# BRIEFING — 2026-10-01T02:54:30Z

## Mission
Implement Milestone 2: Character Animation & Visceral Combat Feel Engine across animation engine, combat feel engine, combat skills, canvas renderer, weapon swing catalog, and comprehensive unit tests.

## 🔒 My Identity
- Archetype: implementer
- Roles: implementer, qa, specialist
- Working directory: c:\Projects\FreeExile\.agents\teamwork\worker_m2_1_gen3
- Original parent: 77cd448f-be37-473e-809c-59db9f78e386
- Milestone: Milestone 2: Character Animation & Visceral Combat Feel Engine

## 🔒 Key Constraints
- Integrity Mandate: Genuine implementations only. No hardcoded test shortcuts.
- Code length caps:
  * Logic files <= 350 lines (soft cap) / <= 500 lines (hard cap).
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_skills.js` is ~472 lines, MUST remain <= 500 lines.
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/animation_engine.js` <= 350 lines soft / <= 500 lines hard.
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_feel_engine.js` <= 350 lines soft / <= 500 lines hard.
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/canvas_renderer.js` <= 350 lines soft / <= 500 lines hard.
  * `client/webapp/js/data/weapon_swing_catalog.js` <= 700 lines soft / <= 1000 lines hard.
- Verification:
  * All unit tests pass (`pytest tests/unit/ -v`)
  * E2E animation & combat feel tests pass (`pytest tests/e2e/test_poe2_ui_animation_vfx_e2e.py -v`)
  * Hygiene audit passes (`python tools/lint/check_code_and_doc_hygiene.py --strict`)

## Current Parent
- Conversation ID: 77cd448f-be37-473e-809c-59db9f78e386
- Updated: 2026-10-01T02:54:30Z

## Task Summary
- **What to build**:
  1. `animation_engine.js`: Added archetype clips (`attack_thrust`, `attack_slam`, `attack_bolt`), computed `state.kineticPhase` across 5 phases (`idle`, `run`, `wind_up`, `impact`, `recovery`, `hit_stop`, `dodge`), implemented `cancelAction` and exported `KINETIC_PHASES`.
  2. `combat_feel_engine.js`: Fixed `isHitStopped(dt = 0.016)` NaN safety; updated `DamageNumberSlot` pop-in scale (standard: 1.6x down to 1.0x, crit: 2.0x down to 1.2x in first 20%); clamped screen shake to [2.5, 8.5] and duration to [0.12, 0.45]s; synced with global `screenShake`.
  3. `combat_skills.js`: Wired `doDodge` animation cancelling (clears attack timer and unlocks action lock immediately); decrements dodge charges; wired `weaponSwingRenderer.triggerSwing` into primary and elemental skills (`SLASH`, `BOLT`, `THRUST`, `SLAM`); triggered hit-stop on monster hit.
  4. `canvas_renderer.js`: Wired `combatFeelEngine.update(dt)` and `weaponSwingRenderer.update(dt)` in update loop; wired `weaponSwingRenderer.render(ctx, player)` and `combatFeelEngine.renderDamageNumbers(ctx)` in render loop; wired directional shake offset to canvas translation.
  5. `weapon_swing_catalog.js`: Verified 4 canonical weapon archetypes (`SLASH`, `THRUST`, `SLAM`, `BOLT`) with timings and styling.
  6. `test_m2_animation_and_combat_feel.py`: 30 unit tests covering all Milestone 2 features and line caps.
- **Success criteria**: 100% tests pass, 0 hygiene hard cap violations.
- **Interface contracts**: PROJECT.md, SCOPE.md, explorer reports.
- **Code layout**: client/webapp/js/engine/, client/webapp/js/data/, tests/unit/

## Key Decisions Made
- Used `atlas_clip: 'attack_slash'` for new archetype attack clips in `animation_engine.js` to reuse 40-cell sprite atlas without overflowing atlas bounds.
- Added default `dt = 0.016` and `!isNaN(dt)` guard in `combat_feel_engine.js` `isHitStopped` to prevent NaN cascade.
- Kept `combat_skills.js` compact at 478 lines (safely below 500 hard cap) by utilizing concise ES6 syntax.
- All 4 logic files strictly adhere to both soft and hard caps (`animation_engine.js`: 342 <= 350, `combat_feel_engine.js`: 235 <= 350, `canvas_renderer.js`: 305 <= 350, `combat_skills.js`: 478 <= 500).

## Artifact Index
- `.agents/teamwork/worker_m2_1_gen3/DISPATCH.md` — Assignment instructions
- `.agents/teamwork/worker_m2_1_gen3/BRIEFING.md` — Situational awareness
- `.agents/teamwork/worker_m2_1_gen3/progress.md` — Heartbeat and progress
- `.agents/teamwork/worker_m2_1_gen3/handoff.md` — 5-component handoff report
- `client/webapp/js/engine/animation_engine.js` — Kinetic state machine & archetype clips (342 lines)
- `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_feel_engine.js` — Hit-stop, camera shake & damage numbers (235 lines)
- `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_skills.js` — Animation cancelling & archetype triggers (478 lines)
- `client/webapp/js/engine/canvas_renderer.js` — Game loop wiring (305 lines)
- `client/webapp/js/data/weapon_swing_catalog.js` — Archetype catalog (113 lines)
- `tests/unit/test_m2_animation_and_combat_feel.py` — Unit test suite (30 test cases)

## Change Tracker
- **Files modified**:
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/animation_engine.js`: Added attack clips, 5-phase kinetic tracking, cancelAction, KINETIC_PHASES (342 lines)
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_feel_engine.js`: Hit-stop NaN safety, pop-in bounce scale 1.6x/2.0x, screen shake clamping [2.5, 8.5] / [0.12, 0.45], global sync (235 lines)
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/combat_skills.js`: Added animation cancelling on dodge, archetype swing triggers, hit-stop on impact (478 lines)
  * `client/webapp/js/engine/canvas_renderer.js`: Wired combatFeelEngine and weaponSwingRenderer update/render loops, directional shake translation (305 lines)
  * `tests/unit/test_m2_animation_and_combat_feel.py`: 30 unit tests covering all M2 subsystems
- **Build status**: PASS (all tests green)
- **Pending issues**: None

## Quality Status
- **Build/test result**: PASS
  * `tests/unit/test_m2_animation_and_combat_feel.py`: 30 passed
  * `tests/e2e/test_poe2_ui_animation_vfx_e2e.py`: 42 passed (33 passed, 9 xpassed, 0 failed)
  * Related unit test bundle (61 tests): 61 passed
- **Lint status**: 0 Hard Cap violations in `check_code_and_doc_hygiene.py --strict`
- **Tests added/modified**: 30 new unit tests in `tests/unit/test_m2_animation_and_combat_feel.py`

## Loaded Skills
- None