---
title: "Sprint 21 — Client Briefing"
description: "Save/load game flow, debug overlay housekeeping"
type: sprint
status: archived
sprint: 21
team: "client"
---

# Sprint 21: Instantiate — Client Tasks

**Goal:** The template system becomes executable — templates spawn NPCs, assign triangles, and place them in world space; cross-template triangles link social sites; the client gains save/load game flow; and the generator pipeline gets its architectural design.

**Branch:** `client`
**Agents:** Stig (dev), Hoshe (QA)

## New Tickets

| # | Title | Blocked by |
|---|-------|------------|
| #257 | Save/load game flow | — (#256 done) |
| #561 | Housekeeping: move debug_overlay.gd to ui/ directory | — |

Use `tooling/db/ticket show <id>` for full details on any ticket.

## Key Decisions

- `decisions/architecture.md` — D-020 (Godot = pure renderer, no game logic in GDScript), D-085 (per-game save directories under `user://saves/<game-id>/`), D-088 (3-state pause: Normal/Overlay/Paused, server-authoritative)
- `decisions/scope.md` — D-027 (vertical slice: smuggler + detective, two-character proof)

## Notes

**#257 — Save/load game flow**
- Server-side serialization (`SaveStateV1`, `SaveLoadCommand`) landed in Sprint 19 (#553, #553). The client `SessionManager` autoload (`client/scripts/autoloads/session_manager.gd`) already creates per-game directories and tracks `current_game_id`. The `input.rs` server-side hook for `SaveLoadCommand::Save` and `SaveLoadCommand::Load` is in place.
- What's missing: the client UI flow — save-to-file and load-from-file screens, and F5/F6 quicksave/quickload keybinds wired to `PlayerInput`.
- `client/ui/main_menu.gd` exists. Add a "Load Game" screen that calls `SessionManager.list_game_dirs()` and lets the player select a save.
- F5 quicksave flow: send `PlayerInput { action: QuickSave }` → server responds with serialised save data → client writes to `user://saves/<game-id>/quicksave.sav`. F6 quickload: reverse.
- Loading screen: a minimal full-screen overlay ("Resuming...") during the round-trip to prevent input during load. No elaborate animation needed for v0.1.
- D-020 constraint: no game logic in client. The client never constructs save data — it only sends the command and receives the file bytes from the server.
- Existing stub in `session_manager.gd` line 71 notes: "The actual F5 save will be wired here once server supports SaveCommand." Server supports it now — wire it.
- Acceptance: (1) F5 in-game triggers quicksave, file appears at correct path. (2) F6 reloads it, player position and NPC state match save. (3) Main menu "Load Game" lists existing saves sorted by date.

**#561 — Housekeeping: move debug_overlay.gd to ui/ directory**
- `client/scripts/ui/debug_overlay.gd` is the odd one out — all 17 other UI components live in `client/ui/`. This was flagged in a code review.
- Steps: move `client/scripts/ui/debug_overlay.gd` (and its `.uid` file) to `client/ui/debug_overlay.gd`. Update any `preload()` or `load()` references. Update the `.tscn` that instances it if one exists.
- Check `client/scripts/rendering/` and `client/scripts/autoloads/` for any imports of the old path.
- If moving would break more than 3 references and the distinction is intentional (debug overlay is a script, not a scene-based UI), document the distinction in a comment at the top of the file instead, and close the ticket as "documented not moved."
- Acceptance: `make ci-client` passes with the file at its new location, or the distinction is documented in-file.

## Dependency Chain

```
#257 (save/load game flow) — standalone
#561 (debug_overlay housekeeping) — standalone, parallel
```

Both tickets are independent and can be developed in parallel.

## PR Workflow

When ready to submit, create a PR with `tea` CLI:

```bash
tea pr create --repo jpmschweitzer/settled-reach --login schweitz --title "feat(client): Sprint 21 save/load game flow" --description "body" --base main --head client
```