The bench learns to host the living: two player slots for run-cycle tuning

Oliver: "add a normal player male and female to the hidden bench and let it
run there." The fam walk (up/down) now runs two slots past ZFAMS — PLAYER
MALE and PLAYER FEMALE. In a living slot the racket zombie steps outside the
frame, G.hideO lifts (splatter set it when the match turned), and the real O
runs the walk stop's own back-and-forth at the classic CPU's speed class, so
the cadence on the bench is the cadence the game plays. SK() reads the slot
for the _f suffix, so both tours review without touching the picked tour.
The HUD swaps the wound readout for the tuning one: runHz and aiSpeed, the
dials a live session turns through T.TUNE. T also gains a keyPressed alias.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

index.html

@@ -494,6 +494,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=246"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=247"></script>
 </body>
 </html>

src/beats.js

@@ -199,6 +199,8 @@ export function endBench() {
 // wound stage — the bench must ask the same question the game asks or it is testing something else.
 function benchApply() {
   const zb = zombies.find(z => z.variant === 'r'); if (!zb) return;
+  // the two slots past ZFAMS are the LIVING opponents; render's SK() reads b.char for the suffix
+  G.bench.char = G.bench.fam >= ZFAMS.length ? (G.bench.fam - ZFAMS.length ? 'of' : 'o') : null;
   zb.hpMax = BENCH_HP;
   zb.hp = Math.max(1, Math.round(BENCH_HP * [1, 0.5, 0.2][G.bench.stage]));
   // ...and the named states take the wound stage with them: z_r<suffix> at full health,
@@ -228,9 +230,10 @@ export function benchKey(code) {
   const b = G.bench;
   if (code === 'ArrowLeft' || code === 'KeyA') b.stage = (b.stage + 2) % 3;
   else if (code === 'ArrowRight' || code === 'KeyD') b.stage = (b.stage + 1) % 3;
-  // up/down walks the OPPONENT FAMILIES — one today, one row in config.ZFAMS per variant after that
-  else if (code === 'ArrowUp' || code === 'KeyW') b.fam = (b.fam + ZFAMS.length - 1) % ZFAMS.length;
-  else if (code === 'ArrowDown' || code === 'KeyS') b.fam = (b.fam + 1) % ZFAMS.length;
+  // up/down walks the OPPONENT FAMILIES — plus two LIVING slots past the end (the tennis
+  // opponents m/f, Oliver's run-cycle finetune bench): the zombie steps aside and the real O runs
+  else if (code === 'ArrowUp' || code === 'KeyW') b.fam = (b.fam + ZFAMS.length + 1) % (ZFAMS.length + 2);
+  else if (code === 'ArrowDown' || code === 'KeyS') b.fam = (b.fam + 1) % (ZFAMS.length + 2);
   // F plays the fall. Before the fallback below, which treats ANY other key as "next state" — a new
   // control that forgets to land above that line silently steps the stop instead.
   else if (code === 'KeyF') return benchFall();
@@ -247,6 +250,23 @@ export function updateBench(dt) {
   // ...and a body that is COLLAPSING is not pacing. tickMatchFall owns the frame while the fall runs,
   // so the walk stop must stop walking or the corpse slides sideways through its own death.
   if (G.matchFall) return;
+  // THE LIVING SLOTS: the zombie waits outside the frame while the real opponent runs the same
+  // back-and-forth the walk stop uses — same speed class as the classic CPU, so the cadence being
+  // judged is the cadence the game plays at. Every stop shows the run; the run is what the bench
+  // slot exists to tune.
+  if (b.char) {
+    zb.x = 40; zb.vx = 0; zb.pose = 'idle';
+    G.hideO = false;                              // splatter hid him when the match turned; the bench un-hides
+    O.z = 5.5;
+    const step = TUNE.aiSpeed * 0.7 * dt;
+    O.x += b.dir * step;
+    O.runT += dt;
+    if (Math.abs(O.x) > 4.0) { b.dir *= -1; O.x = Math.sign(O.x) * 4.0; }
+    O.facing = b.dir;
+    O.pose = 'run';
+    return;
+  }
+  O.pose = 'idle'; O.x = HOME.O.x; O.z = HOME.O.z; G.hideO = true;   // fam stops: the living man steps back out
   if (item.walk) {
     // THE STRIDE STEPS OFF GROUND COVERED, like the real one — a bench that animated on a clock
     // would be flattering exactly the sprites that foot-slide in play.

src/main.js

@@ -556,6 +556,6 @@ if (location.hash === '#bench') setTimeout(() => { start(null); intoSplatter();
 requestAnimationFrame(frame);
 
 // exposed for in-browser sanity checks and simulated playtests
-window.T = { TUNE, ball, P, O, score, G, zombies, laserScene, laserFire, pause: v => { paused = v !== false; }, spawnZombie, spawnRacketZombie, spawnMachine, spawnChapterBoss, spawnBarrel, grantWeapon, toggleTestMode, piles, gore, parts, pellets, extras, shots, pops, explode, hurtPlayer, killPlayer, splatPoint, solveShot, inServeBox, inCourt, proj, setupPoint, forceZombies, deliverTin, selectWeapon, showModal, dismissModal, dragServe, startDuel, resolveInterlude, flickTarget, startBossFight, endBossFight, startDrill, endDrill, startMatch, endMatch,
+window.T = { TUNE, ball, P, O, score, G, zombies, keyPressed, laserScene, laserFire, pause: v => { paused = v !== false; }, spawnZombie, spawnRacketZombie, spawnMachine, spawnChapterBoss, spawnBarrel, grantWeapon, toggleTestMode, piles, gore, parts, pellets, extras, shots, pops, explode, hurtPlayer, killPlayer, splatPoint, solveShot, inServeBox, inCourt, proj, setupPoint, forceZombies, deliverTin, selectWeapon, showModal, dismissModal, dragServe, startDuel, resolveInterlude, flickTarget, startBossFight, endBossFight, startDrill, endDrill, startMatch, endMatch,
   stats, step: dt => update(dt), render, press: keyPressed, FALL, benchFall,
   get phase() { return G.phase; }, set phase(v) { G.phase = v; } };

src/render.js

@@ -954,8 +954,18 @@ function drawBenchHud() {
   const y = CARD_TOP + 4;
   ctx.textAlign = 'center';
   ctx.font = B(20);
-  shadowText((ZFAMS.length > 1 ? ZFAMS[b.fam].toUpperCase() + '  ·  ' : '') + BENCH[b.i].name,
+  shadowText(b.char
+    ? 'PLAYER ' + (b.char === 'of' ? 'FEMALE' : 'MALE') + '  ·  RUN CYCLE'
+    : (ZFAMS.length > 1 ? ZFAMS[b.fam].toUpperCase() + '  ·  ' : '') + BENCH[b.i].name,
     W / 2, y, UI.cream);
+  if (b.char) {   // the finetune readout: the dials a live tuning session actually turns
+    ctx.font = F(8);
+    shadowText('runHz ' + TUNE.runHz + '   ·   aiSpeed ' + TUNE.aiSpeed
+      + '   ·   T.TUNE.runHz = … to tune live', W / 2, y + 24, UI.warm);
+    ctx.font = F(7, 0);
+    shadowText('↑/↓: OPPONENT   ·   THE LIVING SLOTS SHOW ONLY THE RUN', W / 2, H - 26, UI.dim);
+    return;
+  }
   ctx.font = F(8);
   // ...and say so when the stop has no wound variant. The serve and the fall exist for the HEALTHY
   // body only so far, so a stage label there would be claiming art that has not been drawn — and the
@@ -1438,7 +1448,12 @@ function drawPiles(near) { // split at the net like zombies so height occludes c
 // one whose PNG has not loaded yet — falls straight through to the men's frame. That fallback is
 // deliberate: a cached 404 on one female frame degrades to a man for a frame, it does not blink the
 // body out of existence (the same rule drawZombie's missing-frame guard is built on).
-const SK = n => (tour.sfx && SPR[n + tour.sfx]) ? n + tour.sfx : n;
+const SK = n => {
+  // the bench's living slots pick the suffix directly (G.bench.char 'o'/'of'), so both tennis
+  // opponents can be reviewed without touching the picked tour
+  const sfx = G.bench && G.bench.char != null ? (G.bench.char === 'of' ? '_f' : '') : tour.sfx;
+  return (sfx && SPR[n + sfx]) ? n + sfx : n;
+};
 
 // BOUNCE_IDLE.dx/apex are measured off the DRAWN PALM (see config), so a tour whose player reaches
 // differently needs its own pair. Only the women's row carries them; ?? falls back to the men's.