THE S33K3R TRANSMISSION - DEVLOG

Part 6: The Bank Encounter Game

Continued from devlog05.md

[December 13th, 2025] [9:00 AM MT]

Building a Real Game

The transmission was live. The puzzle was working. The YouTube video was unlocked. But it wasn't enough.

I woke up Friday morning with a realization: this EARTIX needed a proper game loop. Not just a puzzle with a hidden date. Not just a video that plays. Something players could sink their teeth into. Something with stakes, feedback, progression, and reward.

The Bank Encounter concept crystalized over breakfast. Four phases:

LOBBY - A story card that sets the stakes
TRANSITION - Full-motion video from lobby to vault (cinematic immersion)
GAME - Numbers matching puzzle with a lives system
UNLOCKED - Victory screen with roadmap preview

I opened VS Code and started architecting. The /bank route would become the first complete game loop in the S33K3R universe.

[December 13th, 2025] [11:30 AM MT]

Phase 1: The Lobby

First impressions matter.

Static background: banklobby_room.webp. I'd converted it from PNG earlier—561 KB, crisp at 1920x1080. Glassmorphism card overlay with the narrative hook:

"The signal leads here. The vault contains the first truth. Breach the lock to recover the protocol."

Two buttons: ABORT (returns to /) and BREACH (triggers the FMV transition). Clean. Cinematic. The player knows what's at stake before they commit.

[December 13th, 2025] [2:15 PM MT]

Phase 2: The Transition

This was the technical challenge. Seamless video transition with audio that respects browser autoplay policies.

banklobby_to_bankvault.webm — 10.4 MB, VP9 codec, 24fps. The last frame of this video had to exactly match the first frame of the vault background image. Frame-perfect alignment = no visible cut.

Audio gated behind user gesture (the BREACH button click). On video end: 350ms black fade, then phase switches to GAME. No white flash. No jarring cuts. Pure cinema.

Tested it twelve times. Every transition smooth as silk.

[December 13th, 2025] [4:45 PM MT]

Phase 3: Building the Core Game

Numbers matching puzzle. Twelve cards, six pairs (1-6). Simple concept. Brutal execution.

Lives system: Start with 6. Every mismatch costs one life. Lives displayed using bulletchamber_{N}.webp images—thematic, visceral. When you hit zero lives, it's over.

Sound design:

match.webm (20 KB) - satisfying confirmation on correct pair
life_lost.webm (20 KB) - sharp feedback on mismatch
scary.webm (72 KB) - 4.88 seconds of dread when you lose all lives
game_won.webm (66 KB) - triumphant fanfare on completion
game_over.webm (59 KB) - entrance sound for defeat screen

Background music: Echoes in the Static.mp3 looping at 0.2 volume during gameplay only. Adds tension without overwhelming.

Card flips: Framer Motion whileTap animations. Smooth, responsive, tactile. Mobile-friendly touch targets.

I spent three hours tuning the lives balance. Too many lives = no tension. Too few = frustration. Six felt right. Challenging but fair.

[December 13th, 2025] [7:30 PM MT]

Asset Organization & Optimization

File structure matters for maintainability.

Created /public/rooms/game_assets/ with three subdirectories:

images/lives/ — 7 WebP files (bulletchamber_0 through bulletchamber_6)
music/ — Background loop MP3
sound_fx/ — All WebM Opus sound effects

Every asset optimized for web:

Images: WebP progressive encoding, cross-browser compatible
Video: WebM VP9 (~40% smaller than MP4)
Audio: WebM Opus (~10-15% smaller than MP3 for effects)

Total game assets: ~11 MB. Small enough for fast loading, high enough quality for immersion.

[December 13th, 2025] [10:00 PM MT]

Cross-Platform Testing

Desktop: flawless.
Mobile portrait: flawless.
Mobile landscape: flawless.
Tablet: flawless.

Responsive grid adapts: 3 columns on mobile, 4 on desktop. Cards scale properly. Video uses object-contain with letterboxing—aspect ratio preserved on all screen sizes.

Tested touch interactions. Framer Motion whileTap felt great on glass. No accidental double-taps. No lag.

The game was ready.

[December 14th, 2025] [12:00 AM MT]

Phase 4: The Unlocked State

Originally planned a download button for a reward file. Changed my mind.

Instead: development roadmap card. Transparent about the project's evolution. Shows players what's complete and what's coming:

✓ Mini-game: Numbers Matching (Complete)
🎁 Game Reward: Coming within 7 days
💬 Contact Form: Coming soon

Added contact email: Digiartifact11@gmail.com (mailto link for direct outreach).

Two action buttons: "return home" (→ /) and "play again" (resets to LOBBY phase).

Players appreciate transparency. This felt right.

[December 14th, 2025] [1:30 AM MT]

Navbar Integration & Final Build

Updated Navbar to reflect the new game:

Removed PUZZLE link (deprecated)
Removed COMING SOON label (no longer needed)
ROOM button now active, links to /bank
Desktop and mobile menus synchronized
Active state styling maintained (amber highlight on current route)

Ran npm run build with Next.js 16 Turbopack. Zero errors. Zero warnings. All routes prerendered:

/ (home/transmission)
/about (warning page)
/bank (game)
/brothel (legacy point-and-click)
/devlog (this magazine)
/_not-found (404)

Static export configured. Cloudflare Pages compatible. TypeScript strict mode passing. ESLint clean.

The Bank Encounter was live.

[December 14th, 2025] [2:00 AM MT]

Reflection: Why This Matters

This wasn't just adding a game to a website. This was proving the EARTIX concept works.

Lobby = narrative setup
Transition = cinematic immersion
Game = interactive challenge
Unlocked = progression and reward

Four phases. One cohesive loop. Every element designed with intention. Every asset optimized for deployment. Every interaction tuned for feel.

The S33K3R TRANSMISSION started as a mysterious landing page with a CRT TV. Now it's a multi-layered experience with:

Hidden puzzles
Gated live events
Cinematic video sequences
Playable mini-games
Deep lore mythology

Each layer adds depth. Each feature serves the narrative. Each decision moves the EARTIX forward.

The first playable game loop is complete. The foundation is solid. The reward is coming.

Continued in devlog07.md