01 Prototype Tech Gear

Tech spec for the gear capacity model. Covers the capacity stat on the character, the drop target on the character, the ItemManager surface, and the timeout gate.

Capacity

BaseBallStats.kit_slots (existing) is the cap on equipped equipment items. Each equipped item counts as one. The cap on day one is 3; training raises it.

ItemManager.get_kit_remaining() returns kit_slots minus the count of items whose persisted placement is EQUIPPED (read state.item_placements directly, bypassing _get_placement so the runtime LOOSE_IN_VENUE overlay on a held-mid-drag item leaves the count unchanged; capacity reflects the kit on the body, frozen mid-gesture).

kit_slots is currently typed float for stat-percentage modifiers; callers floor it on read for the integer comparison.

Drop target on the character

The character scene exposes one Area2D named CharacterDropTarget covering the character's silhouette. A CharacterDropTarget script (scripts/items/drop_targets/character_drop_target.gd) extends DropTarget and binds to it.

can_accept(item_key, position, scale_factor) (matching the DropTarget base signature) returns true when:

• the item resolved by item_key has role == &"equipment",
• kit_remaining >= 1,
• the timeout controller reports AT_EQUIP_POSE.

The position and scale_factor arguments are unused for character drops (the Area2D already filters by overlap), kept for signature parity.

When can_accept returns false, the character's body acts as a wall to the held token: the home-and-loose collision-projection regime in ../22-equip-loop-regime.md holds the token on the cursor, retries projection, and finally cancels back to source.

Capacity refusal is signalled by ItemManager.equip_refused, not by the drop target. The character scene (or any future animation listener) connects to ItemManager; the drop target stays silent. Other rejections (wrong role, wrong window) emit nothing; the held token already communicates the projection failure.

Each gear ItemDefinition declares an anchor_node_path: NodePath naming a Node2D on the character where its visual mounts. Anchors live on the character root (e.g. PlayerPaddle), never under the stat-scaled Sprite: anything reparented under Sprite inherits the paddle_size-driven scale.y and stretches. Empty path falls back to the character root.

ItemManager surface

equip(item_key) and unequip(item_key) are public wrappers that gate equipment placement on capacity:

func equip(item_key: String) -> bool:
    var item := _get_item(item_key)
    if item.role != &"equipment":
        return false
    if get_kit_remaining() < 1:
        equip_refused.emit(item_key, &"capacity_exceeded")
        return false
    return activate(item_key)

func unequip(item_key: String) -> bool:
    return deactivate(item_key)

activate and deactivate stay as the universal placement / effect-registration primitive (per effect-system). Ball-role items continue calling activate directly. Equipment goes through equip / unequip so capacity is checked on the way in.

equip_refused(item_key, reason: StringName) signal: reason is currently &"capacity_exceeded" (the sole case). Listeners switch on it. New reason values land here as the model grows.

Save shape

No change. Equipment placement continues to live in ItemState.item_placements with the EQUIPPED enum. kit_remaining is derived per query; no new persisted field, no version bump, no wipe.

Over-capacity state across designer changes (an equipped item retired, kit_slots lowered) persists on load: equipped items stay equipped, and equip of any new item is blocked until the player unequips enough to fit. The kit on the body is preserved; the gate is only on adding more.

Timeout gate

The equip window opens on TimeoutController.main_character_reached_equip_pose and closes on timeout_ended. CharacterDropTarget.can_accept reads TimeoutController.get_state() == AT_EQUIP_POSE directly. Off-court releases hit other targets.

Rack-return is unconditional: dragging an equipped item to the rack calls unequip and frees its slot regardless of timeout state. Only equipping onto the character requires AT_EQUIP_POSE.

Mid-rally, the press on an equipped item is refused at the gesture entry. While a rally is in progress (TimeoutController.IDLE and at least one ball in PLAY_NORMAL / PLAY_ARC) the gesture never starts; nothing is held, nothing deactivates. The shared check lives on RallyGate.is_rally_in_progress, called with injected refs at every callsite. The dev panel's per-item remove-level button uses the same gate so debug paths cannot desync the effect system during play.