Survey VFX is the effect group for Survey in turn-based rooms. The rule it follows comes from the lead's catalogue: never show hidden information without a valid mechanic, and never turn an uncertain observation into a diagnosis.
How it works#
Every cue maps to one phase of a round.
| Cue | Phase | What the player sees |
|---|---|---|
survey.area | Preview | Teal scan lines tint every tile of the exact area the engine's dry run returns |
survey.sweep | Resolve | Two scan columns leave the Ranger's column, west and east, one tile column a step |
survey.found | Resolve | On each revealed front's connection, a dashed evidence frame closes in four steps, then a lens pops on the tile corner |
survey.empty | Resolve | The scans come home hollow and settle as a short dash at the Ranger's feet that shrinks away |
survey.look | Resolve | A look-ahead tint thins in on every telegraph seen only because of the reveal |
survey.ahead, survey.end | Intent, room tick | The held look-ahead, then its end |
A refused Survey (spent or on cooldown) offers nothing. The hover gives the engine's reason, and the HUD slot shakes. The module draws no rings, no grid lines and no words: the rings belong to the front.
All colours are B08 teals, darker than the pale floor, so they read by hue on sage, cream and olive ground.
Development#
- Real time to turns: the first real-time studies (S1, S2) had two critique rounds. They are kept in the hub as "Superseded". The turn study S3 was rebuilt on Claude B's hook contract and 24 px tiles on 1 November.
- 24×20: the dash at the Ranger's feet follows Claude B's
ctx.foot(ae42cbb07). - User review, 2 November: all seven clips approved (preview, found, empty, look-ahead end, refused, reduced motion, ribbon).
- In the alpha: pinned at
ae42cbb07in the encounter host.
Gallery#
See also#
Sources#
ae42cbb07:docs/vfx/groups/survey.mdb89f778c2:src/main-game/alpha/public/encounter/src/skills/turns/.pinned/vfx/survey-turns.PIN.json- docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-01-claude-workstreams-todo.md (working copy, not in Git)
What links here (30)
- Art direction
- Astro VFX
- Build VFX
- Care VFX
- Character sprites
- Encounter backgrounds
- Environment art
- Flow
- Hearth podium
- Home art
- Home VFX
- Icon labels
- Inventory HUD
- Movement VFX
- Orders VFX
- Palettes
- Panels VFX
- Places dialog
- Pressure front VFX
- Pull and Glide VFX
- Quest scroll
- Quests VFX
- Run HUD
- Studios interior
- Tendrils
- Threadway 3D scene
- Typography
- Vessel VFX
- VFX
- Ward VFX