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First /snapshot: seeds persistent-memory.md (+ one detail file for the freeze-meter variant decision), amends CLAUDE.md with the persistent- memory pointer section.
2.9 KiB
2026-08-07 — Freeze charge meter adopted as the card-time playtest variant
Status: playtest variant, NOT canon. Ratification into the advisor
repo's CONCEPT.md is deferred until the operator's falsification-playtest
verdict — tracked at commit 73f84e7 (whose message records the pending
state) and the advisor repo's CONCEPT.md § Open questions #0 (the greybox
work tracker).
The mechanic
A "Freeze" charge (meter) grows while the hand is closed, drains while open. Its level maps to bands, best to worst:
- FROZEN (level ≥ 45%): true pause (
SceneTree.paused). - THAW (≥ 18%): slow-mo ramping back to full speed as it drains, on
an acceleration curve (
thaw_curve2.2 — hangs slow, then rushes). - REALTIME (≥ 10%): hand open, world at full speed.
- UNAVAILABLE (below): the hand will not open at all; a drained-open hand force-closes.
Opening with a full meter buys the whole ladder (~1.65s freeze → ~0.8s
thaw → ~0.5s realtime at defaults: cap 3.0s, drain 1.0/s, regen 0.4/s).
Closing the hand spools time back up over release_thaw_s (0.5s) instead
of snapping. All rates/bands are @export knobs; M flips live to the
original unlimited-toggle variant for A/B.
Why (KB-grounded pressure test, 2026-08-07)
- Kills a latent dominant strategy: unlimited freeze made "open the hand as a free tactical pause" always-optimal (Schell: rework rules so a dominant strategy stops being dominant; aligns with CONCEPT.md's anti-dominant-strategy posture). The empty-meter lockout also closes the Space-spam refreeze exploit found during the pressure test.
- Tension cycle: freeze→thaw→realtime is Schell's rising-tension-then-release loop in miniature, inside every hand-open.
- Temporal triangularity: play one card early (safe) vs chain deeper into the thaw (greedy) — stacks with belt-depth pricing post-greybox.
- Difficulty/accessibility axis: meter size / regen / thaw length are one-scalar difficulty knobs that never touch enemy content — can't collide with the invincibility laws. Generous-to-infinite freeze is the accessibility floor.
- Honesty note: the KB surfaced nothing directly on decision timers / time pressure (retrieval miss) — grounding is flow/tension/triangularity/ dominant-strategy material, adjacent but not a direct verdict.
Canon tension to watch in playtest
"Attention is spent ON cards, not during them" (pillar 1, gentlest action skill): a tight freeze window would turn the hand into a reflex test. The generous default + continuous thaw (never a cliff) is the mitigation; the ramp prices dithering and deep chains, not basic use.
Evidence chain
Pressure test + operator "A for now" directive: session 2026-08-07.
Implementation: 73f84e7 (meter + bands), 3d2410c (release ramp +
thaw curve). Operator early verdict: "that DOES feel very good", "ramp
feels good too… starting to feel game-like".