romdevtools 0.28.0 → 0.30.0

package/examples/lynx/templates/racing.c

@@ -1,4 +1,54 @@
-// ── racing.c — Atari Lynx 3-lane top-down racer ──────────────────────
+/* ── racing.c — Atari Lynx 1P top-down road racer (complete example game) ─────
+ *
+ * A COMPLETE, working game — DEPTH DODGE, a top-down vertical road racer fit to
+ * the Lynx's tiny 160x102 screen: title screen, a 1P endless run with speed
+ * control and a steerable car, a best-distance record, MIKEY music + SFX, AND
+ * the Lynx's signature party trick: HARDWARE SPRITE SCALING used for PSEUDO-3D
+ * DEPTH. Obstacle cars are Suzy scalable sprites that ENTER tiny at the far
+ * horizon and SWELL as they rush toward you — an OutRun-ish "coming at you"
+ * read built from real hardware scaling, not Mode-7 (the Lynx has no affine
+ * background; this is honest sprite scaling, see the HARDWARE IDIOM note).
+ *
+ * The game: you drive the YELLOW car along the bottom of a vertically-scrolling
+ * road. LEFT/RIGHT hop between three lanes; UP accelerates, DOWN brakes
+ * (speed 1-5). Faster = more distance banked but obstacles close quicker.
+ * Obstacle cars spawn at the horizon and grow as they approach; a same-lane
+ * collision when one reaches you is a CRASH (3 crashes ends the run). The run's
+ * DISTANCE is the score; your best DISTANCE this power-on is shown on the title.
+ *
+ * THIS FILE IS MEANT TO BE FORKED AND MODIFIED into your own game — even a
+ * very different one. The markers tell you what's what:
+ *   HARDWARE IDIOM (load-bearing) — dodges a documented Lynx footgun;
+ *     reshape your gameplay around it (see TROUBLESHOOTING before changing).
+ *   GAME LOGIC (clay) — road art, traffic patterns, speeds, scoring rules:
+ *     reshape freely.
+ *
+ * What depends on what:
+ *   lynx_sfx.{h,c} — MIKEY 4-voice audio (voice 0 = steer/crash SFX, voice 1 =
+ *     background melody, voice 2 = engine/checkpoint blips, voice 3 = noise).
+ *   vendor/cc65/libsrc/lynx/ — the FULL cc65 Lynx driver source shipped into
+ *     your project. The TGI driver (tgi/lynx-160-102-16.s) is REQUIRED
+ *     reading when graphics misbehave: every TGI call is itself a Suzy
+ *     sprite, and our scaled obstacle cars ride the same engine via
+ *     tgi_ioctl(0).
+ *
+ * NO HARDWARE TILEMAP (read this — it is the platform's biggest "where's the
+ *   road renderer?" surprise): the Lynx has NO background tilemap and NO
+ *   hardware scroll. Suzy is a SPRITE BLITTER, not a tile engine. So the road
+ *   is drawn the honest way: the full-redraw TGI loop repaints the WHOLE track
+ *   every frame as a stack of tgi_bar fills + tgi_line markings, and the road
+ *   "scrolls" by animating the lane-dash phase each frame — cheap on a 160x102
+ *   screen, and it falls out of the canonical full-redraw loop for free.
+ *
+ * PLAYERS: 1. This is a handheld — head-to-head on real hardware is ComLynx,
+ *   a cable between TWO physical Lynx units. A single emulator instance has
+ *   nobody on the other end of the cable, so this example is honestly a 1P
+ *   endless racer (no fake "P2 VERSUS" that could never work here — contrast
+ *   the NES racing donor, which has a real simultaneous-2P split-road mode).
+ *
+ * SCREEN: 160x102. The system font is 8x8, so a full row of text is 20
+ *   characters — the road + HUD are kept compact to fit.
+ */
 
 #include <tgi.h>
 #include <joystick.h>
@@ -6,122 +56,508 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include "lynx_sfx.h"
 
-#define MAX_OBS 4
-#define LANE0 32
-#define LANE1 76
-#define LANE2 120
+/* The title screen renders this — examples({op:'fork'}) stamps your game's
+ * name here automatically. Keep it <=16 chars of A-Z 0-9 space dash. */
+#define GAME_TITLE "DEPTH DODGE"
 
-static const uint8_t lane_x[3] = { LANE0, LANE1, LANE2 };
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay — reshape freely) — road geometry (fits 160x102) ───────
+ * A vertical road down the centre with grass shoulders. ROAD_L/ROAD_R bound
+ * the tarmac; three lane centres sit inside it. The player rides near the
+ * bottom; obstacles travel the road from HORIZON_Y (top) downward. */
+#define ROAD_L      28               /* left tarmac edge                      */
+#define ROAD_R      131              /* right tarmac edge                     */
+#define HORIZON_Y   14               /* top of the playfield (far distance)   */
+#define PLAYER_Y    88               /* player car centre row (near the foot) */
+#define CRASH_Y     82               /* y at/after which an obstacle "reaches" */
+#define LANES       3
+#define START_LIVES 3
+#define MAX_OBS     4                /* obstacle pool size                    */
+static const int16_t lane_x[LANES] = { 51, 79, 108 };   /* lane centres       */
 
-typedef struct { int16_t x, y, alive; } Car;
+/* Game states — the shell every example shares: title → play → over. */
+#define ST_TITLE 0
+#define ST_PLAY  1
+#define ST_OVER  2
+static uint8_t state;
 
-void main(void) {
-  uint8_t player_lane = 1;
-  Car player = { LANE1, 90, 1 };
-  Car obs[MAX_OBS];
-  uint8_t spawn = 0, prev = 0;
-  uint8_t game_over = 0;
-  uint8_t joy, i;
-  uint32_t rng = 1;
-  uint8_t scroll = 0;   /* animates the road dashes so the track moves */
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — run state ── */
+static uint8_t  player_lane;         /* 0..2                                  */
+static uint8_t  speed;               /* 1..5 road px/frame                    */
+static uint16_t dist;                /* run distance (the score)              */
+static uint8_t  dist_frac;
+static uint16_t best;                /* in-session best distance — see below  */
+static uint8_t  lives;
+static uint8_t  invuln;              /* post-crash blink/no-collide frames    */
+static uint8_t  spawn_timer;
+static uint8_t  road_phase;          /* lane-dash scroll phase (0..11)        */
+static uint8_t  prev_joy;
+static uint8_t  new_record;          /* result screen shows NEW RECORD        */
+
+/* The result SCALE POP: when >0 the result glyph draws swollen for a few
+ * frames (the SCALING signature), counting back to the resting 1.0x. */
+static uint8_t  pop_timer;
+#define POP_FRAMES 12
+
+/* Obstacle pool (fixed slots, no allocation). y travels HORIZON_Y..CRASH_Y. */
+static uint8_t  obs_alive[MAX_OBS];
+static uint8_t  obs_lane[MAX_OBS];
+static int16_t  obs_y[MAX_OBS];
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — xorshift16 PRNG (~tens of cycles per call).
+ * Picks obstacle lanes; without a noise source the spawn pattern would be a
+ * fixed loop. rand8() is also ticked once per play frame so identical game
+ * states a few seconds apart still diverge. */
+static uint16_t rng = 0xC0A7;
+static uint8_t rand8(void) {
+  uint16_t r = rng;
+  r ^= r << 7;
+  r ^= r >> 9;
+  r ^= r << 8;
+  rng = r;
+  return (uint8_t)r;
+}
+
+/* ── HARDWARE IDIOM (load-bearing — reshape gameplay around this; see TROUBLESHOOTING) ──
+ * SUZY HARDWARE SPRITE SCALING — the Lynx signature, used here for PSEUDO-3D
+ * DEPTH. Suzy renders every sprite through a Sprite Control Block (SCB) it
+ * walks in cart/work RAM. Two SCB fields, HSIZE and VSIZE, are 8.8 fixed-point
+ * scale factors ($0100 = 1.0): the SAME 8x8 source pixels render at any size,
+ * every frame, for free. This game uses it to fake DEPTH:
+ *   - each OBSTACLE car is a Suzy sprite whose 8.8 scale is computed from its
+ *     screen Y — small at the far HORIZON, swelling toward 1.0x+ as it nears
+ *     the player — recomputed every frame, zero CPU pixel cost (Suzy scales
+ *     while it blits). A car that "rushes at you" is the hardware doing the
+ *     perspective, not a pre-scaled sprite sheet.
+ *   - the player car and the RESULT POP (the glyph swells then eases back when
+ *     a run ends) ride the same scaling SCB path.
+ * This is NOT Mode-7 / affine backgrounds (the Lynx has none): it is honest
+ * SPRITE scaling, and the hitbox below TRACKS the live hardware size so the
+ * collision reads what you SEE.
+ *
+ * The SCB, field by field (this is cc65's SCB_REHV_PAL from <_suzy.h>):
+ *   sprctl0  bits 7-6 = bits per pixel (11 = 4bpp), bits 2-0 = sprite TYPE.
+ *            TYPE_NORMAL (4) draws pens 1-15 and treats pen 0 as
+ *            TRANSPARENT — that's how the car shape sits over the road.
+ *   sprctl1  bit 7 LITERAL (raw nybbles, no RLE) + bits 5-4 reload depth:
+ *            REHV means "this SCB carries HPOS, VPOS, HSIZE, VSIZE". The
+ *            reload bits ARE the struct layout — mismatch them and Suzy reads
+ *            palette bytes as size words.
+ *   sprcoll  $20 = NO_COLLIDE. Car/obstacle collision is done in C on the road
+ *            coordinates (the collision buffer knows nothing about gameplay).
+ *   next     pointer to the next SCB, 0 = end of chain (one blit per call).
+ *   data     sprite pixel data (LITERAL 4bpp format below).
+ *   hpos/vpos signed SCREEN position of the sprite's top-left corner.
+ *   hsize/vsize 8.8 scale — THE party trick, rewritten per draw.
+ *   penpal[8] 16 nybbles mapping pixel values 0-15 → palette pens. We RECOLOUR
+ *            the sprite per draw here (one 8x8 art block, any pen) by pointing
+ *            the art's pixel value 1 at the wanted pen — no extra art.
+ *
+ * LITERAL 4bpp data format (hand-encodable): each sprite LINE is
+ *   [offset byte][width/2 bytes of raw nybble pixels]
+ * where offset = 1 + bytes of pixel data; a final offset of 0 ends the sprite.
+ * 8 px @ 4bpp = 4 data bytes, so every line starts with 5.
+ *
+ * Drawing: tgi_sprite(&scb) → tgi_ioctl(0, &scb) — the TGI driver's
+ * documented escape hatch (see CONTROL in vendor/cc65/libsrc/lynx/tgi/
+ * lynx-160-102-16.s). It points Suzy's SCBNEXT at your SCB, aims VIDBAS at
+ * TGI's current DRAW page (so scaled sprites land in the same double-buffered
+ * frame as tgi_bar/tgi_outtextxy), fires SPRGO, and sleeps the CPU until
+ * SPRSYS reports the blit done.
+ *
+ * Requires: the cc65 crt0 Suzy init (already done before main()), and calls
+ *   only between the tgi_busy() wait and tgi_updatedisplay() — i.e. while
+ *   TGI's draw buffer is the blit target. Draw order = paint order: road fills
+ *   first, scaled obstacle/player cars after, HUD text last.
+ */
+static SCB_REHV_PAL scb = {
+  BPP_4 | TYPE_NORMAL,            /* sprctl0: 4bpp, pen 0 transparent   */
+  LITERAL | REHV,                 /* sprctl1: literal data, HV+size SCB */
+  0x20,                           /* sprcoll: NO_COLLIDE                */
+  0,                              /* next: single-SCB chain             */
+  0,                              /* data: set per draw                 */
+  0, 0,                           /* hpos, vpos                         */
+  0x0100, 0x0100,                 /* hsize, vsize (8.8)                 */
+  { 0x01, 0x23, 0x45, 0x67, 0x89, 0xAB, 0xCD, 0xEF }   /* identity pens */
+};
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — 8x8 4bpp literal sprite art ────────────────────────
+ * A nose-up car in pixel value 1 (plus value $F = white windshield glint).
+ * draw_sprite() recolours value 1 → the wanted pen via the SCB penpal, so one
+ * art block paints any colour (player = yellow, obstacles = red). Each line:
+ * 5, then 4 nybble bytes; a final 0 byte ends the sprite. */
+static unsigned char spr_car[] = {
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .  roof                     */
+  5, 0x01, 0x1F, 0xF1, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 F F 1 1 .  windshield glint         */
+  5, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11,     /* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  cabin                    */
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .                           */
+  5, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11,     /* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  body                     */
+  5, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11, 0x11,     /* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1                           */
+  5, 0x10, 0x11, 0x11, 0x01,     /* 1 . 1 1 1 1 . 1  wheels                   */
+  5, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01,     /* 1 . . . . . . 1                          */
+  0
+};
+/* A chunky trophy/cup glyph for the result pop (pixel value 1 = body). */
+static unsigned char spr_cup[] = {
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .  cup bowl                 */
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .                           */
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .                           */
+  5, 0x00, 0x11, 0x11, 0x00,     /* . . 1 1 1 1 . .  taper                    */
+  5, 0x00, 0x01, 0x10, 0x00,     /* . . . 1 1 . . .  stem                     */
+  5, 0x00, 0x01, 0x10, 0x00,     /* . . . 1 1 . . .                           */
+  5, 0x00, 0x11, 0x11, 0x00,     /* . . 1 1 1 1 . .  base                     */
+  5, 0x01, 0x11, 0x11, 0x10,     /* . 1 1 1 1 1 1 .                           */
+  0
+};
+
+/* Draw an 8x8 literal sprite CENTERED on (cx,cy) at the given 8.8 scale,
+ * recoloured so art pixel value 1 paints `pen`. Centering matters: hpos/vpos
+ * are the TOP-LEFT, so a sprite scaled around its corner would slide as it
+ * grows — anchoring the centre keeps a growing obstacle reading as "coming at
+ * you" along its lane, and the result pop as a uniform swell. */
+static void draw_sprite(unsigned char *data, int cx, int cy, uint8_t pen, unsigned scale) {
+  unsigned w = (8u * scale) >> 8;
+  if (w == 0) w = 1;
+  scb.penpal[0] = (uint8_t)((0u << 4) | pen);  /* val0=transparent, val1=pen */
+  scb.data  = data;
+  scb.hsize = scale;
+  scb.vsize = scale;
+  scb.hpos  = cx - (int)(w >> 1);
+  scb.vpos  = cy - (int)(w >> 1);
+  tgi_sprite(&scb);
+}
+
+/* ── HARDWARE IDIOM (load-bearing) — DEPTH→SCALE mapping ─────────────────────
+ * The pseudo-3D read lives here: an obstacle's 8.8 scale is a function of its
+ * screen Y. At the HORIZON it is tiny (~0.5x); as it travels down to the
+ * player it swells to ~1.5x — so a car genuinely LOOMS as it nears. The same
+ * function feeds the on-screen footprint AND the collision box (obs_px below),
+ * so the hardware size and the hitbox never disagree. Tune the 0x0080 floor /
+ * 0x0140 span to make traffic loom harder or gentler. */
+#define OBS_SCALE_MIN  0x0080u        /* 0.5x at the far horizon */
+#define OBS_SCALE_SPAN 0x0140u        /* +1.25x by the time it reaches you */
+static unsigned obs_scale(int16_t y) {
+  /* progress 0..256 as y goes HORIZON_Y..PLAYER_Y */
+  int16_t num = y - HORIZON_Y;
+  int16_t den = PLAYER_Y - HORIZON_Y;
+  unsigned prog;
+  if (num < 0) num = 0;
+  if (num > den) num = den;
+  prog = (unsigned)((long)num * 256 / den);
+  return OBS_SCALE_MIN + (OBS_SCALE_SPAN * prog) / 256u;
+}
+/* The obstacle's current on-screen pixel footprint (8 px * scale), used for
+ * the same-lane "did it reach me" overlap so collision matches what's drawn. */
+static unsigned obs_px(int16_t y) {
+  unsigned p = (8u * obs_scale(y)) >> 8;
+  return p ? p : 1;
+}
+
+/* Current result-pop scale: 1.0x at rest, swelling to ~2.0x at the peak and
+ * easing back. POP drives the SCALING idiom on the result screen. */
+#define POP_SCALE_PEAK 0x0200u          /* 2.0x */
+static unsigned pop_scale(void) {
+  if (pop_timer == 0) return 0x0100u;
+  return 0x0100u + ((unsigned)pop_timer * (POP_SCALE_PEAK - 0x0100u)) / POP_FRAMES;
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — number text (no sprintf: it drags in ~6KB) ── */
+static char numbuf[6];
+static char *fmt5(unsigned v) {
+  uint8_t i;
+  for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) { numbuf[4 - i] = (char)('0' + v % 10); v /= 10; }
+  numbuf[5] = 0;
+  return numbuf;
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — paint the road (full redraw, every frame) ──────────
+ * No hardware tilemap, so the road is bars + lines: grass fill, tarmac, solid
+ * white edges, dashed lane dividers whose phase scrolls each frame (the road
+ * "moves"), and a darker horizon band for depth. Layered tones keep any one
+ * colour comfortably under the render-health blank threshold (>=92% one colour
+ * reads as "blank"). */
+static void draw_road(void) {
   int16_t y;
+  /* grass + rumble shoulders */
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_GREEN);
+  tgi_bar(0, 0, 159, 101);
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREEN);
+  for (y = (int16_t)road_phase - 8; y < 102; y += 16) {
+    tgi_bar(0,   (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 6,   (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
+    tgi_bar(153, (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 159, (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
+  }
+  /* tarmac + a darker far band for depth */
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_GREY);
+  tgi_bar(ROAD_L, HORIZON_Y, ROAD_R, 101);
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_DARKGREY);
+  tgi_bar(ROAD_L, HORIZON_Y, ROAD_R, HORIZON_Y + 10);     /* horizon haze     */
+  tgi_bar(0, 0, 159, HORIZON_Y - 1);                       /* top HUD band     */
+  /* solid road edges */
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_WHITE);
+  tgi_line(ROAD_L, HORIZON_Y, ROAD_L, 101);
+  tgi_line(ROAD_R, HORIZON_Y, ROAD_R, 101);
+  tgi_line(0, HORIZON_Y, 159, HORIZON_Y);
+  /* dashed lane dividers between the 3 lanes, scrolling downward */
+  for (y = (int16_t)road_phase - 12; y < 102; y += 12) {
+    int16_t y0 = y < HORIZON_Y ? HORIZON_Y : y;
+    int16_t y1 = y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6;
+    if (y1 <= y0) continue;
+    tgi_bar(65, (unsigned)y0, 66, (unsigned)y1);
+    tgi_bar(93, (unsigned)y0, 94, (unsigned)y1);
+  }
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — HUD: distance + lives across the top band ── */
+static void draw_hud(void) {
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_YELLOW);
+  tgi_outtextxy(2, 2, "D");
+  tgi_outtextxy(12, 2, fmt5(dist));
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_RED);
+  tgi_outtextxy(120, 2, "CAR");
+  numbuf[0] = (char)('0' + lives); numbuf[1] = 0;
+  tgi_outtextxy(148, 2, numbuf);
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — obstacle pool ── */
+static void spawn_obstacle(void) {
+  uint8_t i;
+  for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
+    if (!obs_alive[i]) {
+      obs_alive[i] = 1;
+      obs_lane[i]  = (uint8_t)(rand8() % LANES);
+      obs_y[i]     = HORIZON_Y;
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — start a run ── */
+static void start_run(void) {
+  uint8_t i;
+  for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) obs_alive[i] = 0;
+  player_lane = 1;
+  speed = 1;
+  dist = 0; dist_frac = 0;
+  lives = START_LIVES;
+  invuln = 0;
+  spawn_timer = 0;
+  new_record = 0;
+  prev_joy = 0xFF;             /* the button that started the run shouldn't
+                               * also count as the first frame's input */
+  sfx_tone(0, 80, 8);          /* start chirp */
+  state = ST_PLAY;
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — run over: result + record bookkeeping.
+ * Persistence choice: best DISTANCE this power-on. ── */
+static void end_run(void) {
+  if (dist > best) {
+    /* ── In-session record ONLY — and here's the honest why. Real Lynx
+     * carts persist via a 93Cxx serial EEPROM on the cart PCB (cc65 even
+     * ships lynx_eeprom_read/write for it; see vendor/cc65/libsrc/lynx/
+     * eeprom.s). PROBED: the bundled handy core emulates CEEPROM internally
+     * but its libretro build exposes NO save path — retro_get_memory(
+     * SAVE_RAM) returns NULL/size 0, so nothing survives host.hardReset()
+     * and a bit-banged round-trip reads back garbage under the WASM build.
+     * Wiring the EEPROM to SAVE_RAM is a future core round; until then a
+     * fake "save" would be lying. The best DOES survive title↔play cycles
+     * within one power-on. ── */
+    best = dist;
+    new_record = 1;
+    sfx_tone(0, 60, 16);        /* record fanfare */
+  } else {
+    sfx_tone(2, 220, 18);       /* low defeat thump */
+  }
+  sfx_noise(14);                 /* crash debris */
+  pop_timer = POP_FRAMES;        /* trigger the result SCALE POP */
+  state = ST_OVER;
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — a crash ── */
+static void crash(void) {
+  sfx_noise(12);
+  invuln = 45;                   /* blink + no-collide grace */
+  speed = 1;                     /* a wreck kills your momentum */
+  if (lives > 0) --lives;
+  if (lives == 0) end_run();
+}
+
+/* ── GAME LOGIC (clay) — per-state frames. Each runs INSIDE the canonical
+ * loop below: road already painted, tgi_updatedisplay not yet called. ── */
+
+static unsigned attract_phase;
+
+static void frame_title(uint8_t joy) {
+  /* attract: a lone obstacle car in the title's clear zone "approaches" via
+   * the SCALING idiom — the same swell traffic uses in play, shown off on the
+   * menu by sweeping its scale small↔large. */
+  unsigned t = attract_phase < 64 ? attract_phase : (127 - attract_phase);
+  unsigned s = OBS_SCALE_MIN + (t * (0x0220u - OBS_SCALE_MIN)) / 63u;  /* small↔big */
+  attract_phase = (attract_phase + 2) & 127;
+  draw_sprite(spr_car, 79, 40, COLOR_RED, s);              /* approaching car */
+
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_WHITE);
+  tgi_outtextxy(8, 20, GAME_TITLE);
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_YELLOW);
+  tgi_outtextxy(48, 56, "PRESS A");
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREY);
+  tgi_outtextxy(28, 70, "BEST ");
+  tgi_outtextxy(68, 70, fmt5(best));
+  tgi_outtextxy(36, 84, "1P RACE");           /* handheld honesty             */
+
+  if (JOY_BTN_1(joy) && !JOY_BTN_1(prev_joy)) start_run();
+}
+
+static void frame_over(uint8_t joy) {
+  unsigned ps = pop_scale();
+  /* the SCALE POP: the result glyph swells then eases back to 1.0x */
+  if (new_record) draw_sprite(spr_cup, 80, 38, COLOR_YELLOW, ps);
+  else            draw_sprite(spr_car, 80, 38, COLOR_RED, ps);
+  if (pop_timer) pop_timer--;
+
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_DARKGREY);
+  tgi_bar(24, 52, 135, 98);
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_WHITE);
+  tgi_outtextxy(48, 56, "WRECKED");
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREY);
+  tgi_outtextxy(28, 68, "DIST ");
+  tgi_outtextxy(68, 68, fmt5(dist));
+  if (new_record) { tgi_setcolor(COLOR_YELLOW); tgi_outtextxy(32, 80, "NEW RECORD"); }
+  else { tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREY); tgi_outtextxy(44, 80, "A = TITLE"); }
+  tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREY);
+  tgi_outtextxy(28, 90, "BEST ");
+  tgi_outtextxy(68, 90, fmt5(best));
+
+  if (JOY_BTN_1(joy) && !JOY_BTN_1(prev_joy)) state = ST_TITLE;
+}
+
+static void frame_play(uint8_t joy) {
+  uint8_t i;
+
+  /* ── draw: obstacle cars (SCALED by depth), the player car, HUD ──
+   * Draw obstacles FAR-FIRST (smallest at the horizon) then the player on
+   * top, so a near obstacle that overlaps the player paints over it correctly.
+   * Each obstacle's hardware scale is obs_scale(y) — the pseudo-3D loom. */
+  for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
+    if (!obs_alive[i]) continue;
+    draw_sprite(spr_car, (int)lane_x[obs_lane[i]], (int)obs_y[i],
+                COLOR_RED, obs_scale(obs_y[i]));
+  }
+  if (!(invuln & 2))            /* crash blink: skip the player on odd frames */
+    draw_sprite(spr_car, (int)lane_x[player_lane], PLAYER_Y, COLOR_YELLOW, 0x0100u);
+  draw_hud();
+
+  /* ── update ── */
+  rand8();                       /* tick the noise source every play frame */
+
+  /* steer: LEFT/RIGHT hop lanes (edge-detected so a held d-pad doesn't
+   * machine-gun across the road). */
+  if ((joy & JOY_LEFT_MASK)  && !(prev_joy & JOY_LEFT_MASK)  && player_lane > 0) {
+    --player_lane; sfx_tone(0, 90, 3);
+  }
+  if ((joy & JOY_RIGHT_MASK) && !(prev_joy & JOY_RIGHT_MASK) && player_lane < LANES - 1) {
+    ++player_lane; sfx_tone(0, 90, 3);
+  }
+  /* speed: UP accelerates, DOWN brakes (edge-detected, 1..5) */
+  if ((joy & JOY_UP_MASK)   && !(prev_joy & JOY_UP_MASK)   && speed < 5) {
+    ++speed; sfx_tone(2, (uint8_t)(120 - speed * 12), 4);   /* engine rev */
+  }
+  if ((joy & JOY_DOWN_MASK) && !(prev_joy & JOY_DOWN_MASK) && speed > 1) {
+    --speed; sfx_tone(2, 180, 3);                           /* brake blip */
+  }
+
+  if (invuln > 0) --invuln;
+
+  /* distance: 1 unit per 4 scrolled "road units"; a chime every 256 units. */
+  dist_frac = (uint8_t)(dist_frac + speed);
+  if (dist_frac >= 4) {
+    dist_frac -= 4;
+    if (dist < 65535u) ++dist;
+    if (dist != 0 && (dist & 0xFF) == 0) sfx_tone(2, 110, 8);   /* checkpoint */
+  }
+
+  /* scroll the road (animate the dash + rumble phase) */
+  road_phase = (uint8_t)(road_phase + speed);
+  while (road_phase >= 12) road_phase -= 12;
+
+  /* obstacles travel from the horizon toward you at road speed; despawn past
+   * the bottom with a pass tick. A same-lane obstacle that REACHES the player
+   * (its near edge overlaps PLAYER_Y) while you share its lane is a crash. */
+  for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
+    if (!obs_alive[i]) continue;
+    obs_y[i] += speed;
+    if (obs_y[i] >= 104) {
+      obs_alive[i] = 0;
+      sfx_tone(2, 70, 2);          /* whoosh past */
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (!invuln && obs_lane[i] == player_lane) {
+      /* the obstacle's live (scaled) footprint reaches the player row */
+      unsigned half = obs_px(obs_y[i]) >> 1;
+      if (obs_y[i] + (int)half >= CRASH_Y && obs_y[i] - (int)half <= PLAYER_Y + 4) {
+        obs_alive[i] = 0;
+        crash();
+        if (state != ST_PLAY) return;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /* spawn cadence: faster speed spawns slightly more often (denser traffic
+   * the quicker you push). */
+  if (++spawn_timer >= (uint8_t)(48 - speed * 4)) {
+    spawn_timer = 0;
+    spawn_obstacle();
+  }
+}
+
+void main(void) {
+  uint8_t joy;
 
   tgi_install(&lynx_160_102_16_tgi);
   tgi_init();
   joy_install(&lynx_stdjoy_joy);
-  sfx_init();
-  for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) obs[i].alive = 0;
+  sfx_init();          /* MIKEY up; background melody starts on voice 1 */
+
+  state = ST_TITLE;
+  prev_joy = 0;
+  attract_phase = 0;
+  best = 0;
+  road_phase = 0;
 
   for (;;) {
-    /* Lynx frame loop: WAIT for the blitter, then clear with a full-screen
-     * tgi_bar (NOT tgi_clear, which leaves the back page stale on this core)
-     * — drawing while the blitter is mid-flight loses the frame → black.
-     * (Copied from the shmup scaffold, the LYNX-1 fix.) */
+    /* ── HARDWARE IDIOM (load-bearing — reshape gameplay around this; see TROUBLESHOOTING) ──
+     * CANONICAL LYNX GAME LOOP — full-redraw every frame, in this order:
+     *   1. while (tgi_busy()) { }  — WAIT for the previous frame's page flip.
+     *      Skipping this is the #1 "Lynx screen stays blank" trap: drawing
+     *      while the swap is pending loses the frame.
+     *   2. Repaint the WHOLE scene with tgi_bar/tgi_line fills — NOT
+     *      tgi_clear() (which can leave the framebuffer stale on this
+     *      toolchain+emulator path). TGI double-buffers; the back buffer holds
+     *      the frame from two flips ago, so partial redraws ghost. With no
+     *      hardware tilemap, the ROAD is repainted every frame (and the
+     *      lane-dash phase animation IS the scroll).
+     *   3. Draw every object (every TGI call and every tgi_sprite() is a
+     *      synchronous Suzy blit into the SAME draw page) — obstacles SCALED
+     *      by depth, then the player car, then HUD text.
+     *   4. tgi_updatedisplay() — request the page flip at next VBL.
+     *   5. sfx_update() IMMEDIATELY after — MIKEY voice writes must land in
+     *      vblank: handy reschedules its timer sweep on the spot when a voice
+     *      CTL bit-3 write lands, and mid-frame that sweep can preempt an
+     *      in-flight Suzy blit and eat sprites (the R57 bug — history in
+     *      lynx_sfx.c). sfx_tone()/sfx_noise() only STAGE; sfx_update() is
+     *      the hardware flush. */
     while (tgi_busy()) { }
 
-    /* ── Background scene (drawn every frame). Without it the track is a
-     * near-flat single colour and the render-health audit flags the
-     * screen as blank. A full road with grass shoulders + animated lane
-     * dashes keeps several distinct colours well under the threshold:
-     *   - green grass shoulders on both sides
-     *   - mid-grey tarmac with darker-grey lane bands
-     *   - white scrolling centre dashes + solid edge lines. */
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_GREEN);
-    tgi_bar(0, 0, tgi_getmaxx(), tgi_getmaxy());        /* grass base        */
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_GREY);
-    tgi_bar(20, 0, 148, 101);                           /* tarmac            */
-    /* darker lane bands so the road isn't one flat grey */
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_DARKGREY);
-    tgi_bar(20, 0, 53, 101);
-    tgi_bar(96, 0, 128, 101);
-    /* solid road edges */
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_WHITE);
-    tgi_line(20, 0, 20, 101);
-    tgi_line(148, 0, 148, 101);
-    /* animated dashed lane dividers (scroll downward) */
-    for (y = (int16_t)scroll - 12; y < 102; y += 12) {
-      tgi_bar(53, (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 55, (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
-      tgi_bar(96, (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 98, (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
-    }
-    /* grass rumble strips for extra colour texture */
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_LIGHTGREEN);
-    for (y = (int16_t)scroll - 8; y < 102; y += 16) {
-      tgi_bar(0,   (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 6,   (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
-      tgi_bar(153, (unsigned)(y < 0 ? 0 : y), 159, (unsigned)(y + 6 > 101 ? 101 : y + 6));
-    }
+    draw_road();
 
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_YELLOW);
-    tgi_bar((unsigned)player.x - 4, (unsigned)player.y - 4, (unsigned)player.x + 4, (unsigned)player.y + 4);
-    tgi_setcolor(COLOR_RED);
-    for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
-      if (obs[i].alive) tgi_bar((unsigned)obs[i].x - 4, (unsigned)obs[i].y - 4, (unsigned)obs[i].x + 4, (unsigned)obs[i].y + 4);
-    }
-    tgi_updatedisplay();
-    sfx_update();
+    joy = joy_read(JOY_1);
 
-    scroll += 2; if (scroll >= 12) scroll -= 12;   /* advance road dashes */
+    if      (state == ST_TITLE) frame_title(joy);
+    else if (state == ST_PLAY)  frame_play(joy);
+    else                        frame_over(joy);
 
-    if (game_over > 0) {
-      game_over--;
-      if (game_over == 0) {
-        for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) obs[i].alive = 0;
-        player_lane = 1; player.x = LANE1;
-      }
-      continue;
-    }
+    tgi_updatedisplay();
+    sfx_update();
 
-    joy = joy_read(JOY_1);
-    if (JOY_LEFT(joy)  && !(prev & 4) && player_lane > 0) { player_lane--; sfx_tone(1, 70, 2); }
-    if (JOY_RIGHT(joy) && !(prev & 8) && player_lane < 2) { player_lane++; sfx_tone(1, 70, 2); }
-    player.x = lane_x[player_lane];
-    prev = (JOY_LEFT(joy) ? 4 : 0) | (JOY_RIGHT(joy) ? 8 : 0);
-
-    for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
-      if (!obs[i].alive) continue;
-      obs[i].y += 2;
-      if (obs[i].y >= 110) obs[i].alive = 0;
-    }
-    spawn++;
-    if (spawn >= 30) {
-      spawn = 0;
-      for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
-        if (!obs[i].alive) {
-          rng = rng * 1103515245u + 12345u;
-          obs[i].x = lane_x[(rng >> 16) % 3];
-          obs[i].y = 0;
-          obs[i].alive = 1;
-          break;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    for (i = 0; i < MAX_OBS; i++) {
-      if (obs[i].alive
-          && obs[i].x > player.x - 8 && obs[i].x < player.x + 8
-          && obs[i].y > player.y - 8 && obs[i].y < player.y + 8) {
-        game_over = 60;
-        sfx_noise(30);
-        break;
-      }
-    }
+    prev_joy = joy;
   }
 }