Offline First, Online Optional

PULSE//ZERO is an arcade game first.

That sounds obvious, but it matters. It shapes how we build everything around the game: leaderboards, online features, player identity, community tools, even how we test things internally.

This week’s work has been about one simple rule:

The full game must work offline.

Online features can make PULSE//ZERO better, but they should never be required to enjoy it.

Local leaderboards are in

The biggest player-facing change is that PULSE//ZERO now has a local leaderboard.

The game records your most recent 100 completed runs locally, ranks them by score, and adds a new LEADERBOARD entry to the main menu.

No account. No server. No connection required.

Just arcade score chasing, stored on your machine.

That is important because local competition is part of the feel we want. PULSE//ZERO should work like a great arcade cabinet: you play, you improve, you chase your own best runs, and you always have a reason to go again.

Online features are opt-in

We’ve also started laying the foundation for Northforge Online features.

The first-run online prompt is now in place, but it’s gated behind a feature flag until the online services are actually ready. When enabled, players will be able to choose between Play Offline and Enable Online Features. Choosing online will bootstrap an anonymous player and grant leaderboard consent; choosing offline keeps everything local. Nothing uploads unless the player opts in.

That’s non-negotiable for us.

PULSE//ZERO will not require:

• a mandatory account
• hidden telemetry
• a permanent connection
• online services just to play

Global leaderboards, badges, private competitions and future community features should feel like an enhancement, not a gate.

Northforge Nexus integration has started

Under the hood, PULSE//ZERO has started integrating with Northforge Nexus, our reusable online platform for Northforge Interactive games.

The first integration adds the shared Nexus Godot client as a submodule, registers the Nexus client autoload, and adds an OnlineService that can submit completed runs to the leaderboard when the player has opted in.

That last part matters: submission is gated on an existing Nexus token, so the game does not upload runs until the player has chosen to participate.

Nexus starts with PULSE//ZERO, but the goal is bigger than one game. Over time, it can become the foundation for optional profiles, badges, private leaderboards, challenge sharing and community events across future Northforge titles.

Testing without depending on a server

We also added an offline mock mode for debug builds.

The backend is not deployed yet, so debug builds can run with canned Nexus data. That means we can build and UI-test online-facing screens without requiring the real server to exist. Release builds will still target the real backend.

This keeps development practical while preserving the offline-first design.

The game can continue to build, run and be tested even if the online platform is unavailable.

Run submissions are becoming more robust

Another piece of work aligned run submission data with the actual PULSE//ZERO ruleset.

Submitted runs now use the correct ruleset, mode, difficulty and ship identifiers:

• ruleset-pz-standard
• endless
• adaptive
• pulse_craft

That means future server-side validation can work against real game vocabulary instead of placeholder data.

There has also been Nexus-side work around per-player HMAC run signing, which is part of making online leaderboard submissions harder to spoof later.

This will never make a client-authoritative arcade game perfectly cheat-proof, but it gives us a better foundation than simply trusting whatever the game sends.

Visual polish continues

Away from online work, we also continued polishing the feel of the Living Grid.

Projectile-hit ripples have been reduced so landed shots churn the grid less, and travelling bullets now leave a small moving wake. The goal is to keep the arena feeling alive without letting feedback overwhelm readability.

That balance is central to PULSE//ZERO.

The screen should look reactive, musical and dangerous — but the player must always be able to read what is happening.

Why this matters

A lot of this work is invisible until you look closely.

It is not a new boss, weapon or enemy type. It is infrastructure. But it defines what kind of game PULSE//ZERO is allowed to become.

We want community features.

We want leaderboards.

We want players to compare runs, chase scores, earn badges and compete with friends.

But we do not want to compromise the core promise:

PULSE//ZERO is fully playable offline.

Online is optional.

The arcade game comes first.

Survive. Adapt. Overdrive.