CosmicClash/TODO.md

# TODO

Deferred work, in rough priority order. The current architecture (ShipAction/ShipController seam, Arena/GameMode split, code-driven spawning, group-tagged ball/goals) was chosen specifically so these bolt on without rework.

## AI opponent (reinforcement learning)

The training pipeline is built — see `TRAINING.md` (self-play PPO via the vendored godot_rl_agents bridge, JSON policy export, in-game GDScript inference, eval ladder). Remaining:

- [ ] Long training runs on the Linux/3090 box to produce actually-good bots; promote further checkpoints into `Game/bots/promoted/` as `medium`/`hard` tiers once they clear `easy.json` in `evaluate.py`.
- [ ] Frozen-opponent league: train the live policy against a *pool* of past exported checkpoints, sampled per-episode (today's `--opponent-mode=frozen` only supports one fixed model per run) to prevent self-play strategy collapse on long runs.
- [ ] Richer state setter / curriculum: aerial states, wall plays, rebound scenarios as skill grows (beyond the score/defend/draw staging already in place).

## Presentation / AAA polish

The largest gap between this and a AAA-feeling product is presentation, not code. Sequenced after the above for pragmatic reasons, but this is the highest impact per hour.

- [ ] **Audio — there is none.** Zero sound files, zero `AudioStreamPlayer` nodes, no bus layout. Needs: engine hum pitched to throttle, turbo whoosh, ball impacts scaled by collision impulse, wall scrapes, goal explosion, crowd bed, UI clicks, countdown beeps, music. Can be driven off `Ship`'s existing telemetry signals.
- [x] SSAO/SSIL in the arena Environments — cheapest single perceived-quality win available; grounds the ships against the deck and gives the fillets and goal recesses real depth.
- [x] VFX on anything that moves: throttle-reactive engine cores and simple rear flames, a speed-scaled ball trail, contact sparks and team-tinted goal bursts.
- [x] Impact feedback — intensity-scaled screen shake, unscaled hit-stop, HUD flash and controller rumble on ball contact.
- [x] Camera feel in `ship_camera.gd` — speed-based FOV widening, turbo kick-back and decaying impact shake.
- [x] Goal celebration sequence: goal burst, team-tinted flash/title card, dedicated camera cut and slow-motion beat after authoritative score registration and before reset/kickoff.
- [x] Local lighting / dynamic GI — four local pitch lights plus SDFGI provide bounce and contact lighting for the runtime-generated arena shell; the shader's `hull_fill` stand-in is retired. (The shell is generated in `_ready`, so it cannot participate in an editor LightmapGI bake.)
- [x] Dress `arena_03` — its asteroid field now has mining stations, debris clusters and a distant planet.
- [ ] Custom font + a real `Theme` resource for the HUD. `ThemeDB.fallback_font` at 10-13 px reads as a debug overlay.
- [x] Post-processing beyond glow: a cinematic vignette and turbo-driven chromatic aberration. DoF and motion blur were intentionally omitted after playtesting.

## Multiplayer (long term)

- [ ] `RemoteShipController extends ShipController` — feeds replicated `ShipAction`s from a network peer into the local ship simulation.
- [ ] Networked `GameMode` subclass: per-peer ship spawning (MultiplayerSpawner or custom), authoritative server for ball/score.
- [ ] C# backend / online servers per README roadmap (not started).
- [ ] Possible v0.2 split-screen: spawn one `ship_camera_rig` + viewport per local player (camera is already outside the ship scene to allow this).