Three verdicts from the phone

The PERFECT spark ring is out — the hitstop, the click and the praise word
already carry the moment. The net-cord wobble drops to ~1 px. And the
floodlight stutter is gone entirely: on the iPhone a random dark dip over
the stands reads as the crowd flickering black — a rendering bug, not
ambience.

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

gameplay.js

@@ -168,8 +168,7 @@ function doHit(ch, quality, aim) {
     G.aiReactT = 0; // CPU hasn't read the shot yet
   }
   sfx(ch.side === 'P' ? 'tennis-player' : 'tennis-opponent', 0.9, { reverb: true }); // recorded racket strike, per side
-  if (quality > 0.999) { G.hitstop = 0.05; praise(); pock(0.5, 1600); // the rally hit: a real 45 ms window (perfectMs)
-    if (ch.side === 'P') G.spark = { x: ball.x, y: ball.y, z: ball.z, t: 0.3 }; } // ...and the contact flashes a ring
+  if (quality > 0.999) { G.hitstop = 0.05; praise(); pock(0.5, 1600); } // the rally hit: a real 45 ms window (perfectMs)
   ch.pose = 'swing'; ch.poseT = 0;
 }
 
@@ -331,8 +330,7 @@ function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null, perfect = quality > 0.999) {
   if (sv.side === 'P' && G.mode === 'tennis') G.outMarker = { x: boxX, z: tzs, out: !inServeBox(boxX, tzs), t: 1.3 };
   G.phase = 'rally'; sfx(sv.side === 'P' ? 'tennis-player' : 'tennis-opponent', 0.9, { reverb: true }); // recorded serve strike, per side
   sv.pose = 'serve'; sv.poseT = 0;
-  if (perfect) { praise(); G.hitstop = 0.05;
-    if (sv.side === 'P') G.spark = { x: ball.x, y: ball.y, z: ball.z, t: 0.3 }; } // the PERFECT ring, at the strike
+  if (perfect) { praise(); G.hitstop = 0.05; }
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------- scoring ----
@@ -1314,8 +1312,7 @@ export function update(dt) {
     if (was < EATEN_SUMMARY && G.eatenT >= EATEN_SUMMARY) { zombieDuck(true); menuDuck(false); }
     crowd.cheer = Math.max(0, crowd.cheer - dt); // the stand sits back down over the death too —
                                                  // a cheer live at the kill used to clap forever
-    if (G.spark && (G.spark.t -= dt) <= 0) G.spark = null;             // one-shot effects finish
-    if (G.netRipple && (G.netRipple.t -= dt) <= 0) G.netRipple = null; // rather than freezing mid-air
+    if (G.netRipple && (G.netRipple.t -= dt) <= 0) G.netRipple = null; // settles rather than freezing
     if (G.shake && (G.shake.t -= dt) <= 0) G.shake = null;
     if (G.boomFlash > 0) G.boomFlash -= dt;
     updateZombies(dt);
@@ -1328,7 +1325,6 @@ export function update(dt) {
     else { G.card.t -= dt; if (G.card.t <= 0) G.card = null; }
   }
   if (G.shake && (G.shake.t -= dt) <= 0) G.shake = null;
-  if (G.spark && (G.spark.t -= dt) <= 0) G.spark = null;             // the PERFECT ring burns out
   if (G.netRipple && (G.netRipple.t -= dt) <= 0) G.netRipple = null; // the tape settles
   if (G.zoom && (G.zoom.t += dt) >= G.zoom.T) G.zoom = null; // scripted punch-in (render applies it)
   if (G.bossBurst && (G.bossBurst.t -= dt) <= 0) G.bossBurst = null;

render.js

@@ -1301,7 +1301,6 @@ function drawModal(m) {
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------ frame ----
 const ballHist = []; // hot-ball ghost trail positions (render-owned, see the streak block in render)
-let flickAt = 14;    // idleT of the next floodlight stutter (splatter ambience, see render)
 const AD_H = 14; // px tall the courtside ad strip is drawn — also the ceiling for centred HUD text
 const FLASH_Y = 68; // the ONE slot every free-floating message uses. Clear of the scoreboard block
                     // (6 + 42 + 15 = 63 at its tallest), which the old 60 was not in portrait —
@@ -1331,18 +1330,9 @@ export function render() {
   // stands, ads, rot tint, court, lines and the run-off, as one cached blit (see paintBackdrop);
   // the clap ripple is overlaid live inside. The ad strip sits flush on the court's back edge (the
   // out-area quad reaches z=-6), which keeps the boards clear of the lawn in BOTH orientations.
-  const standsBottom = drawBackdrop(pal, pt);
-  // floodlight stutter (splatter only): every 8-15 s the stadium lights dip for a tenth of a second
-  // — "the lights went wrong", made ambient. An overlay over the stands, so it never invalidates
-  // the backdrop cache; skipped during the duel, where the lights come back to tennis.
-  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude) {
-    if (flickAt > G.idleT + 16) flickAt = G.idleT + 8 + Math.random() * 7; // a fresh run pulled it back in
-    if (G.idleT > flickAt + 0.12) flickAt = G.idleT + 8 + Math.random() * 7;
-    else if (G.idleT >= flickAt) {
-      ctx.fillStyle = `rgba(4,2,10,${(0.3 * Math.abs(Math.sin((G.idleT - flickAt) / 0.12 * Math.PI * 2))).toFixed(3)})`;
-      ctx.fillRect(0, 0, W, standsBottom);
-    }
-  }
+  drawBackdrop(pal, pt);
+  // (a random floodlight stutter darkened the stands here for one build — on the phone it read as
+  // the crowd area flickering black, i.e. as a rendering bug, not as ambience. Gone.)
 
   // gore decals: what remains of the visiting team (flat ground layer, then far-side mounds)
   for (const d of gore) {
@@ -1413,7 +1403,7 @@ export function render() {
     for (let i = 0; i <= 24; i++) {
       const x = nlt.x + (nrt.x - nlt.x) * i / 24;
       const y = nlt.y + (nrt.y - nlt.y) * i / 24
-        + Math.sin((x - px) * 0.3 + rip.t * 34) * 3 * (rip.t / 0.4) * Math.exp(-Math.abs(x - px) * 0.05);
+        + Math.sin((x - px) * 0.3 + rip.t * 34) * 1.1 * (rip.t / 0.4) * Math.exp(-Math.abs(x - px) * 0.05); // ~1 px at the clip — a wobble, not a wave
       i ? ctx.lineTo(x, y) : ctx.moveTo(x, y);
     }
   } else { ctx.moveTo(nlt.x, nlt.y); ctx.lineTo(nrt.x, nrt.y); }
@@ -1558,20 +1548,8 @@ export function render() {
     ctx.beginPath(); ctx.ellipse(p.x, p.y, p.s * 0.62 * k, p.s * 0.22 * k, 0, 0, 7); ctx.stroke();
   }
   if (G.mode !== 'eaten') drawChar(P); // ...the dying man is drawn with the crowd instead (drawDying)
-  if (G.spark) { // PERFECT contact: a one-shot expanding ring + four spark pixels at the strike.
-    // Light, which the procedural rule explicitly exempts — same clause as the barrel's glow.
-    const s = G.spark, k = 1 - s.t / 0.3, p = proj(s.x, s.y, s.z);
-    const r = Math.max(2, p.s * (0.06 + 0.4 * k));
-    ctx.strokeStyle = `rgba(255,255,255,${(0.9 * (1 - k)).toFixed(3)})`;
-    ctx.lineWidth = 1.5;
-    ctx.beginPath(); ctx.ellipse(p.x, p.y, r, r * 0.75, 0, 0, 7); ctx.stroke();
-    ctx.fillStyle = `rgba(255,250,220,${(1 - k).toFixed(3)})`;
-    for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) { // sparks fly the diagonals, riding the ring's edge outward
-      const a = i * 1.5708 + 0.7854;
-      ctx.fillRect(Math.round(p.x + Math.cos(a) * r * 1.35), Math.round(p.y + Math.sin(a) * r), 1.5, 1.5);
-    }
-    ctx.lineWidth = 1;
-  }
+  // (a PERFECT-contact spark ring lived here for one build — Oliver's verdict: too much. The
+  // hitstop, the click and the praise word already carry the moment.)
   // The braced "rambo racket" is NOT drawn any more. It was a procedural racket laid over a sprite
   // that already holds one: straight up-court it projected onto his back as a floating oval, and
   // offset to the side it just stuck out. The pellets streaming up-court are the feedback; the man

state.js

@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@ export const G = {
   modalQ: [],         // popups waiting behind the open one — see showModal
   seen: {},           // one-shot markers so a first-time-only modal fires once per run
   zoom: null,         // {x, z, k, t, T} — a scripted punch-in on a world point (the transition's turn, a boss death)
-  spark: null,        // {x, y, z, t} — PERFECT contact: a one-shot ring + sparks at the racket face
   netRipple: null,    // {x, t} — the ball clipped the tape; the net's top line wobbles there briefly
   best: null,         // best run {games, sets}, loaded from localStorage when you get eaten
   newBest: false,     // this run beat the stored best — the eaten summary celebrates it