Maglev Cycle 12: Game Cycle Planning

The Context

Cycles 0–5 prove the networking, physics, and persistence layers. Cycle 9 is the first cycle to run a real physics scene with assets; by the time it passes, the team has actual frame budget data from zone-console, a working grab-ready physics scene, and the interaction system (xr_controller_interaction_helper.gd) half-integrated. That is the earliest point at which game cycle estimates are reliable.

The Problem Statement

Six game systems remain unbuilt for the vertical slice and have no prior baseline in this codebase. Estimating them before Cycle 9 passes produces numbers with no evidence. Cycle 12 produces scoped ADRs and estimates for each remaining system using the Cycle 9 scene as a measured baseline.

Design

Run Cycle 12 immediately after Cycle 9 passes. For each of the six systems below, produce one ADR following the present-proposal-template with a pass criteria checklist, CRIS score, and estimate derived from Cycle 9 frame budget and zone-console tick data.

System	Depends on	Notes
Drone AI	Cycle 9 scene	Pathfinding and attack behaviour in the zone server; no prior AI baseline
Combat / health	Cycle 9 scene	Damage model, respawn, HUD; no prior baseline
Core grab mechanic	Cycle 9 scene + interaction system	xr_controller_interaction_helper.gd is solved; needs wiring to rolling cores
Slot-into-terminal interaction	Core grab	Win condition trigger; same interaction system path
3-minute timer and win/lose flow	Slot interaction	Game loop state machine; triggers Cycle 11 DB write
Camera modes	Cycle 9 scene	PCVR tilt-shift diorama rig; Steam Deck isometric rig; same instance, different viewports

Art asset production (train geometry, drone models, terminal, Quantum Data-Core models, VRM avatars with MToon shaders) is a parallel track owned by the art team. Cycle 12 produces the art brief and schedule alongside the engineering ADRs; it does not estimate or gate on art completion.

Pass criteria:

• One ADR per system above, with pass criteria checklist and CRIS score
• Each ADR includes a working-days estimate with a stated basis in Cycle 9 measurements
• Art brief delivered to art team with asset list, MToon shader targets, and poly/texture budgets for both PCVR diorama and Steam Deck isometric viewports
• Updated project timeline incorporating all six game cycles into the Maglev Intercept sequence

Estimate

3 days (2026-06-16 → 2026-06-19). Planning cycle only; no code. Requires Cycle 9 zone-console tick data and frame budget before it can begin.

CRIS Score

Factor	Score	Evidence
Complexity	3	Writing ADRs and estimates is low effort; the inputs (Cycle 9 measurements, interaction system design) are well understood by then.
Rreach	10	All six remaining game systems are unscoped until this cycle completes.
Impediment	8	Starting game dev without scoped ADRs risks scope creep and unattributable failures in a system with no prior game-logic baseline.
Stakeholder	10	Game Director and art team both block on this cycle for production planning.
Total	7.75	Build immediately after Cycle 9 passes.

The Downsides

Cycle 12 produces plans, not working software. A week of slippage in Cycle 9 delays the planning cycle by the same amount.

The Road Not Taken

Planning the game cycles now (before Cycle 9) was considered and rejected — estimates made without a running physics scene and real frame budget data have no evidence base.

Status

Status: Draft

Decision Makers

• Lead Architect / Fabric Maintainer
• Game Director

Tags

• maglev-cycle-12, game-planning, vertical-slice, galls-law, 20260506-maglev-cycle-12-game-planning, present-proposal-template

Further Reading

@misc{v_sekai_2026,
  title = {V-Sekai},
  year  = {2026},
  url   = {https://v-sekai.org/}
}