targeting: say what you are about to hit or throw at

Both aiming modes announced their name and then went silent, so there was
no way to know what the arrow keys were pointing at. Prompted by "it says
targetting, melee, but when I press the arrow keys it does not tell me
what I am currently selecting."

They look like a pair and are not, which is the whole shape of the fix.

Throw has a real free-roaming cursor on level.cursorX/cursorY, so its
descriptor is ingame_observe plus one clause: whether the tile is a legal
target. That clause is recomputed from level.FoV, level.interactableArea
and level.canThrowOnCell rather than read off the state's targetAllowed
upvalue, because ingame_targeting_throw.lua:228 sets targetAllowed false
for the whole 0.3s cursor glide and only the animation's onFinish
restores it -- and mid-glide is exactly when we speak, so it would have
said "blocked" on every single move. The same class of trap as the
examine-cursor popup lag, and the same answer: read the model, not the
view.

Melee has no cursor and no target state at all.
ingame_targeting_melee.lua:184-195 takes one direction key and fires the
callback in that same keypress, so nothing is ever "currently selected"
and there is no focus for a read() to return. Its descriptor speaks only
on entry, listing the eight adjacent tiles -- which are precisely the
legal targets, the game's rule being Chebyshev <= 1. Arrows still commit
immediately; the game plays as it did. A two-step confirm cursor was
considered and rejected for that reason.

That entry line is surroundings.scan()'s sentence, so scan() splits into
describeNeighbours() returning the text and scan() speaking it. onOpen
grows the ability to be a function rather than a fixed string, since the
neighbours differ every time.

menus.selfTest needed a branch for a descriptor with neither read nor
probe -- melee is the first -- or it would index a nil probe and take the
whole self test down with it, which is the one report that must never
fail quietly.

Neither mode is reachable by its key in the prologue: b is filtered out
by the room's level.allowedActions, and t falls through to
gotoInventory() when there is nothing throwable. Found that by writing
the testbed block as keypresses and watching it land in the inventory. It
now drives both states directly, borrowing levelWindow, hpbar and
levelDescriptionWindow off the ingame state's upvalues the way gotoAction
would pass them.

129 testbed checks, 0 failures. The throw block asserts the focus text
CHANGED across a cursor move rather than merely being non-nil, which is
the assertion that would have caught the targetAllowed mistake had it
been made. Still unverified against real content: only "can throw" has
been heard, not "blocked", "out of range" or "no line of sight".

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

accessibility/README.md

@@ -139,6 +139,22 @@ The game's own examine mode (**`x`**) is also fully spoken: the arrow keys move
 cursor around the map and each tile is described with its distance and direction
 from you. Press `f` in examine mode to jump between exits.
 
+### Aiming
+
+Both targeting modes now speak. No new keys — this is the game's own aiming.
+
+**Ranged aiming** (throw, `t`) works like examine mode: the arrow keys move the
+target cursor and each tile is read out as you land on it, followed by whether
+you can actually throw there — *"can throw"*, *"blocked"*, *"out of range"* or
+*"no line of sight"* — and how far away it is. `z` throws.
+
+**Melee aiming** (hit `b`, interact `g`, push `y`) has no cursor: in this game a
+single direction key both picks the tile and swings. So instead of reading a
+selection that does not exist, the mod reads **all eight tiles around you the
+moment you enter melee aiming** — clockwise from north — which are exactly the
+tiles you can reach. Listen, then press the direction you want. `z` targets
+yourself; `escape` backs out without attacking.
+
 ### Object tracker
 
 Finds everything you have seen, sorted by distance.

accessibility/docs/scratch.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ fixing what Talon hits. Remaining work is polish, mod settings and distribution.
 
 **Game is playable start-to-finish by ear** from main menu through the intro
 conversation into gameplay, plus journal, character, actions and inventory —
-verified by the testbed, **120 checks, 0 failures**.
+verified by the testbed, **129 checks, 0 failures**.
 
 **Not set up yet, or unsure how the two trees relate?** →
 [00-dev-setup.md](00-dev-setup.md).
@@ -282,7 +282,13 @@ where you're standing now. `playing` is cleared on level change.
   (`terse`/`normal`/`verbose`) since sweeping 8 neighbours and inspecting one
   tile want different amounts of detail.
 - `accessibility/states/ingame_observe.lua` — narrates the game's examine cursor.
+- `accessibility/states/ingame_targeting_throw.lua` — narrates the ranged
+  targeting cursor, plus whether the tile is a legal target.
+- `accessibility/states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua` — speaks the eight adjacent
+  tiles on entry. **No `read()`, by design** (see below).
 - `accessibility/surroundings.lua` — probe/scan/where-am-I without moving.
+  `describeNeighbours()` returns the eight-neighbour line; `scan()` speaks it and
+  melee targeting reuses it.
 - `accessibility/patches/popups.lua` — wraps `inventoryCursorPopup.set`, covering
   **inventory, craft, refine, trade** in one patch.
 
@@ -301,6 +307,38 @@ therefore deliberately **not** patched; only `inventoryCursorPopup` is.
 *(The level model is a closure instance, not a module, so it can't be patched at
 require time — reading its public fields is the decoupled route.)*
 
+#### Design note: the two targeting modes are not symmetrical
+They look like a pair and are not.
+
+**Throw** (`states/ingame_targeting_throw.lua`) has a real free-roaming cursor on
+`level.cursorX/cursorY`, so its descriptor is `ingame_observe` plus a validity
+clause. ⚠ **Do not read the state's `targetAllowed` upvalue** for that clause:
+`throw.lua:228` sets it `false` for the whole 0.3s cursor glide and only the
+animation's `onFinish` restores it, so mid-glide — which is exactly when we
+speak — it always says "blocked". Recompute instead from the same three public
+inputs the game uses (`throw.lua:86-89`): `level.FoV`, `level.interactableArea`,
+`level.canThrowOnCell`.
+
+**Melee** (`states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua`) has **no cursor and no target
+state at all**: `melee.lua:184-195` takes one direction key and fires the
+callback in that same keypress. Nothing is ever "currently selected". Its
+descriptor therefore has no `read()` and speaks only on entry, listing the eight
+adjacent tiles (which are precisely the legal targets — the game's rule is
+Chebyshev ≤ 1, `playerActions.lua:3-6`). A future reader should not "fix" the
+missing `read()`; there is nothing for it to return. A two-step confirm cursor
+was considered and rejected: it would change how the game plays.
+
+⚠ `menus.selfTest` had to grow a branch for descriptors with neither `read` nor
+`probe` — melee is the first — or it would index a nil `probe` and take the
+*whole* self test down with it.
+
+⚠ Neither mode is reachable by its key in the prologue: `b` (hit) is filtered out
+by the room's `level.allowedActions`, and `t` (throw) falls through to
+`gotoInventory()` when there is nothing throwable
+(`states/ingame.lua:986-990`). The testbed drives both by `states.switch`,
+borrowing `levelWindow`/`hpbar`/`levelDescriptionWindow` off the `ingame` state's
+upvalues the way `gotoAction` would.
+
 #### Testability seam
 `hotkeys.isCtrlDown` / `isShiftDown` are overridable fields, not direct calls to
 `love.keyboard.isScancodeDown`. Real hardware state can't be faked by
@@ -378,7 +416,8 @@ yet. Verify against a later area before trusting those two categories.)*
 `init.lua`, all resolving in the startup self-test:
 
 `main_menu` · `settings_menu` · `load_game` · `new_game` · `narration` ·
-`ingame_dialogue` · `ingame_observe` · `actions_menu` · `worldmap` ·
+`ingame_dialogue` · `ingame_observe` · `ingame_targeting_melee` ·
+`ingame_targeting_throw` · `actions_menu` · `worldmap` ·
 `alchemy_table` · `journal` · `character` · `inventory` ·
 `menu_text` / `ingame_message` / `menu_message` (shared `_textscreen.lua`)
 
@@ -1000,6 +1039,10 @@ require trap as the research tree.
   announcements (`popupStack.add`), damage alerts
   (`ingame.checkInterruptions`), mod settings.
 - `ingame` itself has no descriptor.
+- **Targeting is verified only against the prologue room**, where neither mode is
+  reachable by its own key and the testbed drives them by `states.switch`. The
+  throw descriptor's "out of range" / "no line of sight" / "blocked" branches
+  have not been seen against real content — only "can throw".
 - **Unverified against real content:** tracker categories Items / Alchemy /
   Exits / Creatures / Terrain (tutorial house has none), and inventory item
   names (inventory is empty in the prologue).

accessibility/init.lua

@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ local describedStates = {
 	"narration",
 	"ingame_dialogue",
 	"ingame_observe",
+	"ingame_targeting_melee",
+	"ingame_targeting_throw",
 	"actions_menu",
 	"worldmap",
 	"alchemy_table",
@@ -136,7 +138,17 @@ local function hookStates()
 			if descriptor then
 				menus.announceScreen(newState)
 				if descriptor.onOpen then
-					speech.say(descriptor.onOpen, false)
+					-- onOpen may be a fixed string or a function returning one.
+					-- Melee targeting needs the latter: what it says (the eight
+					-- adjacent tiles) differs every time the state is entered.
+					local text = descriptor.onOpen
+					if type(text) == "function" then
+						local okOpen, result = pcall(text)
+						text = okOpen and result or nil
+					end
+					if type(text) == "string" and text ~= "" then
+						speech.say(text, false)
+					end
 				end
 			else
 				speech.say(stateNames[newState] or newState, true)

accessibility/menus.lua

@@ -364,6 +364,13 @@ function menus.selfTest(stateList)
 					end
 				end
 			end
+		elseif not descriptor.probe then
+			-- Neither read() nor probe: a descriptor that only speaks on entry.
+			-- ingame_targeting_melee is one -- it has no focus to track because the
+			-- game keeps no target state at all. Nothing to canary here, but it must
+			-- be handled explicitly rather than falling through and indexing a nil
+			-- probe, which would throw and cost us the whole self test.
+			results[stateName] = descriptor.onOpen and "onOpen only" or "nothing to read"
 		else
 			local stateTable = getStateTable(stateName)
 			if not stateTable then

accessibility/states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+-- states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua — the melee targeting prompt.
+--
+-- Deliberately has NO `read`. Unlike throw targeting, melee has no cursor and no
+-- target state to poll: states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua:184-195 takes a single
+-- direction key, works out the tile, and fires the callback in that same
+-- keypress. Nothing is ever "currently selected", so there is no focus to track
+-- and the only useful moment to speak is on entry.
+--
+-- What we say instead is the eight adjacent tiles, which are exactly the legal
+-- melee targets (the game's own rule is Chebyshev distance <= 1 --
+-- models/player/playerActions.lua:3-6). Hearing them before committing is the
+-- accessible equivalent of glancing at the targeting arrows.
+--
+-- Do not "fix" this by adding a read(): there is nothing for it to return.
+
+local surroundings = require("accessibility.surroundings")
+
+return {
+	-- A function rather than a static string: the neighbours differ every time.
+	onOpen = function()
+		local ok, text = pcall(surroundings.describeNeighbours)
+		if not ok then
+			return nil
+		end
+		return text
+	end,
+}

accessibility/states/ingame_targeting_throw.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+-- states/ingame_targeting_throw.lua — the ranged targeting cursor.
+--
+-- Same shape, and same reasoning, as accessibility/states/ingame_observe.lua:
+-- read level.cursorX/cursorY straight off the level model each frame rather than
+-- listening to the game's cursor popup. The popup is refreshed from the cursor
+-- animation's completion callback (`onFinish`), so relaying it would put every
+-- announcement a keypress behind. animations/moveCursor.lua assigns cursorX/Y in
+-- its constructor, so polling is correct on the frame the key is pressed.
+--
+-- The extra job here over examine mode is saying whether the tile is a LEGAL
+-- target, which is the whole point of being in this state.
+
+local describe = require("accessibility.describe")
+
+-- Recompute validity from the level rather than reading the state's own
+-- `targetAllowed` upvalue.
+--
+-- Why: states/ingame_targeting_throw.lua:228 sets targetAllowed = false for the
+-- duration of the 0.3s cursor glide and only the animation's onFinish restores
+-- it. We speak on the frame the key is pressed, i.e. mid-glide, so that upvalue
+-- would report "blocked" for every single move. The three inputs the game
+-- itself uses (:86-89) are all public fields, so recomputing is both cheap and
+-- honest.
+local function validity(level, x, y)
+	if not level.interactableArea then
+		return nil
+	end
+
+	if not (level.FoV and level.FoV[x] and level.FoV[x][y]) then
+		return "no line of sight"
+	end
+
+	if not (level.interactableArea[x] and level.interactableArea[x][y]) then
+		return "out of range"
+	end
+
+	local ok, throwable = pcall(level.canThrowOnCell, x, y)
+	if ok and not throwable then
+		return "blocked"
+	end
+
+	return "can throw"
+end
+
+return {
+	read = function()
+		local ok, world = pcall(require, "models.world")
+		if not ok or not world.currentLevel then
+			return nil, nil
+		end
+
+		local level = world.currentLevel
+		local x, y = level.cursorX, level.cursorY
+
+		if type(x) ~= "number" or type(y) ~= "number" then
+			return nil, nil
+		end
+
+		local player = level.playerActor
+		local px = player and player.x
+		local py = player and player.y
+
+		-- Terse: in combat the target's name, its legality and how far away it is
+		-- are what matter; the scenery adjectives are noise.
+		--
+		-- Described without an origin so that describe.tile does not append the
+		-- offset itself -- the validity belongs between the two, giving
+		-- "rat, can throw, 3 tiles north-east".
+		local previousVerbosity = describe.verbosity
+		describe.verbosity = "terse"
+		local okTile, text = pcall(describe.tile, level, x, y)
+		describe.verbosity = previousVerbosity
+
+		if not okTile or not text or text == "" then
+			return nil, nil
+		end
+
+		local parts = {text}
+
+		local state = validity(level, x, y)
+		if state then
+			parts[#parts + 1] = state
+		end
+
+		if px and py then
+			parts[#parts + 1] = describe.offset(x - px, y - py)
+		end
+
+		return table.concat(parts, ", "), x .. "," .. y
+	end,
+}

accessibility/surroundings.lua

@@ -72,14 +72,17 @@ function surroundings.probe(dx, dy)
 	speech.say(describe.tile(level, px + dx, py + dy, px, py), true)
 end
 
--- Speak all eight neighbours, clockwise from north. Terse by design: eight
--- descriptions at normal verbosity is a wall of speech.
-function surroundings.scan()
+-- All eight neighbours, clockwise from north, as one line. Terse by design:
+-- eight descriptions at normal verbosity is a wall of speech.
+--
+-- Returns the text rather than speaking it, because melee targeting needs the
+-- same sentence on entry (accessibility/states/ingame_targeting_melee.lua).
+function surroundings.describeNeighbours()
 	local level = getLevel()
 	local px, py = playerPosition(level)
 
 	if not px then
-		return
+		return nil
 	end
 
 	local previousVerbosity = describe.verbosity
@@ -94,7 +97,15 @@ function surroundings.scan()
 
 	describe.verbosity = previousVerbosity
 
-	speech.say(table.concat(parts, ". "), true)
+	return table.concat(parts, ". ")
+end
+
+-- Speak all eight neighbours.
+function surroundings.scan()
+	local text = surroundings.describeNeighbours()
+	if text then
+		speech.say(text, true)
+	end
 end
 
 -- Where am I: level name, in-game time, coordinates.

accessibility/testbed.lua

@@ -1377,6 +1377,132 @@ local function scenario()
 			check("left examine mode", currentState() == "ingame",
 				"got " .. currentState())
 		end
+
+		-- Targeting. Both modes used to announce their name and then go silent,
+		-- which left no way to know what you were about to hit or throw at.
+		--
+		-- Neither mode is reachable by its key here. The prologue room restricts
+		-- level.allowedActions, so `b` (hit) never resolves an action; and with
+		-- nothing throwable in the pack, `t` falls through to gotoInventory()
+		-- (states/ingame.lua:986-990). So drive both states directly, borrowing the
+		-- views from the ingame state exactly as gotoAction would pass them
+		-- (states/ingame.lua:133-151).
+		local function targetingParams()
+			local ingameTable = menus.getStateTable("ingame")
+			if not ingameTable then
+				return nil
+			end
+
+			local params = {
+				range = 5,
+				callback = function() end,
+				levelWindow = menus.getAnyUpvalue(ingameTable, "levelWindow"),
+				hpbar = menus.getAnyUpvalue(ingameTable, "hpbar"),
+				levelDescriptionWindow =
+					menus.getAnyUpvalue(ingameTable, "levelDescriptionWindow"),
+			}
+
+			if not (params.levelWindow and params.hpbar
+				and params.levelDescriptionWindow) then
+				return nil
+			end
+
+			return params
+		end
+
+		if currentState() == "ingame" then
+			local params = targetingParams()
+			if params then
+				params.actionName = "hit"
+				pcall(require("states").switch, "ingame_targeting_melee", params)
+				wait(10)
+			else
+				print("[testbed] could not harvest ingame views for melee targeting")
+			end
+
+			if currentState() == "ingame_targeting_melee" then
+				check("entered melee targeting", true)
+
+				-- Melee has no cursor: one direction key picks AND commits. So the
+				-- descriptor speaks on entry only, and we must not press an arrow
+				-- here -- that would swing at something and perturb the run.
+				local descriptor = menus.loadDescriptor("ingame_targeting_melee")
+				local spoken = descriptor and descriptor.onOpen and descriptor.onOpen()
+
+				check("melee targeting describes the adjacent tiles on entry",
+					type(spoken) == "string" and spoken ~= "",
+					"onOpen=" .. tostring(spoken))
+
+				if type(spoken) == "string" then
+					local missing
+					for _, dir in ipairs({"north-east", "east", "south-east",
+						"south", "south-west", "west", "north-west"}) do
+						if not spoken:find(dir, 1, true) then
+							missing = dir
+							break
+						end
+					end
+					check("melee entry scan covers all eight directions",
+						missing == nil, "missing " .. tostring(missing)
+							.. " in " .. tostring(spoken))
+				end
+
+				press("escape", "leave melee targeting")
+				wait(10)
+				check("left melee targeting", currentState() == "ingame",
+					"got " .. currentState())
+			else
+				print("[testbed] melee targeting not reachable here (skipped), state="
+					.. currentState())
+			end
+		end
+
+		if currentState() == "ingame" then
+			local params = targetingParams()
+			if params then
+				params.actionName = "throw"
+				pcall(require("states").switch, "ingame_targeting_throw", params)
+				wait(10)
+			else
+				print("[testbed] could not harvest ingame views for throw targeting")
+			end
+
+			if currentState() == "ingame_targeting_throw" then
+				check("entered throw targeting", true)
+
+				local first = focusText()
+				check("throw targeting speaks the cursor tile",
+					first ~= nil and first ~= "",
+					"focus=" .. tostring(first))
+
+				-- The validity clause is the whole point of targeting as opposed to
+				-- examining, so assert it specifically rather than just "some text".
+				check("throw targeting says whether the tile is a legal target",
+					first ~= nil and (first:find("can throw", 1, true)
+						or first:find("blocked", 1, true)
+						or first:find("out of range", 1, true)
+						or first:find("no line of sight", 1, true)) ~= nil,
+					"focus=" .. tostring(first))
+
+				press("right", "throw: cursor east")
+				local afterMove = focusText()
+
+				-- Not merely "it said something": the cursor glides for 0.3s, so a
+				-- descriptor that read the popup (or the state's targetAllowed
+				-- upvalue) would report the PREVIOUS tile here.
+				check("throw targeting tracks the cursor on the frame it moves",
+					afterMove ~= nil and afterMove ~= first,
+					"before=" .. tostring(first) .. " after=" .. tostring(afterMove))
+
+				press("escape", "leave throw targeting")
+				wait(10)
+				check("left throw targeting", currentState() == "ingame",
+					"got " .. currentState())
+			else
+				print("[testbed] throw targeting not reachable here (skipped), state="
+					.. currentState())
+			end
+		end
 	end
 
 	print(string.format("[testbed] === %d checks, %d failures ===", checks, failures))