GRACEFELL v2.27.6 - break the crown

Break the crown

• Sunder now fractures Malakar's crown in gold; Execute lands as a stronger spirit cleave. Presentation-only — combat authority and balance unchanged.
• Duplicate impact-name text removed; the central lane remains the one technique-name authority.
• Desktop readiness prompts name the real K key; numeric damage stays king-local.
• Damage, stamina, poise, Resolve, timings, difficulty, scoring, saves, audio, assets, collision, AI, and touch geometry are unchanged.

Acceptance

• Reviewed CI, deployment, public real-input QA, and visual evidence are recorded in docs/releases/v2.27.6.md (bundle SHA-256 3245E3C6…92513B).
• Expanded real-touch, keyboard, render-purity, decay/reset, and screenshot acceptance lanes, all zero-error.

Note on this checkpoint

The release doc committed to an annotated v2.27.6 tag and GitHub release "targeting its exact merge", but neither was ever created — the README's release link 404'd for five days. Created retroactively on 2026-08-03 during the v2.27.8 documentation pass, pointing at the acceptance merge 96fd8e9 per the convention established by v2.27.5.

GRACEFELL v2.27.5 - stagger authority

Stagger authority

• An earned stagger now keeps its full authored opening even when the poise-breaking hit crosses a phase threshold; the existing phase ring begins once afterward.
• Boss.executeReady is the single truth across the central prompt, semantic combat status, and contextual heavy button.
• Execute consumption returns the same opening to ordinary HVY, preserves stored Resolve, and cannot advertise or grant a second Execute, Sunder, or Gracebreak.
• Full Resolve remains visibly stored during stagger and Break readiness returns only when it is actionable.

No damage, poise, stamina, Resolve, health, stagger duration, phase action, difficulty, scoring, save, audio, asset, touch target, camera, or rendering value changed.

Acceptance

• Five exact-bundle agent-simulated gamer roles: 9.0–9.6/10, no zero category or blocker.
• Runtime PR #108 and acceptance PR #109 passed reviewed-head and exact-main clean-runner gates.
• Production is clean at the tagged checkpoint and serves assets/index-C6-AvkyV.js with SHA-256 20078FCBFC97A288D3CC1BF2CFD1D69D9524B3E1552A9E08AE8D0DCFC60FB3E8.
• Complete public desktop/mobile/true-touch, v2.21/v2.24/v2.27, render-cost, and visual/failure QA passed with zero errors and zero visual warnings.

See docs/releases/v2.27.5.md for the full adversarial review, scorecards, deployment receipts, and known headless-device limits.

GRACEFELL v2.27.4 — Room to read

The first Journey now gives new players room to read without changing GRACEFELL's compact combat system.

What changed

• Unfinished negative-Journey tutorials get one 3.2-second opening approach; returning players, Measured, and Oaths retain the 0.4-second opener.
• Tutorial time starts when combat becomes playable.
• The faint touch MOVE ring remains until movement is learned, then clears immediately.
• The ROLL lesson is shorter, and touch/desktop tips now describe Sunder and Gracebreak truthfully for each device.

Verified release

• Runtime PR #106 reviewed head: 8302a12; CI run 30436996211 passed.
• Runtime merge: c954d3e; main CI run 30437329942 passed.
• Acceptance PR #107 reviewed head: 84593a7; CI run 30438670665 passed.
• Final tagged merge: c647cdb; main CI run 30438921815 passed.
• Five independent agent-simulated gamer roles scored the amended exact bundle 8.0, 8.4, 8.9, 9.0, and 9.0 out of 10, with no zero category or control blocker.
• Complete public desktop/mobile/true-touch QA passed with zero errors and zero visual warnings.
• Production bundle: assets/index-DDP4dxP_.js; loopback and public health are green.

No new action, mode, reward, currency, attack pattern, permanent HUD, or global balance change was added.

Production: https://gracefell.alyoechosys.dev/
Release record: docs/releases/v2.27.4.md

Improved and verified by Codex (GPT-5 / Codex Desktop).

GRACEFELL v2.27.3 — Touch BREAK activation

Touch BREAK now activates from one deliberate tap at full Resolve while preserving the existing 0.5-second charge, damage, spending, Sunder/Execute priority, and desktop manual-hold behavior.

Verified publication

• Runtime PR #104: reviewed head 8e1e6d2; PR CI 30323608408 passed.
• Runtime merge: 803a7c6; main CI 30323776253 passed.
• Receipt PR #105: head CI 30324265336 passed.
• Final tagged merge: 81663a3; main CI 30324437604 passed.
• Production checkout is exact and clean; service and loopback/public health are green.
• Public bundle: assets/index-CtIaLuKS.js.
• Real 390x844 touchscreen tap: charge latched, 72 damage, Resolve 100 to 0, one use, GRACEBREAK feedback.
• Complete public QA: zero errors, zero visual warnings, unchanged 920 mobile / 903 desktop draw-call census.

Production: https://gracefell.alyoechosys.dev/
Release record: docs/releases/v2.27.3.md

Fixed and verified by Codex (GPT-5 / Codex Desktop).

GRACEFELL v2.27.2 — Combo truth

What changed

• Execute now outranks a pending Sunder when the second connected light breaks Malakar's poise.
• One deliberate ATK, HVY, FLASK, or ROLL survives the player's 320 ms wound recovery; a later ROLL keeps priority.
• Combat copy and the existing HVY button now name authoritative Sunder/Execute states and explain route loss without widening the 600 ms chain window.
• Pause retains Light Finisher, Sunder, and Gracebreak recipes.
• Score-chronicle dismissal restores keyboard focus to RECORDS in the committed React layout.
• Acceptance hardened suspended AudioContext charge cleanup, permanent-deck reuse at the existing crossfade settle point, and isolated the charge lifecycle probe from unrelated boss cues.

Acceptance

• Local lint, build, 29/29 unit tests, complete desktop/mobile/true-touch QA, focused v2.21/v2.24/v2.27 lanes, visual/failure gate, and deterministic render census passed.
• PR-head and independent main gates passed for the accepted gameplay and final acceptance merges.
• Production is clean at d45272eb5407fe6dc7f3103df21978f1fbb58efd; public health returns HTTP 200 and serves assets/index-BzkBsL72.js.
• Complete public QA passed with zero errors and zero visual warnings; render census remains 920 mobile / 903 desktop draw calls.

Full implementation, failed-run evidence, deployment receipts, unchanged contracts, and rollback notes: docs/releases/v2.27.2.md.

Implemented, tested, deployed, and documented by Codex (GPT-5 / Codex Desktop), directed by @jonathanwxh-cell.

GRACEFELL v2.27.1 — Protected Combat Lanes

Fixes the live gamer-review readability findings without changing combat balance. Short 360x640 phones receive protected camera/tutorial lanes; compact FORSAKEN packets combine OATH CHAIN and IRONBOUND; Sunder and Resolve/Break teaching are clearer. Local, PR-head, main, focused public, and complete public QA passed. Full evidence: docs/releases/v2.27.1.md.

GRACEFELL v2.27.0 — Earned Offense

Sunder, Resolve, and Gracebreak add a compact authored offense layer without a fifth action button or persistent progression.

• ATK · ATK · HVY branches into contact-gated Sunder.
• Varied successful play builds run-local Resolve.
• Full Resolve plus a fully charged HVY releases Gracebreak, with whiff spending, Execute priority, and FORSAKEN protection.
• The protected HUD, semantic companion, and bounded hybrid audio graph communicate the new states.
• Save schema v7, score/path identity, assets, music, boss patterns, and four-button touch geometry remain intact.

Local, clean-runner, exact-SHA production, and complete public desktop/mobile/true-touch acceptance passed. See docs/releases/v2.27.md for the full contract and receipts.

GRACEFELL v2.26 — Combat Audio Consequences

Outcome

Gracefell v2.26 makes combat consequences clearer without adding runtime assets or render work. Heavy attacks speak on their actual release frame and scale with charge; received hits have three severity tiers; close projectile passes, low-stamina denial, arena-ward contact, and the victory grade seal now have explicit one-shot audio ownership.

Verification

• Runtime implementation: PR #88
• Production evidence: PR #89
• Final documentation handoff: PR #90
• Final main QA: run 30237459275, passed
• Exact release/deployment checkpoint: 903bd9258b9ee7b6600fdb2ab3d0edaf33b47b47
• Public desktop, mobile, true-touch, performance, and visual QA passed with zero errors
• Issues #70–#76 were closed only after exact-SHA production verification

Boundaries

The 45-file SFX manifest, MiniMax music, combat values, difficulty, score/save schema v7, Canvas renderer, and v2.25 visual treatment are unchanged. Automated tests prove event timing and ownership; final subjective mix taste still benefits from physical iPhone and Android speaker checks.

Full implementation, QA, deployment, and issue-closure evidence is in docs/releases/v2.26.md.

Implemented, verified, and documented by Codex (GPT-5 / Codex Desktop), directed by @jonathanwxh-cell.

GRACEFELL v2.13 — Pause and Resume

Adds deliberate pause/resume for phone and desktop. The 76×44px semantic control and P/Escape freeze combat, RAF, streamed music, and Web Audio together; focus/visibility changes cannot cancel a player-owned pause, and paused inputs are discarded before resume.\n\nValidation: local, GitHub Actions, host deployment, public health, and the full production desktop/mobile/true-touch suite all passed with zero errors.\n\nGameplay PR: #31\nEvidence PR: #32\nRelease record: docs/releases/v2.13.md

GRACEFELL v2.12.1 — Consent and combat clarity

GRACEFELL v2.12.1

• Receive Grace now requires a fresh post-death choice.
• Oath I/II introduce their chains with a smoother pressure ramp.
• Journey and Oath cues, close-contact silhouettes, queued touch attacks, and record-heavy phone titles are clearer.
• No runtime asset, save migration, boss phase, advanced Oath, music, or SFX contract changed.

Verified by three player-review lanes, the complete local desktop/mobile/true-touch gate, GitHub Actions, exact-SHA host deployment, and a zero-error full production replay.

See docs/releases/v2.12.1.md for the complete evidence record.