Temple of Lüm - Playable Demo Prototype

1. Overall Project Goal

To develop Temple of Lüm, a recursive, mythopoetic 8-bit RPG where reflection replaces combat, integration is progression, and narrative emerges from player interaction within a symbolically resonant world.

2. Immediate Focus: Playable Demo

The current priority is to create a minimal playable HTML/CSS/JavaScript prototype that proves the core interaction loop. This demo aims to illustrate the central theme of mentalism (perspective and intention shaping reality) non-verbally.

3. Core Demo Architecture: "Miroglyph Lens & Glyphic Resonance"

The demo revolves around the player influencing a central Resonant Schematic (represented as a "Resonant Crystal") through their chosen Perspective (Arc) and Intent (Glyph).

• Essences: The Resonant Crystal's state is defined by two core Essences, operating on a 0.0 to 1.0 scale (with a conceptual neutral baseline around 0.5):
  • NodePotential (P): Represents energy, activity, and radiance.
  • NodeSymmetry (S): Represents order, stability, and form perfection.
• Player Perspective (The Arcs): The player selects one of three Arcs, which fundamentally alters the rules of interaction and the perceived environment. The Arcs are:
  • Dissonance (D): Thematic of fracture, instability, distortion, corruption, unresolved potential, and entropy.
  • Resonance (R): Thematic of direct reflection, attunement, clarity, holding paradox, and being the bridge between extremes.
  • Coherence (C): Thematic of unification, connection, harmony, emergent order, ideal states, and stability.
• Player Intent (The Glyphs): The player selects one of six Glyphs via a rotatable "Glyph Compass," representing their intent:
  • Dyajin (⚪⚫): Polarity / Crisis. General Effect: Increases tension, initiates breakdown or rupture.
  • Signalum (🔺): Signal / Potential. General Effect: Reveals hidden paths, draws attention, unlocks echoes.
  • Reflexion (◎): Memory / Mirror. General Effect: Triggers past echoes, alters past-linked dialogue. (Icon updated)
  • Synthru (🌀): Structure / Union. General Effect: Causes harmony, synchronizes systems and objects.
  • Aelion (✨): Clarity / Harmony. General Effect: Temporarily resolves dissonance, evokes beauty or silence.
  • Vireon (🪓): Disruption / Change. General Effect: Breaks patterns gently, allows transformation or glitch.
• Core Interaction Loop: The player's chosen Arc + Glyph combination directly impacts the baseNodePotential and baseNodeSymmetry of the Resonant Crystal. This change should be persistent until another interaction occurs.

4. Detailed Interaction Logic (Numerical System)

• Base Values: baseNodePotential and baseNodeSymmetry store the crystal's state after a Glyph interaction.
• Glyph Deltas per Arc: Each Arc has a unique table defining the pDelta (change in Potential) and sDelta (change in Symmetry) for each of the 6 Glyphs. These deltas are designed to be significant enough to create a lasting change in the baseNode values.
  • Resonance: Deltas reflect a balanced, direct impact of the Glyph.
  • Dissonance: Deltas generally aim to destabilize, corrupt, or induce negative states.
  • Coherence: Deltas generally aim to stabilize, enhance, or guide towards ideal states.
• Arc-Specific General Tendencies: Applied gently after the main Glyph deltas to the baseNode values:
  • Dissonance: Includes a subtle push of base values away from the 0.5 midpoint if they get too close, promoting further instability.
  • Coherence: Includes a subtle pull of base values towards an "ideal" state (e.g., P ~0.82, S ~0.96).
• Clamping: All Essence values are clamped between 0.0 and 1.0.

5. "Liveness" System for Essences ("Breath")

• Current Values: currentNodePotential and currentNodeSymmetry are derived from their respective baseNode values plus a continuous "Breath" offset. These currentNode values drive the moment-to-moment visual feedback.
• Breath Mechanism: Uses sine waves with a defined BASE_BREATH_AMPLITUDE and BREATH_PERIOD_SECONDS. Constants like Pi (π) are used for periodicity, and random phase offsets (potentially influenced by Phi (Φ) in a full implementation) ensure organic variation.
• Arc-Modulated Breath: The active Arc influences the "Breath":
  • Resonance: Moderate, stable breath. Features a distinct "humming" effect (e.g., rapid oscillation of glow or subtle, high-frequency vibration).
  • Dissonance: Larger amplitude, more erratic breath (e.g., additional random jitter).
  • Coherence: Smaller amplitude, calmer, more stable breath.
• Repulsion from Extremes: A dynamic force gently pushes baseNode values away from 0.0 and 1.0 if they get too close.

6. Prototype Implementation Details

• Technology: HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
• Scene: "INIT CHAMBER" test room.
• Layout: Side-by-side (Game Window on one side, Controls on the other for easier testing).
• Game Window Elements:
  • Resonant Crystal (central interactive element).
  • Movable Player Model (WASD controls, restricted to floor).
  • Floor and Wall tiles.
• Controls:
  • Arc Selector: Linear display of current Arc abbreviation ("D", "R", "C") with "Left" (‹) and "Right" (›) buttons. Navigation does not cycle at ends.
  • Glyph Compass: A visual compass containing the 6 Glyph symbols. "Rotate Left" (⟲) and "Rotate Right" (⟳) buttons are on either side of a central display showing the active Glyph's symbol. The compass visually rotates continuously, and the Glyph at the 12 o'clock position is the active selection.

7. Feedback Design Implemented & Goals

• Arc Shifts (Visual & Environmental):
  • Game window background color changes distinctly for each Arc.
  • Floor and Wall tile patterns/animations change to reflect the Arc's theme (Dissonance: fractured/glitching; Resonance: stable; Coherence: ordered/glowing).
  • The crystal's base visual characteristics (e.g., its default scale, opacity, and stability profile for jitter/skew/rotation) are set upon Arc selection. Coherence aims for an enlarged, firm presence. Resonance for a neutral, humming presence. Dissonance for an unstable presence.
• Essence Interactions (Crystal Visuals - Universal Approach):
  • Glyph Shape: The crystal's fundamental geometric form is determined by the activeGlyph (Tetrahedron, Octahedron, Sphere, Cube, Dodecahedron, Icosahedron) using clip-path or border-radius: 50%.
  • Outline: A universal outline system (e.g., using SVG filters or a very robust box-shadow technique) needs to reliably display an outline that conforms to all shapes. This outline's thickness, color, and integrity (solid vs. broken/glitchy) should be dynamically driven by currentNodeSymmetry.
  • Potential (currentNodePotential): Affects the crystal's scale (relative to Arc's base scale), background color (HSL), glow (spread/opacity), and overall opacity.
  • Symmetry (currentNodeSymmetry): Affects the outline quality, the "perfection" or "distortion" of the current Glyph-defined shape (e.g., via jitter, skew), and the character of its rotation (stability, speed).
• Glyph Flair: A brief, unique CSS animation on the crystal upon Glyph selection provides immediate feedback for the chosen intent.

8. Current Key Challenges & Immediate Next Focus (for HTML Prototype)

1. Achieving Lasting & Noticeable Glyph Impact:
   • Current Issue: While Glyphs trigger an initial flair and are intended to change the baseNode values, these changes are not consistently translating into significant and persistent alterations of the crystal's visual state. The crystal may still feel like it too quickly settles into a generic Arc-defined behavior, with insufficient visual differentiation based on the last chosen Glyph.
   • Goal: Each Glyph interaction must noticeably shift baseNodePotential and baseNodeSymmetry to a new, stable "resting zone." The crystal's continuous appearance (driven by currentNodePotential and currentNodeSymmetry breathing around these base values) needs to clearly and lastingly reflect this Glyph-influenced state. The balance between the Glyph's direct impact and the Arc's ambient tendencies needs refinement.
2. Perfecting Crystal Outlines (Universally & Dynamically):
   • Current Issue: The previously attempted box-shadow outlines (in the user's v18/my v19) were not fully reliable for all polygon shapes. Subsequent attempts may have lost this functionality.
   • Goal: Re-implement a robust and universal outline system (e.g., correctly functioning SVG filter as was planned, or a well-tested box-shadow technique) that clearly shows the crystal's current Glyph-defined form. This outline's visual properties (thickness, color, solid vs. broken/glitchy) must be dynamically and sensitively driven by currentNodeSymmetry.
3. Refining Crystal's Dynamic Visual Response to Essences:
   • Current Issue: The visual translation of currentNodePotential and currentNodeSymmetry into the crystal's appearance (scale, color, glow, shape stability, rotation) may still lack the desired sensitivity or range to make subtle Essence changes clearly perceptible.
   • Goal: Fine-tune the mapping functions in updateEssenceDisplays to ensure that the full 0.0-1.0 range of both Essences produces a wide, expressive, and easily readable spectrum of visual changes in the crystal, consistent across all its forms and under all Arcs.

9. How to Run the Prototype

Open the init_chamber_prototype.html file (latest working version, e.g., "v18" as per user's revert, which corresponds to my v19 codebase) in a modern web browser.

10. Key Design Inspirations (Mentioned during development)

• Original Handoff Summary (Overall Lüm concepts)
• Design Language Overlay (Glyph definitions, aesthetic systems like Weirdcore, Dreamcore)
• Miroglyph Narrative Device (Rich thematic descriptions for Arcs and their stages)
• Breath & Heartbeat System (BHS) (Inspiration for "liveness," layered rhythms, presence)
• User's Python Scripts (synergy_engine.py, node.py) (Inspiration for dynamic systems, iterative feedback, seed values)