Technical diary

D051 evolvedadoptedVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

World + Tree title/label UX: 'GAAD - Generation' panels, unified grey text, side-by-side tree stages

A UX pass across the World and the Tree. WORLD title panel: title now reads 'GAAD - Generation'; the version line shows the FULL generating filename with extension (e.g. gaad_generator_v0_21.py) so a screenshot is fully traceable; the 'Generation NN' line is quietened; 3D title text sits ON the panel surface and extrudes UP only (no longer punching below); the green accent bar is removed; all panel/wordmark text is unified to Rebirth grey #8A9299. STAGES: the gold champion selection halo is widened to roughly twice its width. Variant ID labels (e.g. G023_S009) are made legible. TREE: each generation node shows the stage, a gutter, then a side-by-side copy of the same stage; tree labels are enlarged/bolded for visibility; a concise 'what changed on stage' line accompanies the side-by-side copy; and a title panel is added at the foot of the last stage in the tree, styled like the World panel, reading 'GAAD - Generation Tree'. [0.22a refinement: title 3D text properly seated on the panel (extrude up only) and its height halved; the panel filename line now shows the saved .BLEND file name (bpy.data.filepath), not the script; the gold champion EDGE RIM is removed - the gold stage FILL alone marks the champion (cleaner). In the Tree, the right-hand side-by-side stage COPY is replaced by a clean LOZENGE card carrying the variant id (bold) + the 'what changed' line - no duplicated geometry; the 'GAAD - Generation Tree' title panel is moved clear of the last stage.] [v0_5b backtrack: the side-by-side stage copy / lozenge card was tried and REMOVED - it added clutter and text-heavy info doesn't belong in 3D geometry beside a stage; per-stage change data belongs in the report or a future graph renderer (P031), not the tree. The tree returns to a clean stacked column of stages + variant-id labels, keeping the 'GAAD - Generation Tree' foot panel. Also fixed: the tree now sets the 3D cursor + view pivot to the centre of the lineage so it orbits from the middle, not Gen 1 (pair with Blender's 'Orbit Around Selection').]

D052 newopenVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

Tree side-by-side copy carries a full per-stage metric change panel (deferred feature)

OPEN. The side-by-side stage copy in the Tree (D051) will carry a full 'what changed on stage' metric panel - floor area, volume, max height, shape-mix deltas and object intersections vs the previous generation - not just the concise line shipped in D051. Deferred because it should read the same diff maths the Evolution Summary Report uses; building it now would create a third copy of that logic. To be implemented once the shared geometry/diff module exists, so report and tree compute the diff from one place.

D053 newadoptedConventionDecision24 Jun 2026

Project folder structure + version convention: only the .blend in root, capitalised subfolders, bundle versioning

Standardise the project layout: ONLY the .blend (and VERSION.txt) live in the root; everything else sits in capitalised subfolders - Scripts/, Records/, Generations/, Reports/, Records_Tree/. Bundles are delivered as a zip whose name carries the version + short tag (e.g. 'GAAD Development 0_23.zip'), unzipping to a matching folder ready to copy into a new dev folder. Versioning: tool files keep INDEPENDENT versions (Option A) - generator v0_22a, tree v0_5a, report v0_4, add-on v0_7 - while the BUNDLE/folder carries the headline version (0_23) and a VERSION.txt declares the set. The standalone 'V' prefix is dropped (0_23, not V0_23); '0.' signals pre-1.0 development. Patch revisions (e.g. v0_22a) are dropped into the current bundle folder manually and do NOT trigger a new zip; zips are for minor versions. Tool versions will UNIFY at the 1.0 release. Capitalised folder names are kept for now (zero script changes, since the scripts already search Records/, Reports/, Generations/); a future 1.0 reset may switch all to lowercase. ENABLER: add-on v0.7 now auto-detects scripts in a Scripts/ subfolder (then the .blend root, back-compat), so 'only the .blend in root' works without configuring the Scripts-folder field.

D054 newadoptedRecordsDecision24 Jun 2026

Split bundle docs into readme.txt (setup) + release.txt (auto-generated notes & version history); add Release Notes button

Two text docs ship in the bundle root: README.txt (stable - how to install/run, folder map) and release.txt (what's new + version history). release.txt is AUTO-GENERATED from a new gaad_releases.json by generate_release_notes.py, rendered newest-first so the top is the current release and the entries below are the version history - one file serving both needs. The add-on (v0.8) gains a 'Release Notes' button that opens release.txt (one-click, like the Records buttons). gaad_releases.json becomes the single source for release info, ready to feed richer in-panel version history later (P031 render-ecosystem).

D055 newadoptedPhilosophyDecision24 Jun 2026

Adopt the GAAD brand identity - 'The Design Memory Platform' (canonical)

Adopt the GAAD Brand Guidelines (gaad_brand.md) as canonical, folded in from the original chat (renumbered from its D037 to avoid an ID clash - this chat's D037 is the terminology file). Positioning: GAAD is 'The Design Memory Platform' - a system for recording, replaying, understanding and learning from the complete design journey; NOT a CAD/BIM/generative/AI tool. Tagline: 'Where design history becomes design intelligence.' Continuum: Design History -> Design Memory -> Design Intelligence. Logo: GAAD wordmark with both A's as gold delta peaks (no crossbar), gold underline + node, subtitle 'DESIGN MEMORY PLATFORM'. Core palette: Midnight Black #070B12, GAAD Gold #D9A441, Pure White #F5F7FA. Timeline palette (Idea->Exploration->Evolution->Decision->Outcome): Gold #D9A441, Cyan #23D5D5, Blue #66B8FF, Purple #A06CFF, Violet #C67DFF. Neutral/UI: panel #101722, border #263241, muted #8B98A8, light #D7DEE7, slate #1A2330. Supersedes the earlier GREEN identity entirely (logo/banner/portraits now stale). NOTE: the brand's object-colour direction (neutral objects) conflicts with this chat's adopted D041 'Rebirth Colours' and is logged separately as OPEN (D057) for an explicit ruling, not auto-applied.

D056 evolvedadoptedVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

Selected/champion stage = GAAD Gold #D9A441 (brand alignment; already satisfied by D042)

Per the brand, the selected/champion stage is GAAD Gold - gold = human judgement, choice, Design Memory, the selected path. This ALIGNS with work already done in this chat: D042 already made the champion a whole GOLD stage (superseding the green frame D028). The only change is to standardise the exact hex to brand GAAD Gold #D9A441 (this chat used #F2B705). Renumbered from the original chat's D038 (this chat's D038 is the open scoring model).

D057 newopenVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

Brand proposes neutral 'Light Concrete' objects on Dark Slate stages (CONFLICTS with D041 - OPEN)

OPEN - needs an explicit ruling. The brand (D055) proposes stripping colour from variant objects: a single neutral Light Concrete #C7CED6 (architectural massing-model feel) on Dark Slate stages #1A2330 (border #2E3B4F, label #D7DEE7), so the eye reads form/scale/mass/proportion/evolution rather than decoration ('the object is not the hero, the decision is the hero'). This DIRECTLY CONFLICTS with this chat's adopted D041 'Rebirth Colours' (coloured shapes: aqua/coral/green/grey/purple). Renumbered from the original chat's D039 (this chat's D039 is the open title panel). Left OPEN rather than auto-superseding D041, because it is a genuine design fork the human should decide: brand-neutral objects vs Rebirth-Colours objects.

D058 newadoptedRecordsDecision24 Jun 2026

HTML record pages redesigned as a modern, mobile-first card feed on a timeline spine

Replace the table-based record pages with a modern app-like CARD FEED: each record is a card hung off a vertical gold timeline spine (newest first), with Fraunces (display) + Inter (body) type, brand colours (Midnight/Gold + timeline palette), category/status/priority/origin/source as coloured pills, and dense detail tucked into a tap-to-open 'details' expander. Mobile-first (cards from the smallest screen up - no tables to collapse), so it reads cleanly on a phone. Shared helper gaad_html_modern.py drives all five pages (decisions, PMs, tickets, quotes, terminology). Supersedes the earlier stacked-label responsive table format (D050/brand re-skin), which read as dated on mobile.

D059 newadoptedInteractionDecision24 Jun 2026

'Back to Generation' button: return from the Tree to the World, centred and framed

Add a 'Back to Generation' button to the add-on (v0.9), the counterpart to 'Evolution Tree'. It switches from the GAAD Tree scene back to the generator World, then centres the 3D cursor + view pivot on the middle of the stage grid and frames the view (view_all). This fixes the issue where returning from the Tree left the World tiny and off-centre with the pivot stuck at the world origin. Deliberately scoped: re-centring happens ONLY on this explicit return, NOT on every Next Generation - so the user's chosen view is preserved during normal breeding, and only restored when coming back from the Tree.

D060 newadoptedVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

On-screen HUD title overlay (Heads-Up Display) with GAAD logo, replacing the 3D title plaque

HUD = Heads-Up Display: flat 2D text/graphics drawn over the viewport (the same layer Blender uses for 'User Perspective' etc.), always facing the user and crisp at any zoom - the term comes from aviation/games for status info shown over the view. Add a 2D on-screen HUD overlay to the add-on (v0.10) that draws the GAAD identity as flat viewport text - 'GAAD - Generation', the current Generation number (read live from the scene), the saved .blend filename, and the selected variant (in gold) when one is picked. Drawn via a blf/SpaceView3D POST_PIXEL draw handler in the bottom-left, so it always faces the user, stays crisp at any zoom, and never tilts - unlike the extruded 3D title plaque (which reads as dated/'1994'). Bottom-left placement visually replaces the plaque. A 'Show on-screen title (HUD)' checkbox toggles it (default on). The HUD is suppressed in the GAAD Tree scene (the tree has its own title). Handler is registered/unregistered cleanly to avoid leaks. NEXT STEP (separate, after confirmation): remove the 3D title plaque from the generator (a later v0_22x), once the HUD is confirmed - kept in place for now so there is never 'no title'. [v0.11: the white+gold GAAD logo (gaad_logo_white.png) is drawn at the top of the HUD, replacing the 'GAAD' text (falls back to text if the image isn't found); the World HUD line now reads 'Generation N · A × B Stages'; and the Tree scene gets its own HUD: the logo + 'Generation Tree · N Generations'. Two logo assets were cropped from the brand artwork: gaad_logo_white.png (white+gold, for dark backgrounds/HUD) and gaad_logo.png (black+gold, for light backgrounds).]

D061 evolvedadoptedTerminologyDecision24 Jun 2026

Rename the two core views to brand language: 'Design Studio' (world) and 'Design History' (tree)

Adopt brand-aligned names for GAAD's two views, echoing the logo strapline 'Design History - Design Memory - Design Intelligence'. The live Generation world becomes the 'Design Studio' (where you actively design - breed and choose). The Evolution / Forward Evolution Tree becomes 'Design History' (the recorded lineage of what came before - literally the design history). 'Next Generation' is KEPT as the breeding action (a generation is still each evolutionary step). Rippled through: HUD titles ('GAAD - Design Studio', 'Design History - N Generations'), the 3D title plaques, add-on buttons (Design History, Write/Open Design History Report, Back to Studio), the report H1 ('GAAD - Design History Report'), and tool banners. Reserves 'Design Intelligence' (the third strapline term) for the future scoring/learning capability. Tools bumped: generator v0_22c, tree v0_5c, report v0_5, add-on v0.12.

D062 newadoptedVisualisationDecision24 Jun 2026

Remove the 3D title plaques from the Design Studio and Design History (HUD replaces them)

Remove the extruded 3D title plaques from both views now that the on-screen HUD (D060) carries the identity. The Design Studio (generator v0_22d) no longer builds 'GAAD - Design Studio' as floor geometry; the Design History (tree v0_5d) no longer builds the 'GAAD - Design History' foot panel. Both create_title_panel / create_tree_title_panel functions are retained in code but no longer called, so they can be restored if ever needed. Identity is now shown only as the modern HUD (logo + Design Studio/Design History + generation/stage info), which always faces the user and never tilts.

P032 VisionMoment24 Jun 2026

GAAD becomes a brand - The Design Memory Platform

GAAD gained a complete, deliberate brand identity (folded in from the original chat; renumbered from its P026 to avoid clashing with this chat's P026 'reaching the limits of 1994'): the gold-delta logo, the Midnight/Gold/White core palette, the History->Memory->Intelligence timeline gradient, and the positioning as 'The Design Memory Platform'. Part of the moment is the principle that objects can be stripped of colour so attention falls on evolution and the decision, not decoration (logged as the open conflict D057).

Q019 miles_2026Quote24 Jun 2026

"OK, I have an idea (again)."

Miles, mid-session - the recurring spark that drives GAAD Rebirth forward. 'Again' is the engine of the whole project: a steady stream of ideas, each one shaped, weighed and recorded.