splatter-tennis/gameplay.js

// Game logic: ballistics, swings, serves, rules/scoring, AI, and the per-frame update.

import { TUNE, UI, BOSS_ART, APPLAUSE_T, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, COURT, CONTACT, VOLLEY, ZONE_DEPTH, HOME, P_BOUNDS, TOSS, SHOT_DEPTH, POSE_TIME, BOUNCE_IDLE, zombieH, Z_CHEST , WEAPONS, RACK_MAX , BARREL_WEAPONS } from './config.js';
import { P, O, ball, score, crowd, G, other, deuceSide, setupPoint, sendBoy, resetState } from './state.js';
import { audio, pock, swish, whoosh, applause, voice, sfx, aww, zombieMusic, zombieDuck, menuDuck, splat, shriek, boom } from './audio.js';
import { axisX, axisZ, takeFlickAim, touchPX, resetInput } from './input.js';
import { W } from './render.js'; // runtime-only cycle (render imports gameplay), same pattern as input/zombies
import { updateZombies, spawnZombie, spawnRacketZombie, spawnMachine, spawnChapterBoss, zombies, gore, explode, meleeSwipe, extras, parts, pellets, shots, playerGore, eatenBleed, resetZombies , firePellet , spawnBarrel , fireBeam } from './zombies.js';

// ------------------------------------------------------------- ballistics ----
// Launch ball from (x0,y0,z0) so it arrives at (tx, tz) with horizontal speed s under gravity g.
// `ty` is the height it arrives AT — ball-on-the-grass by default, but a splatter serve aims at a
// shambler's chest, and solving to the ground under one is what made the ball strike the ankles.
export function solveShot(x0, y0, z0, tx, tz, s, g = TUNE.gravity, ty = 0.08) {
  const dx = tx - x0, dz = tz - z0, dist = Math.hypot(dx, dz), T = dist / s;
  return { vx: dx / T, vz: dz / T, vy: (ty - y0 + 0.5 * g * T * T) / T };
}

export function predictLanding() { // first-bounce point, closed form — exact, so the ring never jitters
  const g = ball.g || TUNE.gravity;
  const disc = ball.vy * ball.vy + 2 * g * ball.y;
  if (disc < 0) return null;
  const t = (ball.vy + Math.sqrt(disc)) / g; // time until y = 0
  return { x: ball.x + ball.vx * t, z: ball.z + ball.vz * t };
}

// splatter FREE-AIM (slingshot). The pull is a RAY, not a landing point: its DIRECTION picks the
// lane you fire down, its LENGTH is power — and nothing else. Pulling further does NOT reach
// further, which is the whole fix: a shambler at the far baseline costs the same short pull as
// one on top of you, so the gesture always fits on the screen. The first body standing in the
// lane is the target; the cone widens with range so distant lanes stay pickable.
export const pullFrac = mag => Math.max(0, Math.min(1, (mag - TUNE.pullMin) / (TUNE.pullFull - TUNE.pullMin)));
export const pullQuality = mag => TUNE.pullQMin + pullFrac(mag) * (1 - TUNE.pullQMin);
// pullQuality inverted: hitServe is handed a quality, not a drag, and the band it leaves behind is
// drawn at the same weight the live preview had.
export const qualityFrac = q => Math.max(0, Math.min(1, (q - TUNE.pullQMin) / (1 - TUNE.pullQMin)));
// A pull that STOPS in the band at the top of the draw, rather than merely reaching it. See
// TUNE.perfectBand for why the old "quality == 1" test praised almost every serve.
export const pullPerfect = mag => mag >= TUNE.pullFull && mag <= TUNE.pullFull * TUNE.perfectBand;

// The umpire has never once acknowledged the massacre, and he is not about to start now: a clean
// shot gets the same line it would get at Wimbledon. Cycled rather than random — the same word twice
// 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;
// ...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);
  if (aim.mag < TUNE.pullMin) return { q, f }; // barely drawn: no lane yet, so no target
  const ax = aim.fx, az = aim.fy;              // unit vector; input already inverted the pull. screen up = -z
  let zt = null, near = 1e9, bestErr = 1e9;
  for (const zb of zombies) {
    const dx = zb.x - ch.x, dz = zb.z - ch.z;
    const along = dx * ax + dz * az;                       // how far down the lane it stands
    if (along <= 0) continue;                              // behind the shot
    const cone = TUNE.zSnap + TUNE.aimCone * along;
    const err = Math.abs(dx * az - dz * ax) / cone;        // 0 = dead on the ray, 1 = the cone's edge
    if (err > 1) continue;                                 // outside the cone entirely
    // Pick the body you are actually POINTING AT, not merely the nearest one that happens to fall
    // inside the cone. "First in the lane wins" let a close shambler off to one side steal a shot
    // clearly aimed past it — the magnet Oliver felt. Range only breaks ties between equally
    // well-aimed targets (TUNE.aimTie of slack), so a deliberate far shot still beats a sloppy
    // near one while a genuine straight-ahead lane still eats the nearest body first.
    const tie = TUNE.aimTie;
    if (err < bestErr - tie || (Math.abs(err - bestErr) <= tie && along < near)) {
      bestErr = Math.min(bestErr, err); near = along; zt = zb;
    }
  }
  const R = zt ? near : TUNE.aimReach; // empty lane: the ball just flies the full length of it
  const tx = Math.max(-6.5, Math.min(6.5, ch.x + ax * R));
  const tz = Math.max(1, Math.min(24.5, ch.z + az * R));
  return { tx, tz, zt, q, f };
}

// splatter tap/lane aiming (no flick): the shot locks onto the best-matching zombie
// anywhere on the court — including your own side of the net.
function zombieTarget(aim) {
  if (!zombies.length) return null;
  const none = !aim || (!aim.ax && !aim.az);
  if (none) return null; // no direction, no lock. Free predictive auto-aim was the reason a
                         // bare rhythm of taps could clear the court without any aiming at all.
  let best = null, bs = 1e9;
  for (const zb of zombies) {
    let s = Math.abs(zb.x - (P.x + aim.ax * 4));    // lane relative to where YOU stand
    if (aim.az < 0) s += zb.z * 0.35;               // flick up: prefer the far ones
    if (aim.az > 0) s += (COURT.L - zb.z) * 0.35;   // flick down: the close ones on your side
    if (s < bs) { bs = s; best = zb; }
  }
  return best;
}

function doHit(ch, quality, aim) {
  // aim: {ax: -1|0|1, az: -1|0|1} from held keys / flick at contact (az -1 = deep, 1 = short)
  const toFar = ch.side === 'P';
  // snap the ball to the racket at the contact frame so the hit visually connects
  ball.x = ch.x + ch.facing * 0.5;
  ball.z = ch.z + (toFar ? -0.3 : 0.3);
  const err = () => (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * TUNE.aimError * (1 - quality);
  let tx, tz;
  let s = TUNE.baseShotSpeed + quality * TUNE.qualityShotSpeed;
  const ft = G.mode !== 'tennis' && !G.interlude && ch.side === 'P' // the duel aims like tennis: lanes, not free-aim
    ? (aim && aim.fx !== undefined ? flickTarget(ch, aim) : { zt: zombieTarget(aim) }) : null;
  if (ft && ft.zt) {
    const zt = ft.zt;
    tx = zt.x + err() * 0.4;
    const T0 = Math.hypot(zt.x - ball.x, zt.z - ball.z) / s;
    tz = Math.min(23, zt.z + zt.v * T0) + err() * 0.3; // lead the shambler's walk
  } else if (ft && ft.tx !== undefined) {
    tx = ft.tx + err() * 0.4; tz = ft.tz + err() * 0.3; // no magnet: the ball goes where you flicked
  } else {
    tx = aim.ax * (toFar ? 3.3 : 2.7) + err(); // your aimed shots go properly wide
    const tzBase = aim.az < 0 ? SHOT_DEPTH.deep : aim.az > 0 ? SHOT_DEPTH.short : SHOT_DEPTH.mid;
    tz = (toFar ? tzBase : COURT.L - tzBase) + err() * 0.8;
  }
  tx = Math.max(-5, Math.min(5, tx));
  // topspin: quality shots dive under extra effective gravity, which is what lets real
  // pace arc over the net and still land in — the core tennis trade-off
  const g = TUNE.gravity * (1 + quality * TUNE.spinFactor);
  let v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, tx, tz, s, g);
  // low contact → trade pace for loft until the net is cleared; good timing gets a
  // comfortable margin, sloppy timing keeps some tape risk. Same crossesNet guard as serveArc's,
  // for the same reason: a splatter volley at a body on your own side has no tape to clear, and
  // without this it was lobbed at a fraction of its pace. (In tennis the ball always crosses.)
  const margin = 0.06 + 0.22 * quality;
  const crossesNet = (ball.z - COURT.netZ) * (tz - COURT.netZ) < 0;
  for (let i = 0; crossesNet && 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, tx, tz, s, g);
  }
  ball.g = g;
  ball.vx = v.vx; ball.vy = v.vy; ball.vz = v.vz;
  ball.lastHit = ch.side; ball.bounces = 0; ball.firstLand = null;
  G.wasServe = false; // a serve volleyed back pre-bounce must not fault-check the return
  ball.pow = quality; // carried pace: zombies splatter only above zSplatQ
  ball.kills = 0;     // fresh shot: multi-kill streak restarts
  ball.bomb = false; ball.flame = false; ball.wid = 'ball'; // only a consuming serve arms these; any other hit clears them
  if (ch.side === 'P') { // shot marker: where this will land — red means it's going out
    // TENNIS ONLY. It answers "did that land in?", and splatter does not ask: `out` could never be
    // true there, so it was a permanent yellow ring on the grass carrying no information — and
    // sitting under the shambler for 1.3 s, which is longer than the gap before you aim again.
    // That ring, not the new mark, is the circle that seemed to live under their feet.
    if (G.mode === 'tennis') {
      const ok = Math.abs(tx) <= COURT.W / 2 + 0.02 && tz >= -0.02 && tz <= COURT.netZ;
      G.outMarker = { x: tx, z: tz, out: !ok, t: 1.3 };
    }
    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)
  ch.pose = 'swing'; ch.poseT = 0;
}

// ----------------------------------------------------------------- serve ----
function tossBall(sv) {
  ball.active = true; ball.bounces = 0; ball.firstLand = null; ball.collected = false;
  // The player is right-handed: he tosses with his LEFT hand (viewer's left) and hits with the
  // racket on the viewer's right, so the ball goes up almost over his head — a big offset either way
  // lands it on the wrong side of one of those two frames. The opponent is drawn from the front and
  // keeps the reach he was drawn with.
  ball.x = sv.x + (sv.side === 'P' ? 0.12 : -0.35); ball.z = sv.z; ball.y = TOSS.y0;
  ball.vx = 0; ball.vz = 0; ball.vy = TOSS.vy; ball.g = TUNE.gravity;
  G.phase = 'toss';
}
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;

// ---- ONE SOLVER for the slingshot serve. The reticle draws the arc the ball will actually fly,
// so the targeting and the ballistics below are shared with hitServe rather than reimplemented.
// The moment a preview and a shot come from two copies of this maths they drift, and then the
// preview is worse than nothing — it lies with confidence.

// dragServe snaps the ball to a FIXED contact before striking, which is the whole reason the arc
// is previewable: the launch point is known while you are still pulling. Both live here.
export const dragContact = () => ({ x: P.x + 0.12, y: 2.2, z: P.z });

// Where a splatter serve is aimed. `ex` is the aim error: hitServe passes the real random one,
// the preview passes 0, so the arc you see is the shot you MEANT rather than the shot you got.
// Returns null when this is not a free-aim/lane serve at all (the tennis serve keeps its box).
function splatServeTarget(sv, aim, s, x0, z0, ex = 0) {
  if (G.mode === 'tennis' || G.interlude) return null; // the duel serves like tennis
  const ft = aim && aim.fx !== undefined ? flickTarget(sv, aim) : { zt: zombieTarget(aim) };
  if (ft.zt) {
    const T0 = Math.hypot(ft.zt.x - x0, ft.zt.z - z0) / s;
    // ty: aim at the CHEST of whatever this is, so the ball arrives on the body it is going to
    // wound. Scaled off the same height render draws it at, so a brute is struck on the brute.
    return { tx: ft.zt.x + ex, tz: Math.min(23, ft.zt.z + ft.zt.v * T0), // lead the walk
             ty: zombieH(ft.zt) * Z_CHEST, ft };
  }
  if (ft.tx !== undefined) return { tx: ft.tx, tz: ft.tz, ty: 0.08, ft }; // empty lane: onto the grass
  return null;
}

// The launch itself: topspin gravity, then trade pace for arc until the net is genuinely cleared.
// A shambler just the other side of the tape is only reachable on a loft.
function serveArc(x0, y0, z0, tx, tz, quality, ty = 0.08) {
  let s = TUNE.serveSpeed + quality * TUNE.serveQualitySpeed;
  const g = TUNE.gravity * (1 + quality * TUNE.serveSpin); // the harder you hit it, the harder it dips
  let v = solveShot(x0, y0, z0, tx, tz, s, g, ty);
  // THERE IS ONLY A NET TO CLEAR IF THE SHOT CROSSES IT. A shambler on your own side sits short of
  // the tape, so the ball never reaches that plane — but `tN` is still positive (the net is ahead
  // in the direction of travel, the ball simply lands first), the height test there is far below
  // the tape, and the loop cut pace all twelve times. Measured: every same-side shot left the
  // racket at 28% of nominal, as a slow loop, which is exactly the shot you need to be fast —
  // those are the ones about to eat you.
  const crossesNet = (z0 - COURT.netZ) * (tz - COURT.netZ) < 0;
  for (let i = 0; crossesNet && i < NET_LOFT_TRIES; i++) {
    const tN = (COURT.netZ - z0) / v.vz;
    const yN = y0 + v.vy * tN - 0.5 * g * tN * tN;
    // The sim only samples the net plane once a frame, so a steeply DIVING ball can test below
    // the tape even when the closed form clears it. Charge margin for exactly that sampling
    // error (descent rate × the worst frame step) rather than a flat quality cushion — that
    // cushion is paid for in pace, and it was taxing precisely the shots meant to hurt.
    const margin = 0.06 + Math.abs(v.vy - g * tN) * 0.04; // 0.04 s = main.js's dt clamp
    if (tN <= 0 || yN >= COURT.netH + margin) break;
    s *= 0.9; v = solveShot(x0, y0, z0, tx, tz, s, g, ty);
  }
  return { v, g };
}

// What render draws while you pull: the whole shot, error-free, from the same two functions the
// release will use. null when there is nothing to show yet.
export function previewServe(aim) {
  if (!aim || aim.mag < TUNE.pullMin) return null;
  const q = pullQuality(aim.mag);
  const c = dragContact();
  const s = TUNE.serveSpeed + q * TUNE.serveQualitySpeed;
  const st = splatServeTarget(P, aim, s, c.x, c.z);
  if (!st) return null;
  const { v, g } = serveArc(c.x, c.y, c.z, st.tx, st.tz, q, st.ty);
  return shotBand(c.x, c.y, c.z, v, g, st.tx, st.tz, st.ty, !!st.ft.zt, q);
}

// The drawable form of a shot: everything render needs and nothing that would pin a zombie object
// alive (`zt` is a flag, not the body — the trail below outlives whatever it was aimed at). `ty` is
// the arrival height, so the mark render paints sits exactly where the ball is going.
function shotBand(x0, y0, z0, v, g, tx, tz, ty, zt, q) {
  const T = Math.hypot(tx - x0, tz - z0) / (Math.hypot(v.vx, v.vz) || 1); // flight time to target
  return { x0, y0, z0, v, g, tx, tz, ty, zt, q, f: qualityFrac(q), T, t: 0 };
}

// `perfect` is passed SEPARATELY from `quality` because the two serves earn it differently: the toss
// ritual earns it on a 45 ms timing window, while the slingshot's quality saturates at pullFull and
// so can never fail the old `quality > 0.999` test once you have pulled far enough.
function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null, perfect = quality > 0.999) {
  const toFar = sv.side === 'P';
  const s = TUNE.serveSpeed + quality * TUNE.serveQualitySpeed;
  // splatServeTarget + serveArc are shared with previewServe, so the arc drawn under your thumb
  // is the one the ball flies. Only the aim error is added here and left out of the preview.
  const st = splatServeTarget(sv, aim, s, ball.x, ball.z, (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * (1 - quality) * 0.8);
  let boxX, tzs;
  if (st) { boxX = st.tx; tzs = st.tz; }
  else {
    // target: diagonal service box. Serving from deuce side → target box is across.
    boxX = (deuceSide() ? -1 : 1) * (toFar ? 1 : -1) * 2.0 + (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * TUNE.aimError * 0.8 * (1 - quality);
    const boxZ = toFar ? COURT.svcFar + 1.6 : COURT.svcNear - 1.6;
    tzs = boxZ + (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * (1 - quality) * 1.5;
  }
  const { v, g } = serveArc(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, quality, st ? st.ty : 0.08);
  // THE BALL ERASES ITS OWN AIM. Cutting the band at the instant of release made a fast rally
  // strobe — band, gone, band, gone. Instead the arc stays and the ball eats it from behind as it
  // flies, so the aim resolves into the shot rather than blinking out of existence. This is the
  // ACTUAL launch, error included, so the ball tracks the band it is consuming exactly.
  if (st) G.trail = shotBand(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, v, g, boxX, tzs, st.ty, !!st.ft.zt, quality);
  ball.g = g;
  ball.vx = v.vx; ball.vy = v.vy; ball.vz = v.vz;
  ball.lastHit = sv.side; ball.bounces = 0;
  ball.pow = quality;
  ball.kills = 0;     // fresh serve: multi-kill streak restarts
  // the SELECTED tin arms the serve; slot 0 (PLAIN) throws a normal ball and banks your
  // specials for later. Placement still follows the flick — only WHICH ball flies is the
  // rack's call now. GUN (slot 4) never reaches here; it starts a burst before the serve.
  const wsel = G.mode === 'splatter' ? G.weapon : 0;
  const wid = wsel === 0 && !G.temp ? 'ball' : slotId(wsel), armed = slotStock(wsel) > 0;
  ball.wid = armed ? wid : 'ball'; // an unstocked tin throws a plain ball — file the kills that way
  // THE LASER fires instead of the ball, down the lane this serve was aimed at. Everything else
  // about the gesture is untouched — the pull, the aim, the release — which is the whole point of it.
  if (wid === 'laser' && armed) {
    spendSlot(wsel);
    fireBeam(ball.vx, ball.vz);
    ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = 0.5;
    sv.pose = 'serve'; sv.poseT = 0;
    return;
  }
  ball.bomb = wid === 'bomb' && armed;
  if (ball.bomb) spendSlot(wsel);
  ball.flame = wid === 'fire' && armed;
  if (ball.flame) spendSlot(wsel);
  if (wid === 'triple' && armed) { // one serve, three balls: clones fanned ±6°
    spendSlot(wsel);
    for (const deg of [-6, 6]) {
      const r = deg * Math.PI / 180, c = Math.cos(r), sn = Math.sin(r);
      // g: ball.g — a serve carries up to 2.3x gravity in topspin; clones integrated at flat
      // TUNE.gravity floated long while the centre ball dived, which is the "wings lob off at
      // the wrong height" report. They are the SAME shot, fanned.
      extras.push({ x: ball.x, y: ball.y, z: ball.z, vy: ball.vy, pow: quality, t: 2.5, g: ball.g, wid: 'triple',
        vx: ball.vx * c - ball.vz * sn, vz: ball.vx * sn + ball.vz * c });
    }
  }
  // (spendSlot already hands you back plain balls when the last one goes)
  // tennis only, same reason as doHit's: a splatter serve lands at a shambler's feet, and the ring
  // sat there in yellow for 1.3 s saying nothing — right where the aim mark is trying to be read.
  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; }
}

// ---------------------------------------------------------------- scoring ----
function scoreKey() {
  const N = ['love', 'fifteen', 'thirty', 'forty'];
  const s = score.server === 'P' ? [score.pts[0], score.pts[1]] : [score.pts[1], score.pts[0]];
  if (s[0] >= 3 && s[1] >= 3) {
    if (s[0] === s[1]) return 'deuce';
    return (s[0] > s[1]) === (score.server === 'P') ? 'advantage_player' : 'advantage_receiver';
  }
  if (s[0] === s[1]) return N[s[0]] + '_all';
  return N[s[0]] + '_' + N[s[1]];
}

// ---- the modal: the only thing in the game that stops the world. Play resumes on a tap, not
// on a timer, so a popup can be READ. It only ever touches G — never the zombie array it may be
// called from mid-iteration.
// A second popup opened in the same beat QUEUES rather than being dropped. It used to be dropped
// ("if (G.modal) return"), which is why the trainer and the weapon had to be crammed into one card
// after a won duel — the second one simply vanished. They are two things, so they are two popups.
export function showModal(m) {
  m.in = 0; // 0..1 entrance clock, ticked in update() behind the freeze
  if (G.modal) { G.modalQ.push(m); return; }
  G.modal = m; whoosh();
}
export function dismissModal() {
  const m = G.modal; if (!m) return false;
  // Still flying in? Eat the gesture but DON'T dismiss. A modal you haven't read yet must not be
  // skippable by the same panic tap that was mid-air when it appeared — and returning false here
  // would let that tap fall through into a serve, which is the swallowed-gesture bug all over again.
  if (m.in < 1) return true;
  G.modal = G.modalQ.shift() || null;
  if (G.modal) { G.modal.in = 0; whoosh(); } // the next one flies in on its own entrance
  if (m.onDismiss) m.onDismiss();
  return true; // the caller must swallow the gesture: dismissing must never also serve
}

// The umpire's asides. He has never once acknowledged that the match turned into a massacre, and
// that is the joke — so he keeps officiating it. But each line is tied to a SITUATION that actually
// justifies it, not drawn from a bag on a timer: Oliver's verdict on the first version was "too much
// and not situation aware.. they seem random". `aside()` is the single entry point and it enforces
// one shared cooldown (TUNE.asideEvery), so several triggers firing at once still yields one remark.
export function aside(name, delay = 0.2) {
  if (G.mode !== 'splatter' || G.modal || G.changeover || G.interlude || G.card) return;
  if (G.asideT > 0) return;
  G.asideT = TUNE.asideEvery;
  voice(name, delay, 0.95);
}

export function cheer(seconds, vol) {
  sfx('tennis-applaus', Math.min(1.5, vol * 2.2)); // recorded crowd; vol scales with the size of the moment (gain > 1 amplifies)
  // floored at the CLIP LENGTH: the sample always plays out in full, so the stand must stay on its
  // feet until it stops. `seconds` still lets a big moment run longer than the audio.
  crowd.cheer = Math.max(crowd.cheer, seconds, APPLAUSE_T);
}

function advancePoint(side) { // shared scoring math; returns whether a game was won
  const i = side === 'P' ? 0 : 1, j = 1 - i;
  score.pts[i]++;
  if (score.pts[i] >= 4 && score.pts[i] - score.pts[j] >= 2) {
    score.games[i]++; score.pts = [0, 0];
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

function pointTo(side, reason) {
  if (G.mode === 'tennis' && side === 'O' && ball.lastHit === 'O' && G.rallyNear && !G.swung) { // their ball died on your side untouched — and no whiff already explains it
    const n = G.rallyNear;
    logSwing({ result: 'PASSED', reason: `never swung in range — ball got ${r2(n.d)}m away at y=${r2(n.y)}m`,
      dMin: r2(n.d), y: r2(n.y), ballZ: r2(n.bz), px: r2(n.px), pz: r2(n.pz) });
  }
  const gameOver = advancePoint(side);
  G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = gameOver ? 3.2 : 2.2;
  sendBoy();
  if (side === 'O') aww(0.8); // you dropped the point — the crowd sighs
  if (reason) voice(reason);
  if (gameOver) {
    if (G.mode === 'tennis' && side === 'P' && !G.everTransitioned) return startTransition();
    voice(side === 'P' ? 'game_player' : 'game_opponent', 0.7);
    cheer(2.8, 0.6);
    score.server = other(score.server);
  } else {
    voice(scoreKey(), 0.7);
    if (side === 'P') cheer(1.2, 0.3);
  }
  G.serveNum = 1;
}

// splatter-mode scoring: points land mid-flight without interrupting play.
// quiet (during a horde) rate-limits the umpire so he doesn't call every rapid-fire point.
// The scoreboard IS the progression: games drive spawn pressure, 6 games = a set = a horde,
// odd games end in a changeover breather.
// Which bodies gate the hand-clear after a won game. The racket zombie keeps its residence, and the
// ball machine is furniture — a standing threat you deal with WHEN YOU CHOOSE. Making either block
// progression would turn "decide what to prioritise" into "clear the chore list".
// A barrel must NOT gate the hand-clear: it is optional loot, and making it block progression would
// turn "decide whether that is worth a shot" into a chore every time one is on court.
const blocksClear = z => !'rmo'.includes(z.variant);

export function splatPoint(side, quiet = false) {
  if (side === 'P' && ++G.killCount < TUNE.killsPerPoint) return; // K kills bank one point; the rest just splatter
  if (side === 'P') G.killCount = 0;
  const gameOver = advancePoint(side);
  if (gameOver) {
    G.runGames++;
    // the schedule calls a DUEL, not a tin: it comes round on its own so there's always a chance
    // at a weapon, but you still have to win the point to be handed one. Fires at the next clear.
    if (G.runGames === TUNE.duelFirst ||
        (G.runGames > TUNE.duelFirst && (G.runGames - TUNE.duelFirst) % TUNE.duelEvery === 0))
      G.duelDue = true;
    // ...and every bossEvery games the schedule calls a CHAPTER BOSS. Like the duel it fires from
    // proceedAfterClear(), the one beat where the court is guaranteed empty, and it outranks
    // everything else there — a boss must not walk on into a standing wave.
    if (G.runGames % TUNE.bossEvery === 0)
      G.bossDue = Math.max(G.bossDue, Math.floor(G.runGames / TUNE.bossEvery)); // never backwards; a
      // long stretch with no clear skips a chapter rather than queueing one, which is intended

    voice(side === 'P' ? 'game_set_massacre' : 'game_opponent', 0.5); // game-win lines always speak
    if (side === 'O') aside('ump_scoreline', 1.4);  // they took a game: he would like that noted
    if (side === 'P') cheer(2.2, 0.5); else aww(0.85); // your game = applause, theirs = a groan
    const i = side === 'P' ? 0 : 1;
    if (score.games[i] >= 6) { G.sets[i]++; score.games = [0, 0]; G.afterClear = 'set'; } // set banked; a horde follows the card
    else if ((score.games[0] + score.games[1]) % 2 === 1) G.afterClear = 'changeover'; // real rule: after odd games
    else G.afterClear = 'game';                                                         // even game: a beat, then the next wave
    G.clearWinner = side;
    // The racket zombie is DEMOTED: he used to appear on every single game you won, which is exactly
    // why he read as "the boss" and why a real boss would not have stood out next to him. He is an
    // occasional opponent now — every racketEvery games — and the chapter boss is the wall.
    if (side === 'P' && G.runGames % TUNE.racketEvery === 0 && !zombies.some(z => z.variant === 'r')
        && !G.bossFight)
      spawnRacketZombie();
    // the rogue ball machine gets wheeled out on the same kind of schedule, capped on court
    if (side === 'P' && G.runGames >= TUNE.machEvery && G.runGames % TUNE.machEvery === 0
        && zombies.filter(z => z.variant === 'm').length < TUNE.machMax && !G.bossFight)
      spawnMachine();
    // ...and a weapon barrel on its own schedule. One at a time: two glowing pink things on court at
    // once would out-shout everything the palette uses to say "this one is dangerous".
    if (side === 'P' && G.runGames % TUNE.barrelEvery === 0
        && !zombies.some(z => z.variant === 'o') && !G.bossFight)
      spawnBarrel();
    // The wave does NOT auto-collapse anymore: the survivors stay and must be cleared BY HAND before
    // play advances — only no NEW shamblers spawn. When the last one is down, proceedAfterClear()
    // fires (see update()). If the winning shot already emptied the court, proceed at once.
    if (zombies.some(blocksClear)) {
      G.clearing = true; ball.active = false;
      G.flash = { text: 'CLEAR THE COURT', t: 1.8 };
      G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = TUNE.gameBeatT; // a short beat to register the game, then the serve loop resumes for the mop-up
    } else proceedAfterClear();
  } else if (!quiet || G.idleT - G.lastScoreT > 2) {
    voice(scoreKey(), 0.45); G.lastScoreT = G.idleT;
    if (side === 'P' && !quiet) cheer(0.7, 0.25);
  }
}

// the court is mopped up (or was already clear): play advances to whatever the won game earned —
// a changeover breather, a plain even-game beat, or (on a set) the centered SET card then a horde.
export function proceedAfterClear() {
  G.clearing = false;
  const mode = G.afterClear, side = G.clearWinner;
  G.afterClear = null;
  // A clear is the ONE moment the court is guaranteed empty — the natural slot for the scheduled
  // duel. (A wall-clock timer would need its own "wait for a safe moment" and could fire mid-swarm.)
  // The chapter boss outranks everything here, including a set: a boss walking on into a standing
  // wave (or into a horde) would be unreadable. Like the duel it parks the interrupted beat.
  if (G.bossDue) { const c = G.bossDue; G.bossDue = 0; G.afterDuel = mode || 'game'; startBossFight(c); return; }
  // The set/horde beat outranks the duel; the duel just waits for the next clear.
  if (mode !== 'set' && G.duelDue) { G.duelDue = false; G.afterDuel = mode || 'game'; startDuel(); return; }
  if (mode === 'set') {
    G.card = { title: 'SET ' + (G.sets[0] + G.sets[1]),                 // the set just banked (sets already ++'d at game over)
      sub1: side === 'P' ? 'THE SET IS YOURS' : 'SET TO THEM',
      sub2: 'SETS  ' + G.sets[0] + ' – ' + G.sets[1],
      color: side === 'P' ? UI.pick : UI.hot, t: TUNE.setCardT };
    G.pendingHorde = true;                                              // the horde begins when the card's pause ends
    ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = TUNE.setCardT;
  } else if (mode === 'changeover') {
    G.pendingGame = true; startChangeover();                            // 'GAME N' after the breather
  } else {                                                              // 'game': even-game beat, then GAME N announces the next wave
    G.pendingGame = true; ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = TUNE.gameBeatT;
  }
}

// changeover (after odd games, as the rules demand): a forced breather — no spawns,
// no serving, the boys mop. Zombies already on court keep walking; it's calm, not safe.
function startChangeover() {
  G.changeover = TUNE.changeoverT; // seconds left, not a flag: "Time." is called when THIS runs out
  G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = TUNE.changeoverT;
  // out with the mop, across the near court where the gore is — NOT to the ball: a dead ball
  // parked off the field (sendBoy's z guard) meant no boy came out at all, and the breather is
  // now long enough that an empty court reads as the game having stalled.
  sendBoy(0, COURT.L * 0.75, true); // near enough the camera to actually watch him work
  G.flash = { text: 'CHANGEOVER', t: 1.4 };
  aside('ump_still_a_match', 2.6); // the breather is when he reminds you this is a match
  // no tins here anymore — weapons are won in the duel, never handed out on a schedule
}

// ---- the courtside rack. RACK_MAX + 1 slots, and only slot 0 is fixed: it is BALL (infinite), or
// an overflow weapon riding it temporarily. Slots 1..RACK_MAX are what you have picked up, in order.
// EVERYTHING READS THROUGH THESE FOUR, so nothing else has to know how the rack is stored — and
// nothing else may hardcode how MANY slots there are. `slotOf` exists because endBurst did exactly
// that ("[0,1,2,3,4].find(...)"), so the moment the rack grew past five, a burst weapon sitting in
// slot 5..9 could never be found and never spent: beacon, flamer and rocket sat at their pickup
// count forever. One accessor, one place that knows the range.
export const slotEntry = i => (i === 0 ? G.temp : G.rack[i - 1]) || null;
export const slotId = i => slotEntry(i)?.id || (i === 0 ? 'ball' : null);
export const slotStock = i => { const e = slotEntry(i); return e ? e.n : (i === 0 ? Infinity : 0); };
export const slotOf = id => { // -1 if you are not carrying it
  for (let i = 0; i <= RACK_MAX; i++) if (slotId(i) === id) return i;
  return -1;
};
export function selectWeapon(i) {
  if (G.interlude) return; // the sudden-death duel is played under tennis rules — plain balls only
  if (slotStock(i) <= 0) return; // dud: nothing in that slot (slot 0 is only ever empty if a spent
  G.weapon = i; pock(0.3, 1100);  // temp has just been cleared, and then it is BALL again)
}

// Grant a weapon and equip it. Tops up what you already carry, else takes a free slot, else rides
// slot 0 as `temp` — Oliver's rule: a fifth is always allowed, because a barrel arms on the spot and
// is spent quickly, so refusing it would mean a barrel you shot did nothing.
export function grantWeapon(id, n = WEAPONS[id].tin) {
  const have = G.rack.find(e => e.id === id);
  if (have) { have.n = Math.min(TUNE.wCap, have.n + n); G.weapon = G.rack.indexOf(have) + 1; }
  else if (G.rack.length < RACK_MAX) { G.rack.push({ id, n }); G.weapon = G.rack.length; }
  else if (G.temp?.id === id) { G.temp.n = Math.min(TUNE.wCap, G.temp.n + n); G.weapon = 0; }
  else { G.temp = { id, n }; G.weapon = 0; }
  return G.weapon;
}

// Spend one from a slot, and hand you back plain balls when it runs dry. The temp weapon does not
// leave an empty dimmed slot behind the way a rack entry does — slot 0 simply becomes BALL again.
export function spendSlot(i) {
  const e = slotEntry(i);
  if (!e) return;
  if (--e.n > 0) return;
  // Spent, so it LEAVES — a slot is for what you are carrying, and an exhausted weapon sitting in
  // one is a quarter of the rack you can never pick anything up into. (The old fixed rack kept its
  // empty slots dimmed, which was right when the slot meant "BOMB goes here" and is wrong now.)
  if (i === 0) G.temp = null;               // slot 0 goes back to being the infinite ball
  else G.rack.splice(i - 1, 1);
  G.weapon = 0;
}

// the weapon ladder: each delivery opens the next tin in the cycle and ADDS it to the rack
// (capped per type at TUNE.wCap) — old stock is kept, so you can bank a bomb for the horde
// instead of spending it now. G.weapon picks which tin the next serve throws.
const TINS = ['bomb', 'triple', 'fire', 'gun']; // the duel ladder, in the order it hands them out
export function deliverTin() {
  // WALK the ladder to the next rung you have room for, rather than cycling blindly onto one that
  // is already at wCap. Blind cycling meant `grantWeapon` clamped the top-up to a no-op and a won
  // duel silently handed you nothing — and past about the thirteenth duel three rungs of four are
  // full, so most late-run duels paid out in literally nothing. Oliver: "later in the game a won
  // duel does not give you weapons anymore."
  const stock = id => { const s = slotOf(id); return s < 0 ? 0 : slotStock(s); }; // rack OR the temp slot
  let id = null;
  for (let k = 0; k < TINS.length; k++) {
    const cand = TINS[(G.deliveries + k) % TINS.length];
    if (stock(cand) < TUNE.wCap) { id = cand; G.deliveries += k + 1; break; }
  }
  // ...and when the whole four-rung ladder is capped, PAY OUT OF THE BARREL RACK instead. Past
  // about game 20 all four tins sit at wCap and the duel — the one thing in the run you play for —
  // handed you nothing at all: "the duel does not always give you new weapons". The barrel weapons
  // are the natural next rung, they already exist, and you cannot otherwise win one without
  // shooting a barrel. Unlocked ones only, so this can never hand you a rocket in game three.
  if (!id) {
    const late = Object.keys(BARREL_WEAPONS)
      .filter(w => G.runGames >= BARREL_WEAPONS[w].from && stock(w) < TUNE.wCap);
    if (late.length) id = late[G.deliveries++ % late.length];
  }
  // Every tin AND every barrel weapon full is a real state and not a bug, so say so plainly instead
  // of miming a handover that cannot happen. No boy, no umpire line — nothing was delivered.
  if (!id) { G.flash = { text: 'RACK FULL', t: 1.1 }; return; }
  const wasPlain = G.weapon === 0 && !G.temp; // never yank you off a deliberate PLAIN (banking)
  grantWeapon(id);
  if (wasPlain) G.weapon = 0;
  sendBoy(); voice('new_balls', 0.6);
  aside('ump_new_balls_dark', 2.0); // "...and a new opponent, apparently."
  // THE PRIZE GETS ITS OWN CARD, with the tin's own icon on it. It used to borrow G.flash — the
  // same channel as PERFECT and DOUBLE KILL — so the one thing you played the duel FOR arrived as a
  // word in the praise slot and read as another compliment. The first time a tin is seen the modal
  // announces it (and teaches its rules), so the card would be the SAME news twice, back to back —
  // it only speaks when the modal doesn't. Every time after, the card is the announcement, and it
  // does not want a tap: you have just won a point, not been asked a question.
  if (!weaponModal(id))
    G.card = { title: WEAPONS[id].label, sub1: 'DELIVERED TO THE RACK',
               sub2: (WEAPONS[id].desc && WEAPONS[id].desc[0]) || '',
               icon: WEAPONS[id].icon, color: UI.warm, t: TUNE.tinCardT };
}

// The one-per-run "what this thing does" popup, shared by the duel ladder and the barrels.
// THE GATE LIVES HERE, not at the call sites. The barrels gated themselves and the tin ladder did
// not, so the four delivered weapons re-explained themselves every three games for a whole run
// while a barrel weapon explained itself once — the same popup behaving two different ways.
// Returns whether it actually announced, so a caller with its own announcement (the tin card, the
// barrel's flash) can stay quiet rather than say the same thing twice.
export function weaponModal(id) {
  if (G.seen['w' + id]) return false;
  G.seen['w' + id] = true;
  const w = WEAPONS[id];
  showModal({ title: w.label, body: w.desc, icon: w.icon, iconH: 40, color: UI.warm });
  return true;
}

// ---- TEST MODE. Triple-tap the scoreboard. A sandbox for trying the new content without playing
// twenty games to reach it: a steady medium wave and every barrel weapon on the rack, topped back up
// as you spend it. It does NOT stop the run — games, duels and bosses all still happen underneath;
// it only overrides the difficulty dials and keeps the rack stocked.
export function toggleTestMode() {
  G.testMode = !G.testMode;
  if (!G.testMode) { G.flash = { text: 'TEST MODE OFF', t: 1.4 }; return false; }
  if (G.mode === 'tennis') forceZombies();      // no zombies to test against in a tennis match
  stockTestRack();
  G.flash = { text: 'TEST MODE', t: 1.6 };
  showModal({ title: 'TEST MODE', color: UI.pink,
    body: ['A STEADY CROWD, MEDIUM SPEED', 'EVERY BARREL WEAPON, KEPT FULL',
           '', 'TRIPLE-TAP THE SCOREBOARD AGAIN TO STOP'] });
  return true;
}

// every barrel weapon on the rack at full stock. Called on entry and then kept topped up in update,
// so a burst you commit (which spends the whole tin) is available again a moment later.
function stockTestRack() {
  for (const id of Object.keys(BARREL_WEAPONS)) {
    const have = G.rack.find(e => e.id === id);
    if (have) have.n = Math.max(have.n, WEAPONS[id].tin);
    else if (G.rack.length < RACK_MAX) G.rack.push({ id, n: WEAPONS[id].tin });
  }
}
export function tickTestMode(dt) {
  if (!G.testMode) return;
  stockTestRack();   // no barrels: the rack is already full of everything they would hand you, and
}                    // one rolling across the sandbox was just something else to look at

// ---- the interlude: order is restored, one sudden-death point vs the racket zombie.
// Tennis rules apply for exactly one point — the absurdity peak: the umpire never stopped watching.
// This is now the ONLY source of weapons in the game: win the point or leave empty-handed.
export function startDuel() {
  if (G.interlude) return;
  if (!zombies.some(z => z.variant === 'r')) spawnRacketZombie(); // the schedule guarantees an opponent
  for (const z of zombies) if (z.variant === 'r') z.dueled = true; // a veteran can be challenged again — this marks the fresh duel
  G.weapon = 0;                  // tennis rules for the duel: plain balls, no tins
  G.mgT = 0; endBurst(); pellets.length = 0; // ...and a burst in progress is over. The umpire has restored order.
  G.interlude = { introT: 2.4 }; // the intro beat: serving blocked while the umpire announces
  G.boy = null;                  // ...and the mop boy is waved off the court (sendBoy is barred for the duration)
  ball.active = false; setupPoint();
  zombieDuck(true);              // fade the zombie music out for the 1:1 duel
  voice('play_resume', 0.2); voice('sudden_death', 2.4);
  if (!G.seen.duel) { // the rules change back — worth one real interruption, once per run
    G.seen.duel = true;
    showModal({ title: 'SUDDEN DEATH', color: UI.hot,
      body: ["IT'S TENNIS AGAIN — ONE POINT", 'WIN IT AND THEY HAND YOU A WEAPON'] });
  } else G.flash = { text: 'SUDDEN DEATH', t: 1.6 };
}

// ---- the chapter boss: every TUNE.bossEvery games, the court is cleared and ONE thing walks on.
// No other spawns until it is down, so the fight is legible and so banking a bomb for it is a real
// decision (which is the point — tins arrive every 3 games, so there was never a reason to save one).
// It threatens BOTH channels: its volleys chip your hp, and letting it reach you is the ordinary
// instant death. G.bossFight holds the chapter number while it runs.
export function startBossFight(chapter) {
  if (G.bossFight) return;
  G.bossFight = chapter;
  zombies.length = 0; pellets.length = 0; extras.length = 0; shots.length = 0; // a clean stage
  G.horde = null; G.mgT = 0; endBurst(); G.clearing = false;
  ball.active = false; setupPoint();
  spawnChapterBoss(chapter);
  zombieDuck(true); // the music drops out for it
  voice('ump_boss_arrives', 0, 0.9); voice('sudden_death', 2.6, 0.85);
  const art = BOSS_ART[(chapter - 1) % BOSS_ART.length];
  G.card = { title: 'CHAPTER ' + chapter, sub1: art.name, sub2: 'IT THROWS. RETURN IT.',
             color: UI.bad, t: TUNE.setCardT };
  G.flash = null;
  if (!G.seen.boss) { // the rules change: a wall, and a thing that shoots back
    G.seen.boss = true;
    showModal({ title: 'IT BRINGS A MACHINE', color: UI.bad,
      body: ['IT THROWS BALLS AT YOU', 'SWING TO RETURN THEM — OR SWISH TO BAT THEM AWAY',
             'SWIPE SIDEWAYS TO STEP OUT OF THE WAY',
             'A HIT COSTS BLOOD. WIN A DUEL TO HEAL.'] });
  }
}

// the chapter boss is down: the parked game beat resumes and normal spawning comes back
export function endBossFight() {
  if (!G.bossFight) return;
  const c = G.bossFight; G.bossFight = 0;
  zombieDuck(false);
  shots.length = 0;
  cheer(3.4, 0.9); voice('unbelievable', 0.3);
  // The longest fight in the game deserves more than the two seconds a routine set gets. Big word,
  // long hold — the chapter and the crowd move down to the subs where they belong.
  // (no 'GAME n NEXT' line: the bar under the scoreboard prints the game number permanently, and a
  // card that repeats what the HUD already says is the clutter this pass is meant to remove.)
  G.card = { title: 'EPIC!', sub1: 'CHAPTER ' + c + ' DOWN',
             sub2: 'THE STANDS ARE ON THEIR FEET', color: UI.pick, t: TUNE.bossWinT,
             wait: TUNE.bossDeathT }; // ...after the body has finished coming apart
  ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = TUNE.bossWinT + TUNE.bossDeathT;
  // hand back the game beat the boss interrupted — same contract resolveInterlude uses
  if (G.afterDuel) { G.afterClear = G.afterDuel; G.afterDuel = null; proceedAfterClear(); }
}

// ---- THE DEADLOCK WATCHDOG.
// A run that hard-locks costs the player everything, and this file has form: `mgT` was once left
// above zero by a beat that moved the phase underneath it, and `mgT > 0` blocks serving, so the
// game sat there with the gun racket on screen. This is the net.
//
// It cannot misfire on a legitimate wait, and that is the whole design: every legitimate reason you
// cannot serve — a horde, a burst, a changeover, the duel's announcement, an 'over' beat — has a
// CLOCK counting down toward letting you act. So the test is not "how long has the player been
// blocked" (a horde blocks you for fifteen honest seconds); it is "is the thing that should be
// releasing me actually moving". If none of those numbers changes for stuckT seconds while the
// player is blocked and no popup is waiting on them, the state is dead and nothing will revive it.
//
// It also LOGS what was frozen, into the same miss log the scoreboard tap already shows — a lock
// that unsticks itself and leaves no evidence is worse than one that does not.
let stuckT = 0, stuckSig = '';
function watchdog(dt) {
  if (G.mode !== 'splatter' || G.modal) { stuckT = 0; return; }  // a popup waits on the PLAYER: legitimate
  const blocked = G.horde || G.mgT > 0 || G.changeover || G.phase === 'over'
    || (G.interlude && G.interlude.introT > 0)
    || (G.phase === 'toss' && ball.y < 2.0);   // a toss on the floor: only a held aim keeps it there
  if (!blocked) { stuckT = 0; return; }
  const sig = [G.horde && G.horde.t, G.mgT, G.changeover, G.interlude && G.interlude.introT,
               G.phase === 'over' && G.overT, ball.y].map(v => (+v || 0).toFixed(2)).join('|');
  if (sig !== stuckSig) { stuckSig = sig; stuckT = 0; return; }  // something is still moving — fine
  if ((stuckT += dt) < TUNE.stuckT) return;
  logSwing({ result: 'UNSTUCK', reason: `nothing moved for ${TUNE.stuckT}s — released a dead latch`,
             phase: G.phase, sig, aim: !!G.aim });
  G.horde = null; G.mgT = 0; G.changeover = false; G.interlude = false;
  G.aim = null; endBurst(); setupPoint();
  stuckT = 0; stuckSig = '';
}

export function resolveInterlude(side) {
  if (!G.interlude) return;
  G.interlude = false;
  zombieDuck(false); // duel over — bring the music back up
  ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = 2.2;
  if (side === 'P') {
    cheer(3, 0.7);
    deliverTin(); // win the point, win the next tin
    // ...and the trainer comes out. THE reason to want a duel rather than merely tolerate it — it is
    // the only healing in the game, and blood is the only thing you cannot buy back otherwise. It
    // gets its OWN popup (queued behind the weapon), with the red cross over it: folded in as a line
    // of body text under a weapon icon it read as a footnote to the tin rather than as the prize.
    if (G.hp < G.hpMax) {
      G.hp = Math.min(G.hpMax, G.hp + TUNE.healPerDuel);
      voice('ump_trainer', 0.2, 0.95);
      showModal({ title: 'WOUNDS TREATED', icon: 'x_cross', iconH: 52, color: UI.pick,
                  body: ['THE TRAINER PATCHED YOU UP', G.hp + ' OF ' + G.hpMax + ' BACK'] });
    }
  } else {
    voice('game_opponent', 0.4); aww(0.85); // lost the sudden-death duel
    score.games[1]++; G.runGames++; // it goes on the scoreboard
    if (score.games[1] >= 6) { G.sets[1]++; score.games = [0, 0]; }
    G.flash = { text: 'GAME. THEM.', t: 1.6 };
    for (let k = 0; k < 5; k++) // and the dead lose their patience: an instant surge
      spawnZombie((Math.random() * 2 - 1) * 5, -1.5 - Math.random() * 2, Math.random() < 0.5 ? 'a' : 'b');
  }
  if (G.afterDuel) { // a scheduled duel interrupted a game beat — hand it back now that it's settled
    G.afterClear = G.afterDuel; G.afterDuel = null;
    proceedAfterClear();
  }
}

// retire the splatter ball; a running changeover's long beat must not be clobbered short
export function spentBall() {
  ball.active = false;
  G.phase = 'over';
  if (!G.changeover) G.overT = TUNE.splatterOverT;
}

// ---- THE SIDESTEP. Free walking is 'rally'-only (see the movement block) and that is staying —
// but it left you welded to the spot through a whole boss fight, because a boss is fought from the
// serve stance and the one finger is already spent on the slingshot. So: a horizontal swipe is a
// committed step, not a joystick. It integrates OUTSIDE the movement block so it works in every
// phase, and it carries invulnerability, which is the only reason to make one.
export function dodge(dir) {
  if (G.mode !== 'splatter' || G.modal || G.dodgeCd > 0 || G.dodgeT > 0) return;
  G.dodgeDir = dir; G.dodgeT = TUNE.dodgeT; G.dodgeCd = TUNE.dodgeCool; G.dodgeI = TUNE.dodgeIFrame;
  G.idleHintT = 0;   // ...and the apron demo goes away, like any other gesture. The touch path nulls
                     // G.aim to fire this, and the demo's own guard only watches G.aim.
  P.facing = dir;
  // ...but a swing in flight keeps its pose. You can step out of the way mid-shot and the shot still
  // lands (swingT is untouched); clobbering the pose only threw away the animation for it.
  if (P.pose !== 'swing' && P.pose !== 'serve') { P.pose = 'run'; P.poseT = 0; }
  swish(0.22);
}

// How far out he may stand. P_BOUNDS.x is 6.5 m, but at the baseline in portrait the camera only
// shows about ±4 m either side of the centre line, so walking to the bound put him clean off the
// edge. Floored at the sideline so every legal tennis ball stays catchable — the court is never out
// of bounds. Shared by the movement block and the dodge; both were inline in the former.
const xVisible = () => Math.min(P_BOUNDS.x, (W / 2 - 14) / (TUNE.camF / (TUNE.camZ - P.z)));
const xLimit = () => Math.max(xVisible(), COURT.W / 2);

// the swarm keeps coming: no serving, the racket auto-fires, the thumb drag steers you
function startHorde() {
  if (G.horde) return;
  G.changeover = false; // a cheat-forced horde mid-changeover must not leave spawns locked
  G.pendingGame = false; // the horde IS the announcement
  const grow = 1 + (G.sets[0] + G.sets[1]) * TUNE.hordeGrow; // each set banked makes the next wave worse
  // the gun grows WITH the wave: spawn rate and length both scale by grow, so a flat gun fell
  // further behind on every set banked (the second horde was where every run ended)
  G.horde = { t: TUNE.hordeLen * grow, spawnT: 0, mgT: 0, rate: TUNE.hordeRate * grow, mgRate: TUNE.mgRate * grow };
  ball.active = false; G.phase = 'rally';           // ball gone; 'rally' lets the movement block steer P
  P.pose = 'idle'; P.poseT = 0; P.swingT = -1;      // clear the triggering shot's serve/swing pose
  P.z = HOME.P.z;                                   // brace at the baseline — the horde is a hold-the-line stand (finger steers x only)
  aside('ump_spectators', 0.4); // a horde IS the crowd on the court. (The near-identical 'remain seated'
                                // that used to play right before it belongs to the transition, not here.)
  G.flash = { text: 'THEY KEEP COMING', t: 1.2 };
}

// hidden shortcut: tapping the umpire three times summons the horror early
// Back to a fresh run WITHOUT reloading the page. The reload was the honest reset, but it also tore
// down the AudioContext, so the menu theme restarted from silence every time you died — and the menu
// is supposed to pick up the track that was already playing over the death summary. Every mutable
// bag has a pristine copy (state.resetState) and the two modules with timers of their own put them
// back themselves, so nothing here has to know the shape of any of it.
export function restartRun() {
  resetZombies(); resetInput(); resetState(); setupPoint();
}

export function forceZombies() {
  if (G.mode === 'splatter') { startHorde(); return; } // in splatter the cheat forces a horde wave
  if (G.mode !== 'tennis') return;
  ball.active = false;
  startTransition();
}

// -------------------------------------------------------------- transition ----
// You won your first game. The applause dies. The match... continues.
function startTransition() {
  G.mode = 'transition'; G.transT = 0; G.tFlags = {}; G.everTransitioned = true;
  G.overT = 9999; // hold the point flow; the timeline below releases it
  applause(0.7, 0.5); // the clap that gets cut off
  G.serveNum = 1;
}

function transition(dt) {
  const t = (G.transT += dt);
  const once = (key, at, fn) => { if (t >= at && !G.tFlags[key]) { G.tFlags[key] = true; fn(); } };
  once('quiet', 1.8, () => voice('quiet_dark', 0, 0.82));
  // THE CAMERA HAS TO BE THERE BEFORE IT HAPPENS. The zoom used to start ON the turn — and the
  // curve render applies is `sin(p*PI)`, which is ZERO at p=0, so the punch-in only reached full
  // magnification half a second AFTER he had already changed. You watched the aftermath every time.
  // It starts at 1.8 with T 3.2 so the peak (p=0.5) lands exactly on the turn at 3.4, holds through
  // it, and pulls back out as the mob walks on — which becomes the reveal of what else is coming.
  once('closein', 1.8, () => { G.zoom = { x: O.x, z: O.z, k: 2.1, t: 0, T: 3.2 }; });
  // ...and the turn itself is a sprite SWAP, one frame to the next, with nothing to sell it. So it
  // lands on a beat: the world stops dead for a moment (hitstop), the screen flashes, he comes
  // apart and puts himself back together wrong. The freeze is what makes a swap read as an EVENT
  // rather than as a glitch — the eye is given something to blame the change on.
  once('turn', 3.4, () => {
    G.hitstop = 0.16;                            // the world holds its breath
    G.boomFlash = 0.16; G.shake = { t: 0.7, mag: 7 };
    shriek(); splat(0.9); boom();
    for (let k = 0; k < 40; k++) parts.push({    // he bursts, and what stands up is not him
      x: O.x, y: 0.5 + Math.random() * 1.5, z: O.z,
      vx: (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * 3.5, vy: 1 + Math.random() * 4, vz: (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * 3.5,
      t: 0.5 + Math.random() * 0.7, dark: Math.random() < 0.45 });
    gore.push({ x: O.x, z: O.z, r: 1.1, a: 0.9 });
    spawnZombie(O.x, O.z, 'c'); G.hideO = true;  // the opponent... turns
  });
  once('mob', 4.8, () => { spawnZombie(-3.5, -1.6, 'a'); spawnZombie(2.5, -2.1, 'b'); G.shake = { t: 0.5, mag: 6 }; });
  once('seated', 5.4, () => voice('remain_seated', 0, 0.95));
  once('go', 8.2, () => {
    G.mode = 'splatter'; score.server = 'P'; setupPoint(); voice('play', 0.4, 0.9); zombieMusic();
    G.shake = { t: 0.7, mag: 9 }; // the floor goes out from under the match
    // the mechanic changed under you — the one popup that gets an illustration, because it has
    // to TEACH the gesture, not just announce it
    showModal({ title: 'THE MATCH HAS CHANGED', color: UI.hot, icon: 'x_howto', iconH: 120,
      body: ['PULL BACK TO AIM — THEN LET GO', 'THE FURTHER YOU PULL, THE HARDER IT HITS',
             'A WEAK SHOT ONLY STAGGERS THEM', 'SWIPE SIDEWAYS TO STEP OUT OF THE WAY'] });
  });
}

function fault() {
  if (G.serveNum === 1) { G.serveNum = 2; voice('fault'); G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = 1.4; sendBoy(); }
  else pointTo(other(score.server), 'double_fault');
}

export function inCourt(x, z) { return Math.abs(x) <= COURT.W / 2 + 0.02 && z >= -0.02 && z <= COURT.L + 0.02; }
export function inServeBox(x, z) {
  const toFar = score.server === 'P';
  const xOK = deuceSide() ? (toFar ? x <= 0.02 : x >= -0.02) : (toFar ? x >= -0.02 : x <= 0.02);
  const zOK = toFar ? (z >= COURT.svcFar - 0.02 && z <= COURT.netZ) : (z >= COURT.netZ && z <= COURT.svcNear + 0.02);
  return xOK && Math.abs(x) <= COURT.W / 2 + 0.02 && zOK;
}

function onBounce() {
  ball.bounces++;
  pock(0.35, 500);
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && ball.bomb && ball.bounces === 1) { // a bomb that missed everyone still blows up
    explode(ball.x, ball.z); ball.bomb = false;
    spentBall(); return;
  }
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && G.interlude) { // sudden death: the lines are LIVE again
    if (ball.bounces === 1) {
      const okSide = ball.lastHit === 'P' ? ball.z < COURT.netZ : ball.z > COURT.netZ;
      if (!inCourt(ball.x, ball.z) || !okSide) { ball.active = false; resolveInterlude(other(ball.lastHit)); voice('out'); }
    } else if (ball.bounces === 2) { ball.active = false; resolveInterlude(ball.lastHit); }
    return;
  }
  if (G.mode !== 'tennis') return; // no lines, no faults — the umpire has other concerns
  if (ball.bounces === 1) {
    ball.firstLand = { x: ball.x, z: ball.z };
    const wasServe = G.wasServe; G.wasServe = false;
    if (wasServe) {
      if (!inServeBox(ball.x, ball.z)) { ball.active = false; fault(); }
      return;
    }
    // must land on the side opposite the hitter
    const okSide = ball.lastHit === 'P' ? ball.z < COURT.netZ : ball.z > COURT.netZ;
    if (!inCourt(ball.x, ball.z) || !okSide) {
      ball.active = false; pointTo(other(ball.lastHit), 'out');
    }
  } else if (ball.bounces === 2) {
    ball.active = false; pointTo(ball.lastHit, null);
  }
}

// -------------------------------------------------------------- movement ----
// Where should a player run to? Simulate the ball forward and take the first point in
// their half at hitting height that they can actually REACH IN TIME; otherwise chase the
// deepest hittable point. This is the "every ball is catchable, timing is the skill" contract.
function intercept(side) {
  const ch = side === 'O' ? O : P;
  const spd = side === 'O' ? TUNE.aiSpeed : TUNE.playerSpeed * TUNE.autoAssist;
  let { x, y, z, vx, vy, vz } = ball;
  const g = ball.g || TUNE.gravity, dt = 0.01;
  const inZone = side === 'O' ? zz => zz <= ZONE_DEPTH : zz => zz >= COURT.L - ZONE_DEPTH;
  const home = HOME[side];
  let fallback = null, deepest = null;
  for (let i = 0; i < 300; i++) {
    vy -= g * dt; x += vx * dt; y += vy * dt; z += vz * dt;
    if (y <= 0 && vy < 0) { y = 0; vy = -vy * TUNE.bounceY; vx *= TUNE.bounceXZ; vz *= TUNE.bounceXZ; }
    if (i > 5 && inZone(z) && y < 1.6 && y > 0.3) {
      const pt = { x, z: side === 'O' ? Math.max(0.8, z) : Math.min(24.5, z) };
      const reachable = Math.hypot(pt.x - ch.x, pt.z - ch.z) / spd <= i * dt;
      if (y > 0.7 && reachable) return pt;          // waist-high AND arrivable in time
      if (reachable && !fallback) fallback = pt;    // low but arrivable
      deepest = pt;                                 // last resort: run at the deepest hittable point
    }
  }
  return fallback || deepest || home;
}

// ---------------------------------------------------------- miss diagnostics ----
// Every player swing in tennis mode gets logged: HIT with quality, or MISS with the
// gate that rejected it and the ball's closest approach. Balls that pass without a
// swing log as PASSED when the point ends. Inspect live via T.G.missLog; the latest
// miss reason is drawn on the HUD (TUNE.missHud).
const r2 = x => Math.round(x * 100) / 100;

function logSwing(entry) {
  entry.at = r2(G.idleT);
  G.missLog.push(entry);
  if (G.missLog.length > 50) G.missLog.shift();
  if (entry.result !== 'HIT') G.lastMiss = { text: entry.reason, at: G.idleT };
}

function logWhiff() {
  const snaps = G.swingSnaps; G.swingSnaps = null;
  if (G.mode !== 'tennis') return;
  if (!snaps || !snaps.length) {
    logSwing({ result: 'MISS', reason: !ball.active ? 'no live ball' : 'ball was yours — already hit' });
    return;
  }
  const best = snaps.reduce((a, b) => (b.d < a.d ? b : a));
  const inReach = snaps.filter(s => s.d <= s.r);
  let reason;
  if (!inReach.length) {
    // never in reach during the swing: was the swing mistimed, or the ball line simply wide?
    const tX = ball.active && ball.vz > 0.1 ? (P.z - ball.z) / ball.vz : -1; // time until ball reaches your depth
    const lat = tX > 0 ? Math.abs(ball.x + ball.vx * tX - P.x) : null;      // how wide it will pass
    const nearD = G.rallyNear ? G.rallyNear.d : 1e9;                        // closest true pass so far this rally
    if (lat !== null && lat > best.r) reason = `ball line ${r2(lat)}m wide of you — run, don't swing`;
    else if (tX > 0) reason = `tap too early — ball still ${r2(best.d)}m out, arrives ${Math.round(tX * 1000)}ms after swing ended`;
    else if (nearD > best.r) reason = `ball passed ${r2(nearD)}m wide of you — never reachable from where you stood`;
    else reason = `tap too late — ball already gone (it came within ${r2(nearD)}m of you earlier)`;
  } else {
    const inWin = inReach.filter(s => s.t >= TUNE.swingWindup && s.t <= TUNE.swingWindup + s.w);
    if (!inWin.length) {
      const first = inReach[0], last = inReach[inReach.length - 1];
      reason = last.t < TUNE.swingWindup
        ? `tap too late — ball already passing ${Math.round((TUNE.swingWindup - last.t) * 1000)}ms before swing opened`
        : `tap too early — ball arrived ${Math.round((first.t - (TUNE.swingWindup + first.w)) * 1000)}ms after window closed`;
    } else if (inWin.every(s => s.y > CONTACT.maxY)) reason = `too high — ball at ${r2(best.y)}m overhead`;
    else if (inWin.every(s => s.y < CONTACT.minY)) reason = `too low — ball at ${r2(best.y)}m, past you`;
    else reason = 'unclassified — in reach, in window, in height band'; // should not happen
  }
  logSwing({ result: 'MISS', reason, dMin: r2(best.d), y: r2(best.y), tSwing: r2(best.t),
    ballZ: r2(best.bz), bounces: best.bounces, px: r2(P.x), pz: r2(P.z) });
}

function trySwing(ch, isAI, qCap = TUNE.aiQualityMax) {
  // Contact happens if the ball is inside reach while the swing window is open.
  // Player volleys (pre-bounce) get wider reach + window: full-speed ball, no bounce cue.
  const volley = !isAI && ball.bounces === 0;
  const reach = isAI ? TUNE.aiReach : TUNE.reach * (volley ? VOLLEY.reach : 1);
  const win = TUNE.swingWindow * (volley ? VOLLEY.window : 1);
  const t = ch.swingT;
  if (t < TUNE.swingWindup || t > TUNE.swingWindup + win) return;
  if (!ball.active || G.phase !== 'rally') return;
  // splatter: your OWN ball is fair game. It rebounds off the backstop and comes back at you —
  // volleying it is how you keep firing without walking it down. (The duel is tennis: one touch.)
  const own = G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && ch.side === 'P';
  if (ball.lastHit === ch.side && !own) return;
  const dx = ball.x - ch.x, dz = ball.z - ch.z;
  if (Math.hypot(dx, dz * 0.8) > reach || ball.y > CONTACT.maxY) return;
  if (ball.y < CONTACT.minY && ball.vy <= 0) return; // a DROPPING ball below the ankles is past you — but a rising one is a half-volley, always scoopable
  // quality: how centered in the window the contact lands
  const center = TUNE.swingWindup + win / 2;
  const off = Math.abs(t - center) / (win / 2);
  let q = Math.max(0.05, 1 - off);
  if (Math.abs(t - center) * 1000 < TUNE.perfectMs) q = 1;
  ch.facing = dx >= 0 ? 1 : -1; // forehand right (righty), backhand left → mirrored sprite
  const flick = isAI ? null : takeFlickAim();
  const aim = isAI
    ? { ax: [ -1, 0, 1 ][Math.floor(Math.random() * 3)], az: Math.random() < 0.25 ? -1 : 0 }
    : flick || { ax: axisX(), az: axisZ() * (ch.side === 'P' ? 1 : -1) };
  if (isAI) q = Math.min(q, TUNE.aiQualityMin + Math.random() * (qCap - TUNE.aiQualityMin));
  if (!isAI && G.mode === 'tennis') {
    G.swingSnaps = null; G.rallyNear = null;
    logSwing({ result: 'HIT', reason: `contact q=${Math.round(q * 100) / 100}`, d: Math.round(Math.hypot(dx, dz * 0.8) * 100) / 100, y: Math.round(ball.y * 100) / 100 });
  }
  doHit(ch, q, aim);
  ch.swingT = -1;
}

// racket zombie (splatter mini-boss): a slimmed tennis CPU that holds the far court and returns
// your SOFT shots as live balls. Splat-quality balls it won't rally — those wound its HP instead.
function racketAI(rz, dt) {
  expirePose(rz, dt);
  rz.swingCool -= dt;
  const incoming = ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P' && ball.vz < 0
    && (G.interlude || (ball.pow || 0) < TUNE.zSplatQ); // in the duel it plays EVERY ball — it's tennis now
  if (!incoming) { if (rz.pose === 'run') rz.pose = 'idle'; return; }
  const tz = Math.max(1.5, Math.min(COURT.svcFar, ball.z)); // chase laterally, hold deep on the far court
  const dx = ball.x - rz.x, dz = tz - rz.z, d = Math.hypot(dx, dz);
  if (d > 0.15) {
    const step = Math.min(TUNE.racketSpeed * dt, d);
    rz.dist = (rz.dist || 0) + step; // ground covered — his walk cycle steps off this, not the clock
    rz.x += dx / d * step; rz.z += dz / d * step; rz.runT += dt;
    if (rz.pose !== 'swing') rz.pose = 'run';
    if (Math.abs(dx) > 0.2) rz.facing = dx > 0 ? 1 : -1;
  } else if (rz.pose === 'run') rz.pose = 'idle';
  if (rz.swingCool <= 0 && rz.swingT < 0
      && Math.hypot(ball.x - rz.x, (ball.z - rz.z) * 0.8) < TUNE.aiReach
      && ball.y < CONTACT.maxY && ball.y > CONTACT.minY) {
    if (Math.random() < TUNE.racketFlub) rz.swingCool = 0.5; // whiff — it hesitates
    else { rz.swingT = TUNE.swingWindup + TUNE.swingWindow / 2; trySwing(rz, true, TUNE.racketQMax); rz.swingT = -1; rz.swingCool = 0.3; }
  }
}

// A BURST weapon isn't a ball — committing to one braces you at the baseline for a window (the same
// mode a horde uses) and it fires ITSELF for `len` seconds while your finger only steers. G.mgT is
// the mode timer, which is why the eighteen `!(G.mgT > 0)` guards across five files never changed.
// There was briefly a third kind that fired one round per tap; Oliver read it as the weapon being
// broken, so a barrel weapon is now either this or a serve. Nothing waits for a tap.
function tryArmGun() {
  if (G.mode !== 'splatter') return false;
  const id = slotId(G.weapon), w = WEAPONS[id];
  if (!w || w.kind !== 'burst' || slotStock(G.weapon) <= 0) return false;
  G.gunId = id;
  G.mgT = w.len ?? TUNE.mgPickupLen;
  // The tin is spent when the burst ENDS, not when it starts. Spending on commit removed the rack
  // entry immediately, so the countdown bar — which draws on the slot holding G.gunId — had no slot
  // to draw on and every burst weapon ran with no progress bar at all. Oliver spotted it on the
  // flamethrower; it was true of all four.
  G.mgCool = 0;
  ball.active = false; G.phase = 'rally';
  P.pose = 'idle'; P.poseT = 0; P.swingT = -1;
  P.z = HOME.P.z;                        // brace at the baseline for the burst (finger steers x only)
  G.flash = { text: w.label, t: 1.0 };
  return true;
}

export function serveToss() {
  // A NEW WIND-UP ENDS THE LAST SHOT'S FOLLOW-THROUGH. Without this he latched: hitServe sets
  // pose 'serve' with poseT 0, that only expires after POSE_TIME, and the pull frame is only drawn
  // from 'idle' — so firing faster than 0.38 s reset the timer before it could ever expire and he
  // was welded into p_smash. Racket permanently up, balls appearing out of it, no wind-up at all,
  // which is precisely the late-game rapid-fire look. Clearing it here restores pull/smash/pull.
  if (score.server === 'P' && P.pose === 'serve') { P.pose = 'idle'; P.poseT = 0; }
  if (score.server === 'P' && G.phase === 'pretoss' && !ball.active) tossBall(P);
}

// The burst is over: NOW the tin is spent. Called from updateZombies when mgT runs out.
export function endBurst() {
  const id = G.gunId;
  G.gunId = null;
  if (!id) return;
  const slot = slotOf(id);
  if (slot >= 0) spendSlot(slot);
}

// The laser fired from a TAP (the keyboard/two-stage path). The drag path solves its own direction
// and goes through hitServe; this one has no arc to read a lane off, so it takes the held flick aim
// if there is one and otherwise fires straight up-court.
function tryLaser() {
  if (G.mode !== 'splatter' || G.interlude) return false;
  const w = WEAPONS[slotId(G.weapon)];
  if (!w || !w.beam || slotStock(G.weapon) <= 0) return false;
  const flick = takeFlickAim();
  const dx = flick ? flick.fx : 0, dz = flick ? -Math.abs(flick.fy) : -1;
  spendSlot(G.weapon);
  fireBeam(dx, dz || -1);
  ball.active = false; G.phase = 'over'; G.overT = 0.5;
  P.pose = 'serve'; P.poseT = 0;
  return true;
}

// release of the slingshot aim: an instant serve to the reticle (quality fixed — placement
// is this serve's power; the toss ritual keeps the PERFECT-timing power ceiling)
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 === '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 (tryArmGun()) 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, g: ball.g, wid: ball.wid });
  ball.active = true; ball.collected = false; ball.bounces = 0; ball.firstLand = null;
  ball.x = P.x + 0.12; ball.z = P.z; ball.y = 2.2; ball.g = TUNE.gravity; // over his head, see tossBall
  // a full pull is quality 1.0, but only a pull that STOPS at the top of the draw is praised
  hitServe(P, pullQuality(aim.mag), aim, pullPerfect(aim.mag));
}

// The swish cooldown, scaled by how crowded you are. Oliver died on every game-20 horde: the wave
// grows with hordeGrow but the panic button was a flat 1 s, so past a certain density it simply could
// not keep up. He picked "melee fires more frequently with horde density" over shrinking the horde.
function meleeCooldown() {
  let near = 0;
  for (const zb of zombies) if (zb && Math.hypot(zb.x - P.x, zb.z - P.z) < TUNE.meleeCrowdR) near++;
  return Math.max(TUNE.meleeCoolMin, TUNE.meleeCool / (1 + Math.max(0, near - 1) * TUNE.meleeCrowd));
}

export function keyPressed(code) {
  // Desktop sidestep: an arrow/A/D EDGE outside 'rally', where the walk axes do nothing anyway.
  // Inside a rally the same keys still walk, so one key never means two things at one moment.
  if (code === 'ArrowLeft' || code === 'KeyA' || code === 'ArrowRight' || code === 'KeyD') {
    if (G.phase !== 'rally') dodge(code === 'ArrowLeft' || code === 'KeyA' ? -1 : 1);
    return;
  }
  if (code !== 'Space') return;
  audio(); // unlock on first gesture
  // a swish cleaves adjacent shamblers — but it's on a cooldown now: the panic button, not the
  // default attack. A whiff costs nothing (nothing was in range), a connect locks it for meleeCool.
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && G.meleeT <= 0) {
    // measure the crowd BEFORE the swipe — it kills everything in reach, so counting afterwards
    // counts the SURVIVORS and the cooldown barely moved no matter how swarmed you were
    const cool = meleeCooldown();
    if (meleeSwipe(P.x, P.z, TUNE.meleeRange)) G.meleeT = cool;
  }
  // AN INCOMING SHOT OWNS THE TAP. The parry used to live behind the `phase === 'rally'` branch at the
  // bottom of this function — and in splatter you are in `pretoss` almost all of the time, so a tap
  // aimed at a machine's shot tossed the serve ball instead and the return was, in practice,
  // impossible. Oliver could not land one. A hostile ball in the air is the most visible thing on the
  // screen, so "the tap is a swing at it" keeps one gesture meaning one thing at any given moment.
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && shots.some(s => Math.hypot(s.x - P.x, (s.z - P.z) * 0.8) < TUNE.parryArm)) {
    P.swingT = 0; P.pose = 'swing'; P.poseT = 0; G.swung = true;
    swish(0.3);
    return;
  }
  if (G.horde || G.mgT > 0) return; // auto-fire modes: a tap only swishes, never serves
  if (G.changeover) return; // the breather is mandatory — the melee swish above still works
  if (G.interlude && G.interlude.introT > 0) return; // let the umpire finish announcing the duel
  // splatter: a tap/flick during the brief 'over' beat re-arms the next serve immediately
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && G.phase === 'over') { ball.active = false; setupPoint(); }
  // splatter serve stays a TWO-STAGE ritual — toss up, THEN fire. It can only start from
  // pretoss WITH a ball in hand: one ball, and it has to come back before you fire it again.
  // A flick is the aimed one-motion variant (the reticle). The duel is exempt: it serves like tennis.
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && score.server === 'P' && G.phase === 'pretoss') {
    const flick = takeFlickAim();
    if (flick) { dragServe(flick); return; } // dragServe handles GUN (burst) and the ball check
  }
  if (G.phase === 'pretoss' && score.server === 'P') {
    if (tryArmGun()) return; // a burst weapon selected: the gesture arms it, no ball
    // ...and a LASER never tosses one either. The ray IS the weapon, so a two-stage toss ritual was
    // throwing a ball into the air and then firing something else entirely.
    if (tryLaser()) return;
    tossBall(P); return; // plain tap: the two-stage toss ritual (tennis, and the duel)
  }
  if (G.phase === 'toss' && score.server === 'P') {
    // serve timing: distance from apex = quality — a real serve, not a free tap
    const dy = Math.abs(ball.y - serveApexY());
    if (ball.y < 2.0) return; // too low, let it drop (re-toss)
    let q = Math.max(0.05, 1 - dy / 0.9);
    if (dy < 0.12) q = 1;
    G.wasServe = true;
    // a flick at the apex (or held arrows) makes this a DELIBERATE serve: aimed + consumes a special
    const flick = G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude ? takeFlickAim() : null;
    const kb = { ax: axisX(), az: axisZ() };
    hitServe(P, q, flick || (kb.ax || kb.az ? kb : null));
    return;
  }
  if (G.phase === 'rally' && P.swingT < 0) { P.swingT = 0; P.pose = 'swing'; P.poseT = 0; G.swung = true; }
}

function expirePose(ch, dt) {
  if (ch.pose === 'swing' || ch.pose === 'serve') { ch.poseT += dt; if (ch.poseT > POSE_TIME) ch.pose = 'idle'; }
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------- ball boys ----
// The fetch boy is unchanged: sprint the width of the court, scoop the dead ball in passing.
function fetchRound(b, dt) {
  const step = b.dir * 7.5 * dt;
  b.x += step; b.runT += dt; b.dist = (b.dist || 0) + Math.abs(step);
  if (!ball.collected && !ball.active) {
    const dz = ball.z - b.z;
    b.z += Math.sign(dz) * Math.min(Math.abs(dz), 3 * dt); // track the rolling ball a little
    if (Math.abs(b.x - ball.x) < 0.4 && Math.abs(dz) < 1.2) ball.collected = true;
  }
  if (Math.abs(b.x) > 13.5) G.boy = null;
}

// The mop boy actually does a JOB: walk to a stain, stand on it and push the mop until it's
// gone, then move to the next one, then leave. He used to slide the width of the court in a
// straight line at constant speed, which read as moonwalking past the mess rather than cleaning it.
function mopRound(b, dt) {
  b.runT += dt;
  if (b.mopT > 0) { // ON a stain: no travel, but the push cycle keeps animating (dist drives frames)
    b.mopT -= dt;
    b.dist = (b.dist || 0) + TUNE.boyMopSpeed * 0.6 * dt; // the mop travels even when he doesn't
    if (b.mopT <= 0) b.jobs--;                            // that one's done — look for the next
    return;
  }
  // pick the next target: the biggest stain he can still reach, ignoring ones already scrubbed out
  if (b.tx === undefined && b.jobs > 0) {
    let best = null, bs = -1;
    for (const d of gore) {
      if (d.a < 0.15 || d.z < COURT.netZ - 2) continue;   // faded, or up the far end where he can't work
      const score = d.a * d.r - Math.hypot(d.x - b.x, d.z - b.z) * 0.04; // big and close first
      if (score > bs) { bs = score; best = d; }
    }
    if (best) { b.tx = best.x; b.tz = best.z; }
    else b.jobs = 0;                                      // nothing left to clean — go home
  }
  const working = b.tx !== undefined && b.jobs > 0;
  const gx = working ? b.tx : b.dir * 14, gz = working ? b.tz : b.z; // no target left: walk off the wing
  const dx = gx - b.x, dz = gz - b.z, d = Math.hypot(dx, dz);
  const step = Math.min(TUNE.boyMopSpeed * dt, d);
  if (d > 0.001) { b.x += dx / d * step; b.z += dz / d * step; b.dist = (b.dist || 0) + step; }
  if (Math.abs(dx) > 0.05) b.dir = dx > 0 ? 1 : -1;       // face the way he's walking
  if (working && d <= 0.12) { b.mopT = TUNE.boyMopDwell; b.tx = undefined; b.tz = undefined; } // arrived: get to work
  if (Math.abs(b.x) > 13.5) G.boy = null;                 // off the wing — round over
}

// ---------------------------------------------------------------- update ----
export function update(dt) {
  if (G.hitstop > 0) { G.hitstop -= dt; return; }
  if (G.mode === 'eaten') { // the match is over in the truest sense
    G.idleT += dt;
    const was = G.eatenT; G.eatenT += dt;
    if (G.eatenT < EATEN_BURST) eatenBleed(dt);                     // phase A: they are still tearing at you
    if (was < EATEN_BURST && G.eatenT >= EATEN_BURST) playerGore(); // phase B: you become the gore
    // phase C: the summary IS the end menu — hand the soundtrack back to the menu theme. Not at
    // killPlayer: the death itself already has the massacre call and the crowd's groan over it.
    if (was < EATEN_SUMMARY && G.eatenT >= EATEN_SUMMARY) { zombieDuck(true); menuDuck(false); }
    if (G.shake && (G.shake.t -= dt) <= 0) G.shake = null;
    if (G.boomFlash > 0) G.boomFlash -= dt;
    updateZombies(dt);
    return;
  }
  // A card can wait before it shows. The chapter card used to land on the same frame as the boss
  // died, so the biggest gore burst in the game happened underneath it and nobody ever saw it.
  if (G.card) {
    if (G.card.wait > 0) G.card.wait -= 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.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;
  if (G.boomFlash > 0) G.boomFlash -= dt;
  // A modal freezes the WORLD, not the clock: no zombie steps, no ball flight, no spawn timers,
  // so nobody gets eaten while reading a popup. idleT keeps running for the blink.
  if (G.modal) {
    G.idleT += dt;
    const m = G.modal; // the entrance is the ONE thing that animates behind the freeze
    if (m.in < 1 && (m.in = Math.min(1, m.in + dt / TUNE.modalIn)) >= 1) pock(0.4, 620); // it lands with a thud
    return;
  }
  // The flash is FROZEN behind a popup too, and it has to be: it used to tick above the return, so
  // any flash raised in the same beat as a modal spent its whole 1.1 s invisible behind the dim and
  // was gone before you had tapped. That is exactly what made a won duel look like it paid nothing
  // late in a run — the weapon modal is first-sight-only, so once you have seen a tin the label
  // flash IS the announcement, and the trainer's popup was eating it every time you were wounded.
  if (G.flash) { G.flash.t -= dt; if (G.flash.t <= 0) G.flash = null; }
  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;
  // "Time." belongs to the changeover alone. It used to ride the generic 'over' expiry, so any
  // other beat that overwrote overT while the breather ran (a melee kill taking a game, say)
  // had the umpire calling time on a pause that was never a changeover.
  if (G.changeover > 0 && (G.changeover -= dt) <= 0) { G.changeover = false; voice('time', 0, 0.95); }
  const w = BOUNCE_IDLE.tempo;
  // idle in the serve stance and not touching anything: after a beat, show the pull gesture
  if (G.phase === 'pretoss' && !G.aim) G.idleHintT += dt; else G.idleHintT = 0;
  if (G.phase === 'pretoss' && Math.sin(G.idleT * w) * Math.sin((G.idleT - dt) * w) < 0) pock(0.12, 420); // ball bounce
  // the toss/smash pose belongs to the SHOT, not to the aim: while the slingshot is drawn (G.aim)
  // the server stays in the pretoss stance and only snaps into 'serve' when hitServe fires.
  if (G.phase === 'toss' && !G.aim) { const sv = score.server === 'P' ? P : O; sv.pose = 'serve'; sv.poseT = 0; }

  // --- player movement (near half only, generous margins)
  // 'rally' ONLY, deliberately. Letting the player walk during the between-point beats was tried
  // and vetoed on feel: you never walk freely during play, so suddenly being able to between points
  // reads as the game breaking, not as a fix. The frozen-changeover complaint is answered by
  // holding the DEAD instead (see updateZombies), and the stuck pose by the reset below.
  if (G.phase === 'rally') {
    if (G.mode === 'tennis' && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'O') { // closest approach, for never-swung passes
      const d = Math.hypot(ball.x - P.x, (ball.z - P.z) * 0.8);
      if (!G.rallyNear || d < G.rallyNear.d) G.rallyNear = { d, y: ball.y, bz: ball.z, px: P.x, pz: P.z };
    }
    // auto-fire steering is ABSOLUTE: the finger x IS the player x — zero lag, and clamped
    // to what the camera can see (portrait's world bounds are wider than its viewport)
    const mgMode = G.horde || G.mgT > 0;
    const xVis = xVisible();
    let mgSteer = false, mgMoving = false;
    if (mgMode && touchPX() !== null) {
      mgSteer = true;
      const tx = Math.max(-xVis, Math.min(xVis, touchPX() * xVis));
      if (Math.abs(tx - P.x) > 0.04) { P.facing = tx > P.x ? 1 : -1; mgMoving = true; }
      P.x = tx;
    }
    const slow = P.swingT >= 0 ? 0.35 : 1;
    const mx = mgSteer ? 0 : axisX(), mz = mgSteer ? 0 : axisZ();
    P.x += mx * TUNE.playerSpeed * slow * dt;
    P.z += mz * TUNE.playerSpeed * slow * dt;
    let assist = 0;
    if (!mx && !mz && TUNE.autoAssist > 0 && ball.active && !G.horde && !(G.mgT > 0)) { // auto-fire: you aim by hand, no assist
      // splatter: anything travelling back toward you is yours to run down — your own rebound
      // included. The assist puts you there; the volley timing stays honest.
      const chasing = ball.lastHit === 'O' || (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && ball.vz > 0);
      // no `slow` here: tapping must not freeze your legs, or anticipating a shot loses it
      const rate = TUNE.playerSpeed * TUNE.autoAssist * dt * (chasing ? 1 : 0.55);
      const tgt = chasing ? intercept('P') : HOME.P; // run to the ball, then recover home
      const dx = tgt.x - P.x, dz = tgt.z - P.z, d = Math.hypot(dx, dz);
      if (d > 0.35) { // deadzone: stand ready near the spot instead of dithering over it
        P.x += dx / d * Math.min(rate, d);
        P.z += dz / d * Math.min(rate, d);
        assist = dx;
      }
    }
    // Stay ON SCREEN — always, not just in auto-fire (x = -6.5 projects to screen -61 of 270).
    const xLim = xLimit();
    P.x = Math.max(-xLim, Math.min(xLim, P.x));
    P.z = Math.max(P_BOUNDS.zMin, Math.min(P_BOUNDS.zMax, P.z));
    // mgMoving MUST be in here. Finger-steering zeroes mx/mz (they are the keyboard axes), so a
    // player sliding left and right under auto-fire counted as standing still and never ran —
    // "when he's moving left and right the run animation is not applied".
    const moving = mgMoving || mx || mz || assist !== 0 || G.dodgeT > 0;
    P.runT += moving ? dt : 0;
    // Auto-fire used to be excluded here, which left the pose stuck on 'idle' — and render then
    // faked a run cycle off G.idleT so he was not a statue. That fake is what read as "this hectic
    // run animation" whether he was moving or not. The pose follows MOVEMENT in every mode now, so
    // auto-fire uses the ordinary run animation and standing still is standing still.
    if (P.pose !== 'swing' && P.pose !== 'serve') P.pose = moving ? 'run' : 'idle';
    if (mx) P.facing = mx > 0 ? 1 : -1;
    else if (Math.abs(assist) > 0.25) P.facing = assist > 0 ? 1 : -1; // hysteresis: small corrections don't flip facing
  }
  // ...and out of 'rally' he STANDS. 'run' is the one pose nothing else expires (expirePose only
  // handles swing/serve), and P.runT stops advancing outside the block, so a beat that began
  // mid-stride left him welded to a single run frame — the "stuck mid-animation" report.
  else if (P.pose === 'run' && G.dodgeT <= 0) { P.pose = 'idle'; P.poseT = 0; }
  // The sidestep runs in EVERY phase — that is the entire point of it, since a boss fight is spent
  // in 'pretoss' where the block above never runs. Same clamp as the walk, so it cannot carry him
  // off the edge of the screen either.
  if (G.dodgeCd > 0) G.dodgeCd -= dt;
  if (G.dodgeI > 0) G.dodgeI -= dt;
  if (G.dodgeT > 0) {
    G.dodgeT -= dt;
    const xLim = xLimit();
    P.x = Math.max(-xLim, Math.min(xLim, P.x + G.dodgeDir * (TUNE.dodgeDist / TUNE.dodgeT) * dt));
    P.runT += dt;                              // the legs move, so the run cycle advances
    if (G.dodgeT <= 0) G.dodgeDir = 0;
  }
  // splatter: you START at the baseline but you're free to advance up-court (bounded at the net by
  // P_BOUNDS) — hunt the shamblers down, especially when mopping up a won game. Auto-assist still
  // recovers you toward the baseline between shots on touch; the duel is plain tennis as ever.
  if (P.swingT >= 0) {
    P.swingT += dt;
    if (G.mode === 'tennis' && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'O') { // sample the approach for the miss log (t = what trySwing tests this frame)
      const volley = ball.bounces === 0;
      (G.swingSnaps ||= []).push({ t: P.swingT, d: Math.hypot(ball.x - P.x, (ball.z - P.z) * 0.8), y: ball.y,
        bz: ball.z, bounces: ball.bounces,
        r: TUNE.reach * (volley ? VOLLEY.reach : 1), w: TUNE.swingWindow * (volley ? VOLLEY.window : 1) });
    }
    trySwing(P, false); // a contact resets swingT to -1 inside trySwing
    // volley-length window while a hostile shot is in the air too, or the swing clock expires at
    // 0.24 s and closes TUNE.parryWindow (0.34 s) before it has had its chance
    const win = TUNE.swingWindow * ((shots.length || (ball.active && ball.bounces === 0)) ? VOLLEY.window : 1);
    if (P.swingT > TUNE.swingWindup + win + 0.02) { P.swingT = -1; if (G.phase === 'rally') swish(); logWhiff(); } // log even if the point ended mid-swing
  }
  expirePose(P, dt);

  // --- zombies + transition timeline
  if (G.mode !== 'tennis') updateZombies(dt);
  tickTestMode(dt); // keeps the sandbox stocked and rolls it a barrel now and then
  if (G.meleeT > 0) G.meleeT -= dt;
  watchdog(dt);
  if (G.clearing && !zombies.some(blocksClear)) proceedAfterClear(); // the won-game wave is mopped up — advance
  if (G.mode === 'transition') transition(dt);

  // --- interlude trigger: the court is clear, an opponent holds the far court, you're about
  // to serve — the umpire recognizes a legal match and restores order. One point. Sudden death.
  // The schedule is a FLOOR, not a ceiling: this lucky-clear trigger stays, and a bonus duel is
  // pure upside for weapon supply.
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && !G.horde && !G.changeover && !(G.mgT > 0) && !G.bossFight
      && G.phase === 'pretoss' && zombies.length === 1 && zombies[0].variant === 'r' && !zombies[0].dueled)
    startDuel();
  if (G.interlude && G.interlude.introT > 0) G.interlude.introT -= dt;
  // the duel is played under tennis lights: lerp the palette home while it runs, back after
  G.duelLerp = Math.max(0, Math.min(1, G.duelLerp + (G.interlude ? dt : -dt) / 0.8));

  // --- AI (the opponent only exists in tennis mode)
  if (G.mode === 'tennis' && score.server === 'O' && G.phase === 'pretoss') {
    G.aiServeT -= dt;
    if (G.aiServeT <= 0) tossBall(O);
  } else if (G.mode === 'tennis' && score.server === 'O' && G.phase === 'toss') {
    if (ball.vy < 0 && ball.y < serveApexY() - 0.1) { G.wasServe = true; hitServe(O, 0.6 + Math.random() * 0.35); }
  }
  if (G.mode === 'tennis' && G.phase === 'rally') {
    G.aiReactT += dt;
    const incoming = ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P' && G.aiReactT >= TUNE.aiReaction;
    const tgt = incoming ? intercept('O') : HOME.O;
    const spd = TUNE.aiSpeed * (incoming ? 1 : 0.5); // slow recovery: wrong-footing wins points
    const dx = tgt.x - O.x, dz = tgt.z - O.z, d = Math.hypot(dx, dz);
    if (d > 0.1) {
      O.x += dx / d * Math.min(spd * dt, d);
      O.z += dz / d * Math.min(spd * dt, d);
      O.pose = O.pose === 'swing' ? 'swing' : 'run'; O.runT += dt;
      if (Math.abs(dx) > 0.25) O.facing = dx > 0 ? 1 : -1;
    } else if (O.pose === 'run') O.pose = 'idle';
    G.aiSwingCool -= dt;
    if (incoming && G.aiSwingCool <= 0 && O.swingT < 0) {
      // same radius trySwing uses for contact, so an armed swing actually connects
      const near = Math.hypot(ball.x - O.x, (ball.z - O.z) * 0.8) < TUNE.aiReach
        && ball.y < CONTACT.maxY && ball.y > CONTACT.minY && ball.vz < 0;
      if (near) {
        if (Math.random() < TUNE.aiFlub) G.aiSwingCool = 0.5; // whiff: hesitates and misses
        else {
          O.swingT = TUNE.swingWindup + TUNE.swingWindow / 2;
          trySwing(O, true); O.swingT = -1;
          G.aiSwingCool = ball.lastHit === 'O' ? 0.4 : 0.12;
        }
      }
    }
  }
  expirePose(O, dt);

  // --- racket zombies rally from the far court (splatter only, between hordes)
  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.horde)
    for (const rz of zombies) if (rz.variant === 'r') racketAI(rz, dt);

  // --- ball physics
  if (ball.active) {
    if (ball.flame) parts.push({ // fire trail: one ember per frame, brief and rising
      x: ball.x, y: ball.y, z: ball.z, t: 0.22, fire: true,
      vx: (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * 0.6, vy: 0.8, vz: (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * 0.6 });
    ball.vy -= (ball.g || TUNE.gravity) * dt;
    const oldZ = ball.z;
    ball.x += ball.vx * dt; ball.y += ball.vy * dt; ball.z += ball.vz * dt;
    // net: plane at netZ, only during rally flight
    if (G.phase === 'rally' && (oldZ - COURT.netZ) * (ball.z - COURT.netZ) < 0 && Math.abs(ball.x) < COURT.netW / 2) {
      const tCross = (COURT.netZ - oldZ) / (ball.z - oldZ);
      const yAt = ball.y - ball.vy * dt * (1 - tCross); // approx height at crossing
      if (yAt < COURT.netH) {
        ball.z = COURT.netZ + (oldZ < COURT.netZ ? -0.05 : 0.05);
        ball.vz *= -0.08; ball.vx *= 0.3; ball.vy = Math.min(ball.vy, 0);
        pock(0.4, 300);
      }
    }
    if (ball.y <= 0 && ball.vy < 0) {
      ball.y = 0; ball.vy = -ball.vy * TUNE.bounceY;
      ball.vx *= TUNE.bounceXZ; ball.vz *= TUNE.bounceXZ;
      onBounce();
      if (ball.active && Math.abs(ball.vy) < 0.8) { // rolled out — dead ball
        ball.active = false;
        if (G.mode === 'splatter' && G.interlude) { // a roller nobody returned: point to the hitter
          if (ball.lastHit === 'X') spentBall();    // spent on the boss's body — no point, re-serve the duel
          else resolveInterlude(ball.lastHit);
        } else if (G.mode === 'splatter') { // hand the server a fresh one, fast — they're coming
          spentBall(); sendBoy();
          if (Math.random() < 0.12) voice('new_balls', 0.3);
        } else if (ball.bounces === 1) pointTo(ball.lastHit, null);
      }
    }
    // a racket zombie's return that gets past you (crosses your baseline) is a point for THEM
    if (G.mode === 'splatter' && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'O' && ball.z > COURT.L + 0.3) {
      ball.active = false;
      if (G.interlude) resolveInterlude('O'); // sudden death: its passing shot ends the duel
      else { if (!G.horde && !G.clearing) splatPoint('O'); spentBall(); } // clearing = mop-up, no scoring either way
    }
    // the far backstop: a LIVE ball doesn't leave the field, it rebounds off the fence and comes
    // back down-court — still lethal on the way home, and yours to volley. Spent balls just die.
    if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P'
        && ball.z < TUNE.backstopZ && ball.vz < -3) { // only a ball with real pace left comes back; a roller just stops
      ball.z = TUNE.backstopZ;
      ball.vz *= -TUNE.backstopKeep; ball.vx *= 0.7;
      ball.vy = Math.max(ball.vy, TUNE.backstopPop); // the fence kicks it up, so it carries back through the crowd
      pock(0.5, 200); // chain-link thud
    }
    // splatter: retire spent or hopeless balls fast so the next serve comes right up.
    // z-bounds gate on travel direction — a serve born behind the baseline (P.z up to 26)
    // heads to the far court (vz<0), so it must not read as "out the back" on frame one.
    // (during the interlude only spent balls retire early — flying balls must reach their
    // bounce so the line call can happen; the umpire is watching again)
    if (G.mode === 'splatter' && ball.active &&
        ((ball.lastHit === 'X' && ball.bounces >= 1)
         || (!G.interlude &&
             ((ball.z < -2 && ball.vz < 0) || (ball.z > 25.5 && ball.vz > 0) || Math.abs(ball.x) > 7.5)))) {
      spentBall();
    }
    if (G.phase === 'toss' && ball.y <= 1.4 && ball.vy < 0 && !G.aim) { // uncaught toss → retoss (a held slingshot aim keeps the toss up)
      ball.active = false; G.phase = 'pretoss';
      if (score.server === 'O') G.aiServeT = 0.8;
    }
  }

  // ball boy: sprint across, scoop the ball in passing, despawn off the far side
  const boy = G.boy;
  if (boy) boy.mop ? mopRound(boy, dt) : fetchRound(boy, dt);
  if (G.outMarker && (G.outMarker.t -= dt) <= 0) G.outMarker = null;

  if (G.phase === 'over') {
    G.overT -= dt;
    if (G.overT <= 0) {
      // A boss (or a duel) OUTRANKS the horde, and pendingHorde is a latch: it is armed when the set
      // banks and cashed by whichever 'over' beat expires next — which, at game 30, is the chapter
      // card, because 30 is both a set and a boss. The wave then poured onto the boss stage. Leave the
      // latch alone and let the beat AFTER the fight cash it: the set still gets its horde, later.
      if (G.pendingHorde && !G.bossFight && !G.interlude) { // the set card's pause is over — but the horde is a different CONTROL MODE
        G.pendingHorde = false;                                  // (racket auto-fires, the finger steers you absolutely),
        showModal({ title: 'THEY KEEP COMING', color: UI.hot,    // so it gets a real block, not just a card
          body: ['THE RACKET FIRES ON ITS OWN', 'SLIDE TO AIM · HOLD THE BASELINE'],
          onDismiss: startHorde });
        return;
      }
      // auto-fire modes must NEVER re-enter the serve loop: an 'over' beat expiring into
      // setupPoint() -> pretoss left the player locked in the serve posture while the gun
      // fired (no movement outside 'rally', no serving during auto-fire). Back to rally.
      if (G.horde || G.mgT > 0) {
        G.phase = 'rally'; ball.active = false;
        P.pose = 'idle'; P.poseT = 0; P.swingT = -1;
      } else {
        setupPoint();
        if (G.pendingGame && G.mode === 'splatter') { // the next wave is announced as it arms
          G.pendingGame = false;
          G.flash = { text: 'GAME ' + (G.runGames + 1), t: 1.1 };
        }
      }
    }
  }
}