aetherbound-guild/docs/goals/PHASE9_0_BOOT_TITLE_GOAL.md

Phase 9.0 Boot And Title Goal

Owner Decision

On 2026-08-12 the Owner clarified that real development must follow the accepted screen design one bounded page at a time. The prior P9.1 opening and Market candidate remains preserved but is not Owner-accepted. Current work returns to the product entry boundary before any run setup.

Baseline

• Prior P9.1 product source: e7eb408e0e07200dd8e65f7226478c0383036371.
• Prior P9.1 documentation closure: 0fb964219d75def9e70d3503b14bd4095f8bc045.

Decision Enabled

Decide whether the real Godot game opens as an authored game rather than a form-like prototype: verify local content, reveal a readable guild threshold, state that no run exists, keep accessibility controls reachable, and expose one clear Start New Game action.

Owned Scope

• Implement SYS-001 cold boot and local-content verification.
• Implement the no-save state of SYS-003 Title using the accepted full-bleed world direction and engine-rendered UI.
• Show the product identity, verified local status, no-run state and exactly one primary entry action.
• Keep language, 100/130% text, reduced motion and mute controls reachable.
• Make Start New Game enter the already implemented SYS-005 Contract page without changing Contract, Recruit, Market or readiness behavior.
• Support real parsed ScreenTouch, keyboard/controller focus and responsive landscape/portrait review.

Acceptance

1. Fresh launch visibly starts at a named local verification state and never exposes run controls before required resources resolve.
2. Successful verification reaches Title automatically and states that local content is healthy and no expedition exists.
3. Title reads in three seconds as guild threshold/world first, product name second, then no-run state and Start New Game.
4. No generated or baked-in button, text, number or HUD is used as interactive UI; every visible control is a real Godot Control.
5. Language, text scale, reduced motion and mute change presentation only.
6. One real parsed ScreenTouch on Start New Game reaches the Contract page; no run, offer, Coin or Company mutation occurs at that boundary.
7. Normal rendering covers Boot and Title at exact 1280x720, 844x390 and 390x844, including zh_CN/EN and 130% text without overlap or horizontal overflow.
8. Focused startup/title tests and affected P9.1 regressions have exact markers and clean strict diagnostics.

Frozen

• Full SYS-002 settings/setup workflow and persistence.
• Run ledger, credits, save recovery and resume behavior.
• Changes to Contract, Recruit, Market, equipment or Party-order authority.
• P9.2 battle, P9.3 result/recovery/save and P9.4 device delivery.
• New paid/final art or audio, packaging, stores and release.

Candidate

Fixed product source f881920b1be29933169950429d4e55d8cac825d8 is pushed clean/upstream. Fresh isolated Git-archive attempt runtime/evidence/p9-0-f881920-attempt01/ passes the ordered nine-resource Boot, visible verified terminal, no-run Title, five parsed ScreenTouch path, keyboard/controller initial focus, six responsive layout fixtures, six normal- render frames, affected P9.1 regressions and existing design/economy/loadout/ provenance gates with zero strict diagnostic markers. Its 27-row content inventory verifies 27/27 with SHA-256 3c34f1742357d0cc57e8c4c59124133b8fb92de0a2dec01a90b2bbcf4ffb8318.

Automated, runtime and agent visual gates pass. Owner understanding, visual acceptance, fun, listening and willingness to continue remain open, as do physical device, packaging, store and release gates. No later page is authorized by this candidate.

The Owner subsequently authorized one private remote H5 preview of this exact candidate. That authorization is limited by docs/runtime/PHASE9_0_WEB_PREVIEW.md; it does not reopen product scope or grant device, store, publishing or release acceptance.

Web successor f0aa84738041cebf4968d91c6bf170668804e203 is now remotely verified through private Artifact Gallery item PRji-yhJo0nQ. The signed item opens the real full-screen Godot runtime, portrait rotation guidance is visible, landscape Simplified Chinese rendering is correct, and real canvas input reaches Contract with zero browser warnings or errors. This completes remote delivery, not Owner comprehension, fun, listening, physical-device or release acceptance.

Owner Playtest Result

On 2026-08-12 the Owner rejected the remotely delivered first-play experience. The earliest failed boundary is the first action after Title: instead of entering a readable game situation, the player is sent into a form-like Contract and configuration chain. The Owner could not identify what Contract or First Market meant, why two provisional Recruits had to be selected, why two more Recruits were then purchased, how to revise later equipment/order choices, what had been completed, or how to restart the experience without relying on browser controls. The visible P9.1, internal IDs, receipt language and milestone ending were also mistaken for player-facing chapter content.

This is a product FAIL, not user error and not an input-harness failure. The current H5 remains only an append-only problem reference. P9.0/P9.1 are not Owner-accepted, P9.2 stays frozen, and no additional content or packaging is authorized.

Any successor must first replace the configuration chain with one game-like opening scene that:

• always exposes Home and a confirmed Restart Experience action;
• removes engineering milestones, IDs, receipts and unexplained product jargon;
• unifies provisional selection and paid recruitment into one understandable Company-building interaction;
• teaches Recruit purpose through visible role, action and consequence rather than a text-heavy comparison form;
• reaches a short playable encounter before equipment, order optimization, difficulty or chapter terminology is introduced;
• ends with an explicit player-facing accomplishment and next goal.

The exact opening-team rule and screen composition require Owner approval before implementation. A new Goal must compare at least two structural onboarding options; adding tooltips or more explanatory copy to the rejected flow is not an acceptable repair.

Legal Terminal

Aetherbound Guild P9.0 boot and Title candidate ready

or

Aetherbound Guild P9.0 redesign required: <earliest failed entry boundary>