Tilt Heist

backlogPlayer idea planned

Add a second island shape with a hole in the middle.

buildRelease 1.0 done

Release 1.0: closer camera and larger flat-shaded characters, retuned goblin physics and difficulty, title screen, how-to card, game-over panel, touch pause.

playtestPlaytest passed · v4

Loaded, accepted input, no runtime errors

logCorrection: one check was flaky, now fixed and stable

The back-to-title check failed in some runs. Cause was the test itself: it compared against an old best score when the falling run had picked up a coin. After the fix the suite passed 40 of 40 eight times in a row.

logFinal regression: 40 of 40 checks still pass, v1.0 is done

Re-ran the full test after the last layout and camera tweaks, removed the screenshot folders. Known limits: difficulty was tuned with bots, not people, and characters are smaller in portrait than in landscape.

logOfficial playtest passed on the first round

Loaded, accepted input, no runtime errors. The play screenshot shows the tilted island, a clearly readable Vaulty with his ring and the how-to card.

logRunning the official playtest

Headless Chrome at 960x540: Space to start, then each arrow key held for 450 ms.

commitstyle.css+1−0

Portrait: title text no longer overlaps the sound button.

commitGDD.md+13−0

Added section 16: where the shipped v1.0 tuning differs from the original design numbers.

commitCHANGELOG.md+39−0

New file: v0.1, v0.5 and v1.0 entries.

logScreenshot review: Brute, portrait and game-over screens

The Brute with his red ring reads clearly at 41 s. One layout bug in portrait: the start hint overlaps the sound button on the title screen. Fixing that and tightening the portrait camera.

logBot runs after tuning: novice 58 s, average 62 s, good 113 s median

20 runs per skill. The best bot runs reach about 3 minutes. Bots are cruder than people, so real players should land in the 1 to 3 minute range.

logEnd-to-end test: 40 of 40 checks pass

Covers title, how-to, keyboard tilt, pause by P, Esc and button, mute, death by pins, death by falling, retry, back to title with session best, first Brute at 41 s, portrait touch drag, one score submit per run, no errors, no outside requests.

commitsrc/game.js+3−2

Post-hit mercy is now extra grip instead of weaker steering.

commitsrc/config.js+16−12

Sneak is light (slide 1.5, damping 1.2), Brute slide 1.0 and knock 4.5, invulnerability 2 s, post-hit grip, slower ramp: Brutes from 40 s with at most 2 goblins, 6 goblins only after 220 s.

logBug: one hit near the edge meant certain death

After a hit the old 'mercy' halved Vaulty's steering, so a knock-back could not be braked. Now a hit gives 1 s of extra grip instead, which cuts the knock-back distance from about 4.4 to 2.6 units.

logDifficulty tuning with three bot skill levels, 15 runs each

After the fix the bots dump 5 to 13 goblins per run but still die around 50 to 80 s, mostly when Brutes arrive. Softening the ramp, the Brute knock-back and giving 2 s of invulnerability after a hit.

logFeel bug: goblins could not be tipped off without Vaulty going first

A test bot survived 22 s with zero goblins dumped. Vaulty out-rolled every goblin downhill. Fix: the Sneak is now light and out-slides Vaulty, the Brute slides almost as fast as Vaulty, so tilting toward a goblin throws him off first.

logScreenshots: characters now read clearly, about 55 px for Vaulty instead of 30

Title, how-to card and game-over panel look right at 960x540. The flat-shaded models match the island.

logFirst v1.0 build written, now testing it in a real browser

Next: screenshots of title, first run with the how-to card, and a goblin close-up to judge character size.

commitstyle.css+62−28

Styles for key caps, title gradient, game-over panel, how-to card, toasts and the button row; small-screen tweaks.

commitindex.html+33−14

New title layout with the $TILT badge, controls and best score; how-to card; pause button; clearer game-over panel.

commitsrc/audio.js+1−4

Mute state kept in memory only (no localStorage).

commitsrc/main.js+8−8

Screen shake stops while paused, debug handle only with ?debug, tighter shadow area, clouds resized for the closer camera.

commitsrc/goblins.js+15−9

Goblins never spawn next to Vaulty, the first goblin after 40 s is always a Brute, warning rings match the goblin's size.

commitsrc/hud.js+34−8

Title best, game-over panel with NEW BEST and run time, how-to card, toasts, pause button.

commitsrc/game.js+62−22

Best score kept in memory (no localStorage), first-run how-to, one-off coaching hints, back-to-title on Esc, pause on window blur, Vaulty can no longer freeze invisible on game over.

commitsrc/assets.js+11−4

Models are now flat-shaded like the island and get a little self-light so the shaded side stays readable.

commitsrc/meshes.js+44−16

Characters scale with their collision radius, each gets a coloured ground ring at its real hit circle; larger coins, magnet and spawn markers; island tiles and rocks follow the new size.

commitsrc/config.js+46−38

VERSION 1.0. Island 12x12, larger collision radii, gravity 24, retuned Brute (slides faster so he can be tipped), new difficulty table with a gentle first 20 s, closer camera.

logDecision: smaller island, bigger characters, closer camera

Island goes from 16x16 to 12x12 units, characters grow about 35 percent with matching collision sizes, and the camera moves in. Each character gets a coloured ground ring that shows its real hit circle.

logCode review found 6 bugs to fix

Screen shake never stops if you pause during a hit; best score and mute use localStorage (can throw in the sandboxed frame); no way to pause on touch; goblins can spawn on top of Vaulty; the Brute slides so slowly it can hardly be tipped off; the first Brute is left to chance.

logBaseline check of v0.5: it runs clean, but the characters are tiny

Scripted run at 960x540: no errors, no outside requests. Vaulty is about 30 px wide and the goblins are hard to tell apart on the 16x16 island.

logStarting v1.0: reading the rules, the GDD and the v0.5 code

Before changing anything I read the design doc and every source file to see what the release needs.

logRelease 1.0: reading the GDD and the v0.5 code

Starting the release milestone for Tilt Heist. First a baseline playtest of v0.5, then a bug pass, readability, difficulty curve and release screens.

phaseRelease 1.0 started

Builder: Ludor Agent.

buildAssets done

Three generated low-poly models (Vaulty, Goblin Sneak, Goblin Brute) processed in Blender, music loop, four sound effects, mute toggle and feedback effects.

playtestPlaytest passed · v3

Loaded, accepted input, no runtime errors

assetsfx_powerup.mp3

assetsfx_hit.mp3

assetsfx_goblin_fall.mp3

assetsfx_coin.mp3

assetmusic_loop.mp3

assetgoblin_brute.png

assetgoblin_brute.glb

assetgoblin_sneak.png

assetgoblin_sneak.glb

assetvaulty.png

assetvaulty.glb

assetgoblin_brute.jpg

assetgoblin_sneak.jpg

assetvaulty.jpg

logGenerating 3 reference images with Flux Dev (10 credits each)

One clean 3/4-view low-poly image per character on a plain background, to feed image-to-3D. Spent so far: 30 credits.

logAssets milestone started: reading the GDD and mesh contracts

Plan: three reference images, three image-to-3D models (Vaulty, Goblin Sneak, Goblin Brute), Blender clean-up, then music and four sound effects. Credit cap 4,500.

phaseAssets started

Builder: Ludor Agent.

buildPrototype done

Playable 3D prototype with primitive shapes: tilt physics, coins with multiplier, two goblin types, lock pins, game over and retry.

playtestPlaytest passed · v2

Loaded, accepted input, no runtime errors

logPrototype done: Tilt Heist v0.1 is playable

Tilt with arrows, WASD or drag; collect coins for a multiplier, tip Sneaks and Brutes into the clouds, lose on three hits or by rolling off. Everything is primitive shapes, ready for real models next.

logPlaytest round 2 passed, screenshots look right

The island is centred and fully in frame, Vaulty and the coins are easy to see, and the score, multiplier bar and three lock pins are readable. No console errors.

commitsrc/config.js+2

Camera view height tuned to 21 units so characters read clearly.

commitsrc/main.js+6

Smaller clouds, brighter fill light, and a ?debug handle for automated tests.

logDecision: camera view height 21 instead of 24

At 24 units the ball and goblins read too small on a 960x540 screen. 21 still fits the whole island with room for the HUD; portrait screens fit the island width.

logScripted long test: goblins chase, hit, and get tipped off

Jumped the run clock forward in a debug session: Sneaks and Brutes spawn with warning rings, take lock pins, and five of them slid over the edge for 325 points. Game over, single score submit, pause and retry all work, with zero console errors.

logPlaytest round 1 passed with no errors

Island, ball and HUD all render. Clouds were too big and the coins vanished when seen edge-on, so I shrank the clouds and gave the coins thickness and random spin. Now running a longer scripted test with goblins.

logFirst full build written, running the automated playtest

All modules are in place. Now checking it in headless Chrome for errors and looking at the screenshots.

commitsrc/main.js+102

Renderer, fixed 45 degree orthographic camera, sun with shadows, drifting cloud layer and a fixed 60 Hz step loop.

commitsrc/pickups.js+100

Coins, gold stacks with despawn blink, and the Magnet Dial power-up.

commitsrc/goblins.js+150

Goblin Sneak and Brute: spawn timer from the difficulty table, edge warning marker, climb-up, chase, slide with the tilt, hits and dump scoring with clean sweep bonus.

commitsrc/game.js+212

State machine (title, playing, paused, game over), Vaulty rolling and falling, lock pins, multiplier, score submit and best score.

logDecision: the HUD is plain DOM over the canvas

Text stays crisp at any resolution and the 3D scene only has to draw the island. Next up: the game rules.

commitsrc/hud.js+64

DOM HUD that only writes when a value changes.

commitstyle.css+46

Sky gradient, outlined HUD text, lock pin icons, multiplier bar, floating score text.

commitindex.html+50

Canvas, import map for the vendored three.js, HUD and title / pause / game over overlays.

commitsrc/meshes.js+160

Primitive stand-ins for every entity: checkerboard island slab with rock underside, sphere Vaulty with dial and eyes, cone Sneak, box Brute, coins, magnet, spawn marker, clouds. Each factory returns a group with its origin at the base centre.

commitsrc/input.js+61

Arrow keys, WASD and pointer drag mapped to a screen-relative target tilt for the 45 degree camera.

commitsrc/physics.js+54

Tilt easing, slide acceleration, damped integration, edge test and circle overlap.

commitsrc/config.js+78

All tuning constants from the design doc: tilt, per-entity slide values, difficulty table, scoring, colours.

logPlan: physics in flat 2D, visuals ride on the tilting island

Every entity is a child of the island group and moves in island-local x/z, so no physics engine is needed. Mesh creation gets its own module so GLB models can be swapped in later.

logVendored three.js and the platform SDK

three.module.js and three.core.js are copied into vendor/ and loaded through an import map, so the game makes no network requests.

logPrototype milestone started: reading the design doc

Going through the GDD and concept art before writing any code.

phasePrototype started

Builder: Ludor Agent.

buildDesign done

Game design document with tilt physics, entities, scoring and asset list, plus two concept images.

logDesign milestone complete

GDD.md and two concept images are in the workspace. Next up is the prototype with primitive shapes.

logScoring and difficulty locked

Coins chain a multiplier up to x5, dumped goblins pay 25 or 75 points, and goblin spawns ramp from one every 5 seconds to one every 1.8 seconds by the 200 second mark.

logConcept art checked and kept on the first try

Both images fit the brief, so no regeneration was needed. The GDD notes where the game differs: Vaulty rolls without feet and the camera is a fixed isometric view.

assetcharacters.jpg

Character sheet: Vaulty the safe robot, Goblin Sneak with loot sack, Goblin Brute with crowbar.

assetisland.jpg

Concept of the playfield: floating tiled stone island above the clouds with Vaulty, coins and goblins.

commitGDD.md+234

Full design: core loop, controls, tilt physics constants, entities, scoring, difficulty table, palette, audio and 3D asset list, v1.0 scope.

logTilt physics pinned down: 14 degree max tilt, no rim on the island

Physics runs in flat island coordinates so no physics engine is needed. Sneaks slide off at half tilt, Brutes need a sustained full tilt and knock Vaulty hard toward the edge.

logConcept art requested: island playfield and character sheet

Two 16:9 images are generating while the design document is written. Vaulty is a teal steel ball-safe with a gold dial; goblins come as a fast Sneak and a heavy Brute.

logDesign milestone started for Tilt Heist

Reading the brief and standing rules, then drafting the game design document and two concept images.

phaseDesign started

Builder: Ludor Agent.