# Compass Shift — Visual Brief v0.1

**Status:** locked for candidate reference generation; provisional for production  
**Reference model:** GPT Image 2 (`gpt-image-2`)  
**Authority:** the written GDD, UX flow, and this brief outrank generated pixels

## Visual thesis

Compass Shift is a distinctive flat navigational instrument, not an arrow-puzzle reskin. A deep
chart-blue shell surrounds a pale sea-glass board well. Signal-coral, brass, and teal arrow tiles
sit on a clean orthographic chart. A large rotating compass bezel with four cardinal tick groups is
the signature: it visibly owns the orientation of every arrow remaining on the board.

The generated image is one gameplay-direction reference. Production gameplay, UI, type, icons,
arrows, compass state, ports, and walls are code-native components driven by game state.

## Non-negotiable frame

- Portrait 9:16 composition; fixed orthographic front view; flat 2D board.
- One centered sea-glass board well uses roughly 72-78% of the safe portrait width.
- A broad circular compass bezel wraps or sits immediately behind the board well. It has four
  unequal cardinal tick groups and one clearly emphasized current bearing without letters.
- Show 10-14 separate, flat arrow tiles on a single grid. Arrowheads are large, geometric, and
  readable at thumbnail size.
- Show exactly one arrow in the act of releasing through one edge aperture. The remaining arrows
  stay on the board; a restrained quarter-turn motion cue belongs to the shared bezel, not to a
  freely rotating board.
- Include at least one matte static wall, one shutter-like phase window, and one patterned edge port.
  They remain secondary to the arrows and compass.
- Keep peripheral controls minimal and icon-only. Do not bake any words, numerals, labels, logos,
  counters, or other UI text into the reference.

## Palette roles

| Role | Token | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Deep chart field | `#071E2F` | outer portrait background |
| Chart-blue shell | `#0E3550` | instrument body and compass housing |
| Pale sea glass | `#CFE3D9` | board well and quiet open space |
| Ink bearing | `#173849` | arrowheads, wall edges, compass marks |
| Signal coral | `#EF6B5B` | primary arrow-tile family and active release |
| Warm brass | `#C8A45D` | second arrow family, bezel index, phase accents |
| Bearing teal | `#2B9B91` | third arrow family and valid/open feedback |
| Warm sail | `#F5F0E5` | high-contrast icons and rim highlights |
| Blocked berry | `#A84656` | invalid feedback only |

Arrow tile color is decorative grouping only. Direction, legality, exit compatibility, and puzzle
rules never depend on tile color.

## Shape and material language

- Arrow tiles: thin rounded lozenges or compact map-marker plates with one cut-in triangular head;
  never cubes, toy blocks, beveled 3D bricks, or characters.
- Compass: one broad low-profile ring, four cardinal tick clusters, brass index notch, restrained
  radial engraving. No photoreal nautical prop and no readable letters.
- Board well: soft-cornered rectangular chart inset with a sparse orthogonal cell rhythm.
- Static walls: solid ink-blue chart bars with blunt ends.
- Phase windows: sea-glass/brass edge shutters with one cardinal tick cluster.
- Patterned ports: edge apertures with simple dot/dash or alternating radial marks; patterns are
  spatial symbols, never tiny text.
- Materials: opaque matte enamel, printed chart ink, shallow contact shadows. Depth only separates
  layers; it never implies a rotatable 3D camera.

## Hierarchy and UI direction

1. Current effective arrow directions.
2. Shared compass phase and its quarter-turn consequence.
3. Clear rays, blockers, and eligible edge apertures.
4. Undo/restart/help/navigation controls outside the board.

Use a geometric humanist sans for production UI, sentence case, and tabular numerals. All text is
live code-native text. Touch targets are at least 44 x 44 CSS pixels and respect safe areas.

## Motion and VFX

- Successful release: a 160-240 ms straight slide along the resolved ray, then removal.
- Shared turn: immediately after removal, the bezel makes one crisp 90-degree turn over 180-260 ms;
  every remaining arrowhead reorients in the same interval.
- Blocked tap: 120 ms inward nudge and berry outline; no removal, compass movement, shake storm, or
  punitive overlay.
- Completion: one quiet teal bearing sweep around the bezel and a soft board-settle pulse.
- Reduced motion: instant state swap with a short opacity/outline change under 100 ms.

## Accessibility

- Every arrow has a large silhouette and explicit head; color never communicates direction.
- Phase windows and patterned ports use different outlines and tick patterns in addition to color.
- Legal/open feedback uses shape and line weight; blocked feedback uses an outline plus motion.
- Maintain WCAG-aware contrast for live UI. High-contrast mode removes decorative chart lines.
- Audio and haptics reinforce but never replace direction, blocking, phase, or success information.

## Do / do not

Do show one coherent playable board, one shared compass, a single successful release, honest flat
topology, generous negative space, and the exact coral/brass/teal chart language.

Do not show generic cyberpunk or neon, 3D cubes, isometric blocks, a freely rotating whole board,
picture reveal, coins, stars, reward chests, lives, timers, characters, maps with scenic islands,
photoreal brass, ocean scenery, boats, treasure, baked UI text, fake store badges, or a collage/
presentation sheet.

## Reference asset

Generate exactly one reference from `image-prompts/gameplay-master.txt` to
`art-bible/gameplay-master.png`. It is the candidate gameplay master only; it is not a production
sprite sheet or store screenshot.