Accessibility ModandClaude Opus 5
fe872be683
Game-file footprint unchanged: still one line in main.lua. Console (Q4: speak everything queued, cancelled by explicit action): - history.lua keeps our own unbounded history, since the game's console buffer expires entries after 3s. Mirrors the game's (xN) coalescing so what is heard matches what is on screen. The review cursor holds position while new lines arrive rather than being yanked to the tail mid-read. - patches/console.lua wraps console.print, calling the real one first so a bug on our side cannot swallow a message the player would otherwise see. - Any keypress reaching the game silences the pending speech backlog. Hotkeys: [ and ] review, Shift+[/] jump to ends, \ repeat, Shift+\ copy. Chosen from scancodes the game does not bind. Note keybindings.getCommand() ignores modifiers, so Ctrl+Up would read to the game as a movement -- our keys are consumed and never overlay a game-claimed scancode. Wall tones (Q5: on step, 3D-positioned, radius 5): - Direction and distance are deliberately decoupled. The listener sits at the camera 4 units above the plane under an inverse distance model, so placing a tone at the wall's real position would make distant walls quieter (the opposite of the request) and collapse the stereo pan. Instead the source sits at a fixed radius in the wall's direction at listener height, and volume is computed explicitly from distance. - Step detection polls player coordinates rather than hooking movement, so it covers walking, pathing, portals and pushes for free. - Respects FoV/rememberedFoV; never leaks unseen geometry. tests/test_history.lua: 16 assertions, all passing, pure Lua. Not yet verified in actual play -- needs a human at the keyboard. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
199 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
199 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# SCRATCH — current working state
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**Read this first on any handoff.** Living document: update it whenever state changes, before ending a turn.
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Last updated: 2026-08-01 · Currently: **Phase 0 complete. Phase 1 next.**
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---
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## What this project is
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Blind-accessibility mod for *Sulphur Memories: Alchemist* 0.4.2 (LÖVE 11.5, Lua/LuaJIT), extracted to
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`D:\code\Sulphur Memories Alchemist 0.4.2 sanctified`. All mod code lives under `accessibility/`.
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Design goal: **change as little game code as possible** so the mod re-applies cleanly to new versions.
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Full research is in `accessibility/docs/` — read `README.md` there for the map.
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---
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## Confirmed decisions (do not relitigate)
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| # | Decision |
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|---|---|
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| D1 | Dev uses system LÖVE at `C:\Program Files\LOVE\` (`lovec.exe` for console output). Distribution deferred. |
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| D2 | Tracker hierarchy: category (`Ctrl+PgUp/Dn`) → kind (`PgUp/Dn`) → instance (`Shift+PgUp/Dn`), `Home` = distance+direction. |
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| D3 | **Small explicit patches** to game files are allowed where they simplify things — but every state descriptor also carries a `probe` spec so we can flip to zero-edit `debug.getupvalue` mode if the game ships fused on Steam. `render` is shared by both backends. |
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| D4 | Six tracker categories confirmed and coverage-verified: Creatures / Items / Exits / Interactables / Terrain features / Alchemy. |
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| — | Screen reader: **NVDA**. Running the game via `lovec` during dev is approved. |
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| — | User is blind — all verification must be describable in text; don't rely on screenshots. |
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## Still-open questions (in `04-open-questions.md`)
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Q3 verbosity (relay vs augment) · Q4 console auto-speak policy · Q5 wall-tone triggers ·
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Q6 keybinding integration vs separate · Q8 full keyboard audit as deliverable?
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None block Phase 0. Q4 lands in Phase 1, Q5 + verbosity in Phase 2.
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---
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## Key facts worth not rediscovering
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- **`console.print(msg, colorTemplate)`** in `modules/console.lua` is the *single* chokepoint for all game log text. Repeated identical messages coalesce into `"msg (x3)"` via a `times` counter. Buffer entries expire after 3s — useless as history, so we keep our own.
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- **`level.getCursorMessage()`** returns the description under the examine cursor (actor first, then top visible tile). The game already has a full arrow-key examine mode: `states/ingame_observe.lua`.
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- **`cursorPopup.set(...)`** — patching `views/inventoryCursorPopup.lua` + `views/levelCursorPopup.lua` narrates focus in `inventory`, `craft`, `refine`, `trade`, `ingame_observe` at once.
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- **All 28 states already implement `keypressed`.** The gap is narration, not reachability.
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- **`modules/tile.lua:234`**: `tile.tryInteract = (self.loot or self.tryInteractFunction) and function...` — authoritative "player can do something here" flag. Basis of tracker classification.
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- **Template counts:** 231 tiles, 40 actors, 344 items. Parent inheritance is *already flattened* by `modules/tile/preprocess.lua` during `love.load`, so read fields directly.
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- **6 un-nameable mechanical templates to exclude:** `blank`, `throw_blocker`, `movement_blocker`, `fire_detector`, `wall_features_position_dummy`, `ladder_down_hidden`.
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- **`debug.getupvalue` works** on this Lua build — verified reading `selectedOption` / `optionsList` from a state's `keypressed`.
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- **Tolk constraint:** `ffi.load("Tolk")` uses the OS loader, so DLLs must sit next to `love.exe` — they can *never* live inside a `.love` archive.
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- `tolk.lua` calls `Tolk_Load()` at require time with no error handling, and `Love2talk.lua` leaks `backend` as a global. Always `pcall` the require.
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---
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## Current status
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### Done
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- Full architecture research → `docs/01-architecture.md`
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- Hooking strategy → `docs/02-hooking-strategy.md`
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- Phased plan → `docs/03-implementation-plan.md`
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- Open questions → `docs/04-open-questions.md`
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- Decisions + category coverage proof → `docs/05-decisions.md`
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### Done — Phase 0 (bootstrap) · commit `5c581ed`
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- `git init`, pristine tree committed and tagged **`vanilla-0.4.2`** (commit `bbb70d0`,
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1838 files, `accessibility/` deliberately excluded so the tag is genuinely clean).
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- love2talk vendored to `accessibility/vendor/love2talk/` — see `VENDORED.md` there
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for the five local modifications.
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- **DLL elevation problem solved.** `Tolk.dll` etc. live in `accessibility/lib/` and
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are loaded by *absolute path* via `love.filesystem.getSource()`, with
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`SetDllDirectoryA` pointing at that folder so Tolk can find its own screen-reader
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clients. No admin rights, no copying into `Program Files`. Tracked in git via a
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`!accessibility/lib/*.dll` un-ignore.
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- `accessibility/speech.lua` — pcall-guarded, frame-queued, `logToConsole = true`.
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- `accessibility/init.lua` — patch registry + `states.switch` / `states.update` hooks
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+ startup self-test.
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- `accessibility/stateNames.lua` — spoken names for all 28 states.
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- **One line added to `main.lua`.** Nothing else in the game touched.
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**Verified working** via `lovec.exe .`:
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```
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[accessibility] TTS initialised
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[accessibility] TTS: available
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[accessibility] speech channel: yes
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[speech]! Main menu
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```
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### Done — Phase 1: console history + review keys · + wall tones
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- `accessibility/history.lua` — unbounded (1000-entry ring) history. Mirrors the
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game's `(xN)` coalescing so speech matches the screen. Review cursor **holds
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still while new lines arrive** and only follows the tail when not being used.
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- `accessibility/hotkeys.lua` — global key layer in front of `states.keypressed`.
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- `accessibility/patches/console.lua` — wraps `console.print` (calls the real one
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*first*, so a mod bug can't swallow an on-screen message) and `console.clear`.
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- `accessibility/walltones.lua` — see below.
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- `accessibility/tests/test_history.lua` — 16 assertions, all passing.
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Run with: `lua accessibility/tests/test_history.lua` (pure Lua, no LÖVE needed).
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**Auto-speak policy (Q4, answered):** speak everything, queued and joined in order
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at end of frame. Any keypress that reaches the game counts as an explicit action
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and silences the pending backlog (`hotkeys.onGameKey` → `speech.silence`).
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**⚠ Not yet verified in-game.** Loading, the self-test, and history logic are all
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confirmed. Whether console speech and wall tones behave correctly *during play*
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needs a human at the keyboard — Talon to test.
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### Keymap so far
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| Key | Action |
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|---|---|
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| `[` / `]` | Previous / next console history line |
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| `Shift+[` / `Shift+]` | Oldest / newest line |
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| `\` | Repeat current line |
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| `Shift+\` | Copy current line to clipboard |
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Reserved for the tracker (Phase 3): `PageUp`/`PageDown`, `Home`, with Ctrl/Shift.
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**Free scancodes** (game binds none of these): `[ ] \ ; ' , / - =`, `h k l m n o
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p u v w`, `F1`–`F12`, `pageup pagedown home end insert`, `kp0 kp. kp+ kp- kp* kp/`.
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**Game-claimed scancodes — never bind these unmodified:**
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`. 0-9 \` a b backspace c d delete down e escape f g i j kp1-kp9 kpenter lalt
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lctrl left lshift mouse3 q r ralt rctrl return right rshift s space t tab up x y z`
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⚠ **`keybindings.getCommand()` dispatches on scancode alone and ignores
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modifiers.** Ctrl and Shift are *held* modifiers in game (`moveCamera`,
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`repeatAction`/`adjustByFive`). So `Ctrl+Up` is seen by the game as plain "up" —
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a movement. Never bind a modifier combo over a game-claimed scancode. Combos over
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*unclaimed* scancodes (e.g. `Ctrl+PageUp`) are safe. Always consume our keys.
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### Wall tones (Q5, answered: on step, 3D-positioned, radius 5)
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Key design point, in `walltones.lua`: **direction and distance are decoupled.**
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The game's listener sits at the camera, 4 units above the plane, with an *inverse*
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distance model. Placing a tone at its wall's real position would (a) make far
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walls quieter — the opposite of what was asked — and (b) collapse the pan toward
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centre, since the 4-unit vertical offset dominates a 2-unit horizontal one.
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So: the source is placed at a **fixed radius** from the listener in the wall's
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direction, at the listener's own height (pure horizontal pan, constant
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attenuation), and **volume is computed explicitly** from distance. Positioned
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relative to the listener via `love.audio.getPosition()`, so panning stays correct
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even while the camera is panned away.
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Step detection **polls** `playerActor.x/y` each frame instead of hooking movement
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— free, and covers walking, pathing, portals and pushes by construction.
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⚠ `config.louderWhenFurther = true` as requested, but this inverts the usual
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convention (proximity cues normally get louder as you approach, and a near wall is
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the more urgent fact). Flip the flag in `walltones.lua` if it reads backwards.
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Respects `FoV`/`rememberedFoV` — never leaks unseen map geometry.
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### Next — Phase 2: tile examination
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Patch `views/levelCursorPopup.set` to narrate the game's existing examine mode,
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augmented with distance/direction/passability. Then the surroundings explorer
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(`Alt`+numpad to probe a direction without moving). Needs Q3 (verbosity) answered.
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---
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## Invariants for all mod code
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1. Every wrapper calls through to the original and returns its results verbatim (`return realFn(...)` — preserve multiple returns).
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2. Speech must never throw. Missing DLL ⇒ silent no-op, game still runs.
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3. No behaviour change for sighted players.
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4. Never reveal information outside `FoV` / `rememberedFoV` — the tracker must not become a cheat.
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5. Grid scans (`xMax × yMax`) happen on keypress or turn change, never per frame.
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6. Our keys fall through to the game handler unless we own them.
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---
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## Modified game files (keep this list exhaustive)
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| File | Change | Why |
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| `main.lua` | +1 line: `require("accessibility").initialize()` after `console.prepare()` | Sole mod entry point. Placed there because templates, keybindings, `states.setup()` and the console canvas are all ready by then, and it's before the first `states.switch()`. |
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Verify this list is exhaustive at any time with:
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```
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git diff --stat vanilla-0.4.2 -- . ':!accessibility' ':!.gitignore'
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```
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Currently: `main.lua | 1 +`.
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### How to run
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```
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cd "D:/code/Sulphur Memories Alchemist 0.4.2 sanctified"
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"C:/Program Files/LOVE/lovec.exe" .
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```
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`lovec` (not `love`) gives the console, where `[speech]` lines mirror every
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utterance — speech is verifiable from the log, not only by ear. `!` after
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`[speech]` means the utterance interrupted.
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---
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## Scratchpad / notes
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- `.luacheckrc` uses `std = "min+alch"` with an explicit globals list — add mod globals there to keep lint clean.
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- Upstream quirk (not ours to fix): `modules/tile/preprocess.lua` flattens parents in a single `pairs()` pass, so a grandchild may inherit from a not-yet-flattened parent depending on hash order.
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- Tolk DLL sources on this machine: `D:\code\cafe`, `D:\code\dragonrpg-mapmaker`, `D:\code\DragonWarriorAccess`.
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