From 9a5ed2d02b482a306d0c41ed95f80b602537325e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: m3ultra <m3ultra@m3ultra.local>
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 16:39:11 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] Record Store Guy: master plan, worlds design, engine spec,
 production bible

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .gitignore     |   4 ++
 ENGINE.md      |  96 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 PLAN.md        | 123 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 WORLDS.md      | 163 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 bible/BIBLE.md |  93 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 5 files changed, 479 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .gitignore
 create mode 100644 ENGINE.md
 create mode 100644 PLAN.md
 create mode 100644 WORLDS.md
 create mode 100644 bible/BIBLE.md

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
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+++ b/.gitignore
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+engine/clips/*.mp4
+production/raw/
+.DS_Store
+*.env
diff --git a/ENGINE.md b/ENGINE.md
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+# RECORD STORE GUY engine spec — FMV QTE player
+
+Pure static web app: no build step, no framework, no server logic. One HTML file,
+one JS file, one CSS file, one JSON scene graph, a folder of mp4 clips. Must run
+from `python3 -m http.server` locally and from nginx on the games VPS unchanged.
+
+## Files
+```
+engine/
+  index.html      shell: <video>, overlay divs, HUD
+  player.js       all logic (~400 lines, vanilla ES6, no deps)
+  styles.css      arcade look: scanlines, CRT vignette, neon HUD
+  scenes.json     the scene graph (authored data, engine reads it verbatim)
+  clips/*.mp4     24fps 1280x720 h264+aac, named <scene_id>_<kind>.mp4
+```
+
+## scenes.json schema
+```jsonc
+{
+  "meta": { "title": "RECORD STORE GUY", "lives": 5, "version": 1 },
+  "start": "s01_entrance",
+  "scenes": {
+    "s01_entrance": {
+      "clip": "clips/s01_action.mp4",       // the scene's action clip
+      "death": "clips/s01_death.mp4",       // played on fail, then retry scene
+      "windows": [                           // 1..n QTE windows within the clip
+        {
+          "t": [3.2, 3.9],                  // seconds: window open..close
+          "input": "right",                 // right|left|up|down|action (action = space/enter/click)
+          "cue": true                        // show the flashing direction cue at t[0]
+        }
+      ],
+      "onSuccess": "s02_aisles",            // next scene id, or "WIN"
+      "checkpoint": false                    // true = death respawns here, not act start
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+Rules the engine enforces:
+- Input BEFORE the window opens = instant fail (Dragon's Lair rule — no button mashing).
+  Grace: inputs in the 250ms before t[0] fail; earlier inputs are ignored (idle fidget).
+- No input by t[1] = fail. Wrong direction = fail.
+- Multiple windows per clip run in sequence; all must pass.
+- On fail: swap to death clip immediately (seek 0, play), then decrement lives.
+  Lives 0 → game-over screen → attract. Otherwise retry the scene (or last checkpoint).
+- On success of last window: let action clip finish, then advance to onSuccess.
+
+## Player loop (player.js structure)
+1. **Boot**: fetch scenes.json → preload manifest.
+2. **Preloader**: two `<video>` elements, A/B swap. While A plays scene N, B preloads
+   scene N's death clip first (most likely next need), then N+1's action clip, via
+   `preload="auto"` + `load()`. Also `fetch()` + blob-URL cache for clips ≤ ~8MB to
+   guarantee gapless swap. Show % bar on boot for first 3 clips only.
+3. **Clock**: drive QTE timing off `video.currentTime` polled in `requestAnimationFrame`
+   (NOT wall-clock setTimeout — survives decode stutter/tab throttling).
+4. **Input**: keydown (arrows + space/enter) and touch (swipe quadrants + tap = action).
+   Map gamepad later (Gamepad API, d-pad + A). Ignore key auto-repeat.
+5. **Cue rendering**: at window open, flash a chunky neon arrow (direction) or ring
+   (action) center-low on screen, CSS animation ~300ms pulse. Dragon's Lair barely
+   cued; we cue by default — `cue:false` per window for hard mode later.
+6. **HUD**: lives as record icons top-left, scene name bottom-left (debug only), score
+   = scenes cleared × 1000 minus deaths × 100, arcade font.
+7. **States**: ATTRACT (loop attract.mp4 or title card + "PRESS ANY KEY", high-score
+   from localStorage) → PLAYING → DEATH → GAMEOVER → WIN (win.mp4 → credits → attract).
+8. **Debug mode** (`?debug=1`): timeline scrubber, windows drawn as colored bands on a
+   bar under the video, current input state, frame-step keys (,/.), scene jump dropdown.
+   This is how we'll tune every window against real Flow clips — build it FIRST.
+
+## Feel-tuning constants (top of player.js, tweak in one place)
+```js
+const WINDOW_DEFAULT = 0.7;   // s — default window length if authoring shorthand used
+const EARLY_GRACE   = 0.25;   // s before open where input = fail
+const DEATH_HOLD    = 0.6;    // s to hold last death frame before retry fade
+const CUE_LEAD      = 0.0;    // s to show cue before window opens (bump to 0.15 if too hard)
+```
+
+## Placeholder clips — tools/make_placeholders.sh
+Generates test clips so the whole game is playable before any Flow spend. For each
+scene in scenes.json: 5s 1280x720 clip, solid color per scene, huge scene-id text,
+and at each QTE window a white flash + 1kHz beep + arrow glyph burned in at exactly
+t[0]..t[1] (drawtext + sine + overlay enable='between(t,A,B)'). Death placeholders =
+red background + "DEATH sXX". ffmpeg one-liner per clip; script reads scenes.json
+with python3 -c json. Also make attract/gameover/win placeholders.
+Ship scenes.json with 3 authored placeholder scenes so the loop is provable end-to-end.
+
+## Post-processing real clips — tools/postprocess.sh
+`postprocess.sh <in.mp4|dir> <scene_id> <action|death>` → trim silence/dead frames
+(args for in/out points), scale/pad to 1280x720, 24fps, `-c:v libx264 -crf 20
+-pix_fmt yuv420p -movflags +faststart`, silent aac track if none (uniform streams =
+gapless swaps), output to engine/clips/ with canonical name, print duration so the
+author can set windows. Keep originals in production/raw/ untouched.
+
+## Deploy
+rsync engine/ to botchat games VPS per deploy-map skill; it's static. Cache-bust
+scenes.json + player.js with ?v= query from meta.version. Verify live by curling
+the URL and loading in browser. ship-check before public link.
diff --git a/PLAN.md b/PLAN.md
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+# RECORD STORE GUY — master execution plan
+*(title FINAL — John's executive call, 2026-07-19)*
+
+Dragon's Lair / Space Ace-style FMV QTE game: a guy in a record store surviving
+escalating, ridiculous, surreal hazards — the floor floods into a shark ocean,
+turns to lava, the roof rips off into space, the store goes full Tron. Uncharted-
+level setpiece adrenaline + Dragon's Lair wrong-move-you're-dead urgency + comedy.
+AI-generated 4–5s clips (Google Flow / Veo, John's 9000 paid credits) strung
+together by a web player demanding precisely-timed inputs. Creative design of the
+worlds/setpieces: **WORLDS.md** (read it after this file).
+
+**Division of labor (hard rule):**
+- **Google Flow (9000 credits)** = ONLY the final in-game video clips. John paid for
+  these and wants them used — but never wasted on tests that FLUX can do.
+- **MODELBEAST FLUX (`flux_local`, free, ~9s/image)** = all concept art, character
+  bible references, style frames, marketing art, and the stills we upload to Flow
+  as "ingredients" for character consistency.
+- **MODELBEAST local video ops** = optional pre-viz/animatics only, never final clips.
+
+## Environment facts (verified 2026-07-19 on m3ultra)
+- MODELBEAST queue **UP**: `http://100.89.131.57:8777` (34 operators). This machine
+  (m3ultra) IS the primary.
+- CLI: `~/Documents/MODELBEAST/mb` (stdlib-only python). Needs `MB_TOKEN` env var.
+  **Token was NOT found on m3ultra** — it lives in `~/Documents/backnforth/.env` on
+  **ultra** (per fleet skill), or create/read one via MODELBEAST web UI ⚙ Settings →
+  Users → token, or `scripts/users.py`. Read from disk; never print/commit it.
+  Example: `MB_TOKEN=$(ssh ultra@100.91.239.7 'grep MB_TOKEN ~/Documents/backnforth/.env | cut -d= -f2')` — or ask John which token to use. Guest tokens cap at 4 active jobs.
+- ffmpeg: `/opt/homebrew/bin/ffmpeg` ✅
+- Project dir created: `~/Documents/recordstoreguy/` with `bible/concept/`, `engine/clips/`, `tools/`.
+
+## Phases
+
+### Phase 1 — Engine shell with placeholder clips (zero credits)
+Build the full player before any real video exists. Placeholders prove the QTE feel.
+Spec: `ENGINE.md`. Placeholder generator: `tools/make_placeholders.sh` (ffmpeg
+test-pattern clips with big text + a visual "beep" flash at the QTE window so timing
+is testable by eye). Definition of done: playable in browser start→3 scenes→death→
+retry→win, lives counter, attract loop, debug overlay showing windows.
+
+### Phase 2 — Bible + FLUX concept art (zero credits)
+`bible/BIBLE.md` holds the verbatim STYLE/CHARACTER/SET blocks (drafted — see file).
+Generate concept art on MODELBEAST; iterate until John approves each. Commands:
+
+```sh
+cd ~/Documents/MODELBEAST
+export MB_TOKEN=...   # from disk, see above
+./mb run flux_local -p prompt="<PROMPT>" -p seed=<N> --wait --download ~/Documents/recordstoreguy/bible/concept/
+```
+
+Concept shot list (full prompts in BIBLE.md §Concept-art prompts):
+1. `hero_sheet` — Dez full-body turnaround, neutral pose, front+side
+2. `hero_face` — close-up head, 3/4 view (this becomes the Flow ingredient)
+3. `villain` — the antagonist (direction TBD with John — see Open Decisions)
+4. `store_wide` — the record store master set, wide establishing
+5. `store_backroom` — second set (stockroom / listening booth)
+6. `style_frame` — one full "this is what the game looks like" money shot
+7. `death_concept` — one comedic death (shelf of crates toppling)
+8. `title_card` — RECORD STORE GUY logo/marquee concept
+Run 3–4 seeds each, keep best. Free, so iterate hard BEFORE touching Flow.
+
+### Phase 3 — Flow consistency test (~100 credits MAX, gated on John's approval)
+In Google Flow (browser; John logs in himself — never handle his credentials):
+1. Upload approved `hero_face` + `hero_sheet` FLUX stills as **ingredients**.
+2. Generate 5 test clips, Veo Fast (~20 cr each): same character, same set block,
+   5 different one-sentence actions (walk-in, duck, grab record, get scared, run).
+3. Judge: does the face/outfit/style hold across clips? Log verdicts in
+   `production/SHOTLOG.csv`. If it holds → green-light full production. If not →
+   revise ingredients/style block with more FLUX iterations and retest (another ~100).
+
+### Phase 4 — Story + scene graph (with John — mise en scène discussion)
+Creative direction now drafted in `WORLDS.md` (premise, 7 worlds, setpieces, deaths,
+clip budget). Remaining work this phase: John iterates WORLDS.md, then:
+- `scenes.json` fully authored (schema in ENGINE.md) with per-scene prompt sheets in
+  `production/prompts/` — each sheet is the verbatim template with only the action
+  sentence and camera line filled in.
+
+### Phase 5 — Batch production in Flow (the 9000 credits)
+Budget: 9000 cr ≈ 450 Veo Fast gens. Keep-rate assumption 1-in-2.5 → ~180 usable
+clips. Target game: ~35 scenes × (1 action clip + 1 death clip) + intro + attract +
+game-over + win ≈ **80 final clips** → ~200–280 gens spent, leaving reserve for
+hero-moment quality gens (100 cr each, use sparingly: intro, final scene, best deaths).
+Discipline:
+- Work scene-by-scene from prompt sheets; NEVER freestyle a prompt in Flow.
+- Frame-chain within a scene (last frame → start frame / Flow extend) for continuity;
+  hard cuts between scenes hide the rest.
+- Log every gen in `production/SHOTLOG.csv`: `scene_id,take,credits,verdict,notes`.
+  Running credit total in the log; stop and re-plan if burn rate exceeds 2× budget line.
+- Download keepers to `production/raw/`, then `tools/postprocess.sh` (ffmpeg: trim,
+  normalize to 24fps 1280×720 h264 + aac silent/or SFX bed, name `<scene_id>_<kind>.mp4`)
+  into `engine/clips/`.
+
+### Phase 6 — Sound + deploy
+- SFX/music: needle-drop crackle bed + stingers. (m1max is the audio machine but
+  disk-critical — keep audio work local or ask John.)
+- Deploy: static site → botchat games VPS (`humanjing@100.71.119.27`, docker) next to
+  the other partly.party games, per deploy-map skill. Verify live with cache-busted curl.
+- Run ship-check skill before exposing publicly.
+
+## Decisions status
+1. **Title**: ✅ RECORD STORE GUY (final, John 2026-07-19).
+2. **Premise/worlds/tone**: ✅ surreal escalating setpiece worlds, Uncharted chaos +
+   comedy deaths — designed in WORLDS.md (John reviews/iterates the specifics).
+3. **Art style**: OPEN — plan assumes 80s hand-drawn cel (Bluth-adjacent); alt is
+   live-action FMV cheese. Style block in BIBLE.md is written for cel — decide before Phase 3.
+4. **Hero design**: OPEN — "Dez" is a placeholder design; John approves/redirects at
+   concept-art review.
+5. **Villain**: recommended **The Dead Wax** (fits WORLDS.md arc) — confirm with John.
+
+## File map
+```
+recordstoreguy/
+  PLAN.md            ← this file (master; Opus starts here)
+  WORLDS.md          ← creative design: premise, 7 worlds, setpieces, QTEs, deaths, clip budget
+  ENGINE.md          ← full engine spec (schema, player loop, QTE rules, placeholder script spec)
+  bible/BIBLE.md     ← style/character/set blocks, prompt grammar, concept-art prompts, Flow workflow
+  bible/concept/     ← FLUX outputs land here
+  engine/            ← index.html, player.js, styles.css, scenes.json, clips/
+  tools/             ← make_placeholders.sh, postprocess.sh
+  production/        ← (Phase 4+) prompts/, raw/, SHOTLOG.csv
+```
+Git: repo lives at `~/Documents/recordstoreguy`, remote already configured:
+`origin ssh://git@100.71.119.27:222/monster/recordstoreguy.git` (Gitea). Never commit
+tokens; engine/clips + production/raw are gitignored (video bulk stays out of git).
diff --git a/WORLDS.md b/WORLDS.md
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+# RECORD STORE GUY — worlds & setpiece design (v1 draft for John's review)
+
+Tone target: **Uncharted setpiece adrenaline × Dragon's Lair urgency × Looney Tunes
+comedy.** Everything is always collapsing, flooding, erupting, or chasing the guy
+toward camera, and every wrong/late input is an instant, funny, held-tableau death.
+Because every clip is generated to exact spec, there is zero cost difference between
+"guy trips over a crate" and "the ocean is a spinning turntable whirlpool with a
+needle arm crashing down" — so we ALWAYS pick the wilder shot.
+
+## Premise (one screen, shown as the intro clip)
+Closing time, night shift. The guy finds an unlabeled record in the returns bin,
+shrugs, drops the needle. The run-out groove bleeds black liquid vinyl — **the Dead
+Wax** — and the store starts *playing* him: each "track" warps the shop into a new
+hostile world. Survive all seven tracks, reach the turntable, and lift the tonearm
+at the exact right beat to end it.
+
+Structure = a record: **7 worlds = 7 tracks**, side A (1–3) escalates the store, side
+B (4–6) leaves reality entirely, track 7 is the boss. Between worlds: a 2s "needle
+skip" transition clip (screen judders like a skipping record) — hides all continuity
+drift and became our scene-change idiom for free.
+
+## The worlds
+
+### Track 1 — CLOSING TIME (tutorial; the shop turns hostile)
+Set block: BIBLE SET-A (store floor, night, neon).
+Scenes (~4): shelf avalanche dodge (←), giant rolling 12" chases him down the aisle
+Indiana-Jones-boulder style (sprint, ↑ to vault the counter), cassette-tape tentacles
+burst from the bargain bin and whip at his ankles (jump →), ceiling fan rips loose
+and helicopters at head height (duck ↓).
+Deaths: flattened under crate avalanche, sneakers-and-thumbs-up tableau · steamrolled
+into a groove-embossed pancake by the rolling 12" · mummified in brown cassette tape,
+eyes blinking.
+
+### Track 2 — SIDE A / SEA (the flood)
+Set block v1: > the record store flooded into an open ocean at night, aisles of
+> wooden record racks bobbing like rafts on rolling waves, neon store signs glowing
+> underwater, spray and foam, no walls, horizon of black water under a starless sky.
+Scenes (~5): floor liquefies, scramble onto a floating rack (↑) · rack-to-rack jumps
+across swells, timed to the wave peaks (→,→) · **shark run**: fins circle — the fins
+are records — sharks with vinyl dorsal fins lunge as he crosses a chain of half-
+sunk crates (←,↑) · whirlpool: the whole ocean starts SPINNING like a platter, a
+skyscraper-sized tonearm swings down, ride the outer groove-current and leap the
+needle as it plows past (action) · escape: surf a floating gatefold sleeve down a
+wave toward the stockroom door (→, action).
+Deaths: swallowed whole, camera holds on the shark burping out headphones · sucked
+down the spindle-hole at the whirlpool's center like a draining tub, glug ·
+mistimed jump, faceplants a rack that tips him in with theatrical slow topple.
+
+### Track 3 — HOT WAX (lava)
+Set block v1: > the record store as a volcanic cavern, floor of glowing molten
+> orange vinyl, record crates floating like obsidian rafts, dripping melted records
+> hanging from shelves like stalactites, ember flecks in the air, red-black palette.
+Scenes (~4): hop the crate stepping-stones as they sink one beat after landing
+(→,→,↑ rhythm section — this is the "musical" QTE scene) · melted-record stalactite
+drips a lava blob — sidestep (←) · **sleeve-dactyls**: gatefold album covers flap off
+the walls like pterodactyls and dive-bomb (duck ↓, then action to swat one with a
+crate lid) · geyser finale: molten wax geysers erupt in sequence down the aisle,
+run the gauntlet toward camera, Uncharted-style collapse escape (↑,→, action).
+Deaths: sinks slowly into molten vinyl giving a solemn Terminator thumbs-up ·
+snatched by a sleeve-dactyl, exits screen-right screaming, feather (single record)
+floats down · one beat late on a geyser — launched skyward, lands as a freshly
+pressed 7" with his face as the label.
+
+### Track 4 — B-SIDE / SPACE (roof rips off)
+Set block v1: > the record store torn open to deep space, shelving units drifting
+> in zero gravity trailing debris fields of floating records, Earth tiny below,
+> nebula light in purple and teal, the guy in a fishbowl bubble helmet formed from
+> his headphones' glow, silent starfield.
+Scenes (~5): decompression — grab a shelf as everything goes weightless (action) ·
+zero-g leaps between drifting racks, momentum only, one chance per push (→,↑) ·
+asteroid field of tumbling records — weave (←,→,←) · **the black hole spindle**: a
+spindle-shaped singularity starts pulling the whole debris field into orbit —
+slingshot around it Interstellar-style by kicking off a passing Marantz amplifier
+(action at perihelion, the hardest window in the game) · re-entry: ride a flaming
+record like a heat-shield surfboard back down through the atmosphere (hold ↓, then
+action to bail into the store's chimney).
+Deaths: drifts away slowly, tiny, waving politely forever · spaghettified into a
+long thin groove around the spindle singularity · re-entry mistimed — arrives as a
+smoking crater in the checkerboard floor, hand emerges holding the record, unharmed.
+
+### Track 5 — THE GRID (sucked into the hi-fi — Tron world)
+Set block v1: > inside a computerized hi-fi system rendered as a neon wireframe
+> world, glowing cyan and magenta grid floor like a giant equalizer, towers of
+> circuit-board skyscrapers, records rendered as glowing light-discs, black sky
+> with scrolling waveform aurora, the guy outlined in neon piping.
+Scenes (~5): equalizer floor — the grid tiles are EQ bars pumping to the bass, cross
+during the quiet bars (→ on the beat, ✕2) · **light-disc battle**: Dead Wax security
+programs (faceless neon figures) fling light-discs — deflect (←), catch (action),
+throw back (→): first real "combat" volley of the game, 3-input chain · derezz
+tunnel: a wall of static deletion sweeps the corridor, outrun it toward camera (↑,↑)
+· hack the gate: giant spinning platter-lock, hit the action input when the groove
+gap aligns (action) · escape on a light-cycle that is obviously a Technics 1200
+with wheels (hold →, then ↑ off the ramp).
+Deaths: derezzes into pixels that reform as a sad 8-bit sprite of himself, bloop ·
+takes a light-disc to the chest, freezes, falls over rigid like a mannequin, clang ·
+light-cycle wipeout — respawns momentarily as a screensaver bouncing between screen
+edges.
+(Tron-adjacent styling note: neon-grid aesthetic is fine; avoid literal TRON
+trade-dress terms in prompts — our version is "inside a hi-fi", discs are records.)
+
+### Track 6 — THE RUN-OUT (inside the groove — the Dead Wax's home)
+Set block v1: > a surreal endless landscape inside a record's run-out groove, black
+> glossy vinyl canyons with concentric ridge walls curving to the horizon, a distant
+> impossibly huge chrome needle plowing the groove like a ship's prow, dust motes
+> the size of boulders, single spotlight sun, oppressive silence.
+Scenes (~4): canyon sprint as THE NEEDLE plows up the groove behind him, monolith-
+sized, throwing a bow-wave of shredded vinyl (↑, →, ↑ escalating chase — the
+scariest sequence, minimal comedy, earn the finale) · boulder-dust storm — shelter
+in a scratch crevice at the right instant (↓) · groove-wall ridge-run: the walls
+ripple with the music, ride a ripple crest up and over into the next groove (→ at
+the crest) · the label: reach the paper label — a vast circular plain — as black
+tendrils erupt from the spindle hole ahead (final approach, action).
+Deaths: the needle catches him — screen-filling white scratch-noise flash, then he's
+a click in the groove forever (the one genuinely eerie death; earn it) · buried by a
+dust boulder, pops out coughing a 78rpm shellac · mistimes the ridge-run and is
+flung into the next groove over, has to watch himself rerun the same scene (meta gag).
+
+### Track 7 — THE DEAD WAX (boss)
+Set block v1: > the record store restored but wrong, bathed in black glossy liquid
+> vinyl dripping upward, the Dead Wax towering as a shifting mass of molten records
+> and tonearm limbs over the sacred glowing turntable altar at the listening booth.
+Structure — three QTE volleys, Dragon's Lair final-dragon style:
+1. **Tendril storm**: dodge chain ←,↓,→ as vinyl tendrils smash the floor.
+2. **The remix**: the Dead Wax replays hazards from every world in 1s flashes (shark!
+   geyser! disc! needle!) — 4-input rapid chain, one per callback. Victory-lap scene
+   that reuses the audience's training.
+3. **The needle drop**: the guy leaps onto the spinning platter, runs against its
+   rotation in place toward the tonearm, and must LIFT THE NEEDLE on the exact final
+   beat of the music (action, tightest window in the game, 0.4s).
+Win clip: needle lifts → the Dead Wax deflates into an ordinary record with a
+"PROMO — NOT FOR SALE" sticker → dawn light, store normal, he sleeves the record,
+files it under "Misc", sips cold coffee. Stinger after credits: the store cat paws
+the record back out of the bin. RECORD STORE GUY WILL RETURN.
+Boss deaths: pressed between two giant platters into a limited-edition picture disc
+of his own face · the remix callbacks get him in whichever way he failed most (if
+engine tracks death stats, pick that clip — cheap personalization, huge laugh).
+
+## Death design rules (the comedy engine)
+- Wile E. Coyote physics: instant, absurd, painless-looking, held tableau for
+  DEATH_HOLD, hero always intact on retry. Never gore.
+- Every death is a *punchline to the specific mistake* — late jump gets a different
+  death than wrong direction where the budget allows.
+- Budget trick: each world gets ONE generic world-death (splash/sink/derezz) shared
+  across its scenes + scene-specific deaths only for the setpiece scenes. Dragon's
+  Lair reused deaths constantly; nobody minded.
+
+## Clip budget vs the 9000 credits
+| Bucket | clips | gens @1-in-2.5 keep | credits (Fast=20) |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Action scenes: 31 (4+5+4+5+5+4+4 incl. boss volleys) | 31 | ~78 | ~1560 |
+| Deaths: 7 world-generic + ~14 scene-specific | 21 | ~53 | ~1060 |
+| Needle-skip transitions (1 per world, reused) | 7 | ~14 | ~280 |
+| Intro, win, stinger, attract, game-over | 5 | ~15 | ~300 |
+| Quality-tier re-shoots of ~8 hero moments (@100) | — | ~12 | ~1200 |
+| **Total** | **~64** | | **~4400** |
+Leaves ~4600 credits of contingency — enough to survive a 1-in-4 keep rate or add
+a whole bonus world (John will have ideas). Discipline rules in PLAN.md Phase 5 apply.
+
+## QTE difficulty curve
+Track 1 windows 0.9s single inputs → mid-game 0.7s with 2–3 chains → Track 6 chase
+0.6s → boss finale 0.4s. Checkpoint at the start of each track (checkpoint:true),
+5 lives, so a run is tense but finishable — Dragon's Lair quarter-munching cruelty
+is the vibe, not the economics.
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+# RECORD STORE GUY — production bible (v0 draft, pending John's art review)
+
+The whole consistency strategy: **nothing is ever prompted freestyle.** Every image
+(FLUX) and every clip (Flow/Veo) is assembled from the verbatim blocks below plus
+ONE shot-specific action sentence and ONE camera line. Blocks are copy-pasted
+character-for-character. Edit a block → bump its version and regenerate the
+ingredient stills before generating any more clips with it.
+
+## STYLE BLOCK v1 (verbatim in every prompt, FLUX and Flow)
+> 1980s hand-drawn cel animation, theatrical animated feature quality, thick
+> confident ink outlines, rich painterly gouache backgrounds, dramatic colored
+> rim lighting, saturated jewel-tone palette with deep shadows, subtle film grain,
+> 2D animation cel look, no photorealism, no 3D render, no CGI.
+
+(If John flips to live-action FMV cheese, replace with: "early 1990s live-action
+full-motion-video game footage, shot on Betacam, slightly soft, practical neon
+lighting, theatrical overacting" — and regenerate everything. Decide BEFORE Phase 3.)
+
+## HERO BLOCK v1 — "Dez" (placeholder design, John approves at concept review)
+> Dez, a lanky 20-something record store clerk with a tall messy black quiff,
+> olive skin, thick eyebrows, wearing an open red flannel shirt over a faded black
+> band t-shirt, rolled dark jeans, scuffed white hi-top sneakers, oversized silver
+> headphones worn around the neck, expressive rubber-limbed animation acting.
+
+Notes: silhouette-first design (quiff + flannel + neck headphones reads at any
+size/angle — that's what survives gen drift). Keep clothing colors primary and few.
+
+## VILLAIN candidates (pick one with John, then write VILLAIN BLOCK v1)
+1. **The Dead Wax** — an entity living in run-out grooves; black liquid vinyl that
+   drips out of records and takes shapes. Great for varied deaths, easy consistency
+   (it's a black glossy mass — gen drift can't hurt it). *(recommended)*
+2. **Mildred** — possessed store cat, eyes like spinning 45 adapters.
+3. **The Audiophile** — tyrannical ghost of the store's founder, cable-tentacles,
+   tube-amp glow chest.
+
+## SET BLOCKS v1
+**SET-A store floor:** > inside a cluttered independent record store at night, rows
+> of wooden crates packed with vinyl records, walls covered in gig posters and
+> album sleeves, a buzzing neon sign glowing red and cyan, dusty air, single
+> flickering fluorescent tube, checkerboard floor.
+
+**SET-B backroom:** > the record store stockroom, floor-to-ceiling industrial
+> shelving stacked with record boxes, a single hanging bulb, a service hatch,
+> cobwebs, teetering towers of 7-inch singles.
+
+**SET-C listening booth:** > a vintage wood-paneled listening booth with a glowing
+> turntable console, padded walls, a porthole window, warm amber light.
+
+(3 sets is enough for a full gauntlet — Dragon's Lair reused rooms shamelessly.
+Add SET-D "the groove" (surreal inside-the-record void, black glossy landscape,
+concentric ridges to the horizon) if we pick villain #1.)
+
+## PROMPT GRAMMAR
+**FLUX still:** `[STYLE] [HERO or VILLAIN] [SET] [pose/expression sentence] [framing line]`
+**Flow clip:** `[STYLE] [HERO] [VILLAIN if present] [SET] [ACTION: one sentence, one
+verb chain, ≤25 words] [CAMERA: one line, e.g. "static wide shot" / "slow push-in"]`
+Rules:
+- ONE action per clip. Veo garbles compound choreography. A scene needing two beats
+  = two clips frame-chained.
+- Name the character every time ("Dez ducks…" never "he ducks…").
+- Camera: default static or slow push — wild moves amplify drift.
+- Deaths end on a held comedic tableau (readable freeze for DEATH_HOLD).
+- Negative/avoid line on every gen: "no text, no captions, no watermark, no extra
+  people, no photorealism."
+
+## FLOW WORKFLOW (Phase 3+; John drives the browser/login, never Claude with credentials)
+1. Ingredients: upload approved FLUX `hero_face` + `hero_sheet` (+ villain still).
+   Every clip gen uses ingredients-to-video referencing them.
+2. Veo Fast (~20 cr) for all takes; quality (~100 cr) reserved for intro/win/hero deaths.
+3. Within-scene continuity: Flow "extend" / last-frame→first-frame chaining.
+   Between scenes: hard cuts (hide drift; it's the Dragon's Lair idiom anyway).
+4. 16:9, and trim in post — never re-gen to fix length (postprocess.sh trims free).
+5. Log EVERY gen in production/SHOTLOG.csv before the next gen:
+   `date,scene_id,take,mode,credits,verdict(keep/reject),drift_notes`.
+
+## CONCEPT-ART PROMPTS (Phase 2, MODELBEAST flux_local, free — iterate hard)
+Compose per grammar above. Shot list + specific final sentences:
+1. `hero_sheet`: "character model sheet, full body turnaround, front view and side
+   view, neutral standing pose, plain warm gray background" *(omit SET)*
+2. `hero_face`: "close-up head and shoulders portrait, three-quarter view, confident
+   smirk, plain warm gray background" *(omit SET — this is the prime Flow ingredient)*
+3. `villain`: per chosen candidate + "emerging menacingly, full figure, dramatic low angle"
+4. `store_wide`: STYLE + SET-A + "wide establishing shot, empty of people, moody" *(omit HERO)*
+5. `store_backroom`: STYLE + SET-B same treatment
+6. `style_frame`: full grammar, SET-A, "Dez frozen mid-leap over a toppling crate of
+   records as black vinyl tendrils snatch at his ankles, dramatic wide shot" — the money shot
+7. `death_concept`: SET-A, "Dez flattened under an avalanche of record crates, only
+   sneakers and one hand visible giving a weak thumbs-up, comedic tableau"
+8. `title_card`: "vintage 1983 arcade cabinet marquee art with the title RECORD STORE GUY in
+   chrome airbrushed lettering over a black vinyl record dripping like liquid" *(text
+   WILL come out mangled — it's concept only; real logo gets drawn/typeset later)*
+Run seeds 1–4 per shot (`-p seed=N`), pick best, file as
+`bible/concept/<shot>_v1_s<seed>.png`. John reviews before anything touches Flow.