recordstoreguy/PLAN.md

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:

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 style + consistency test (~180 credits MAX, gated on John's approval)

3a Style test first: compile shots/t2_s3_sharkrun.json in all 4 looks (tools/promptc.py ... --all), gen each once in Veo Fast (~80 cr) with the matching FLUX ingredient still per look. John picks the look (default cel80s — the build assumes it; a different pick only swaps prompt text, zero code change). 3b then: 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 (REVISED 2026-07-19: credits EXPIRE end of July)

Veo Fast is 10 cr/clip (not 20) and John's 9,080 credits are use-it-or-lose-it. Doctrine flipped from rationing to generous: 2-3 takes per shot, Quality tier (~100cr) for ~15 hero moments, bespoke death per scene, bonus content (Misfile Dimension, alt-look remasters, Beyond Morp pilot batch, trailer shots) with the surplus; reserve burned on Quality re-shoots of the best clips by July 25. Production sheets: production/flow/TRACK1_SHOTS.md (first), one per track after.

Phase 5 (original plan, superseded)

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).