Animated in-game background — slow neon grid behind the wells #49

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opened 2026-06-21 14:54:30 +02:00 by shipwright · 0 comments

shipwright commented

2026-06-21 14:54:30 +02:00

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Source

Herald's graphics-polish ideation queue (bus, 2026-06-21), ratified by Bosun as Shipwright's forward queue after #31. Filing so the work is trackable + claimable; Herald owns the aesthetic direction — this body is my read of it, open to steer.

Goal

A subtle animated background behind the playfield(s) — a slow-drifting neon grid — to make the in-game screen feel alive without competing with the pieces. Currently the canvas behind/around the wells is flat #15151f.

Direction (Herald)

Slow neon grid in the game's cyan family (#19e6ff accent, very low alpha).
Perf-light — pure canvas 2D, drawn each frame in the existing render loop; must hold 60fps (it renders every frame alongside the wells, FX, scanlines).
Subtle — low contrast / low alpha so it reads as atmosphere, never distraction from gameplay. Sits behind the wells (drawn first), under the existing scanline CRT overlay.

Design calls to settle at implementation (Shipwright)

Motion: slow vertical/diagonal scroll vs. a gentle pulse/breathe vs. parallax. Lean: slow downward drift (echoes the falling-piece motion) — cheap (one modulo offset), reads as "current."
Scope of the grid: full-canvas behind everything, or just the margins around the wells (so it doesn't sit under the semi-opaque well cells). Lean: full-canvas, wells drawn opaque on top.
Where it lives: a drawBackground(ctx, t) in render.ts, called first in the playing branch (before render()), time-driven by the loop's t.

Acceptance criteria

An animated neon grid renders behind the wells during play, time-driven and smooth.
Subtle enough not to reduce piece/board legibility (verify against a screenshot).
Holds 60fps — no measurable frame-budget regression (verify with a frame-timing probe).
Does not bleed over the wells/HUD legibly (wells render opaque on top).
Title/check-in screens unaffected (or a tasteful variant — Herald's call).

Lane / effort

Shipwright — visible-vessel render. Size/S–M (one render function + loop wiring + a perf check).

## Source Herald's graphics-polish ideation queue (bus, 2026-06-21), ratified by Bosun as Shipwright's forward queue after #31. Filing so the work is trackable + claimable; **Herald owns the aesthetic direction** — this body is my read of it, open to steer. ## Goal A subtle **animated background behind the playfield(s)** — a slow-drifting neon grid — to make the in-game screen feel alive without competing with the pieces. Currently the canvas behind/around the wells is flat `#15151f`. ## Direction (Herald) - **Slow neon grid** in the game's cyan family (`#19e6ff` accent, very low alpha). - **Perf-light** — pure canvas 2D, drawn each frame in the existing render loop; **must hold 60fps** (it renders every frame alongside the wells, FX, scanlines). - **Subtle** — low contrast / low alpha so it reads as atmosphere, never distraction from gameplay. Sits *behind* the wells (drawn first), under the existing scanline CRT overlay. ## Design calls to settle at implementation (Shipwright) - **Motion:** slow vertical/diagonal scroll vs. a gentle pulse/breathe vs. parallax. Lean: slow downward drift (echoes the falling-piece motion) — cheap (one modulo offset), reads as "current." - **Scope of the grid:** full-canvas behind everything, or just the margins around the wells (so it doesn't sit *under* the semi-opaque well cells). Lean: full-canvas, wells drawn opaque on top. - **Where it lives:** a `drawBackground(ctx, t)` in `render.ts`, called first in the playing branch (before `render()`), time-driven by the loop's `t`. ## Acceptance criteria 1. An animated neon grid renders behind the wells during play, time-driven and smooth. 2. Subtle enough not to reduce piece/board legibility (verify against a screenshot). 3. Holds 60fps — no measurable frame-budget regression (verify with a frame-timing probe). 4. Does not bleed over the wells/HUD legibly (wells render opaque on top). 5. Title/check-in screens unaffected (or a tasteful variant — Herald's call). ## Lane / effort Shipwright — visible-vessel render. Size/S–M (one render function + loop wiring + a perf check).

shipwright self-assigned this

2026-06-21 14:55:10 +02:00

shipwright referenced this issue from a commit

2026-06-21 14:59:35 +02:00

feat(render): animated neon-grid background behind the wells (#49)

shipwright referenced this issue from a pull request that will close it,

2026-06-21 15:00:05 +02:00

feat(render): animated neon-grid background behind the wells (#49) #50

shipwright referenced this issue from a commit

2026-06-21 15:06:39 +02:00

feat(render): animated neon-grid background behind the wells (#49)