settled-reach/docs/workshops/test-architecture/gestalt-round2.md

title, description, type, status, workshop, agent, round, created

title	description	type	status	workshop	agent	round	created
Gestalt — Round 2: Coverage Audit, Anti-Tedium Mechanics, Transition Scenarios, Invariant Prioritization	Gestalt's coverage audit of the Gauntlet test world with anti-tedium mechanics and transition scenario design	workshop	archived	test-architecture	gestalt	2	2026-02-17

Gestalt — Round 2: Coverage Audit, Anti-Tedium Mechanics, Transition Scenarios, Invariant Prioritization

Workshop: QA Strategy & Test Architecture Track: 1 (Test World Design) Date: 2026-02-17 Inputs: All Round 1 outputs (Gestalt, Ozzie, Tyre, Dudley, Stig, Hoshe, Justine) Lead decisions: Room count rolling, anti-tedium full suite approved, determinism confirmed.

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1. Final Room Coverage Audit

I mapped every mechanical system from decisions/*.md to the complete Gauntlet room list (8 original + 6 proposed in Round 1). The goal: every system that creates a player decision is tested by at least one room.

Complete Room List (14 rooms)

#	Room	Source	Primary Systems
1	Inventory Warehouse	Brief	Pickup, CarriedBy, inventory grid, 9-slot limit
2	Occlusion Corridor	Brief	LOS, shadowcasting, vision cone, perception modes
3	Interaction Gallery	Brief	ObjectType verbs, multi-verb NPC, sprint suppression
4	Crowd Plaza	Brief	Entity density, relationship colors, cognitive delay overlap
5	Fog Theater	Brief	Fog layer transitions, peripheral dimming, exploration persistence
6	Dialogue Room	Brief	Trust tiers, contradiction, walk-away, monologue during dialogue
7	Pause Chamber	Brief	TickRate toggle, state transitions, pause/unpause
8	Zone Gate	Brief (reserved)	Zone transition (future contract)
9	Eavesdrop Alcove	Gestalt R1	ListeningFocus, zone ambient, Careful stance, conversation eavesdrop
10	Confrontation Stage	Gestalt R1	Cognitive vulnerability, audio dip, graduated SFX suppression
11	Sprint Gauntlet	Gestalt R1	Sprint suppression, anomaly survival, stance transitions
12	Sound Lab	Gestalt R1	Three-range sound, sound pings, recognition chime sequence
13	Decay Observatory	Gestalt R1	Knowledge decay, stale state, fog representation degradation
14	Shift Change	Gestalt R1	Stress test: all systems simultaneously at density

Coverage Matrix: System -> Room -> Key Assertion

Each row is a mechanical system drawn from a confirmed decision. The matrix shows which room exercises it and the primary assertion.

Pillar 1: Characters & Information

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
Knowledge graph — confidence levels	D-041	Dialogue Room, Decay Observatory	Suspects < KnowsOf < KnowsDetails < Direct. Each level gates different verbs/dialogue.
Knowledge graph — decay	D-041	Decay Observatory	Confidence downgrades once per game-minute (10 ticks). Direct -> KnowsDetails -> KnowsOf -> Suspects on schedule.
Knowledge graph — contradiction	D-041	Dialogue Room	Two conflicting entries produce Contradicted state. Monologue fires. D-033 color shifts to PersonOfInterest.
Knowledge graph — event queue	D-041	Shift Change	15 entities generating KnowledgeEvents simultaneously. Queue drains completely per tick. No dropped events.
Entity color = relationship	D-033	Crowd Plaza, Dialogue Room	Color maps to RelationshipState, not objective property. Unknown=#4a9ebb, Friendly=#6bc9a6, POI=#e8c547, Hostile=#d45d5d.
Entity color transitions	D-033	Dialogue Room	0.5s fade on relationship change. Contradiction shifts green -> amber.
Monologue — core system	D-016	Sprint Gauntlet, Confrontation Stage, Eavesdrop Alcove	Fires as perception bridge, atmosphere, diegetic hint. Character voice varies by archetype.
Monologue — separate pools	D-032	Dialogue Room	Smuggler and detective monologue pools are hard-partitioned. Same trigger, different pool.
Monologue — trigger types	D-016/D-032	Multiple (see sub-table)	Each trigger type exercised at least once.
Invisible locked options	D-062	Dialogue Room	No grayed-out options. No lock icons. Options appear only when unlocked.
Confrontation — same box	D-063	Confrontation Stage	Confrontation uses same dialogue UI. Weight from italics + pre-delivery beat + world response.
Walk-away consequences	D-064	Dialogue Room, Confrontation Stage	300ms fade, NPC reacts, KG records incompleteness. Per-seed tolerance variation.
Inventory — physical items	D-065	Inventory Warehouse	9-slot limit (smuggler 3-4, detective 2). Take/Place verbs. CarriedBy component.

Monologue trigger sub-table:

Trigger Type	Room	Scenario
enter_location	Hub (entering any room)	Player crosses room threshold, location monologue fires
observe_npc	Crowd Plaza	First observation of NPC triggers character assessment monologue
hear_sound	Sound Lab	Sound from behind wall triggers "Footsteps behind me..."
observe_anomaly	Sprint Gauntlet, Confrontation Stage	NPC in wrong location triggers anomaly monologue
post_conversation	Dialogue Room	After dialogue ends, reflective monologue fires
discover_evidence	Dialogue Room (contradiction)	Contradiction discovery triggers "Wait — they said..."
witness_interaction	Eavesdrop Alcove	Witnessing NPC-to-NPC conversation triggers interpretation
time_idle	Eavesdrop Alcove (30+ tick wait)	Idle in alcove triggers reflective monologue
return_visit	Decay Observatory (return from Part B)	Returning to Part A triggers "Last time I was here..."

Pillar 2: Perception

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
Fog of perception	D-011	Fog Theater, Occlusion Corridor	LOS-based, not radius. Walls block. Fog returns on departure.
Camera locked to character	D-015	All rooms	No panning. Vision cone: forward=full, peripheral=reduced, behind=fog.
Vision cone — forward/peripheral/behind	D-015	Fog Theater, Occlusion Corridor	Forward: full LOS, full detail. Peripheral: reduced range, dimmed. Behind: blind.
Perception modes	D-017	Occlusion Corridor	Mode switch reveals different information. Same entity, different ObserverSnapshot per mode.
Three-range sound	D-018	Sound Lab	Close=stereo, high accuracy. Medium=directional indicator+monologue. Long=insert alert (deferred).
Shadowcasting — symmetric	D-035	Occlusion Corridor, Fog Theater	If A sees B, B sees A. Verified with entities on both sides of LOS boundary.
Fog — 5 layers	D-059	Fog Theater	Clear, light fog, deep fog, unexplored+maps, unexplored. Each layer tested for correct visual properties.
Fog — sound pings	D-059	Sound Lab	2-3 concentric expanding rings. Loud=3 bright fast. Quiet=1 faint slow. Fade 1.5s.
Fog — recognized vs unrecognized entity	D-059	Sound Lab, Decay Observatory	Known: D-033 color glow + silhouette + 0.8s pulse + position drift. Unknown: grey blob.
Cognitive delay	D-060	Fog Theater, Sound Lab, Crowd Plaza	0.6s base, 0.3s urgent. Monologue fires DURING delay. Visual: blob -> color+silhouette over ~0.3s.
Recognition chime timing	D-067	Sound Lab	Chime at ONSET of delay (not completion). 300-400ms. Sequence: detect -> chime -> delay -> monologue -> visual transition -> done.
Cognitive vulnerability (confrontation)	D-070	Confrontation Stage	Emotional focus reduces ambient perception. Audio dip. Loud events break through, quiet don't. Post-confrontation delayed monologue.
ListeningFocus	D-071	Eavesdrop Alcove	Stationary 30+ ticks -> +2 to +3dB World SFX. Far conversations become audible.
Zone ambient vs conversation	D-072	Eavesdrop Alcove	High ambient hides conversations. Low ambient makes them conspicuous.
Insert overlay independence	D-048	Fog Theater	Insert data (z-layer 6) renders regardless of fog state (z-layer 5).

Pillar 3: Movement & Interaction

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
Stance toggle — Sprint/Walk/Careful/Crouch	D-053	Sprint Gauntlet, Eavesdrop Alcove	Each stance: correct tick/tile speed, monologue rate, footstep volume, interaction availability.
Sprint — interaction suppression	D-055	Sprint Gauntlet, Interaction Gallery	Interaction buffer EMPTY during sprint. Anomaly monologue survives (sprint double-take).
Sprint — monologue at 40%	D-053	Sprint Gauntlet	Run 10 times: monologue fires ~4 times (statistical via SimRng).
Careful — tell notice bonus	D-053	Eavesdrop Alcove	Careful stance monologue at 150%. Observation monologue fires for Tier 2 NPC behavior.
Tile-based movement	D-054	All rooms	Discrete positions. Client Tween hides grid. TilePresence layers.
Same-tile occupancy	D-054	Crowd Plaza	Multiple entities on one tile in different posture layers (Standing + Seated).
Dual-scale grid	D-066	Occlusion Corridor, Fog Theater	0.5m sim tiles, 1m visual tiles. 2x2 geometry minimum. Cover maps 1:1 at visual scale.
Entity interaction — vertical list	D-057	Interaction Gallery	Two-phase verb computation. Phase 1 (ObjectType), Phase 2 (KG filter). Max 4 options.
Cursor states	D-056	Interaction Gallery	Default/entity hover/object hover/(weapon aim future). 150ms transitions. D-033 color on hover.
World menu — radial	D-058	Interaction Gallery	Right-click: 4 spokes. v0.1: 2 spokes (Observe + Insert).
Dialogue box	D-061	Dialogue Room	Bottom screen, max 20%, no portraits. Max 3 response options. Monologue floats ABOVE.

Pillar 4: Audio

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
5-bus audio	D-068	Sound Lab, Eavesdrop Alcove	Music, Ambient, World SFX, Player Actions, UI Sounds — all routable, independent sliders.
Audio dip — dialogue	D-069	Dialogue Room	Ambient -6 to -8dB during dialogue. 300ms ease-in, 500ms ease-out.
Audio dip — confrontation	D-069	Confrontation Stage	Ambient -10 to -12dB + low-pass 20kHz->800Hz. World SFX graduated. 500ms in, 1000ms out.
ListeningFocus boost	D-069	Eavesdrop Alcove	World SFX +2 to +3dB when stationary 30+ ticks.
Zone crossfade	D-073	Hub corridors (between rooms)	Hard tile boundary, 1.5-2s audio crossfade tween.
Audio aesthetic — insert-tech vs organic	D-074	Sound Lab	Chimes = synthetic/precise. Footsteps = warm/breathy. Two sonic families.

Pillar 5: Simulation & Architecture

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
Client-server separation	D-020	All rooms (Layer 3 test)	ObserverSnapshot is the only data crossing boundary. PlayerInput is semantic actions.
Deterministic simulation	D-010 p4	Shift Change (determinism test)	Same seed + same inputs = identical world state at tick N. INV-T01 master invariant.
Pause/unpause	D-031, Bug #3	Pause Chamber	Movement discarded. No state changes. UI responsive. Round-trip preserves state.
Tick budget	D-026	Shift Change	<=100ms per tick with 15+ active entities. Measured per tick, not averaged.
Snapshot delivery	D-020, Bug #1	Shift Change (Layer 3)	Every tick produces exactly one ObserverSnapshot. No drops. No duplicates. In order.
SimRng determinism	D-030 #7	Shift Change	RNG consumed in fixed system order. Explicit .after() constraints on all consumers.
Time system	D-031	Decay Observatory	10 ticks = 1 game-minute. Day phases drive routine transitions.
Simulation tiers	D-026	Shift Change	Active tier: full sim. Entities within scope tags stay fully simulated.
MessagePack serialization	D-020	Cross-language fixture tests (Hoshe)	Boundary values roundtrip. Bug #4 class prevented.
StableId/EntityRegistry	D-041	All rooms with NPCs	Unique IDs. Bidirectional mapping. No dangling references.

Content Systems

System	Decision	Room(s)	Key Assertion
NPC 10-axis model	D-024	Crowd Plaza, Dialogue Room	Want, Secret, Relationships, Tolerance, Routine, Information, Contentment, Personality, Tell, Skill.
Social site as unit	D-025	Crowd Plaza	4-8 NPCs in connected space with sightlines.
Dialogue — tagged pools	D-028	Dialogue Room	4 layers: access tier, relationship history, trust-gated gossip, unprompted disclosure.
Tag taxonomy	D-035	Dialogue Room	6 structural + 3 selection tags per line. Tag filtering produces valid line selection.
Two-tier animation	D-047	Eavesdrop Alcove, Confrontation Stage	Tier 1 (clear activities) instantly readable. Tier 2 (ambiguous behaviors) observable but intention unclear.
Population ratio	D-029	Crowd Plaza	~30% flat, ~50% mundane triangles, ~20% entangled. Signal requires noise floor.

Coverage Gaps: Systems With NO Room Coverage

System	Decision	Gap	Recommendation
Weather affecting vision cones	D-050	v0.1 deferred	No action needed
Perception mode switching cost	D-017 soft degradation	D-059 scan-line interference at high load	Could test in Occlusion Corridor by toggling modes rapidly. Low priority — soft visual effect.
Favorite colors — object identification	D-052	No room tests object-layer color as identification mechanic	Add to Inventory Warehouse: place personal objects (mug, cushion) with NPC favorite colors. Assert saturation below D-033 entity color. v0.1.2+ system — defer room addition.
News ticker	D-039 wow #5	No room tests dual-character ticker reactions	Not a Gauntlet room — this is content-level, tested via the line previewer. No room needed.
Idle reflective monologue	D-039 wow #6	Partially covered by Eavesdrop Alcove (time_idle trigger)	Eavesdrop Alcove covers the mechanic. The "wow moment" quality is a content concern, not a systems test.
Diegetic insert/POI navigation	D-013	No room tests POI discovery or insert minimap	Add to Hub: place POI markers that appear/disappear based on knowledge state. Low priority — insert UI is v0.1 stretch.
Environmental neutrality	D-045	No room verifies that world layer DOESN'T change with narrative state	Assertion on Dialogue Room: pre-confrontation and post-confrontation CanvasModulate values are identical. Zone lighting unchanged. Add as assertion, not a room.

Verdict: 3 minor gaps, all addressable as assertions on existing rooms. No new rooms needed for coverage.

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2. Anti-Tedium Feature Mechanics

Ozzie proposed 6 anti-tedium features. All approved by the lead. Let me map each to concrete game mechanics.

2.1 Room Reset Trigger

Mechanic: Reset Plate — a special TileKind at each room entrance.

Implementation:

• Tile type: TileKind::ResetPlate — a new variant in the tile enum. Rendered as a floor plate with a distinct visual (pulsing outline, insert-style geometric pattern).
• Trigger: Player steps onto the ResetPlate tile AND presses the Interact key (not automatic — prevents accidental resets during sprint-throughs).
• Server-side behavior:
  1. Identify the room boundary (room_id from ResetPlate's associated metadata)
  2. For all entities within the room boundary:
     • Reset position to tick-0 spawn position (stored in GauntletSpawnPosition component)
     • Reset KnowledgeGraph to tick-0 state (stored in GauntletKnowledgeBaseline component)
     • Reset relationship state to tick-0 baseline
     • Reset inventory to tick-0 baseline (for Inventory Warehouse)
     • Reset any active cognitive delays, monologue queues, dialogue state
  3. Reset fog exploration state for tiles within the room boundary to unexplored
  4. Reset the player's KnowledgeGraph entries that reference entities in this room only
  5. Do NOT reset: player position (they're standing on the plate), global game time, player inventory items from other rooms

What resets (per room type):

Room	Entity positions	Entity KG	Player KG (room refs)	Player inventory	Fog	Dialogue state
Inventory Warehouse	Yes	N/A	Yes	YES (clear room items)	Yes	N/A
Occlusion Corridor	Yes	N/A	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Interaction Gallery	Yes	N/A	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Crowd Plaza	Yes	N/A	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
Fog Theater	Yes	N/A	Yes	No	YES (critical)	N/A
Dialogue Room	Yes	Yes (trust tiers)	Yes	No	Yes	YES (reset tree)
Confrontation Stage	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	YES
All others	Yes	If applicable	Yes	No	Yes	If applicable

ECS implementation sketch:

// New components for Gauntlet entities
#[derive(Component)]
pub struct GauntletSpawnPosition(pub TilePosition);

#[derive(Component)]
pub struct GauntletKnowledgeBaseline(pub KnowledgeGraph);

#[derive(Component)]
pub struct GauntletRoomId(pub u8);

// Reset system — triggered by player input on ResetPlate tile
fn reset_gauntlet_room(
    room_id: u8,
    entities: Query<(&GauntletRoomId, &GauntletSpawnPosition, &mut TilePosition, ...)>,
    mut player_kg: Query<&mut KnowledgeGraph, With<PlayerCharacter>>,
) { ... }

Why Interact, not automatic: Automatic reset on step creates chaos during cross-room transitions. Sprint through the Hub into the Occlusion Corridor — you DON'T want the corridor to reset just because you crossed the plate. The deliberate Interact press is the "I want to try this again" signal.

2.2 Hub Teleport

Mechanic: Debug command, not a gameplay mechanic.

Implementation:

• Trigger: Keyboard shortcut (Home key or backtick). NOT an in-game interaction — this is a testing tool.
• Behavior:
  1. Immediately move player entity to Hub center position (GAUNTLET.hub_center)
  2. Clear any active dialogue/monologue state
  3. Clear interaction buffer
  4. Do NOT reset any room state (rooms maintain their current state — the tester left, they didn't reset)
  5. Do NOT affect game time or tick count
• Server-side: New PlayerAction::TeleportToHub variant. The server validates this is a Gauntlet-only action (rejected in non-Gauntlet maps).
• Game state impact: Position changes. That's it. No KG changes, no relationship changes, no inventory changes. The player just "walked really fast" back to the Hub.

Why debug command, not gameplay: Hub teleport breaks the information model (instant position change violates D-015 camera lock and D-011 fog progression). It exists for testing efficiency, not gameplay. The --gauntlet server flag enables it; production builds reject it.

2.3 WRONG Button (F12)

Mechanic: State capture system with minimal human input.

What gets captured:

Layer	Data	Size estimate
ObserverSnapshot	Full current snapshot (what the client sees)	~5-20 KB (MessagePack)
World digest (per Dudley's spec)	Entity count, registry count, RNG position, NPC positions	~1-2 KB (JSON)
Input history	Last 100 ticks of PlayerInput	~2-5 KB (JSON)
Tick number + room ID	Current tick, current room (from player position)	~50 bytes
Text render	format_snapshot_text() output (per Tyre's spec)	~2-5 KB (text)
Human description	One-line text from tester	~100 bytes

Minimum viable capture (Sprint 8):

1. ObserverSnapshot (already exists — just serialize current buffer)
2. Tick number + player position
3. Text render output (once Tyre's formatter exists)
4. Human description prompt

Full capture (Sprint 9+):

Add world digest, input history, and deterministic replay seed.

Output directory: tests/bug-reports/gauntlet-{tick}-{timestamp}/

tests/bug-reports/gauntlet-0142-20260217T141523/
  snapshot.msgpack        # ObserverSnapshot
  snapshot.json           # Human-readable JSON
  text-render.txt         # Formatted text output
  digest.json             # World digest (Sprint 9+)
  inputs.json             # Last 100 ticks of input (Sprint 9+)
  description.txt         # "NPC behind wall was visible"

Why this is the minimum: The snapshot + text render + human description gives a developer everything they need to understand WHAT was wrong. The input history + seed (Sprint 9+) gives them everything they need to REPRODUCE it. Minimum viable = understand. Full = reproduce.

Server-side: New PlayerAction::BugReport { description: String }. Server serializes state to the output directory. This is a Gauntlet-only action.

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3. Cross-Room Transition Scenarios (Refined for Hub-and-Spoke)

Ozzie's hub-and-spoke layout with cross-cuts defines which rooms physically connect. Let me refine my Round 1 transition scenarios based on the actual topology.

Physical Layout (from Ozzie R1)

                 [Fog Theater]
                      |
[Inventory] --- [CENTRAL HUB] --- [Occlusion Corridor]
     |                |                    |
[Interaction   [Pause Chamber]    [Crowd Plaza]
  Gallery]            |
                [Dialogue Room]
                      |
              [Zone Gate (reserved)]

Cross-cut corridors (Ozzie R1):

• Crowd Plaza <-> Occlusion Corridor
• Fog Theater <-> Dialogue Room
• Inventory Warehouse <-> Interaction Gallery

New rooms to add to layout:

                 [Fog Theater]----[Sound Lab]
                      |               |
[Inventory] --- [CENTRAL HUB] --- [Occlusion Corridor]
     |                |                    |
[Interaction   [Pause Chamber]    [Crowd Plaza]
  Gallery]            |                    |
     |          [Dialogue Room]    [Shift Change]
     |                |
[Sprint        [Confrontation      [Eavesdrop
 Gauntlet]      Stage]              Alcove]
                      |
              [Decay Observatory]
                      |
              [Zone Gate (reserved)]

New connections (proposed cross-cuts for system combination testing):

• Sprint Gauntlet <-> Interaction Gallery (sprint suppression into interaction range)
• Confrontation Stage <-> Eavesdrop Alcove (confrontation vulnerability into listening)
• Sound Lab <-> Fog Theater (sound pings across fog boundaries)
• Shift Change <-> Crowd Plaza (density stress into density observation)

Refined Transition Scenarios

All scenarios now reference physically connected rooms via corridors or cross-cuts.

#	Scenario	Path	System Combination	Expected Behavior	Testable?
T1	Sprint Exit	Crowd Plaza -> (cross-cut) -> Occlusion Corridor	D-055 + D-035	Interaction buffer cleared during sprint. LOS recalculated at corridor entrance. No stale verbs from Plaza NPCs leak into Corridor snapshot.	YES — direct cross-cut exists
T2	Fog into Dialogue	Fog Theater -> (cross-cut) -> Dialogue Room	D-059 + D-061 + D-060	Player in light fog, initiates dialogue. Fog state preserved (entity in fog still tracked). Cognitive delay for fog entity completes during dialogue. Monologue from recognition appears ABOVE dialogue box (z-layer 7 vs dialogue at bottom).	YES — direct cross-cut exists
T3	Full Inventory Interact	Inventory Warehouse -> (cross-cut) -> Interaction Gallery	D-065 + D-057	Carry 9/9 inventory into interaction range. Take verb still offered by server (Phase 1). Client greys it out (Phase 2 filter: inventory full). Other verbs (Talk, Observe) unaffected.	YES — direct cross-cut exists
T4	Sprint into Interaction	Sprint Gauntlet -> (cross-cut) -> Interaction Gallery	D-055 + D-057	Sprint clears buffer. Arriving at Interaction Gallery entity in Walk stance: verbs repopulate within 1 tick. No buffer corruption from stance transition.	YES — proposed cross-cut
T5	Confrontation to Eavesdrop	Confrontation Stage -> (cross-cut) -> Eavesdrop Alcove	D-070 + D-071	Post-confrontation: audio dip releasing (1000ms ease-out). Enter Eavesdrop Alcove before dip fully releases. ListeningFocus not yet active (need 30 ticks stationary). Verify: dip release and ListeningFocus activation don't conflict.	YES — proposed cross-cut
T6	Pause Anywhere	Pause Chamber -> Hub -> any room	D-031 + any system	Pause in Pause Chamber. Hub teleport. Enter any room. Unpause. All room systems resume correctly. No state corruption from pause during room transition.	YES — Hub connects all rooms
T7	Sound across Fog	Sound Lab -> (cross-cut) -> Fog Theater	D-018 + D-059	Sound events from Sound Lab NPCs propagate through wall into Fog Theater. Sound pings render in fog. Cognitive delay fires for recognized entity based on sound alone.	YES — proposed cross-cut
T8	Walk-away Sprint	Dialogue Room -> Hub -> Sprint Gauntlet	D-064 + D-053	Walk-away from dialogue (300ms fade). Walk to Hub. Sprint to Sprint Gauntlet. KG incompleteness recorded. NPC reaction in Dialogue Room occurs during player's Hub transit. Sprint suppresses any post-dialogue monologue.	YES — Hub path

Scenarios dropped from Round 1:

• "Peripheral Interact" (Fog Theater -> Interaction Gallery): No direct cross-cut. Covered by Interaction Gallery's own peripheral-entity test. Peripheral interaction range is a geometry question, not a cross-room question.

Corridor Design for Transition Testing

The corridors between rooms aren't just hallways — they're testing infrastructure:

• Length: 10-15 sim tiles (~5-7.5 visual tiles) per Ozzie's spec. Long enough to test stance transitions, short enough to not waste time.
• Zone boundaries: Each corridor has a zone_id transition at its midpoint. Tests D-073 zone crossfade (1.5-2s audio tween).
• Fog behavior: Corridor enters deep fog within 5-6 tiles of leaving a room (D-059 fog gradient over 6-8 sim tiles). Tests fog re-engagement.
• Reset plates: At each room entrance (room side of corridor, not hub side). Tester walks corridor, hits plate, room resets.

---

4. Invariant Prioritization: Top 10 for Sprint 8

Ranked by: (1) does it catch a bug class we've actually seen? (2) how many systems does it protect? (3) implementation cost.

Rank	ID	Invariant	Bug Catalogue Match	Systems Protected	Implementation	Sprint 8?
1	INV-T04	Pause coherence	Bug #3 (movement while paused)	Pause, movement, state transitions	Dudley's 8 test cases exist. Just wire up.	YES — direct regression guard
2	INV-T01	Deterministic replay	Bug #1 class (state divergence)	ALL systems	Tyre's determinism test spec + 4 fixes. Core value of the Gauntlet.	YES — Gauntlet's raison d'etre
3	INV-T03	Snapshot delivery	Bug #1 (no snapshots), Bug #5 (overwrite)	IPC, bridge, client-server	Layer 3 subprocess test (Hoshe's spec). Catches the exact bug class.	YES — prevents #1 recurrence
4	INV-T05	Input ordering	Bug #1 (blocking read stalls schedule)	IPC, input processing, tick ordering	Covered by Layer 3 test + Dudley's pause tests.	YES — part of Layer 3
5	INV-S01	Player spawn reachable	No bug yet, but SOFTLOCK risk	Pathfinding, map loading, content validation	Single pathfind check at map load. ~10 lines.	YES — trivial, high value
6	INV-C03	StableId uniqueness	No bug yet, but CORRUPTION risk	Knowledge graph, entity lifecycle, save/load	Dudley's 4 registry lifecycle tests.	YES — direct from Dudley R1
7	INV-C07	Dialogue pool non-empty	No bug yet, but PLAYER-FACING failure	Dialogue, tag filtering, content pipeline	Load-time validation (Tyre's cross-reference validator).	YES — part of content validation
8	INV-T02	Tick budget	Bug #6 class (rate mismatch)	Performance, entity density, all tick systems	Shift Change room perf assertion (p95 < 20ms per Tyre).	YES — performance gate
9	INV-P02	LOS symmetry	No bug yet, but FAIRNESS guarantee	Shadowcasting, NPC perception, information boundaries	Property-based test: random positions, verify A sees B iff B sees A.	YES — D-035 mandates symmetry
10	INV-S05	No entity inside geometry	No bug yet, but content scaling risk	Content loading, entity spawning, map geometry	Check at map load: every entity spawn position is walkable.	YES — trivial, prevents softlocks

Deferred to Sprint 9+

Rank	ID	Invariant	Reason for deferral
11	INV-T06	SimRng consumption order	Depends on determinism fixes landing first (Sprint 8 P0)
12	INV-T07	Cognitive delay monotonicity	Cognitive delay system not yet implemented
13	INV-T08	Knowledge decay timing	Decay system implemented but not yet connected to fog rendering
14	INV-S06	2x2 geometry minimum	Requires map validation tooling not yet built
15	INV-P03	Fog layer ordering	Fog shader is client-side; needs gdUnit4 test (Stig's domain)
16	INV-P04	Insert independence	Insert overlay not yet implemented
17	INV-S07	Zone boundary coherence	Zone system not yet implemented
18	INV-P05	Sound propagation coherence	Sound propagation not yet implemented
19	INV-C06	Monologue trigger reachability	Requires monologue system + content cross-reference
20	INV-S04	NPC routine paths valid	Requires NPC routine system + pathfinding integration

Bug Catalogue Mapping

Every Sprint 6-7 bug is now covered:

Bug	Root Cause	Invariant(s)	Room(s)	Test Type
#1 Server never sends snapshots	read_framed() blocking	INV-T03, INV-T05	Layer 3 subprocess test	Integration
#2 Camera doesn't center	No snapshot until keystroke	INV-T03	Layer 3 + client gdUnit4	Integration + unit
#3 Player moves while paused	process_player_input ignores TickRate	INV-T04	Pause Chamber	Unit (Dudley's 8 tests)
#4 MessagePack -128 for 128	Signed int8 branch boundary	Hoshe's BV matrix (41 values)	Fixture tests	Unit + cross-language
#5 Monologue lost on overwrite	Snapshot buffer drops one-shots	INV-T03	Shift Change (density)	Integration
#6 Snapshot overwrite warning	Server faster than client	INV-T02, INV-T03	Shift Change (perf)	Performance

---

Summary

Deliverables

1. Coverage matrix: 50+ system-to-room mappings. 3 minor gaps identified (favorite colors, POI navigation, environmental neutrality assertions) — all addressable without new rooms.
2. Anti-tedium mechanics: Reset Plate (Interact-triggered, per-room state rollback), Hub Teleport (debug command, position-only), WRONG Button (MVP: snapshot + text render + description; full: + input history + replay seed).
3. 8 transition scenarios: Refined for hub-and-spoke layout with cross-cuts. All physically testable. Corridor design specified (10-15 tiles, zone boundary at midpoint, reset plate at room entrance).
4. Top 10 invariants for Sprint 8: Prioritized by bug catalogue match. Every Sprint 6-7 bug class covered. INV-T04 (pause) and INV-T01 (determinism) are #1-#2.

Open Questions for Round 3

1. Room ordering in Gauntlet YAML: Should rooms have a canonical ordering in the content pack? Affects entity StableId assignment (lower room = lower IDs). Determinism depends on consistent entity spawn order.
2. Reset Plate vs full server restart: Is per-room reset sufficient, or do some tests require a clean server state? If the latter, the Gauntlet needs a "full reset" command alongside per-room resets.
3. Cross-cut corridor count: I proposed 4 new cross-cuts (Sprint Gauntlet<->Interaction Gallery, Confrontation Stage<->Eavesdrop Alcove, Sound Lab<->Fog Theater, Shift Change<->Crowd Plaza). Is this too many? Each cross-cut adds map complexity. Could consolidate Sound Lab into Occlusion Corridor as a sub-area instead of a separate room+cross-cut.