jsoncopy
3. docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-01-claude-workstreams-todo.md (working copy, not in Git)