Splatter: one gesture always, a serve that clears the net, an aim camera

Three things from the phone test.

The drag meant two different things depending on invisible state: aiming from
pretoss, but walking the player around while the last ball was still in the
air. That "mode between the hits" read as a bug, so it's gone — canAimServe now
covers every phase of splatter, and firing over a live ball is allowed again
(the old one flies on as a ballistic clone). That was the mid-rally re-toss
that used to be the spam vector, and it's safe now because the brake moved into
the pull: a rhythm of lazy 30px pulls fires 100 shots in 30s and kills NOTHING
(the court fills up instead), while 85 committed full pulls kill 11.

hitServe never had doHit's net-clearance loop, so every shot at a shambler
hugging the tape died in the net — not balance, a missing loop. Both paths now
trade pace for arc until the ball is genuinely over, and the ceiling goes 8 ->
12 tries because a target right behind the net needs a near-vertical drop
(measured: clears the tape by 0.20m and connects). The trade is real: the loft
arrives slower and the walk-lead was computed for the original pace, so a lob
is honestly the less reliable shot.

And the camera now rises and leans back a little while the slingshot is drawn.
That steeper look is what makes the gap between the net and the bodies behind
it readable — the shot that used to be blind. Eased once per frame before
anything projects, since one sheared frame would be visible.

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

config.js

@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ export const TUNE = {
                     // zSplatQ it only staggers, so a lazy flick can't kill: THE anti-spam knob.
   aimCone: 0.45,    // lane half-width per meter of range — the aim cone widens with distance
   aimReach: 22,     // m the aim ray runs when no shambler stands in the lane
+  aimCamY: 1.2,     // m the camera rises while you're drawing — a steeper look, so the gap between
+  aimCamZ: 1.2,     // m it also leans back, so the lift doesn't push the near court off-screen.
+                    // Together: you can read the depth behind the net, which is exactly the shot
+                    // that used to be blind. Set both to 0 for the old fixed camera.
   backstopZ: -1.8,  // z of the far backstop — must sit IN FRONT of the -2 retire line, or balls die before they reach it
   backstopKeep: 0.55, // pace a ball keeps after the rebound — still lethal, slower
   backstopPop: 1.8,   // m/s of lift off the fence, so the rebound travels back instead of dying at the net posts

gameplay.js

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ function doHit(ch, quality, aim) {
   // low contact → trade pace for loft until the net is cleared; good timing gets a
   // comfortable margin, sloppy timing keeps some tape risk
   const margin = 0.06 + 0.22 * quality;
-  for (let i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
+  for (let i = 0; i < NET_LOFT_TRIES; i++) {
     const tN = (COURT.netZ - ball.z) / v.vz;
     const yN = ball.y + v.vy * tN - 0.5 * g * tN * tN;
     if (tN <= 0 || yN >= COURT.netH + margin) break;
@@ -128,9 +128,13 @@ function tossBall(sv) {
 }
 export function serveApexY() { return TOSS.y0 + TOSS.vy * TOSS.vy / (2 * TUNE.gravity); } // ~2.95
 
+// how many 10%-pace cuts a shot may take to get over the net. 8 wasn't enough for a target
+// sitting right behind the tape — that needs a near-vertical drop, so ~10 cuts (pace × 0.35).
+const NET_LOFT_TRIES = 12;
+
 function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null) {
   const toFar = sv.side === 'P';
-  const s = TUNE.serveSpeed + quality * TUNE.serveQualitySpeed;
+  let s = TUNE.serveSpeed + quality * TUNE.serveQualitySpeed;
   let boxX, tzs;
   const ft = G.mode !== 'tennis' && !G.interlude // the duel serves like tennis: to the box, not free-aim
     ? (aim && aim.fx !== undefined ? flickTarget(sv, aim) : { zt: zombieTarget(aim) }) : null;
@@ -148,7 +152,19 @@ function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null) {
     tzs = boxZ + (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * (1 - quality) * 1.5;
   }
   const g = TUNE.gravity * (1 + quality * 0.35); // kick serves dip a little too
-  const v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, s, g);
+  // CLEAR THE NET. A shambler standing just the other side of the tape is only reachable on a
+  // loft, so trade pace for arc until the ball actually gets over. doHit has done this since
+  // forever; the serve never did, which is why every shot at a net-hugger died in the tape.
+  // The trade is real: the loftier it goes the slower it arrives, and the walk-lead below was
+  // computed for the original pace — a lob is a genuinely less reliable shot.
+  let v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, s, g);
+  const margin = 0.06 + 0.22 * quality;
+  for (let i = 0; i < NET_LOFT_TRIES; i++) {
+    const tN = (COURT.netZ - ball.z) / v.vz;
+    const yN = ball.y + v.vy * tN - 0.5 * g * tN * tN;
+    if (tN <= 0 || yN >= COURT.netH + margin) break;
+    s *= 0.9; v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, s, g);
+  }
   ball.g = g;
   ball.vx = v.vx; ball.vy = v.vy; ball.vz = v.vz;
   ball.lastHit = sv.side; ball.bounces = 0;
@@ -592,9 +608,15 @@ export function serveToss() {
 export function dragServe(aim) {
   if (G.mode !== 'splatter' || score.server !== 'P') return;
   if (G.interlude || G.horde || G.mgT > 0 || G.changeover) return; // the duel serves like tennis, not the reticle
-  if (G.phase !== 'pretoss' && G.phase !== 'toss') return; // one ball: no re-serving over a live rally
+  if (G.phase === 'over') { ball.active = false; setupPoint(); } // mid-beat pull: arm the next shot now
+  if (G.phase !== 'pretoss' && G.phase !== 'toss' && G.phase !== 'rally') return;
   if (tryGunBurst()) return;
   if (aim.mag < TUNE.pullMin) return; // released without really drawing: cancel, nothing spent
+  // Firing while the last ball still flies is fine again — the brake is the pull itself, not the
+  // rally clock. This is what lets the drag mean ONE thing at all times: a second gesture that
+  // walked the player around between shots was the confusing part, not the fire rate.
+  if (ball.active && G.phase !== 'toss') // the old ball flies on as a ballistic clone
+    extras.push({ x: ball.x, y: ball.y, z: ball.z, vx: ball.vx, vy: ball.vy, vz: ball.vz, pow: ball.pow || 0.5, t: 2.5 });
   ball.active = true; ball.collected = false; ball.bounces = 0; ball.firstLand = null;
   ball.x = P.x + 0.35; ball.z = P.z; ball.y = 2.2; ball.g = TUNE.gravity;
   hitServe(P, pullQuality(aim.mag), aim); // a full pull is quality 1.0 — PERFECT, hitstop and all

input.js

@@ -42,8 +42,10 @@ export function takeFlickAim(maxAgeMs = 450) {
 
 // the two-stage serve: a drag that STARTS at a serveable pretoss aims a visible reticle
 // (G.aim, drawn by render); release fires the serve there, dragging back home cancels.
+// EVERY phase of splatter play, so the drag never silently turns into something else. The old
+// "drag walks the player" mode between shots was invisible state and read as a bug.
 const canAimServe = () =>
-  G.mode === 'splatter' && G.phase === 'pretoss'
+  G.mode === 'splatter' // every phase of it; 'eaten' is its own mode and never gets here
   && score.server === 'P' && G.weapon !== 4 // GUN pops on tap, no reticle
   && !G.interlude && !G.horde && !(G.mgT > 0) && !G.changeover; // the duel serves like tennis: no reticle
 

render.js

@@ -55,9 +55,14 @@ export function fitViewport() { // landscape 480x270, portrait 270x480 with a lo
 }
 addEventListener('resize', fitViewport);
 
+// The aim camera: while the slingshot is drawn the view rises and leans back a little, which
+// steepens the look down the court. That extra depth is what makes a shambler standing right
+// behind the net a shot you can actually judge. Eased once per frame in render(), never mid-frame
+// — every proj() call within one frame must share the same camera or the scene shears.
+let aimCam = 0;
 export function proj(x, y, z) {
-  const d = TUNE.camZ - z, s = TUNE.camF / d;
-  return { x: W / 2 + x * s, y: TUNE.horizon + (TUNE.camY - y) * s, s };
+  const d = TUNE.camZ + aimCam * TUNE.aimCamZ - z, s = TUNE.camF / d;
+  return { x: W / 2 + x * s, y: TUNE.horizon + (TUNE.camY + aimCam * TUNE.aimCamY - y) * s, s };
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------- sprites ----
@@ -330,6 +335,8 @@ function drawCard(title, sub1, sub2, color) {
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------ frame ----
 export function render() {
   ctx.setTransform(RES, 0, 0, RES, 0, 0); // logical W x H coordinates at RES density
+  // ease the aim camera FIRST, before anything projects — one camera per frame (see proj)
+  aimCam += ((G.aim ? 1 : 0) - aimCam) * 0.15;
   if (G.shake) { // bomb kick: jitter the whole world (transform is reset before the HUD)
     const m = G.shake.mag * G.shake.t / 0.35;
     ctx.translate((Math.random() * 2 - 1) * m, (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * m);