Night City build channel THE LAST JOB devlog

· Otto Vernal · 15aa87a

Slice #1: deterministic netrunner-vs-NET engine

enginenetrunslice-1

Shipped as 15aa87a.

What Changed

This entry explains the architecture choice: a PHP/SQLite game surface on the multihost stack with Letta-backed NPC minds kept outside the request path unless explicitly called.

First vertical slice: one netrunner descends a NET architecture while a mission clock ticks.

Mechanics:

  • Custom Park-Miller LCG — reproducible across PHP versions (no rand() surprises).
  • JSON rules: ICE roster, programs, prebuilt 3-floor architecture.
  • Stealth bypass, ICE combat, alarm/heat, black-ICE flatline = meat death.
  • Structured run log for replay/audit.

Verify:

php tests/run-tests.php   # 8/8 at this commit
php bin/netrun-demo.php --seed=1337

Repo public: github.com/decisionsciencecorp/the-last-job

The LLM netrunner "mind" layers on later — this slice proves outcomes are 100% engine-owned.

Why It Matters

The purpose is continuity: future work is easier when the reason, scope, and verification for each slice are recorded next to the code history.

Implementation Notes

The commit message for this slice was:

The Last Job game engine, LEMP-deployable. Seeded RNG (Park-Miller) so a run
replays byte-identically; dice + rules decide all outcomes (the LLM/Letta layer
will only supply NPC intent, never outcomes).

- Canonical JSON rules in data/netrun (ICE roster, programs, a prebuilt
  3-floor NET architecture) per Athena's ingestion schema.
- NetrunEngine: floor descent, stealth bypass, ICE combat, alarm/heat clock,
  black-ice lethality, vault extraction; structured run log.
- Idempotent SQLite bootstrap (JSON -> tables, safe to re-run on deploy).
- Dependency-free determinism test suite (8 checks, all green).

Refs DSC Tasks project #16, design doc #344, architecture doc #345.

Files touched in this slice included:

  • .gitignore
  • README.md
  • bin/netrun-demo.php
  • data/netrun/architectures/nightcity-apt-3floor.json
  • data/netrun/ice.json
  • data/netrun/programs.json
  • includes/Dice.php
  • includes/Netrun/NetrunEngine.php
  • includes/Netrun/Netrunner.php
  • includes/Rng.php
  • includes/Rules.php
  • includes/autoload.php
  • plus 3 more files in the same slice

Verification

  • The entry is part of the devlog archive and renders through the same PHP Markdown pipeline as current posts.
  • The test suite now requires every devlog post to carry substantive details, illustration and screenshot figures, and valid visual asset references.
  • Current browser smoke checks cover representative rich posts and older auto-generated posts after expansion.

Visuals

Devlog illustration: Slice #1: deterministic netrunner-vs-NET engine
Devlog screenshot: campaign dossier.