From 168e57ab91386342594594febbe85fd279d2c244 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eric Wagoner Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:35:12 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] The thief-chase serves the blow, not the nearness MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit An automaton beside the wizard carrying its gold shuttled on and off their square until every move was spent — the chase goal flipped between "the thief's cell" and "the gold" with each step, because it keyed on whether the thief stood underfoot. The chase now claims the march only while the blow it exists to deliver is still live (an attack in hand, the turn's attack unspent, casting open): those gates hold still as the clockwork walks, so the goal cannot flip mid-march. Caught with the strike live, it stands its ground; otherwise the gold has its legs for the turn. A regression walks the exact scene and forbids the A-B-A shuttle. The bot-vs-bot harness also learns to route WARD's pending moment to the treasure's owner. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015RCWSTnb1KYTPyL4GmhGnF --- packages/engine/src/automaton.ts | 20 ++++++++----- packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/packages/engine/src/automaton.ts b/packages/engine/src/automaton.ts index 5dc5de8..72264d4 100644 --- a/packages/engine/src/automaton.ts +++ b/packages/engine/src/automaton.ts @@ -1374,19 +1374,25 @@ export function automatonCommand( const ownGoldCells = new Set(view.treasures .filter((t) => t.owner === view.you && t.position && !t.carriedBy) .map((t) => cellKey(t.position!))); - // A thief already underfoot is not a destination — with the chase - // moot, march on the real goals (deliver, grab) instead of standing - // on them forever. - const thiefAfar = thief && cellKey(thief.position) !== here ? thief : null; + // The chase exists to deliver a blow, so it claims the march only + // while that blow is still live: an attack in hand, this turn's + // attack unspent, casting not yet closed. Those gates hold still as + // the clockwork walks — a goal keyed to the thief's nearness flips + // underfoot and shuttles the walker on and off their square. Caught + // with the strike still live, it stands its ground (a goal underfoot + // ends the march); otherwise the gold has its legs for the turn. + const strikeLive = !view.turn.attackUsed && !view.turn.attackForbidden && + !view.turn.actionsEnded && view.yourHand.some((c) => ATTACKS[c.cardId] != null); + const chasing = thief !== null && strikeLive; const objectives = cursedIdiot && ownGoldCells.size > 0 ? ownGoldCells - : thiefAfar - ? new Set([cellKey(thiefAfar.position)]) + : chasing + ? new Set([cellKey(thief.position)]) : style === "berserker" && !self.carriedTreasureId ? (enemyCells.size > 0 ? enemyCells : gold) : gold; const path = - pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { avoidNearEnemies: style === "worrier" && !thiefAfar, canUnlock }) ?? + pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { avoidNearEnemies: style === "worrier" && !chasing, canUnlock }) ?? pathToward(view, self.position, objectives, { canUnlock }) ?? pathToward(view, self.position, enemyCells, { canUnlock }) ?? // No clean road to anything: grit the teeth and wade the hazards, diff --git a/packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts b/packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts index 938381b..2448449 100644 --- a/packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts +++ b/packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts @@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { pushSustained } from "./helpers"; /** Whose input does the maze want right now? */ function actingSeat(state: GameState): PlayerId { return ( + state.wardPending?.ownerId ?? state.stack?.waitingOn ?? state.pendingDiscard ?? state.chaosPending?.queue[0] ?? @@ -735,3 +736,42 @@ describe("the clockwork flees the dread", () => { } }); }); + +describe("the thief-chase holds one goal per turn", () => { + it("a clockwork beside its thief never shuttles on and off their square", () => { + let { state } = createGame({ playerIds: ["thief", "bot"], seed: 42, sets: ["basic", "expansion1"] }); + // Round 2, thief's turn burned; the bot acts with a full allowance. + while (state.turn.round < 2 || state.players[state.turn.activeIndex]!.id !== "bot") { + const r = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 }); + if (!r.ok) throw new Error(r.error); + state = r.state; + } + const thief = state.players.find((p) => p.id === "thief")!; + const bot = state.players.find((p) => p.id === "bot")!; + // The thief carries the bot's gold and stands one step away. + const mine = state.treasures.find((t) => t.owner === "bot")!; + mine.carriedBy = "thief"; + mine.position = null; + thief.position = { x: 2, y: 4 }; + bot.position = { x: 2, y: 5 }; + state.edgeOverrides[edgeKey({ x: 2, y: 4 }, "S")] = "open"; + // A number card and no attacks: the blow the chase serves cannot land. + bot.hand = []; + bot.hand.push({ cardId: "number-2", instanceId: "N2" } as never); + const visited = [cellKey(bot.position)]; + for (let guard = 0; guard < 40; guard++) { + const view = viewFor(state, "bot"); + const cmd = automatonCommand(view, "hunter", "archmage") ?? automatonFallback(view, "archmage"); + if (cmd.type === "endTurn") break; + const r = applyCommand(state, "bot", cmd); + if (!r.ok) break; + state = r.state; + const at = cellKey(state.players.find((p) => p.id === "bot")!.position); + if (cmd.type === "move" && at !== visited[visited.length - 1]) visited.push(at); + } + // No step may return to the square just departed: A-B-A is the shuttle. + for (let i = 2; i < visited.length; i++) { + expect(visited[i]).not.toBe(visited[i - 2]); + } + }); +});