Aim the laser by depth, and ease the aim view

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_019AJMdB7iuHuLFZM1aBu3GD

controllers/AimedFleetAbilityController.gd

@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ const COMBAT_TARGET = preload("res://core/CombatTarget.gd")
 # shot effect, and effect visuals.
 
 const AIM_DEADZONE: float = 22.0
+# The aim view eases to its framing instead of cutting to it, in both
+# directions. A hard jump loses where everything just went - the more so now
+# that aiming can travel a long way - and the eye cannot follow a cut it did
+# not make. Fast, though: this happens under a thumb that is already aiming,
+# so it settles in about a quarter of a second rather than gliding.
+const ZOOM_EASE_SPEED: float = 12.0
+# A floor under that rate, as a multiple of the zoom being approached. A purely
+# proportional ease slows as it closes and never actually arrives, which would
+# leave "has the camera restored" false forever and let the next aim record a
+# resting zoom that is still moving.
+const ZOOM_MIN_RATE: float = 4.0
 
 @export var minimum_zoom: float = 0.4
 @onready var fleet: Node2D = get_node("../Fleet")
@@ -22,6 +33,9 @@ var aim_start_screen: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
 var aim_screen: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
 var aim_target: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
 var saved_zoom: float = 1.0
+# What the aim wants to be framed at. Written by _update_aim_zoom(); the
+# camera walks toward it in _process() rather than being assigned it.
+var desired_zoom: float = 1.0
 var restoring_zoom: bool = false
 
 
@@ -45,11 +59,11 @@ func _process(delta: float) -> void:
 	if status.text != "" and Time.get_ticks_msec() >= status_message_until:
 		status.text = ""
 
-	if restoring_zoom and not aiming:
-		var zoom: float = move_toward(camera.zoom.x, saved_zoom,
-			maxf(saved_zoom, 0.1) * delta * 5.0)
-		camera.zoom = Vector2(zoom, zoom)
-		if is_equal_approx(zoom, saved_zoom):
+	if aiming:
+		_ease_zoom(desired_zoom, delta)
+	elif restoring_zoom:
+		_ease_zoom(saved_zoom, delta)
+		if is_equal_approx(camera.zoom.x, saved_zoom):
 			restoring_zoom = false
 
 	_advance_effects(delta)
@@ -77,6 +91,7 @@ func fire_at(world_target: Vector2) -> bool:
 	# Recorded before firing because _fire() ends by restoring it, and a stale
 	# value from an earlier aim would snap the camera somewhere unrelated.
 	saved_zoom = camera.zoom.x
+	desired_zoom = saved_zoom
 	restoring_zoom = false
 	aim_target = world_target
 	_fire()
@@ -96,6 +111,7 @@ func handle_touch(event: InputEventScreenTouch) -> bool:
 		aim_start_screen = event.position
 		aim_screen = event.position
 		saved_zoom = camera.zoom.x
+		desired_zoom = saved_zoom
 		restoring_zoom = false
 		button.pressed_down = true
 		button.queue_redraw()
@@ -165,9 +181,18 @@ func _update_aim_zoom(origin: Vector2, target: Vector2) -> void:
 		else half_screen.x / (absf(displacement.x) + padding)
 	var fit_y: float = saved_zoom if absf(displacement.y) < 1.0 \
 		else half_screen.y / (absf(displacement.y) + padding)
-	var desired: float = clampf(minf(saved_zoom, minf(fit_x, fit_y)),
+	desired_zoom = clampf(minf(saved_zoom, minf(fit_x, fit_y)),
 		minimum_zoom, saved_zoom)
-	camera.zoom = Vector2(desired, desired)
+
+
+# Proportional rather than a fixed step per second, so the same easing reads
+# the same whether the camera is crossing from 2.5 to 0.15 or barely moving,
+# with the floor above closing the last of it exactly.
+func _ease_zoom(target: float, delta: float) -> void:
+	var step: float = maxf(absf(target - camera.zoom.x) * ZOOM_EASE_SPEED,
+		maxf(target, 0.1) * ZOOM_MIN_RATE) * delta
+	var zoom: float = move_toward(camera.zoom.x, target, step)
+	camera.zoom = Vector2(zoom, zoom)
 
 
 func _finish_aim() -> void:

controllers/LaserController.gd

@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ const TARGET_COLOR := Color(0.6, 0.95, 1.0)
 # #203's range mark and the assist's target ring, in screen pixels.
 const END_TICK_PIXELS: float = 17.0
 const TARGET_RING_PIXELS: float = 15.0
+# How far the thumb travels to walk the aim point out to the beam's full
+# reach. The same idiom the gas bomb uses for its throw distance.
+const DRAG_RADIUS: float = 260.0
+# The aim view frames twice the distance to the chosen target, so there is as
+# much space beyond it as in front of it. Framing the target itself would put
+# it on the edge of the screen, which is the half that matters when the point
+# of dragging further is to reach past what is already close.
+const FRAMING_FACTOR: float = 2.0
 const BEAM_HALF_WIDTH := BEAM_EFFECT.BEAM_HALF_WIDTH
 const FLASH_DURATION := BEAM_EFFECT.FLASH_DURATION
 const ENERGY_PER_SHOT: int = VesselLaserComponent.ENERGY_PER_SHOT
@@ -55,9 +63,15 @@ func _aim_max_range() -> float:
 
 
 func _calculate_aim_target(drag: Vector2, origin: Vector2) -> Vector2:
-	# A beam always reaches full range; dragging chooses its direction only.
+	# The shot always reaches full range; the drag chooses a direction AND a
+	# depth along it. Depth is what lets the helper reach a target standing
+	# behind a nearer one: the assist looks for something near the point the
+	# thumb actually named, and only falls back to the nearest thing in the
+	# cone when the player has named no place in particular.
 	var direction: Vector2 = drag.normalized() if drag.length() > 0.001 else Vector2.UP
-	return _assisted_target(origin, origin + direction * _aim_max_range())
+	var reach: float = _aim_max_range()
+	var depth: float = minf(drag.length() / DRAG_RADIUS, 1.0) * reach
+	return _assisted_target(origin, origin + direction * maxf(depth, 1.0))
 
 
 # The mouse path (#80) names a world point directly instead of dragging one
@@ -117,14 +131,13 @@ func beam_tip(beam: Node2D) -> Vector2:
 	return beam.tip()
 
 
-# #203: the aim view frames the beam's WHOLE reach, not the point the aim
-# happens to sit on. The assist can settle that point on an enemy a few
-# hundred units away (#201), and fitting the camera to it would say the shot
-# stops there. Fitting the far end instead is also what makes the range
-# visible at all: the beam is 2900 units long and the inherited floor on the
-# zoom - sized for the gas bomb's 950 - left three quarters of it off screen.
+# #203: framed around the chosen target rather than around the fleet. The
+# inherited floor on the zoom was sized for the gas bomb's 950 units and left
+# most of a 2900-unit aim off screen; the laser's own floor lets this fit.
+# Twice the target's distance, so what lies beyond it is on screen too - that
+# is the half the player is reaching into when they drag further out.
 func _update_aim_zoom(origin: Vector2, target: Vector2) -> void:
-	super(origin, origin + _aim_heading(origin, target) * _aim_max_range())
+	super(origin, origin + (target - origin) * FRAMING_FACTOR)
 
 
 func _aim_heading(origin: Vector2, target: Vector2) -> Vector2:

tests/_laser_aim_preview.gd

@@ -46,12 +46,26 @@ func _ready() -> void:
 	press.position = button.global_position + button.size * 0.5
 	press.pressed = true
 	skill.handle_touch(press)
-	var drag := InputEventScreenDrag.new()
-	drag.index = 9
-	drag.position = press.position + Vector2(-245.0, -235.0)
-	skill.handle_drag(drag)
-	for t in [0.35, 0.6]:
+	# Enemies BEFORE the drag, so the aim helper actually sees them. A nearer
+	# one on the heading and a further one just off it: the state this preview
+	# exists to show is the drag reaching past the first to name the second.
+	var heading: Vector2 = Vector2(-245.0, -235.0).normalized()
+	var reach: float = skill._aim_max_range()
+	var origin: Vector2 = fleet.get_centroid()
+	var far_offset: Vector2 = heading.rotated(deg_to_rad(8.0)) * 1900.0
+	for offset in [heading * 900.0, far_offset]:
 		var enemy: Node = load("res://enemies/Enemy.tscn").instantiate()
-		enemy.position = fleet.get_centroid().lerp(skill.aim_target, t)
+		enemy.position = origin + offset
 		main.add_child(enemy)
 		enemy.speed = 0.0   # after add_child - _ready() sets it from the definition
+
+	var drag := InputEventScreenDrag.new()
+	drag.index = 9
+	# Dragged out to the further enemy's depth rather than to the beam's end.
+	drag.position = press.position + far_offset.normalized() \
+		* (1900.0 / reach * LaserController.DRAG_RADIUS)
+	skill.handle_drag(drag)
+	# The zoom eases now, so a preview that captures the first frame would
+	# catch it mid-move. Settle it before the screenshot is taken.
+	for _step in range(40):
+		skill._process(0.05)

tests/test_gas_bomber.gd

@@ -120,6 +120,12 @@ func _process(delta: float) -> bool:
 			drag.index = 7
 			drag.position = Vector2(350, 700)
 			main._handle_drag(drag)
+			# The aim view eases to its framing now instead of cutting to it,
+			# so the drag alone has not moved the camera yet.
+			if not is_equal_approx(main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x, original_zoom):
+				return _fail_now("the aim zoom jumped instead of easing")
+			for _step in range(40):
+				skill._process(0.05)
 			if main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x >= original_zoom:
 				return _fail_now("long aim did not zoom out")
 

tests/test_laser_vessel.gd

@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ var skill: Node
 # in a test script has been observed to corrupt method resolution for the
 # WHOLE script. See tests/test_gas_bomber_cooldowns.gd's identical fix (#60).
 const BEAM_HALF_WIDTH: float = 38.0
+# Mirrored for the same reason, and it bites exactly as documented: a bare
+# DRAG_RADIUS here made every method call in this script
+# resolve against a plain Node2D.
+const DRAG_RADIUS: float = 260.0
 var on_line_enemies: Array = []
 var off_line_enemy: Node
 var beyond_range_enemy: Node
@@ -120,20 +124,28 @@ func _process(delta: float) -> bool:
 			drag.index = 7
 			drag.position = press.position + Vector2(300.0, 0.0)
 			main._handle_drag(drag)
+			# The aim view eases to its framing rather than cutting to it, so
+			# the drag alone has not moved the camera yet.
+			if not is_equal_approx(main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x, original_zoom):
+				return _fail_now("the aim zoom jumped instead of easing")
+			for _step in range(40):
+				skill._process(0.05)
 			if main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x >= original_zoom:
 				return _fail_now("aiming did not zoom out")
-			print("aiming zoomed the camera out")
+			print("aiming eased the camera out instead of cutting to it")
 
-			# #203: far enough out to show the WHOLE beam. The drag above is
-			# horizontal, so the screen's narrow half is the binding one.
+			# #203: framed to twice the distance of the chosen target, so what
+			# stands behind it is on screen too. The drag above is horizontal,
+			# so the screen's narrow half is the binding one.
 			var half_screen: Vector2 = skill.get_viewport_rect().size * 0.5 \
 				- Vector2(54.0, 54.0)
-			var framed: float = (2900.0 + BEAM_HALF_WIDTH) \
+			var aimed_distance: float = skill._aim_origin().distance_to(skill.aim_target)
+			var framed: float = (aimed_distance * 2.0 + BEAM_HALF_WIDTH) \
 				* main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x
 			if framed > half_screen.x + 1.0:
-				return _fail_now("aiming framed %.0fpx of beam on %.0fpx of screen" \
+				return _fail_now("framed %.0fpx of aim on %.0fpx of screen" \
 					% [framed, half_screen.x])
-			print("aiming framed the beam's full range")
+			print("aiming framed twice the distance to the target")
 
 			# --- B. targets: two on the line, one off it, one past range ---
 			for offset in [Vector2(200.0, 0.0), Vector2(500.0, 0.0)]:
@@ -251,6 +263,31 @@ func _process(delta: float) -> bool:
 				return _fail_now("the aim bent toward an enemy outside the assist cone")
 			print("an enemy outside the cone left the aim where it was pointed")
 
+			# --- F. the drag names a DEPTH, so the aim can reach past a
+			# nearer target instead of always settling on the closest one.
+			var near_enemy: Node = load("res://enemies/Enemy.tscn").instantiate()
+			near_enemy.position = origin + Vector2(700.0, 0.0)
+			main.add_child(near_enemy)
+			near_enemy.speed = 0.0
+			# Further out and off to one side, but still inside the assist
+			# cone: without depth this one is unreachable, because the nearer
+			# enemy wins the cone every time.
+			var far_enemy: Node = load("res://enemies/Enemy.tscn").instantiate()
+			far_enemy.position = origin + Vector2(2000.0, 0.0).rotated(deg_to_rad(10.0))
+			main.add_child(far_enemy)
+			far_enemy.speed = 0.0
+
+			var near_drag := Vector2(700.0 / 2900.0 * DRAG_RADIUS, 0.0)
+			var near_pick: Vector2 = skill._calculate_aim_target(near_drag, origin)
+			if near_pick.distance_to(near_enemy.global_position) > 1.0:
+				return _fail_now("a short drag did not settle on the nearer enemy")
+			var far_drag := Vector2(2000.0 / 2900.0 * DRAG_RADIUS, 0.0) \
+				.rotated(deg_to_rad(10.0))
+			var far_pick: Vector2 = skill._calculate_aim_target(far_drag, origin)
+			if far_pick.distance_to(far_enemy.global_position) > 1.0:
+				return _fail_now("dragging further did not reach past the nearer enemy")
+			print("drag depth selects between a near and a far target in the same cone")
+
 			print("TEST_LASER_VESSEL: PASS")
 			quit(0)
 			return true