From d62bcfea8257b545f8ca44167c22291ae7474ebe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Keith Avery <slabgorb@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:42:53 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] fix(mp): read character_slot from core.name so
 PLAYER_SEAT actually fires

The seat handshake silently no-op'd in multiplayer playtests. Server
emits character.model_dump(mode="json") whose Pydantic shape nests the
name under `core.name` (Character.core: CreatureCore in
sidequest-server/sidequest/game/character.py:69-94). The chargen-complete
handler in App.tsx was reading the flat `charData.name` /
`charData.character_name`, both undefined for the current emission, so
the `if (charNameForSeat && sendRef.current)` guard fell through and
PLAYER_SEAT was never sent. Server-side never logged
`session.player_seated`, no `mp_seat_span` event, no SEAT_CONFIRMED
broadcast.

Read `core.name` as the primary lookup; keep flat names as fallback for
back-compat with any alternative emission paths.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/App.tsx | 8 ++++++++
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 65f0b5c..ad54d26 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -475,7 +475,15 @@ function AppInner() {
         // names; mutant_wasteland uses class+name). The DB primary key
         // for the seat is (slug, player_id), so the slot is mostly
         // descriptive metadata that flows back via SEAT_CONFIRMED.
+        //
+        // The server emits `character.model_dump()` which nests the
+        // name under `core.name` (Python pydantic model). The flat
+        // `name` / `character_name` fallbacks are kept for any
+        // historical or alternative emission paths but the canonical
+        // location is `core.name`.
+        const charCore = charData?.core as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
         const charNameForSeat =
+          (charCore?.name as string | undefined) ??
           (charData?.name as string | undefined) ??
           (charData?.character_name as string | undefined);
         if (charNameForSeat && sendRef.current) {

From 2e2b7fcc1d37f3bbc3442ba94e5beb23d752e0d6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Keith Avery <slabgorb@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:43:08 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] feat(ui): heartbeat dot in chargen-commit loading view
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Playtest 2026-04-24 flagged the all-text spinner ("Considering your
words..." then "Waiting for the narrator...") as indistinguishable from a
crash — a black viewport with one line of italic text and no other
motion is read as a freeze, especially during the 30-90s
chargen-commit → opening-narration window.

OQ-1's MultiplayerTurnBanner already established the heartbeat idiom
for the in-game state. Mirror it for chargen: a w-2 h-2 emerald
animate-pulse dot next to the loading text. Same shape, same testid
prefix, distinct id (`chargen-heartbeat-dot`) so the two views don't
collide in tests.

CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx — 2 cases:
  1. default copy renders the heartbeat dot
  2. genre-pack loading_text override still renders the heartbeat

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .../CharacterCreation/CharacterCreation.tsx   | 11 ++++-
 .../CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx        | 40 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 50 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 src/components/CharacterCreation/__tests__/CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx

diff --git a/src/components/CharacterCreation/CharacterCreation.tsx b/src/components/CharacterCreation/CharacterCreation.tsx
index cb3ddeb..4fdfae3 100644
--- a/src/components/CharacterCreation/CharacterCreation.tsx
+++ b/src/components/CharacterCreation/CharacterCreation.tsx
@@ -59,10 +59,19 @@ export function CharacterCreation({ scene, loading, onRespond }: CharacterCreati
     // turn. "Waiting for the narrator..." is true regardless of which
     // chargen step we're between. Genre packs can override via
     // ``scene.loading_text``.
+    //
+    // The heartbeat dot is the "system is alive" cue — playtest 2026-04-24
+    // flagged the all-text spinner as indistinguishable from a crash. Pulse
+    // matches the in-game MultiplayerTurnBanner idiom (emerald, w-2 h-2).
     return (
       <div data-testid="character-creation">
         <div data-testid="creation-loading" role="status"
-             className="flex items-center justify-center min-h-[200px]">
+             className="flex items-center justify-center gap-2 min-h-[200px]">
+          <span
+            data-testid="chargen-heartbeat-dot"
+            aria-hidden="true"
+            className="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full shrink-0 bg-emerald-500 animate-pulse"
+          />
           <p className="text-sm italic text-muted-foreground/50 animate-pulse">
             {scene?.loading_text ?? "Waiting for the narrator..."}
           </p>
diff --git a/src/components/CharacterCreation/__tests__/CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx b/src/components/CharacterCreation/__tests__/CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f9c18e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/CharacterCreation/__tests__/CharacterCreation.loading.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { CharacterCreation } from "../CharacterCreation";
+
+describe("CharacterCreation loading view", () => {
+  it("renders the heartbeat dot alongside the wait copy", () => {
+    render(
+      <CharacterCreation scene={null} loading={true} onRespond={() => {}} />,
+    );
+    const loading = screen.getByTestId("creation-loading");
+    expect(loading).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(loading).toHaveTextContent(/waiting for the narrator/i);
+
+    const dot = screen.getByTestId("chargen-heartbeat-dot");
+    expect(dot).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(dot.className).toMatch(/animate-pulse/);
+    expect(dot.className).toMatch(/bg-emerald-500/);
+  });
+
+  it("uses the genre-pack scene loading_text when provided", () => {
+    render(
+      <CharacterCreation
+        scene={
+          {
+            scene_index: 1,
+            total_scenes: 4,
+            loading_text: "The bones are casting...",
+          } as never
+        }
+        loading={true}
+        onRespond={() => {}}
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("creation-loading")).toHaveTextContent(
+      /the bones are casting/i,
+    );
+    // Heartbeat must still render even with custom copy.
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("chargen-heartbeat-dot")).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});