From 9981c48bf69e25452eece8727e0d9dc31ea32669 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: chris <chris@chrisedwards.tech>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:52:02 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Pinball: close the left outlane, seal the shooter lane after
 launch
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- The ball kept escaping unsaveably down the far left. The left outlane
  is now closed by a solid deflector from the wall to the left flipper
  pivot, so a ball down that side is always fed onto the flipper. Only
  the centre gap between the flipper tips is a free drain now.
- The shooter-lane divider runs the full height (y 120–474) so a ball in
  play can't fall back into the lane after launch ("close it after
  launch"). Plus a safety: a slow ball that does end up deep in the lane
  re-arms the plunger. Right wall extends down as the return chute.

Sim: ball stays within x≥60, drains cleanly through the centre, game
completes; no NaN.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_017Ve7HLspzeG2xDPtJQ8vmu
---
 src/lib/pinball.js | 47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/lib/pinball.js b/src/lib/pinball.js
index cc4a987..6e070f2 100644
--- a/src/lib/pinball.js
+++ b/src/lib/pinball.js
@@ -44,22 +44,27 @@ const TABLE = {
     { a: [42, 20], b: [250, 20] }, // top
     { a: [250, 20], b: [300, 56] }, // top-right corner
     { a: [300, 56], b: [306, 96] },
-    { a: [306, 96], b: [306, 474] }, // right wall / shooter-lane outer
-    { a: [288, 474], b: [288, 236] }, // shooter-lane divider
+    { a: [306, 96], b: [306, 548] }, // right wall / shooter-lane outer (continues down as the return chute)
+    { a: [288, 474], b: [288, 120] }, // shooter-lane divider (tall — the ball can't fall back in after launch)
     { a: [288, 474], b: [306, 474] }, // shooter-lane floor
-    { a: [14, 60], b: [14, 452] }, // left wall
-    { a: [14, 452], b: [40, 478] }, // left lower guide (rounds toward the flipper)
-    { a: [288, 474], b: [264, 492] }, // right lower guide
+    { a: [14, 60], b: [14, 448] }, // left wall
 
-    // left slingshot — triangle above the flipper's outer half
-    { a: [88, 442], b: [104, 486], e: PHYS.slingE, k: PHYS.slingKick }, // kicking face
-    { a: [88, 442], b: [58, 486] }, // outer face
-    { a: [58, 486], b: [104, 486] }, // bottom
+    // left outlane is CLOSED: a solid deflector from the wall to the flipper
+    // pivot, so a ball down the left is always fed onto the left flipper.
+    { a: [14, 448], b: [50, 470] },
+    { a: [50, 470], b: [86, 504] },
 
-    // right slingshot
-    { a: [232, 442], b: [216, 486], e: PHYS.slingE, k: PHYS.slingKick },
-    { a: [232, 442], b: [262, 486] },
-    { a: [216, 486], b: [262, 486] },
+    // right side stays open below the divider so a ball can trickle to the
+    // return; a short guide nudges it that way.
+    { a: [288, 474], b: [262, 494] },
+
+    // slingshots (triangles above each flipper's outer half)
+    { a: [96, 434], b: [110, 476], e: PHYS.slingE, k: PHYS.slingKick }, // L kicking face
+    { a: [96, 434], b: [76, 476] },
+    { a: [76, 476], b: [110, 476] },
+    { a: [230, 434], b: [214, 476], e: PHYS.slingE, k: PHYS.slingKick }, // R kicking face
+    { a: [230, 434], b: [250, 476] },
+    { a: [214, 476], b: [250, 476] },
   ],
   bumpers: [
     { x: 80, y: 132, r: 15 },
@@ -210,6 +215,10 @@ export function createPinball(canvas, cbs = {}) {
       b.vx *= 0.6;
       b.x += (TABLE.laneX - b.x) * 0.35;
     }
+    // Re-arm the plunger if a ball ends up sitting in the lane again.
+    if (!b.inLane && !b.launching && b.x > 292 && b.y > 430 && Math.hypot(b.vx, b.vy) < 60) {
+      b.inLane = true;
+    }
     // Gate kick: once the launched ball clears the divider, fling it left
     // into the playfield (a straight-up launch has nowhere else to go).
     if (b.launching && b.y < 236) {
@@ -472,15 +481,15 @@ export function createPinball(canvas, cbs = {}) {
     };
     ctx.fillStyle = accentA(0.22);
     tri([
-      [88, 442],
-      [104, 486],
-      [58, 486],
+      [96, 434],
+      [110, 476],
+      [76, 476],
     ]);
     ctx.fill();
     tri([
-      [232, 442],
-      [216, 486],
-      [262, 486],
+      [230, 434],
+      [214, 476],
+      [250, 476],
     ]);
     ctx.fill();