Changelog: ByteInstyncts Desktop Pet

📅 2025-06-28 · Instynct Bytes Companion System
🧭 Focus: Charging logic, movement AI, energy mechanics, tray interaction, debug pipeline

🚀 User-Facing Features

[✓] Command Kiosk is now in
Pet can recharge when dragged onto it. It's just a demo for now but it sets the stage for commands, quests, storage and more
[✓] Energy system is live
Passive drain over time with recharging at dock and full depletion logging
[✓] Idle and walk animations work
Includes flipped frames and variable-width walk cycles
[✓] Movement reacts to desktop surfaces
Pet won't walk off screen or fall through other windows
[✓] Simple tray icon added
Right-click gives options to pause, show or exit

🔧 Under the Hood

[✓] Uses GDI+ for alpha-layered sprite rendering
Each frame is drawn into a 32-bit DIB and pushed via UpdateLayeredWindow
[✓] Command Kiosk uses gravity
It falls until it finds a surface and rests there without topmost flags
[✓] Docking logic is latched
Once dragged over the kiosk, the pet stays docked until it moves off
[✓] Debug output is toggleable
Controlled by a global flag in DevSettings and routed to OutputDebugString
[✓] Recharge system is modular
Can recharge passively or through direct calls for future extensibility

📝 Notes

Pet stays idle while dragging to avoid weird animation states
Tray tooltip still says "ByteCritters" and needs updating
All engine behavior is modular under InstynctEngine, EnergySystem, and CommandKiosk
Walk and idle framerates are defined in one place for easy tuning
Planning to add emotion and status feedback later on

📚 Related Threads and Links

✅ Progress Checklist