From 7777280062c70f4d3d5aa32a92e1127940e956dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Creek <8179928+jcreek@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:34:34 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] feat(*): Exempt the floor from the wall-contact penalty, add
 a tilt penalty for non-upright flight, and double velocity-to-ball shaping

---
 Game/scenes/match.tscn             |  2 +-
 Game/scenes/spectate.tscn          |  4 +--
 Game/scripts/ship_ai_controller.gd | 51 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------
 3 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Game/scenes/match.tscn b/Game/scenes/match.tscn
index 1dd84273..cd62ba01 100644
--- a/Game/scenes/match.tscn
+++ b/Game/scenes/match.tscn
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 [node name="Match" type="Node3D"]
 script = ExtResource("1_m")
-bot_model_path = "res://bots/rookie.json"
+bot_model_path = "res://bots/run03.json"
 
 [node name="Arena" parent="." instance=ExtResource("2_m")]
 
diff --git a/Game/scenes/spectate.tscn b/Game/scenes/spectate.tscn
index 3b19254a..48134de2 100644
--- a/Game/scenes/spectate.tscn
+++ b/Game/scenes/spectate.tscn
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 
 [node name="Spectate" type="Node3D"]
 script = ExtResource("1_s")
-bot_a_model_path = "res://bots/run02.json"
-bot_b_model_path = "res://bots/run01.json"
+bot_a_model_path = "res://bots/run03.json"
+bot_b_model_path = "res://bots/run03.json"
 
 [node name="Arena" parent="." instance=ExtResource("2_s")]
 
diff --git a/Game/scripts/ship_ai_controller.gd b/Game/scripts/ship_ai_controller.gd
index 3c2718b4..f7ae0326 100644
--- a/Game/scripts/ship_ai_controller.gd
+++ b/Game/scripts/ship_ai_controller.gd
@@ -16,13 +16,22 @@ extends AIController3D
 # per sim-second); event terms fire once. Exported so tuning needs no code
 # edits. Goal rewards are added by TrainingMode, which owns goal events.
 @export var ball_touch_reward := 0.25
-@export var velocity_to_ball_weight := 0.001
+@export var velocity_to_ball_weight := 0.002
 @export var ball_velocity_to_goal_weight := 0.004
-# Per-tick penalty while touching the arena enclosure (walls/floor/ceiling).
-# At 60 ticks/sim-second this is -0.3/s: a ship parked on a wall for a full
-# 30 s episode loses ~9 — comparable to conceding — while a brief graze
-# costs almost nothing.
+# Per-tick penalty while pressed against a side wall, end wall, or the
+# ceiling — NOT the floor (run03 lesson: taxing floor contact punishes the
+# ship's natural low flight and drowns every other signal). At 60 ticks per
+# sim-second this is -0.3/s: parked on a wall for a full 30 s episode loses
+# ~9 — comparable to conceding — while a brief graze costs almost nothing.
 @export var wall_contact_penalty := 0.005
+# Per-tick penalty for not being upright, scaled by tilt: 0 when flat, full
+# value (-0.12/s) when inverted. A penalty rather than an upright bonus so a
+# flat, idle ship farms nothing.
+@export var tilt_penalty := 0.002
+
+# A ship (1x1x4 box) touching a wall has its centre within ~2.05 of it;
+# 2.5 adds slack for contact jitter without misreading mid-field contact.
+const WALL_PROXIMITY_MARGIN := 2.5
 
 var ship: Ship
 var rl_controller: RLShipController
@@ -89,14 +98,32 @@ func _physics_process(delta):
 		var ball_progress := ball.linear_velocity.dot(ball_to_goal.normalized())
 		reward += ball_velocity_to_goal_weight * ball_progress / ShipObservations.BALL_SPEED_SCALE
 
-	# Dense penalty: every tick spent in contact with the arena enclosure
+	# Dense penalty: every tick spent pressed against a wall or the ceiling
 	# (contact monitoring is already on for the ball-touch reward). Ships
-	# bumping each other or the ball is fine — only the boundary counts.
-	if wall_contact_penalty > 0.0:
-		for body in ship.get_colliding_bodies():
-			if body is ArenaBoundary:
-				reward -= wall_contact_penalty
-				break
+	# bumping each other, the ball, or the floor is fine. The boundary is one
+	# body, so position tells us which surface the contact is.
+	if wall_contact_penalty > 0.0 and _touching_boundary() and _near_wall_or_ceiling():
+		reward -= wall_contact_penalty
+
+	# Dense penalty: tilt away from upright (0 flat, max when inverted) —
+	# discourages ending up on a side or roof without rewarding idleness.
+	if tilt_penalty > 0.0:
+		var uprightness: float = ship.global_transform.basis.y.dot(Vector3.UP)
+		reward -= tilt_penalty * (1.0 - uprightness) * 0.5
+
+
+func _touching_boundary() -> bool:
+	for body in ship.get_colliding_bodies():
+		if body is ArenaBoundary:
+			return true
+	return false
+
+
+func _near_wall_or_ceiling() -> bool:
+	var p := ship.global_position
+	return absf(p.x) > ArenaBoundary.INNER_HALF_X - WALL_PROXIMITY_MARGIN \
+		or absf(p.z) > ArenaBoundary.INNER_HALF_Z - WALL_PROXIMITY_MARGIN \
+		or p.y > ArenaBoundary.INNER_HEIGHT - WALL_PROXIMITY_MARGIN
 
 
 func _on_ship_body_entered(body: Node) -> void: