claudes_game/docs/planning/rendering-cleanup-plan.md

Rendering Cleanup Plan - Texture Management and Code Simplification

Objective

Clean up rendering code by removing unused spacecraft texture system, consolidating texture loading to initialization, and simplifying other rendering functions.

Background

The renderer has several inefficiencies:

• ensure_textures_loaded() called every frame instead of once during initialization
• Spacecraft texture system now redundant with render_child_indicators() providing visibility
• Unused render_body() function with FIXME comment
• Hardcoded constants scattered throughout rendering code
• Documentation inconsistency between RenderState and UIState

Implementation

Step 1: Save Plan (Current)

• Create this plan document in docs/planning/
• PAUSE for user review

Step 2: Move Texture Loading to Initialization [COMPLETED]

• Modify init_renderer() or setup_camera() to call ensure_textures_loaded() once
• Remove ensure_textures_loaded() calls from:
  • render_spacecraft_screen_space() (renderer.cpp:385)
  • render_maneuver_marker_screen_space() (renderer.cpp:420)
• Update docs/technical_reference.md if it references texture loading behavior
• PAUSE for user review

Step 3: Remove Spacecraft Texture System [COMPLETED]

Remove all spacecraft texture-related code:

• From RenderState struct (renderer.h:19): Texture2D spacecraft_texture;
• From renderer.cpp:
  • generate_spacecraft_texture() function (lines 112-124)
  • calculate_spacecraft_angle() function (lines 156-164)
  • render_spacecraft_screen_space() function (lines 373-402)
  • Texture initialization in setup_camera() (line 178)
  • Texture unloading in close_renderer() (line 103)
• Remove spacecraft rendering from main loop in render_simulation() (lines 694-697)
• Remove from renderer.h:
  • Function declaration for generate_spacecraft_texture() (line 29)
  • Function declaration for calculate_spacecraft_angle() (line 36)
  • Function declaration for render_spacecraft_screen_space() (line 45)
• Update docs/rendering.md to remove spacecraft texture references
• PAUSE for user review

Step 4: Remove Unused render_body() Function [COMPLETED]

• Remove render_body() function from renderer.cpp (lines 359-371)
• Remove function declaration from renderer.h (line 44)
• Remove FIXME comment on line 357
• Update docs/rendering.md line 315 (references to render_body)
• Update docs/technical_reference.md line 531 (references to render_body)
• PAUSE for user review

Step 5: Simplify Maneuver Texture Selection [COMPLETED]

• Replace switch statement (renderer.cpp:426-449) with direct array indexing
• Since BurnDirection enum values are sequential (0-5), use maneuver->direction directly as texture_index
• Handle BURN_CUSTOM case separately if needed
• PAUSE for user review

Step 6: Extract UI Panel Constants [COMPLETED]

• Add constants to ui_renderer.cpp:
  • INFO_PANEL_WIDTH = 300
  • INFO_PANEL_HEIGHT = 300
  • BODY_LIST_WIDTH = 200
  • BODY_LIST_HEIGHT = 400
  • BODY_INFO_WIDTH = 250
  • BODY_INFO_HEIGHT = 300
  • MANEUVER_LIST_WIDTH = 300
  • MANEUVER_LIST_HEIGHT = 400
  • MANEUVER_LIST_Y_OFFSET = 320
• Replace magic numbers in all UI rendering functions
• PAUSE for user review

Step 7: Extract Child Indicator Constants [COMPLETED]

• Add constants to renderer.cpp:
  • CHILD_INDICATOR_RADIUS = 20.0f
  • CHILD_INDICATOR_FONT_SIZE = 10
• Replace magic numbers in draw_child_indicator() function
• PAUSE for user review

Step 8: Fix Documentation Inconsistency [COMPLETED]

• Update docs/rendering.md line 16 to reflect that selected_craft_index is in UIState, not RenderState
• Update any other documentation that references this field location
• PAUSE for user review

Step 9: Final Testing [COMPLETED]

• Build project: make - Build successful
• Run simulation: make run - Application starts correctly, no texture errors
• Verify spacecraft still visible via child indicators - Child indicators working
• Verify maneuver markers still render correctly - Texture indexing working
• Verify UI panels still display correctly - Panel constants working
• Check for any texture-related warnings or errors - None found
• PAUSE for user review

Testing Plan

• Build succeeds without errors
• Spacecraft visible in child indicators when parent body selected
• Maneuver markers display with correct colors and sizes
• UI panels render with correct dimensions
• No memory leaks from texture cleanup
• Performance improvement (fewer function calls per frame)

References

• docs/rendering.md - Rendering system documentation
• docs/technical_reference.md - Technical reference
• src/renderer.cpp/h - Main rendering code
• src/ui_renderer.cpp/h - UI rendering code
• AGENTS.md - Coding rules (no comments, C-style)

Date

Created: 2026-01-30