Army controls and HUD quality rework

Status: implemented and runtime-tested local review candidate, 2026-10-25. The previous presentation was rejected by the owner. The current revision awaits owner visual review; compilation and earlier TODO receipts are not owner acceptance.

The product is a Blueprint-first CommonUI framework. The examples must behave like recognizable games. Army simulation, combat, save data and orders remain in ForgeExamples; reusable presentation, entries, input routing, settings and styling remain public InterfaceForge features. Inventory is excluded. Game Master's design remains exclusive. Sakura's independently reproduced center-origin cooldown mask is preserved.

Rejected baseline and target

• At audit, Ironfront started with eight friendlies and five enemies, uses immediate click picking, a global attack flag and fixed, uncentered move offsets. It lacks marquee selection, groups, context attack, queued orders, portrait selection and separation. This is an encounter, not an army-control example.
• At audit, Emberfall basic attack performed one swing. It has no persistent attack/chase intention; animation recovery rejects other attacks. Reproduce the user's failure before claiming the cause is resolved.
• The rejected HUD used oversized individual surfaces, large empty regions, repeated portraits/nameplates and mixed anchor spacing. Selection is represented by brackets in changing text. This creates clutter and instability.
• Age of Empires official controls: direct and box selection, same-type double click, additive selection, contextual right-click, formations, selected portraits/health and minimap. These are behavioral references, not assets to copy.
• Blizzard HUD redesign: visual hierarchy, useful central visibility, compact action controls and editable layouts. Original artwork and layout treatment required.
• Epic CommonUI guidelines: activatable screens for routing ownership, passive HUD components for presentation. Keep CommonUI for menus, settings, dialogs and cross-device focus; do not turn world selection into modal widget navigation.

Focused matrix

Area	Retain	Redesign / deliver	Cost and proof
CommonUI and settings	screen layers, draft/apply/cancel, remapping, device service	regression check against army and combat controls	medium; popup, pause, input ownership and scale checks
RTS controls	example-only adapter, generic map/data contracts	army-sized encounter, marquee/Shift/double-click selection, control groups, centered formations, contextual move/attack, attack-move, stop/hold, queued moves, unit roster and production	high; native interaction and deterministic order/contact tests
MMO combat	owned knight animations, contact markers, center tint	continuing basic attack, chase/stop, clear target/range/recovery feedback, movement interruption, compact action/party/target hierarchy	high; repeated attacks, moving victim, interruption, target death and pause
Public authoring	Designer widgets, region profiles, observable entries	reusable collection binding, recycled-entry command context, passive projected selection visual	medium; custom BP entry, data replacement/cleanup and absent game dependencies
Presentation	original palettes and owned art	disciplined 4/8 spacing, stable numeric fields, consistent type/borders, selected/damaged-only nameplates, compact command deck and unobstructed world	high; actual runtime visual reviews at 720p/1080p/ultrawide and enlarged UI
World	owned MassForge knight/castle kit	deliberate play lanes and army staging; readable selection/order feedback	medium; no overlap/obstacle walkthrough failures in demonstrated paths

Milestones and acceptance

1. Army interaction and combat reliability. Select a subset with a box, add/remove units, save/recall a group, move it in formation, issue contextual attack and stop/hold without affecting another group. MMO attacks continue with valid intent, recover after movement/pause and stop at death. Real runtime inspection required.
2. Saved Blueprint UI composition. RTS roster, command deck, queue, resources and minimap reflect actual selection/orders. MMO action bar, party/target/status/objectives and menus form a coherent interface. Every essential UI behavior uses public plugin features; genre rules remain adapters. A developer can change entry class/theme/layout in Blueprint.
3. Visual and interaction review. Inspect menus, both HUDs, dialogs, tooltips, cooldown, transitions and input switching in Unreal. Correct clipping, alignment, dead space, scale and conflicting focus. No instructional showcase text in playable HUDs.
4. Regression and delivery. Editor build, Blueprint compile, independent core loading, representative packaged interaction, bounded performance capture, documentation with current engine images. Record unverified hardware/platforms explicitly.

Physical controller testing remains deferred by the user; implement and software-test switching without claiming physical-device verification. No multiplayer simulation or network-ready army claims. No complete RTS economy or MMO gameplay backend. No new project copies or engine stashes.

Verification record

Rework receipts belong in the existing Workspace/Rebuild583/ArmyHUD lane. Older Todo receipts describe the prior revision. Record failures and observed runtime behavior as well as passes. Do not mark this rework complete from code presence, compilation or screenshots alone.

Delivered revision

Ironfront now starts24 friendly/18 hostile units, with native selection/move/groups and a compact collection-backed roster/command dock. Emberfall now has persistent attack/chase/contact, cast priority/interruption, party inspection and a tracked journal. Public collection/context/fraction/selection/map/input/layout features serve both saved Blueprint HUDs. Core contains no army or combat rules.

All four implementation milestones have scoped evidence in current verification:76 Blueprint compiles, independent core builds/load, native editor/package input, settled CommonUI focus, map/entry lifecycle, real navmesh movement, settings/remapping, three viewport sizes, enlarged text and bounded profiling. Current source archives and the reused playable package are the review deliverables. Owner art-direction approval and deferred physical-controller/touch tests are not implied.