docs/replay_design.md

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+# Replay — Design
+
+This document captures the design for the replay record/playback feature. It records the
+decisions made during design discussion; it is a complement to `architecture.md`. No
+implementation exists yet — this is the agreed design to implement against.
+
+## Goal
+
+Record every play session and allow it to be played back later. Playback is **view-only**
+(no interaction) with **manual game-speed selection** (including pause). Playback is launched
+via a command-line argument to the executable.
+
+## Approach: deterministic command-replay (re-simulation)
+
+We record **player intent** (commands) plus the inputs needed to reproduce the run, and on
+playback we **re-run the real simulation**, injecting the recorded commands at their recorded
+ticks. We do **not** record per-tick state snapshots.
+
+This is viable because the simulation is already built for it (see `architecture.md`:
+"determinism, replayability ... fall out for free"):
+
+- Fixed 30 Hz tick-based simulation, decoupled from render rate via `TickDriver`.
+- Game speed (0/0.5/1/2/4×) and pause are tick-rate multipliers — they change *how many*
+  ticks run per frame, never the *outcome* of a tick. So speed, pause, camera scroll, and
+  selection are pure presentation and are **not recorded**.
+- A single deterministic RNG stream: `Simulation::m_rng` (one `std::mt19937`) is passed by
+  reference into `WaveSystem` and `BuildingSystem`, the only two consumers. ECS combat/AI/
+  movement/scrap systems use no RNG. The `utility::getRandom*` global is not used by the sim.
+- Config is immutable after load; a replay is pinned to the config it was recorded with.
+
+A replay run is therefore a pure function of `(seed, config, ordered commands)`.
+
+### What we do NOT do (now)
+
+- No per-tick / keyframe state snapshots.
+- No backward seek / scrubbing (would require snapshots).
+- No save/load. (See "Future direction".)
+- No interactive playback (no taking over a replay mid-run).
+
+## Replay commands
+
+A *replay command* is the resolved, serializable **intent** behind a player action — the
+data, not the UI gesture. Example: placing a miner records
+`PlaceBuilding{type=Miner, anchor=(3,5), rotation=East}`, not the mouse pixel that produced it.
+
+- Commands are at **intent level, resolved to tile coordinates / domain ids** — independent
+  of window size, camera scroll, and DPI.
+- Command payloads reference **stable, deterministic domain ids** (`BuildingId`, tile
+  coordinates, choice indices) — never raw `entt::entity` handles. These ids are sim-allocated
+  deterministically, so a recorded command resolves to the same entity on replay.
+- Camera scroll, selection, game speed, and pause are **not** commands.
+
+### Command vocabulary
+
+One command per sim-mutating operation (the complete mutation surface):
+
+- `PlaceBuilding`
+- `Demolish`
+- `RotateInPlace`
+- `SetRecipe`
+- `SetShipLayout`
+- `SetSplitterFilters` (building-site and belt variants)
+- `ClearBeltTiles`
+- `ApplySchematicChoice`
+- `Reset` / restart — see "Restart is a boundary".
+
+### Command representation
+
+Commands use a **base class + derived classes** (mirroring the existing `Event` hierarchy
+idiom, so it is native to this codebase). They are routed through a dedicated command path,
+**not** through `EventManager` (see next section).
+
+## Command system: reuse the *pattern*, not the EventManager singleton
+
+We reuse the **pattern** of the existing event system (a polymorphic base + small derived
+types), but the sim-mutating command path is a **dedicated, ordered queue**, not the
+`EventManager` pub/sub bus. Reasons:
+
+1. **Determinism / ordering.** Sim mutations must apply in a strict, tick-pinned, recorded
+   order. `architecture.md` deliberately keeps the sim free of `EventManager` for exactly this
+   reason (determinism, tick-order fidelity, headless testability — why `BeamFiredEvent` uses a
+   plain vector). Routing commands into the sim via the singleton would break that.
+2. **Single consumer.** A command has exactly one recipient (the `Simulation`); pub/sub
+   N-handler fan-out is the wrong shape.
+3. **Recording chokepoint.** One place must see every command, stamp its tick, append it to the
+   file, and apply it. A direct queue gives that; a multi-handler bus does not.
+4. **Headless tests.** Tests link only `lib` and build a `Simulation` directly; the command
+   type and apply path live in `lib` and must work with no UI and no singleton.
+
+### Structure
+
+- **In `lib`:** a `Command` base class + derived command types, plus a `CommandManager`
+  (ordered queue) and a single `Simulation::apply(command)` chokepoint.
+- **UI fan-in still uses `EventManager`:** widgets emit a UI event as today; a single
+  dispatcher/recorder catches it, builds the `lib` command, and hands it to the
+  `CommandManager`. This keeps widgets decoupled (consistent with current architecture).
+- **Replay** skips the UI half and feeds commands straight into the same `CommandManager` /
+  `Simulation::apply` chokepoint.
+
+### The completeness invariant (enforced structurally)
+
+**Every** sim mutation must flow through the single `CommandManager → Simulation::apply`
+chokepoint. Any path that mutates the sim directly would not be recorded and would silently
+desync the replay.
+
+This is enforced **structurally, not by discipline**: the `Simulation` mutators
+(`tryPlaceBuilding`, `demolish`, `setRecipe`, …) are made private/non-public so the only way to
+reach them is `apply(command)`. A stray direct call then fails to compile rather than compiling
+and silently desyncing.
+
+Recording happens **at the apply chokepoint**, not at the UI gesture — so only commands that
+actually reached the sim are recorded, and they replay through the identical apply path.
+UI-side validation (placement validity, affordability) remains a pre-filter that simply does
+not produce a command unless the action reaches the sim.
+
+## Command timing: drain once per frame, before the tick batch
+
+- During live play, input pushes commands onto the `CommandManager` queue (not applied
+  synchronously).
+- The queue is drained at **one defined point: once per frame, before stepping the tick
+  batch.** The whole queue is drained in FIFO order (not one-per-tick), so bursts (e.g. laying
+  many belts quickly) apply immediately instead of dribbling across ticks, and it matches the
+  lockstep model wanted later.
+- Each drained command is **tagged with the current completed-tick count**, recorded at drain
+  time (so record-order == apply-order canonically), and applied.
+
+### Build-while-paused is preserved
+
+The drain runs every frame including at 0× (the tick batch is simply empty when paused). So a
+player can place buildings while paused and **see the construction sites immediately**. This is
+still fully deterministic: replay applies each command at its recorded tick regardless of the
+frame cadence that produced it.
+
+On replay, there is no input; the player applies each pre-filled command at its recorded tick
+through the same drain path, preserving order.
+
+The Qt single-threaded event loop guarantees input events and the `onFrame` tick-batch never
+interleave, so the completed-tick count at drain time is unambiguous. (If the sim is ever moved
+to a worker thread, this needs a lock at the sim boundary.)
+
+## Determinism: checksums and verification
+
+We do not verify EnTT iteration order statically. EnTT view iteration is a pure function of the
+sequence of spawn/destroy/add/remove operations, so on a fixed binary it contributes zero
+run-to-run nondeterminism. Instead we verify **end-to-end determinism** with a state checksum,
+and any divergence (EnTT order, float, container ordering, etc.) surfaces loudly.
+
+### What is checksummed (now)
+
+- **RNG state only**, for now. The `mt19937` state is fingerprinted into a 64-bit value.
+- The hash can be extended later (entity positions/HP, belt items, building buffers, scalars)
+  without changing the format.
+
+### Cadence
+
+- **In the replay file:** every **30 ticks**, **and** after **every command** is applied. The
+  per-command checksum pins any divergence to the action that triggered it; the periodic one
+  localizes drift to a ~1 s window. On playback the recomputed checksum is compared; a mismatch
+  reports "desync at tick N".
+- **In tests:** the Catch2 **double-run determinism test** hashes **full sim state every tick**
+  (not just RNG). It runs a scripted command sequence twice from the same seed and asserts
+  per-tick checksums match. This keeps the file lean while still catching non-RNG determinism
+  bugs during development.
+
+### Known limitation of the RNG-only file checksum (accepted)
+
+An RNG-only checksum only catches divergences that change **how much randomness is consumed**
+(wave composition, recipe rolls, scrap). Float or iteration drift that does **not** alter RNG
+draw counts passes the checksum undetected. This is acceptable for same-binary Windows replay
+(no float drift expected on an identical binary; the checksum's real job there is catching
+determinism *bugs*). When cross-platform replay becomes a goal, the **file** hash must be
+expanded to include entity state.
+
+## Cross-platform: Windows-first, portable by construction
+
+The replay file is platform-neutral data; `std::mt19937` is bit-identical across platforms, so
+RNG is not a cross-platform problem. The only real cross-platform issue is **floating-point
+reproducibility** — the sim does heavy `QVector2D` float math, and a 1-ULP difference (compiler
+/ CPU / SIMD / FMA contraction) can flip an in-range comparison and cascade into different ship
+behavior (the classic lockstep-RTS problem).
+
+Decision: **Windows-only first**, but make the later swap cheap and bounded by, from day one:
+
+- a **per-period state checksum** in the file (above), and
+- a **build/version + config-hash identity tag** in the header.
+
+Then cross-platform later is a contained float-hardening pass (`/fp:strict`, no FMA contraction,
+possibly fixed-point positions) guided by the checksums — **not** a redesign of the
+command-replay architecture.
+
+Note: even a new Windows *build* of the game can desync old replays for the same float reasons,
+so the version tag + "warn on mismatch" is needed regardless of cross-platform ambitions.
+
+## Seed and config
+
+- **Seed:** a **random** seed is generated at the start of each run, **outside** the sim (e.g.
+  `std::random_device` in `main`/reset), so the `Simulation` stays a pure function of
+  `(seed, config, commands)`. The seed is written to the replay header.
+- **Config:** the header stores a **config hash** (not a full config snapshot). On playback the
+  current config is hashed and compared; a mismatch warns/refuses. The hash is taken over the
+  actually-loaded config (so editing config files and restarting yields a new, consistent
+  replay).
+
+## File format: line-oriented append-friendly text
+
+Non-binary, chosen for readability and crash-safety. Size is a non-issue: the command log is
+sparse (only ticks with a player action), so even a multi-hour game is tens of KB in any text
+format.
+
+- A small keyed/header section: seed, config hash, build/version, start timestamp.
+- One line per command, e.g. `1234 place miner 3 5 E`.
+- Periodic checksum lines interleaved, e.g. `# checksum 9000 a1b2c3...`.
+
+Why line-oriented text:
+
+- **Append-friendly** — the recorder stream-appends as the game runs, so a crash does not lose
+  the replay (a crash is exactly when you would want it). A format that must be rewritten/closed
+  as a whole is rejected for this reason.
+- **No new dependency** — the project has no JSON lib; toml++ is parse-oriented and clunky for a
+  long event stream (fine for the header, awkward as an array-of-tables of thousands of
+  entries).
+- Greppable, diffable, tiny.
+- Aligns with the project's existing text-serialization idiom (`BlueprintSerializer`,
+  `ShipLayoutBlueprintSerializer`).
+
+## Recording lifecycle
+
+- **Record every run.** A new replay file is created at `Simulation` construction and at each
+  `reset()`.
+- **Restart is a boundary.** Restart (escape menu → restart, which reloads config and resets)
+  closes the current file and opens a new one with a fresh seed and header. One replay file =
+  one contiguous run from tick 0 to game-over/quit.
+- **Retention: keep everything.** Files live in the existing `data/` directory, named by
+  timestamp + seed. (No automatic pruning for now.)
+
+## Playback
+
+Launched via a command-line argument, e.g. `DotaFactory.exe --replay <file>`.
+
+`main` for the `--replay` path:
+
+1. Read the header → validate config hash and build/version (warn on mismatch).
+2. Construct the `Simulation` from the recorded seed + config.
+3. Construct the `CommandManager` in **Replay mode**, **pre-filled** with the whole command list
+   from the file. (Pre-fill memory is trivial; streaming-read is a later optimization if files
+   ever get huge — not needed now.)
+4. Run the driver in replay mode: each frame, drain commands due at the reached tick (same drain
+   path as live), step ticks, compare checksums.
+
+### Replay mode rules
+
+Reframe: the schematic-choice modal is **an input source** (the device that produces an
+`ApplySchematicChoice` command in live play), exactly like the mouse. Replay's single rule is
+"**disable live input sources**", which the modal falls under.
+
+- **`CommandManager` in replay mode:** `addCommand` is a no-op; the queue is pre-filled from the
+  file. Live input therefore produces nothing.
+- **Only two reactions need explicit gating** — the sim-state *polls* in `onFrame` that emit
+  `SchematicChoicesAvailableEvent` and `GameOverEvent`. In replay these polls do not run, so no
+  modal opens, no auto-pause occurs, and there is no deadlock against the recorded command.
+- **Everything else falls away for free** because it is click-driven, not sim-state-driven: the
+  recipe dialog (`RecipeSelectionRequestedEvent`), ship-layout dialog
+  (`LayoutDialogRequestedEvent`), and escape menu are all triggered by player input, which is
+  disabled — so they never open and need no special handling.
+- **Schematic choice still resolves with no UI:** the sim regenerates identical choices
+  deterministically (same seed + prior commands), and the pre-filled `ApplySchematicChoice`
+  applies itself at its recorded tick through the normal drain path. The tick-tag invariant
+  places it correctly relative to when the choices became pending, in both record and replay.
+- **Game-over is replaced, not just suppressed:** instead of the live restart/quit dialog,
+  playback detects the end condition (command stream exhausted / recorded game-over reached) and
+  stops, showing a passive "replay ended" state.
+- **Kept in replay:** the renderer/view and **manual game-speed selection** (including pause /
+  0× and fast-forward via high speed). Playback only ever moves forward.
+
+## Future direction (informs the design, not built now)
+
+Save/load and (deterministic lockstep) multiplayer are wanted later. The command bus is the
+shared foundation; two cheap shaping decisions now keep that path open:
+
+1. **Each command carries a source/player id** (always "player 0" in single-player). Lockstep
+   multiplayer is just commands from multiple sources merged into one ordered stream.
+2. **Commands are applied at a defined tick boundary** (already required for replay). Multiplayer
+   schedules them a few ticks in the future to hide latency; single-player uses the next drain.
+
+Implications to note:
+
+- Multiplayer makes cross-platform float determinism mandatory and promotes the checksum to
+  load-bearing desync-detection (rather than a test aid) — reinforcing doing the checksum now.
+- **Save/load** is the one feature that needs a *different* mechanism: either "replay to current
+  tick" on load (reuses 100% of replay machinery; load time grows with game length, though
+  fast-forward usually replays hours in seconds), or a full **state-snapshot serializer**
+  (EnTT registry + belts + buildings + scalars). The snapshot serializer is also what
+  backward-seek/scrubbing would need. Building the command bus now does not block adding it
+  later; it is explicitly out of scope here.
+
+## Summary of decisions
+
+- Approach: **A — deterministic command-replay** (re-simulation), no snapshots.
+- Scope: **view-only** playback + **manual speed selection**; launched via CLI argument.
+- Commands: **base class + derived types**, routed through a dedicated `CommandManager` queue
+  and a single `Simulation::apply` chokepoint; sim mutators made non-public to **enforce** the
+  chokepoint. UI fan-in still uses `EventManager`.
+- Timing: queue **drained once per frame before the tick batch**, whole queue FIFO, each command
+  tick-tagged; **build-while-paused preserved**.
+- Determinism: **RNG-state checksum** in the file every **30 ticks + after each command**;
+  **full-state per-tick hashing** in the Catch2 double-run test. Known RNG-only blind spot
+  accepted for now.
+- Platform: **Windows-first**; file format + version/config-hash make a later cross-platform
+  pass contained.
+- Seed: **random**, generated outside the sim, written to the header.
+- Config: **config hash** in the header, validated on playback.
+- File: **line-oriented append-friendly text**, kept in `data/`, **one file per run**,
+  **retain everything**.
+- Restart: **a boundary** — new file, new seed.
+- Replay mode: `CommandManager` `addCommand` is a no-op + pre-filled; gate the two sim-state
+  polls (schematic choices, game-over); passive "replay ended" instead of the game-over dialog;
+  keep view + speed.
+
+## Implementation plan
+
+Ordered to de-risk: prove determinism first, then build the command path, then recording, then
+playback. Each phase is independently testable and leaves the game in a working state. Phases
+0 → 1 → 2 → 3 are strictly sequential; Phase 4 tests can start as soon as their subject exists.
+
+### Phase 0 — Determinism foundation & verification (no replay yet)
+
+The whole feature rests on a deterministic sim, so prove that before building on it.
+
+- Add a `mt19937` state **fingerprint** (fold its serialized state into a 64-bit value).
+- Add a **full-state checksum** path (positions, HP, velocities, belt items, building buffers,
+  scalars), used by tests; each subsystem contributes via its own `appendChecksum(Hasher&)` so
+  no state knowledge is duplicated.
+- Add a Catch2 **double-run determinism test**: run a scripted sequence twice from the same
+  seed, assert per-tick **full-state** checksums match.
+- **Files:** new `lib/sim` checksum helper; small additions to `Simulation`, `BeltSystem`,
+  `BuildingSystem`, ECS state; new test.
+- **Exit criteria:** the double-run test passes. If it fails, fix the nondeterminism here before
+  proceeding.
+
+### Phase 1 — Command model + enforced chokepoint (no recording yet)
+
+Reshape mutations to flow through one path; behaviour unchanged.
+
+- Define `Command` base + derived types (`PlaceBuilding`, `Demolish`, `RotateInPlace`,
+  `SetRecipe`, `SetShipLayout`, `SetSplitterFilters`, `ClearBeltTiles`, `ApplySchematicChoice`,
+  `Reset`) in `lib`. Each carries a source/player id (always 0 now) for the future-multiplayer
+  shape.
+- Add `CommandManager` (FIFO queue, drain) in `lib`, holding a `Simulation&`.
+- Add `Simulation::apply(const Command&)` dispatching to the existing mutators; then **make
+  those mutators non-public** so `apply` is the only entry — compile-enforces the completeness
+  invariant.
+- Wire the drain: in `GameWorldView::onFrame`, call `CommandManager::drain()` **once per frame,
+  before** the tick batch; tag each command with the current completed-tick count.
+- Refactor every UI mutation site to **emit a single `CommandRequestedEvent`** (carrying a
+  `shared_ptr<Command>`) via the existing `EventManager`; one dispatcher subscribes and enqueues
+  onto `CommandManager`.
+- **Files:** new `lib` command + `CommandManager`; `Simulation.h/.cpp`; call sites in
+  `GameWorldView.cpp`, `MainWindow.cpp`, `SelectedBuildingPanel.cpp`; new dispatcher in
+  `ui`/`app`.
+- **Exit criteria:** game plays identically (including build-while-paused), determinism test
+  still passes, no widget can call a sim mutator directly (won't compile).
+
+### Phase 2 — Recording
+
+- Implement the **line-oriented append writer**: header (seed, config hash, build/version,
+  timestamp) + one line per command + checksum lines.
+- Generate a **random seed outside the sim** (in `main`/reset), write to header.
+- Compute the **config hash** over the loaded config.
+- Hook the **recorder at the apply chokepoint** in `CommandManager::drain()`: append each command
+  (tick-tagged), append an **RNG checksum after every command** and **every 30 ticks**.
+- **Lifecycle:** open a new file on `Simulation` construction and on each `reset()` (restart =
+  boundary); store in `data/`, named by timestamp+seed; retain everything.
+- **Files:** new replay writer in `lib`; `main.cpp` (seed), config hash helper;
+  `CommandManager`/`Simulation` for the tick checksum hook.
+- **Exit criteria:** every run produces a well-formed, growing replay file; a crash mid-run still
+  leaves a valid partial file.
+
+### Phase 3 — Playback
+
+- Implement the **reader/parser** for the format (header + commands + checksums).
+- Add the `--replay <file>` CLI path in `main`: validate config hash + version (warn on
+  mismatch), construct `Simulation` from seed+config, construct `CommandManager` in **replay
+  mode** (pre-filled, `addCommand` is a no-op).
+- Replay driver: each frame, drain commands due at the reached tick (same drain path), step
+  ticks, **keep manual speed/pause**, playback only moves forward.
+- **Gate the two `onFrame` polls** (schematic-choices, game-over) off in replay mode; everything
+  else (recipe/layout dialogs, escape menu) is input-driven and falls away automatically.
+- **Desync detection:** recompute the RNG checksum at each checkpoint, compare to the file,
+  report "desync at tick N" on mismatch.
+- **Passive end:** when the command stream is exhausted / recorded game-over is reached, stop
+  with a "replay ended" overlay instead of the restart dialog.
+- **Files:** new reader in `lib`; `main.cpp`; `CommandManager` (replay mode); `GameWorldView.cpp`
+  (poll gating, end overlay).
+- **Exit criteria:** a recorded file plays back identically; checksums match throughout.
+
+### Phase 4 — Closing tests & polish
+
+- **Round-trip test:** serialize → parse → assert command equality.
+- **Replay-equivalence test (headless):** record a scripted run, play it back through the same
+  `lib` path, assert per-tick checksums match end-to-end — the real proof, no UI needed.
+- Mismatch-warning UX, end-of-replay overlay polish.
+
+### Notes
+
+- Phase 1 is the largest (the mutation-site refactor); Phase 0 is the riskiest (it may surface
+  latent nondeterminism that must be fixed first).
+- Still deferred (per this design): snapshots, save/load, backward-seek, cross-platform float
+  hardening, expanding the file checksum beyond RNG.