Copied from the agreed story (STORY.md) and the rule sheets
(2026-10-07); those two win if this drifts.
Left Orbit (s-orbit-l -> spinner -> s-orbit-r) and the Propulsion Run (the right
orbit, s-orbit-r -> s-orbit-l; Propulsion Gel is orange, speed). Momentum through portals:
"speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out".
- Period 1: 1A's momentum test (the Left Orbit, chamber 10); 1B's fling test (the Propulsion
Run, chambers 11-12); loop combos (left-right-left) are shooting back and forth through both
portals.
- Period 2: 2B, the Seventies, is Propulsion Gel on the orbits, faster and faster: the gel's
sound and a Cave seventies bite on each orbit, each a little faster. No Space Core in the 1970s
(D29): its faster copies and "SPAAACE!" belong to the Wheatley branch (3A's orbit mode) and E7.
- Period 1, 1B: the spinner is the laser relay (H89): spinning sends the beam to one lit
shot, which "receives the laser" for a short window.
- Period 3: timed tests; Rattmann's arrow sometimes points at an orbit as a shortcut.
- Period 4: dial shots. Period 5: official or arrow shots (the spinner's secret den went
with D29: all six dens are found through Drp1's passage).
- Co-op: Mobility Gels (course 5); an orbit is the "outside the course" retrieval shot.
- shot_group
orbits — reuses the shot_group scaffolding built for lanes.md.
DRAFT, needs a real game-balance pass with the user: 750/hit for left/right orbit (major loop
shots), +3000 group-complete bonus for hitting both at least once. Implemented in
modes/orbits/config/orbits.yaml. (An orbit-top rollover, 100/hit, was dropped 2026-10-04: the
machine has only the left and right orbit switches, per the owner. led-orbit-t is kept as a defined
LED but no longer driven by a shot.)
From rule-sheets.md, not built yet: the rules above are what the mode does
today. Counts, timers and scores are drafts for the balance pass.
- 1A test "momentum": the Left Orbit once ("LEFT ORBIT: SPEEDY THING GOES IN").
- 1B test "the fling": the Propulsion Run twice.
- Loop combo: alternating orbits, escalating value per leg.
- 2B gel test: 6 orbit shots, loop combos count double; each plays the Propulsion Gel sound
and a Cave seventies bite, a little faster each time (D29).
- 1B laser relay (H89): spins (draft 20) send the beam to one lit major shot for 20 s.
- Slide: modes/orbits/slides/orbit_hit.tscn - implemented with two interlocked ellipse-ring
icons in blue (left)/orange (right) on a matching split-tinted panel, per the approved "Aperture
Display Signage" graphics proposal.
- Show: modes/orbits/shows/orbit_hit.yaml - implemented (2026-08-27) as a white-pop-to-color
flash, blue for left / orange for right / white for top.
- Sound: machinefolder/sounds/sfx/orbits_whoosh.wav - implemented (2026-08-27) from the user's
Portal 2 sound extract, one whoosh for all 3 shots (the show's per-side color already
differentiates them). DRAFT pick, user plans to review/adjust manually.
orbit is already referenced (commented out) in machinefolder/config/config.yaml's modes: list -
this feature fulfills that placeholder. Onshape CAD confirms left orbit/right orbit as real,
large named parts spanning most of the upper third of the playfield (~10.0" x 13.6" left, ~2.1" x
12.9" right) - directly confirms the shots above, though the two sides aren't the same shape/size,
worth keeping in mind for the "clean pair" framing. See design/research/onshape-cad-findings.md.
- 2026-10-07, story pass: the orbits are the Left Orbit and the Propulsion Run; blue and orange
belong to the portals (see portal), not the orbits.
- 2026-10-25, hardware notes (owner): a diverter at the top of the orbit (
orbit-top-diverter,
idea) loads a portal VUK; which portal, and how it sits with Up1, is open.