Turn the praise down, and stop the footnotes shouting

The band made PERFECT earnable, which was the fix — but you learn a band, and
then the HUD is talking on every other serve again whatever the word says. So
the praise goes behind a shared cooldown (TUNE.praiseEvery, 14s), the same model
the umpire's asides have used all along for exactly this problem. Eight
band-perfect serves back to back now yield one word. The bright click in the pull
is the reliable feedback for a good draw; the word was only ever garnish, and
garnish on every plate is just food.

And the free-floating slot drops 24 -> 18. It shares that slot with CLEAR THE
COURT, DOUBLE KILL, RETURNED and GAME N — half of which are a footnote to
something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud FACE with the milestone
cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.

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

HANDOFF.md

@@ -343,7 +343,13 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   `perfectMs` window, the slingshot earns it by STOPPING in `pullFull..pullFull*perfectBand`. The
   draw clicks brighter when you enter that band and goes quiet when you overshoot — without that
   audible target it would be invisible skill. The word itself rotates through `PRAISE` (cycled, not
-  random: the same word twice running reads as a stuck HUD element, not as praise).
+  random: the same word twice running reads as a stuck HUD element, not as praise) and sits behind
+  `TUNE.praiseEvery`, the same shared-cooldown model the umpire's asides use — you LEARN to hit the
+  band, and then a per-serve word is noise again whatever it says. The click is the feedback for a
+  good pull; the word is garnish.
+- **The free-floating slot is 18px, not card-sized.** Half of what lands in it (the praise words,
+  `RETURNED`, `DOUBLE KILL`) is a footnote to something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud
+  FACE with the milestone cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.
 
 ## Session log: the sidestep, and two type registers (2026-08-03)
 

config.js

@@ -195,6 +195,10 @@ export const TUNE = {
                     // needs the pull to STOP in the band pullFull..pullFull*this (130-166 px), which
                     // is a target you can miss. The pull clicks when you enter it (see input.js) and
                     // goes quiet when you overshoot, so the window is learnable by feel.
+  praiseEvery: 14,  // s between praise words, on the umpire's-asides model (asideEvery below). The
+                    // band alone was not enough: you learn to hit it, and then the HUD talks on
+                    // every other serve again. The CLICK is the reliable feedback for a good pull —
+                    // the word is garnish, and garnish on every plate is just food.
   aimCone: 0.10,    // lane half-width added per meter of range. This is what makes the pull's ANGLE
                     // mean something: at 0.45 the cone was ±10 m at the far baseline — the whole
                     // court — so every downward pull picked the same body and the angle felt inert.

gameplay.js

@@ -43,7 +43,14 @@ export const pullPerfect = mag => mag >= TUNE.pullFull && mag <= TUNE.pullFull *
 // running is what made one word read as a stuck HUD element rather than as praise.
 const PRAISE = ['PERFECT', 'TEXTBOOK', 'IMMACULATE', 'OH, LOVELY', 'UNPLAYABLE', 'SHOT OF THE DAY'];
 let praiseN = 0;
-const praise = () => { G.flash = { text: PRAISE[praiseN++ % PRAISE.length], t: 0.7 }; };
+// ...and he does not say it every time. Same cooldown model as the asides (aside()): once you have
+// learned the band you hit it constantly, and a HUD that talks on every other serve is noise
+// whatever the word is. The bright click in the pull is the reliable feedback; this is the garnish.
+function praise() {
+  if (G.praiseT > 0) return;
+  G.praiseT = TUNE.praiseEvery;
+  G.flash = { text: PRAISE[praiseN++ % PRAISE.length], t: 0.7 };
+}
 
 export function flickTarget(ch, aim) { // exported: render draws the live reticle with it
   const q = pullQuality(aim.mag), f = pullFrac(aim.mag);
@@ -1213,6 +1220,7 @@ export function update(dt) {
   crowd.cheer = Math.max(0, crowd.cheer - dt);
   G.idleT += dt;
   if (G.asideT > 0) G.asideT -= dt; // the asides' shared cooldown (see aside())
+  if (G.praiseT > 0) G.praiseT -= dt; // ...and the praise words' (see praise())
   // the fired band unravels behind the ball. It also goes the moment the ball does — a shambler
   // eating the shot ends the band with the splat, which is a cut you want.
   if (G.trail && ((G.trail.t += dt) >= G.trail.T || !ball.active)) G.trail = null;

index.html

@@ -184,6 +184,6 @@
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=115"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=116"></script>
 </body>
 </html>

render.js

@@ -1578,7 +1578,10 @@ export function render() {
   // RETURNED, CHANGEOVER, weapon labels — everything that used to be plain white 12px text sitting
   // directly on the crowd. It keeps its 1px jitter; the shadow is what makes it legible anywhere.
   if (G.flash) {
-    ctx.font = B(24);
+    // 18, not 24: at the card's near-size a transient one-liner read as a milestone announcement,
+    // and half of what lands in this slot (PERFECT, RETURNED, DOUBLE KILL) is only ever a footnote
+    // to something you already watched happen. The register is right; the volume was not.
+    ctx.font = B(18);
     shadowText(G.flash.text, W / 2, FLASH_Y + Math.sin(G.flash.t * 20) * 1, '#ffffff');
   }
   // the SET milestone card (the duel's own announcement is a real modal now, not a timed card)

state.js

@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ export const G = {
   hurtT: 0,           // s of post-hit grace left; also drives the red hit flash
   hurtFlash: 0,       // s of the impact wash left
   asideT: 14,         // s until the umpire's next unsolicited remark (TUNE.asideEvery)
+  praiseT: 0,         // s until the next praise word is allowed (TUNE.praiseEvery)
   bossDue: 0,         // chapter number the schedule owes you — fired at the next hand-cleared court
   bossFight: 0,       // chapter number of the boss currently on court, 0 = none. Blocks all other spawns.
   slowT: 0,          // s of REAL time left running the world in slow motion (a chapter boss dying)