LoomWrite Engine
Patch Notes

v0.4.001 2026-08-22

• Accent color is now a per-game config field (Game.Config.accentColor) instead of fixed in the stylesheet.
• Added a background preset system (Game.Config.background) with four built-in scenes — Stars (the original twinkling starfield), Clouds, Mountains, and VaporWave — plus an Image option for a custom uploaded background.

v0.4.000 2026-08-22

• Split the codebase into a shared engine/ and one games/<name>/ folder per game — the engine no longer assumes it's running any one specific game.
• Added a fantasy reference game ("Goblin's Due", games/fantasy-demo/) demonstrating dice combat, multiple currencies, and leveling — none of which Meridian Ascent uses.
• New combatMode: "dice" option — classic d20-to-hit-vs-AC plus damage-dice resolution, selectable per game or per enemy, alongside the original flat formula (which Meridian Ascent keeps using unchanged).
• New item registry (Game.Data.items) — any item can now be made usable or equippable through data alone; usable items no longer need a matching code change.
• New currency registry (Game.Data.currencies) — a game can declare any number of named currencies (gold, credits, reputation, ...), each shown in the status bar.
• New optional leveling/XP system (Game.Config.levelCurve, the addXP effect) — off by default, opt-in per game.
• Ambient music is now preset-based and swappable per game instead of one fixed mood — a new fantasy-tavern preset joins the original sci-fi-drone.
• Save data is now prefixed per game, so multiple games can be hosted on the same domain without their localStorage colliding.
• The version number and these patch notes moved from being a per-game setting to an engine-level one — the boot screen's version link now always points here, describing the engine everything is built on rather than any single game.

v0.3.014 2026-08-18

• Fixed number-key presses in input fields (e.g. debug mode's stat/flag editors) being misread as conversation choice selections.

v0.3.013 2026-08-17

• Added an internal debug mode for playtesting.

v0.3.012 2026-08-16

• Added icons to the title screen menu buttons — New Game and Load Game now pair an icon with their label, and Achievements sits alongside a new wordless music toggle button.

v0.3.011 2026-08-16

• Added analyticsTag to Game.Config — paste any analytics provider's tracking snippet (Tinylytics, Plausible, Fathom, GA/gtag, etc.) and it loads into <head> on every page load, same pattern as iconSetTag. Documented in documentation.html.

v0.3.010 2026-08-16

• Styled the scrollbar in the Achievements and Inventory panels to match the game's theme instead of the browser default.

v0.3.009 2026-08-16

• Achievement titles and descriptions now support the same **bold**/*italic* markup as scene text, in both the unlock toast and the Achievements panel.

v0.3.008 2026-08-16

• Reworked the post-vote approach beat: first_look is now a hub letting you talk to the medic, talk to security, or skip straight to suiting up, in any order.
• The medic and security conversations now link to each other and to suit up, and drop off the list once you've already had that conversation (new met_medic / met_security flags).
• Fixed suit_up pointing back at first_look instead of continuing on to docking — it was orphaned wiring left over from before this reorg.

v0.3.007 2026-08-15

• Fixed the game failing to load several early scenes (including the room) after scene files were renamed to the new XYZ_name.js (Act/Scene/Event) convention — story.js's load list was still pointing at the old filenames.
• Updated the documentation and code comments to describe the new numbering convention.

v0.3.006 2026-08-15

• Merged the "room" (wake-up) and "room_return" scenes into a single gated scene, following the same visit-counter pattern already used for the shower.

v0.3.005 2026-08-15

• Achievement toast now reads "Achievement: {title}" instead of "Achievement Unlocked: {title}".

v0.3.004 2026-08-15

• Choice numbers ("1.", "2.", ...) are now a quieter dim gray instead of bold accent blue.
• The Achievements panel no longer scrolls the whole box (title and Close button included) once you have enough trophies — it now stays a fixed max size with just the trophy list scrolling inside it.

v0.3.003 2026-08-15

• Replaced the "Inventory" text button in the status bar with a backpack icon, matching the other status bar controls.

v0.3.002 2026-08-15

• Added a Platinum "You Did It!" trophy for earning every other achievement, with its own icon in the toast and achievements panel.
• Platinum eligibility is computed live rather than stored as a permanent flag, so it can never go stale — if a new achievement is added later, players who don't also have that one correctly stop showing Platinum until they do, with nothing to migrate or reset.

v0.3.001 2026-08-15

• Increased the star field density by about 20% (80 → 96 stars).

v0.3.000 2026-08-15

• Choices can now show an icon — add icon: "fa-thin fa-check" (or any Font Awesome class string) to a choice object.
• New Game.Config.iconSetTag setting to load your Font Awesome kit/stylesheet into the page — this is the one deliberate exception to the project's no-external-dependencies rule, and only matters if you actually set it.

v0.2.011 2026-08-15

• Status bar polish: a profile icon next to your name, a heart icon in place of the "HP" label, and your HP is now a filled bar instead of a plain number.

v0.2.010 2026-08-15

• Fixed the documentation page opening to a blank screen you had to scroll past before reaching any content — the table-of-contents sidebar wasn't actually nested inside its layout container, so it was forcing a full viewport-height gap above the real page.

v0.2.009 2026-08-15

• Reworked the documentation into a full engine reference — config, scenes, enemies, endings, achievements, save data, and audio, in that order — instead of just content-authoring basics.
• Renamed CONTENT_GUIDE.md/CONTENT_GUIDE.html to documentation.md/documentation.html.

v0.2.008 2026-08-15

• Added this patch notes page. The version number on the title screen now links here (opens in a new tab).

v0.2.007 2026-08-15

• Each choice now clears the screen and shows a fresh scene, instead of the old scrolling transcript of every scene you've visited.
• The scrolling-transcript log is still available as a fallback (clearTextBetweenChoices: false in config.js) — and its scroll position bug is fixed too, so it's not just a worse option kept around for nothing.

v0.2.006 2026-08-15

• Restart now shows a proper "Are you sure?" confirmation pop-up instead of swapping out the on-screen choice buttons.
• Restart and the ending screen's "Play Again" both return you to the title screen now, rather than dropping you straight into a brand new playthrough, allowing you to rename your character if you wish.

Before patch notes were tracked

Version numbers weren't being bumped consistently before v0.2.006, so there's no clean per-version list for everything earlier than that. In no particular order, the build already had:

• A full Act 1 playthrough — waking up, maintenance tasks, the beacon briefing, the crew vote, suiting up, and docking with the derelict Meridian Ascent.
• A data-driven scene format supporting flags, conditions, visit counters, and branching text variants.
• A persistent achievements system, with an in-game panel and pop-up toasts.
• An ending credits scene, with clickable links for music attribution.
• A procedurally generated ambient score for ordinary gameplay, plus dedicated opening and credits tracks.
• A twinkling starfield behind the whole game, not just the title screen.
• Icon-based controls (Achievements, Music, Restart) in the status bar.
• Automatically styled spoken dialogue, distinct from narration.