Release preparation: v0.2.0-alpha.1 — Saved Encounters, Timers, Soundscapes & Initiative Auto-Follow

.gitignore

@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ assets/backgrounds/**/*
 assets/portraits/**/*
 assets/icons/**/*
 assets/tokens/*
-assets/sounds/*
+assets/sounds/**/*
+!assets/sounds/**/
+!assets/sounds/**/.gitkeep
 !assets/**/.gitkeep
 
 # Keep application branding

Build enCounter Linux.sh

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
-VERSION="0.1.0-alpha.1"
+VERSION="0.2.0-alpha.1"
 ARCH="$(uname -m)"
 case "${ARCH}" in
   amd64) ARCH="x86_64" ;;
@@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ for dir in \
   icons/combat \
   icons/systems \
   tokens \
-  sounds; do
+  sounds/music \
+  sounds/ambience \
+  sounds/sfx \
+  sounds/custom; do
   mkdir -p "${RELEASE_DIR}/assets/${dir}"
 done
 

Build enCounter Windows.bat

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ REM See LICENSE for the full license terms.
 setlocal EnableExtensions
 cd /d "%~dp0"
 
-title enCounter 0.1.0-alpha.1 Windows Build
+title enCounter 0.2.0-alpha.1 Windows Build
 
-set "VERSION=0.1.0-alpha.1"
+set "VERSION=0.2.0-alpha.1"
 set "RELEASE_ROOT=release"
 set "RELEASE_NAME=enCounter-v%VERSION%-Windows-Portable"
 set "RELEASE_DIR=%RELEASE_ROOT%\%RELEASE_NAME%"
@@ -109,7 +109,10 @@ for %%D in (
     "icons\combat"
     "icons\systems"
     "tokens"
-    "sounds"
+    "sounds\music"
+    "sounds\ambience"
+    "sounds\sfx"
+    "sounds\custom"
 ) do mkdir "%RELEASE_DIR%\assets\%%~D" >nul 2>nul
 
 mkdir "%RELEASE_DIR%\data\backups" >nul 2>nul

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,39 +2,225 @@
 
 All notable changes to enCounter will be documented here.
 
+## Unreleased
+
+No changes recorded yet.
+
+## 0.2.0-alpha.1 - 2026-09-13
+
+### Added
+
+- Saved Encounter Library workflow with **Save**, **Save As**, **Load**, **Duplicate**, and **Delete** while keeping the loaded encounter as a working copy so game-session changes do not automatically overwrite the reusable Saved Encounter.
+
+- Encounter phases for **Prepared**, **Scene / Roleplay**, **Combat**, and **Complete** states.
+
+- Player Display **Scene mode** that shows encounter artwork without initiative or combat information while still allowing visual timers.
+
+- Separate **Scene Image** and **Combat Background** selections for prepared encounters.
+
+- Visual Timer system for Scene and Combat encounters.
+
+- Visual Timer controls for:
+  - Start
+  - Pause
+  - Resume
+  - Reset
+  - Stop
+  - Add 10 seconds
+  - Subtract 10 seconds
+  - Add 1 minute
+  - Subtract 1 minute
+
+- Three visual timer skins:
+  - Fantasy Hourglass
+  - Candle
+  - Sci-Fi Pixel Depletion
+
+- Timer display modes for different presentation needs, including overlay, featured, and focus-style presentation.
+
+- Independent options for showing the timer and numeric countdown on the DM Console and Player Display.
+
+- Synchronized Player Display timer state so the DM and player-facing displays remain aligned during a running countdown.
+
+- Encounter Soundscape system with:
+  - Scene music
+  - Layered scene ambience
+  - Combat music
+  - Combat ambience
+  - Master volume
+  - Fade transitions
+  - Scene-to-combat audio switching
+  - Optional return to scene audio after combat
+
+- Per-ambience combat transition behavior, allowing scene ambience to continue, lower in volume, or stop when combat begins.
+
+- Audio asset folders and import support for:
+  - MP3
+  - OGG
+  - WAV
+  - FLAC
+
+- Prepared one-shot audio cues that can be configured as part of an encounter.
+
+- Live **Prepared Cue** buttons on the Encounter tab, populated automatically from the loaded encounter's Soundscape and usable during both Scene and Combat phases.
+
+- Player Display initiative auto-centering. The active visible combatant is automatically brought into view and centered as initiative advances.
+
+- DM initiative tracking and Auto-Follow.
+
+- The DM Console now follows the current initiative order and clearly identifies the combatant whose turn is currently active.
+
+- The DM Console automatically brings the active combatant into view when:
+  - Combat starts.
+  - **Next Turn** is selected.
+  - **Previous Turn** is selected.
+  - **Set Turn** is used.
+  - A delayed or readied combatant resumes and takes the current turn.
+
+- Current-turn highlighting on the DM Console remains synchronized with the Player Display so both screens reflect the same active combatant.
+
+### Changed
+
+- Player Display presentation is now modeled as **Stand By**, **Scene**, or **Combat** instead of only visible or hidden.
+
+- **Start Combat** can automatically transition scene audio to combat audio when configured.
+
+- **End Combat** can automatically restore the previous scene Soundscape when configured.
+
+- Encounter data normalization now preserves Soundscape, display, phase, scene/combat image, and Saved Encounter metadata.
+
+- Soundscape configuration is now encounter-bound rather than maintained as a separate Soundscape Library.
+
+- Loading a Saved Encounter restores its Soundscape configuration and Prepared Cue assignments.
+
+- Loading a Saved Encounter does **not** automatically begin audio playback. Scene or Combat audio remains under DM control.
+
+- Soundscape editor wording now makes clear that Soundscapes are stored with and loaded automatically from Saved Encounters.
+
+- Encounter remains the primary live game-control screen and now includes Saved Encounter controls, Scene/Combat phase controls, scene/combat images, audio controls, and Prepared Cue buttons.
+
+- Timer and Soundscape configuration are available as dedicated DM Console navigation sections.
+
+- Improved synchronization between Scene, Combat, timer, Soundscape, initiative, and Player Display state.
+
+- Initiative order on both the DM Console and Player Display now tracks the same current combatant as turns advance.
+
+- Player Display initiative cards automatically reposition so the current combatant remains visible and centered rather than moving off-screen during longer initiative orders.
+
+- DM initiative tracking now moves through the encounter order alongside the Player Display, making it easier for the DM to see:
+  - Who is currently acting.
+  - Where the current combatant is within the initiative order.
+  - Which combatant will act as initiative continues.
+
+- DM Auto-Follow occurs only when the active turn changes. Ordinary combatant edits do not force the DM screen back to the active combatant.
+
+- HP changes, damage/healing, status edits, Condition Track changes, resource changes, Hide/Reveal actions, and other non-turn edits leave the DM's current scroll position unchanged.
+
+- Improved initiative usability for larger encounters where the full combatant list cannot fit on the screen at once.
+
+### Notes
+
+- This is an **Alpha / pre-release** version of enCounter.
+
+- The Timer, Soundscape, Saved Encounter, Scene/Combat presentation, and initiative-follow systems remain Alpha features and may continue to evolve.
+
+- Player Display initiative centering and DM Auto-Follow use the same active encounter turn state, keeping DM and player-facing initiative presentation aligned.
+
+- DM Auto-Follow is intentionally triggered by turn changes rather than every encounter render so the DM can edit another combatant without the screen unexpectedly jumping away.
+
+- Audio configuration and media references are saved with Saved Encounters, but active playback state is not treated as permanent encounter state.
+
+- Imported audio files remain local assets and are not embedded directly into JSON backup/export files.
+
+- Export important Library and encounter data before upgrading between Alpha versions.
+
+## 0.1.0-alpha.2 - 2026-09-05
+
+### Maintenance
+
+- Published the second enCounter Alpha release and updated release-facing documentation for `0.1.0-alpha.2`.
+
+- Standardized documentation for the single-button Player Display workflow:
+  - **Start Player Display**
+  - **Hide Player Display**
+  - **Show Player Display**
+
+- Clarified the **STAND BY** privacy-screen workflow for making private DM changes without exposing them to players.
+
+- Clarified that the Player Display and DM Console must use the same browser profile for local synchronization.
+
+- Expanded Player Display synchronization and troubleshooting documentation, including DM Sync connected/disconnected behavior.
+
+- Updated Alpha documentation while retaining the existing initiative, hidden-combatant, backup, Library, and portable-build functionality established during the initial Alpha hardening cycle.
+
+### Notes
+
+- This release remained part of the original `0.1.0` Alpha development line.
+
+- The subsequent Saved Encounter, Scene/Combat presentation, Timer, Soundscape, and enhanced initiative-follow work was developed after this Alpha milestone and is included in `0.2.0-alpha.1`.
+
 ## 0.1.0-alpha.1 - 2026-08-20
 
 ### Added
+
 - Initial enCounter Alpha release baseline.
+
 - DM encounter console and separate Player Display.
+
 - Reusable Library for players, NPCs, enemies, and creatures.
+
 - Generic, SWSE, 5E, and custom system profiles.
+
 - Local asset handling, backup/export/import, and recovery features.
+
 - Clean Windows portable build workflow using PyInstaller.
+
 - Clean Linux x86_64 portable build workflow using PyInstaller.
+
 - AI Assistance Disclosure for development transparency.
 
 ### Distribution
+
 - Standardized Alpha version identifiers.
+
 - Isolated Alpha IndexedDB name (`enCounterAlphaDB`).
+
 - Build scripts exclude prior user data and personal campaign assets.
+
 - Licensed the project under the MIT License.
+
 - Added Windows/Linux release SHA-256 checksum generation.
+
 - Hardened GitHub Actions permissions and cross-platform Python invocation.
 
 ### Pre-publication hardening
+
 - Restricted the local HTTP server to required public application resources instead of serving the entire project root.
+
 - Added local Host/Origin checks, response security headers, and image signature validation for uploads.
+
 - Added graceful application shutdown from the DM Console.
+
 - Added BroadcastChannel fallback synchronization for browsers where BroadcastChannel is unavailable.
+
 - Added stricter backup/import validation and atomic full-database imports.
+
 - Fixed single Library-entry imports and made **Export Everything** include recovery snapshots.
+
 - Fixed Settings module changes so the encounter UI rerenders immediately.
+
 - Normalized imported settings, encounters, combatants, and local asset references before use.
+
 - Removed duplicate encounter broadcasts from UI-only renders; encounter changes now broadcast from save operations.
+
 - Added Player Display DM Sync connected/disconnected status and DM-presence heartbeats.
+
 - Added a documented single-DM-window workflow warning for the current Alpha.
+
 - Applied the same local Origin policy to GET/HEAD requests as POST requests when an Origin header is present.
+
 - Added dependency-free Node unit tests for normalization, initiative sorting, asset sanitization, and turn-transition behavior.
+
 - Changed hidden combatants so they remain fully visible to the DM but are completely omitted from the Player Display until **Reveal to Players** is clicked.
+
 - Added Player Display visibility tests for hidden combatants and next-turn selection.