A full day of work split across three sessions. The day started with a major collision shape overhaul (moving from runtime circle shapes to baked per-variant polygons), followed by a complete ship system and shop redesign, and finished with gameplay polish, enemy AI improvements, achievements, and a full sound gap analysis.

Every asteroid variant has a completely different outline. The old system created a CircleShape2D at runtime using min(w, h) * 0.42 as the radius, a rough approximation that could never match irregular asteroid shapes. Player ships and enemy units had the same problem.

12 Separate Asteroid Scene Files

The previous design used a single Asteroid.tscn and picked the variant at runtime, which meant one collision shape for all 12 shapes. Each new scene locks in its size and variant_index as baked export values and provides a CollisionPolygon2D with a default octagon hull. All 12 scenes share the same Asteroid.gd script.

• LARGE (Size 0): Asteroid_A1, A3, A4, A5: variant_index 0–3
• MEDIUM (Size 1): Asteroid_A6, A7, A8, A10: variant_index 0–3
• SMALL (Size 2): Asteroid_A9, A11, A12, A13: variant_index 0–3

GameScene.gd: 12-Scene Lookup

The old single @export var asteroid_scene was replaced with a constant dictionary mapping size group to four variant paths. spawn_asteroid() selects randomly within the size group when vid == -1. Godot caches load() so the same path returns instantly after the first call.

All Other Entity Collision Shapes

Script Cleanup

Four scripts had runtime collision shape creation removed: Asteroid.gd (removed _fit_collision_shape()), EnemyUnit.gd, EnemyMothership.gd, and EnemyBullet.gd.

Godot showed a Node Configuration Warning on every asteroid scene: “Size change to RigidBody2D will be overridden by the physics engine when running.” Caused by scale set on the root RigidBody2D node. Fixed by applying scale to child nodes only (sprite.scale).

This revealed a second issue: A single scale per size group is wrong. A1 source is 600px wide, A5 is only 350px, so at the same scale they render at very different sizes. A12 at the small scale was only 27×28px, effectively invisible.

Per-Variant Scale Factors

Each variant now has its own scale calculated from its texture’s longest dimension to hit a consistent target display size: LARGE ~260px, MEDIUM ~155px, SMALL ~85px.

const SCALE_FOR_VARIANT: Array = [
    # LARGE  (A1=600px, A3=514px, A4=500px, A5=350px)
    [Vector2(0.43,0.43), Vector2(0.51,0.51), Vector2(0.52,0.52), Vector2(0.74,0.74)],
    # MEDIUM (A6=450px, A7=300px, A8=240px, A10=260px)
    [Vector2(0.34,0.34), Vector2(0.52,0.52), Vector2(0.65,0.65), Vector2(0.60,0.60)],
    # SMALL  (A9=250px, A11=240px, A12=170px, A13=190px)
    [Vector2(0.34,0.34), Vector2(0.35,0.35), Vector2(0.47,0.47), Vector2(0.45,0.45)],
]

The collision polygon vertices are stored at native (unscaled) coordinates and scaled at runtime together with the sprite. Tracing polygons in the editor is done at native texture size, which makes it easier to place vertices accurately.

Per-Ship Collision Polygons in Player.tscn

Player.tscn now contains 9 CollisionPolygon2D nodes named CollisionPolygon2D_0 through _8. Only the one matching the equipped ship is active at runtime. All 9 ship textures are embedded as ext_resources so you can swap the Sprite2D texture in the Inspector while tracing each polygon.

The old system sold each ship variant (X1, X2, X3) as a separate purchase. The new design buys a ship once and levels it up through gameplay, earning stronger variants as a reward for play rather than as a purchase.

Ship Roster: 8 Total

• Series ships (5): CX16, DKO, WO84, CP2, PTM: each has X1, X2, X3 levels
• Standalone ships (3): Viper, BGS-1, BGS-2: single variant, level-up behaviour reserved for later

Shop order (index 0–7): CX16, DKO, WO84, CP2, PTM, Viper, BGS-1, BGS-2.

Level-Up Architecture: Per-Ship Score Tracking

Each ship has an independent score counter in ship_scores[series]. Score only accumulates while that ship is equipped. Level is derived at runtime, never stored separately.

const SHIP_LEVEL_THRESHOLDS: Array[int] = [0, 1000, 6000]  # raised to 8000/40000 in Session 3

func get_ship_level(series: int) -> int:
    if SHIP_IS_STANDALONE[series]: return 0
    var score: int = ship_scores[series]
    if score >= SHIP_LEVEL_THRESHOLDS[2]: return 2
    elif score >= SHIP_LEVEL_THRESHOLDS[1]: return 1
    return 0

Gun Count by Level

• X1: Single centre gun
• X2: Twin side guns
• X3: Triple guns (centre + both sides)

Character Shop Redesign

The shop was rebuilt from scratch to show 8 tiles in a 4-column grid. Each tile displays the ship image (grayed if not owned), name, owned/price status, current level, and score to next level.

• Not owned: grayed image, Space Coin icon + price. Purchase on tap.
• Owned (not selected): full image, cyan “OWNED” label, cyan border
• Selected: orange border only; the border is the indicator

The duplicate CoinsRow display was removed. BtnCoins in the top-right corner is wired to coins_changed and shows a live Space Coin icon + count.

Crystal Drop Pickups

Asteroids now drop coloured space crystals when destroyed. Crystals drift slowly, pulse gently, and fade out after 10 seconds if not collected. Five colours with increasing point/coin rewards: Blue (5pts/1c), Green (8pts/1c), Purple (12pts/2c), Red (15pts/2c), Yellow (20pts/3c).

Crystals share the powerups_container node. Crystal.gd is an independent Area2D, and no PowerUp.gd code was modified.

Space Coin Icon

The Space Coin.png asset (657×655px) replaced all 🪙 emoji occurrences. Large source required explicit size capping, because Godot Button icons render at native resolution without a width cap. Fixed with add_theme_constant_override("icon_max_width", 36) and TextureRect with EXPAND_IGNORE_SIZE + SIZE_SHRINK_CENTER flags on tile price rows.

Level Complete Priority Display

The Level Complete screen was rewritten with three-priority display: (1) Ship leveled up this session, (2) Rank promoted this session, (3) Neither, which shows current ship with rank and coins earned. SHIP_DISPLAY_CONFIG[series][level] allows per-ship offset and scale tuning without touching logic.

Game Over Panel Style

Retry and Continue buttons restyled with rounded dark-blue panels, cyan borders, neuropol font, matching the Level Complete screen. Three sub-resources added: GO_SBF_normal, GO_SBF_hover, GO_SBE_focus. Text: “TAP TO RETRY” → “Retry”, “CONTINUE” → “Continue”.

• HUD.tscn parse error / null crash: Godot 4’s .tscn parser requires all [ext_resource] declarations before [sub_resource] blocks. StyleBox sub-resources were placed out of order, which silently failed scene instantiation. Fixed by rewriting HUD.tscn with correct section order.
• Duplicate font UID in HUD.tscn: A second FontFile ext_resource was added with the same UID as the existing one. Duplicate UIDs fail the resource loader. Removed the duplicate.
• Viper asset path mismatch: Asset was renamed from viper copy.png to viper.png. Both GameManager.gd and LevelComplete.gd still referenced the old name.
• GDScript warnings in GameScene.gd: Integer division warning fixed with floori(float(...)/float(...)); unused world_pos parameter renamed to _world_pos.

Per-Level Movement Stats

All three ship levels now feel meaningfully different. X2 is faster and tighter; X3 is most responsive with the least drift. Stats are recomputed at the top of every _physics_process call, so the upgrade takes effect the moment the threshold is crossed.

Mid-Game Ship Level-Up Animation

When a ship crosses the X2 or X3 threshold, the new sprite loads immediately and a rapid white flash signals the upgrade. Signal chain: GameManager.add_score() detects level → emits ship_leveled_up → GameScene calls player._apply_ship_setup() + player.trigger_level_up_effect() (4 white flashes over ~0.56 s).

Wing Gun Marker2D Nodes

Wing gun positions changed from hardcoded Vector2 offsets to named Marker2D nodes in Player.tscn: GunBarrelLeft (−18, −25) and GunBarrelRight (+18, −25). Positions can now be adjusted visually without touching any script.

Level-Up Thresholds Increased

Previous thresholds (X2 at 1,000pts, X3 at 6,000pts) were reachable in ~2 waves. New thresholds require genuine investment in a specific ship: X2 at 8,000pts, X3 at 40,000pts.

Crystal Burst Animation on Collection

Crystals now play a short tween on collection: scale to 2.5× while fading to transparent over 0.18–0.20 seconds. Drop rates also reduced: LARGE → always 1 (was 2–3); MEDIUM → 1 with 40% chance of 2nd (was always 1–2); SMALL → 15% chance (was 30%).

Enemy AI: Asteroid Dodge + Active Targeting

Three major changes to EnemyUnit.gd:

• Asteroid avoidance:_get_asteroid_dodge() scans all asteroids within 180px. Each contributes a repulsion vector scaled by proximity, added to movement each frame.
• Active targeting in ATTACK state: Movement target becomes the player’s current position, so the enemy actively tracks and closes in.
• Two-hit health + asteroid collision: HP changed from 1 to 2 (takes two bullets). Asteroid collision deals 2 damage (instant kill), creating a risk/reward mechanic.

Enemy bullets now call queue_free() on asteroid contact, so no more bullets flying through rock.

Game Over Overlay + Scene Pause

A GameOverOverlayColorRect (full-screen, black 75% alpha) was added behind the panel. show_game_over() now calls get_tree().paused = true. The HUD CanvasLayer has process_mode = PROCESS_MODE_ALWAYS so buttons still receive input while paused.

Rank Badge Animation on Promotion

The rank badge now reacts on promotion: scale pop 1.0→1.4→1.0 (0.38s) followed by a 2-second cyan glow that fades to white. Wired via a new _on_rank_up() handler instead of directly connecting to _update_rank_badge.

Shop Insufficient Funds Flash

Tapping a ship you can’t afford now flashes the tile red twice (double pulse on modulate). _tile_buttons: Array[Button] stores each tile button indexed by series for fast lookup. Sound placeholder comments added: # SOUND NEEDED: ship_purchase.wav and # SOUND NEEDED: insufficient_funds.wav.

Level Select: Shop Button Wired

BtnShop existed in the scene but was never connected. @onready ref added, wired to navigate to CharacterShop.tscn. Also added _make_number_display() for level numbers above 99 using atlas-sliced digit art.

Achievements Placeholder Menu

An Achievements button was added to the Main Menu top-left. The new scene uses a scrollable VBoxContainer with 12 placeholder achievements: First Flight, Asteroid Slayer, Crystal Collector, Coin Hoarder, Promoted!, Ship Upgrade, Max Firepower, Fleet Commander, Sharpshooter, Nuke ’em, Endless Pilot, High Scorer. All currently unlocked = false.

Sound Effects Still Needed (12 total)

# SOUND NEEDED: filename.wav comments mark every trigger point in the codebase.