# PREDICTED RATINGS · RPG (I, 28 Oct, autonomous mode, per USER_TASTE.md §7)

## How it was judged
- **Renders:** every live rpg kill on 58k_rpg.html (42, all by I), rendered from the live files.
  - Each kill: a 10-frame strip over the whole kill at gore 5, then FINAL g5 and FINAL g3.
  - Every kill also got a 640x400 final at gore 5.
  - The 9 kills already on 58k_replace58.js were not re-rendered.
- **Strips:** `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/i/pred/rpg/<key>.jpg` (33 files).
- **Finals:** `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/i/pred/f*_*.jpg` and `finA_*.jpg`.
- Judged on what the page shows NOW: central faces-off, the zoom floor, wide finals.
- **Maps:**
  - Map counts come from K58.mapCheck on the 17 dry maps (`/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/i/pred/mapcount.txt`).
  - Few-map (≤ 8/17) = REPLACE.
  - The Deep pair (TORPEDO, GLOW) are the underwater map's own kills, so they STAY.

**Counts (42 live): GOOD 1 · OK BUT 22 · REPLACE 19.**
- **REPLACE (19):**
  - 9 are already on 58k_replace58.js.
  - 7 more are few-map: HEADLIGHTS, BRACE POSITION, THE SKY, SIGN OFF and THE FIRST ROCKET at 1/17, OUTRUN at 7/17, SPECK at 3/17. They need adding to 58k_replace58.js (coordinator).
  - 3 are concept REPLACEs: SAY CHEESE (gag), SEEING STARS (gag), FINS (no payoff).
- **Why rpg skews to REPLACE:** many rpg kills were written around their home arena's export (the desert night, the forts wall, the temple steps, the clock tower).
- **Why most OK BUTs:** the same three things recur.
  - **Static endings:** the body lies or kneels unchanged for 3-6 s.
  - **No head explosion** on almost any ending.
  - **Hand-drawn marks:** faces, skulls, ribs, painted bands and crater rings drawn by my rpg kit outside the central helpers.
- **One bug pattern, every film:** the payoff lands around 3-4 s, then the body sits still to the end. Shortening those holds is part of every OK BUT fix.

| key | name | rating | note (exact chip phrases) | why (what I saw) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rpg.mid-reflex | REFLEX | GOOD | (keep; small: costume (beanie) · a head pop could finish it) | real action: the swordsman sets like a batter and swings at the rocket; it bursts on his guard, the blade spins off with his hands, and he kneels with the stumps up while the blade lands planted in the grass; plain head, wide final (16/17) |
| rpg.the-vacuum | THE VACUUM | OK BUT | no facial expression needed (the face with teeth on the head) · bones (the pieces) · head explosion needed | the vacuum pull reads, but the payoff head carries a drawn face full of teeth and bone-like pieces (16/17) |
| rpg.final-approach | FINAL APPROACH | OK BUT | no facial expression needed · costume (cat ears) · head explosion needed · explode | a long approach; ends on a drawn face under cat ears with no burst (16/17) |
| rpg.the-smoke | THE SMOKE | OK BUT | no facial expression needed (the face on the ashen husk) | the turn into an ash husk is a good transformation; the husk keeps a drawn face (16/17) |
| rpg.ground-zero | GROUND ZERO | OK BUT | no facial expression needed · body marks (the limbs) · costume (party hat) · head explosion needed | the strike reads; ends on a face, marked limbs and a party hat (15/17) |
| rpg.the-bunker | THE BUNKER | OK BUT | no facial expression needed (the face pressed into the door) · body marks (the painted blood on him) · head explosion needed · too long (static after 7 s) | he casts a pillbox in gold; the rocket goes through the slit and blows the door into him; he ends flattened on the door with a big drawn face, static (17/17) |
| rpg.the-wrong-end | THE WRONG END | OK BUT | bones (the skull face) · costume (cat ears) · head explosion needed · too long (stands static from 4.8 s) | a clever turn: he charges in with a knife and Faris gives him the backblast (the DANGER stencil insert); he ends standing burnt with a skull for a face for 4 s (17/17) |
| rpg.the-line | THE LINE | OK BUT | camera bug (the final loses the body) · confusing (the ring with its label reads as a debug overlay) · head explosion needed | the blast-radius ring cast, the lean at its edge and the dome read; the last 3 s show only Faris and the ring, the body off-screen (16/17) |
| rpg.rodeo | RODEO | OK BUT | too zoomed out (the final body is tiny) · costume (helmet) · head explosion needed | real spectacle: he rides the rocket across the night sky, a scribble of smoke, and it bursts; he ends a small heap on the crates, far from camera (16/17) |
| rpg.mushroom | MUSHROOM | OK BUT | camera bug (the final shows only Faris) · costume (party hat) · too long | he is lifted up the stem of a mushroom cloud and bursts at the cap; the last 3 s show Faris alone on the slope (15/17) |
| rpg.torpedo | TORPEDO | OK BUT | body marks (the striped chest) · confusing (too dark, too small early) · head explosion needed | underwater-only (stays); the chase through the kelp reads late; ends hanging in the kelp with a striped chest under a blood cloud |
| rpg.glow | GLOW | OK BUT | confusing (too dark) · costume (beanie) · head explosion needed | underwater-only (stays); hard to read in the dark; ends lying on the reef |
| rpg.too-close | TOO CLOSE | OK BUT | body marks (the chest crater) · head explosion needed · too long (kneels static from 4.9 s) | nose to nose, Faris fires point-blank and is thrown back; the rocket carries on through him into the barrel; he kneels with a crater in his chest (17/17) |
| rpg.armor-plate | ARMOR PLATE | OK BUT | no facial expression needed (the screaming face with teeth) · head explosion needed · too long (lies static 4 s) | the rocket hits the ARMOR plate dead centre; he falls stiff and lies on the wall top for 4 s; Faris is barely in the film (15/17) |
| rpg.dead-mans-trigger | DEAD MAN'S TRIGGER | OK BUT | body marks (the stitched face) · costume (helmet) · head explosion needed | a good idea: the dead finger clicks his own launcher and the last round finishes him; the spray from the head is close to a head pop but the head stays (15/17) |
| rpg.hailstone | HAILSTONE | OK BUT | no facial expression needed (the face in the stone) · confusing (the two halves read as bubbles) · too long | he is blown into the sky and comes down frozen in a man-sized hailstone that splits; the halves show his parts and a drawn face (17/17) |
| rpg.star | STAR | OK BUT | no facial expression needed · body marks (the red bands on the limbs) · bones (the zigzag down the torso) · head explosion needed | the second blast spreads him into a black star scorch, a striking image; the head carries a drawn face and the limbs painted bands (17/17) |
| rpg.skin-taped | LOOSE FIN | OK BUT | costume (cat ears) · camera (the rolled final) · head explosion needed | a good skin idea: the tape peels off a fin and the rocket corkscrews at her; she ends in its black spiral on a tilted camera (15/17) |
| rpg.skin-ice | THAW | OK BUT | body marks (the jagged ring round the chest hole) · head explosion needed · too long (stands static from 6 s) | he catches the frozen rocket; it thaws in his arms and relights; he ends standing with a ringed hole in his chest (16/17) |
| rpg.skin-gold | SMALL CHANGE | OK BUT | body marks (the gold scales painted on him) · no facial expression needed (the face marks) · head explosion needed · too long (lies static 4 s) | a gold payoff (a storm of coins), but it ends on a purple body painted with gold scales, lying still (13/17) |
| rpg.mid-lead | LEAD | OK BUT | body marks (the red burn bands) · costume (cat ears) · too zoomed (the punch-in) · head explosion needed | Faris leads the dodge-roll and fires where the roll will end; he rolls into the fireball and kneels wrapped in painted bands (15/17) |
| rpg.mid-shot-down | SHOT DOWN | OK BUT | body marks (the peppered front strip) · costume (party hat) · too zoomed (the punch-in) · head explosion needed | real: he empties his pistol at the rocket and hits it, then the fragments go through him anyway; ends kneeling with a painted red strip (12/17) |
| rpg.mid-cannon-mouth | CANNON MOUTH | OK BUT | confusing (a culvert cast, the rocket inside it and a smoke ring, too much for 2.9 s) · head explosion needed | he casts a culvert for cover and the rocket goes in after him; he is fired out under a red smoke ring and lies prone (10/17) |
| rpg.headlights | HEADLIGHTS | REPLACE | map-tied (1/17: SPACE) · no facial expression needed · costume (cat ears) | the dark desert night only; ends sitting at a wall with a drawn face for 6 s |
| rpg.brace-position | BRACE POSITION | REPLACE | map-tied (1/17: FOOTING) · gag with no action payoff | a manual-diagram gag, then an ash husk lying still (repeats THE SMOKE's husk) |
| rpg.skin-camo | THE SKY | REPLACE | map-tied (1/17: SPACE) · bones (ribs in the chest) · costume (helmet) | the forts wall and the dunes; the camo shimmer barely reads; he sits against a crate with an opened chest |
| rpg.skin-neon | SIGN OFF | REPLACE | map-tied (1/17: ROOM / FOOTING) · no facial expression needed (teeth) · confusing (too dark) | the neon street in the rain only; ends dark on a rolled roof |
| rpg.skin-classic | THE FIRST ROCKET | REPLACE | map-tied (1/17: FOOTING, the temple steps) | the strongest image in the lane (the tube blooms into a fan of fire arrows that rain on him), but it only stages on the temple; the fire-arrow volley is worth re-staging map-free in its replacement |
| rpg.mid-outrun | OUTRUN | REPLACE | few maps (7/17: ROOM) · bones (ribs in the open chest) · too zoomed | he runs laughing and the rocket catches him; the close shows a rib grille |
| rpg.mid-speck | SPECK | REPLACE | few maps (3/17: ROOM, the long clock-tower run) · no facial expression needed (the lolling tongue) · too zoomed (the final close) | the speck crossing the clock tower is nice, but it needs the long room |
| rpg.say-cheese | SAY CHEESE | REPLACE | gag with no action payoff · bones (the skull) · confusing (three overlapping bodies) | a selfie gag: three posing fighters burnt into a waxwork, standing static for 5 s |
| rpg.skin-cartoon | SEEING STARS | REPLACE | gag with no action payoff · no facial expression needed (the star eyes) · costume (party hat) | KA-BOOM text, stars round the head, a wobble, then lying on his back with star eyes |
| rpg.mid-fins | FINS | REPLACE | weak beyond a fix (no payoff: he sits down) · costume (cat ears) | the fins spring open past his face and he sits down on the roof; the death is a cut on the face, so nothing is left without it |
| rpg.half-mast | HALF-MAST | REPLACE | map-tied (PILLAR) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.in-the-works | IN THE WORKS | REPLACE | map-tied (MOVING) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.last-floor | LAST FLOOR | REPLACE | map-tied (DROP) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.mid-from-above | FROM ABOVE | REPLACE | map-tied (HATCH) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.mid-skipping-stone | SKIPPING STONE | REPLACE | map-tied (LIQUID) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.mid-the-crate | THE CRATE | REPLACE | map-tied (CRATE) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.the-safest-place | THE SAFEST PLACE | REPLACE | map-tied (LIQUID) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.the-tail | THE TAIL | REPLACE | map-tied (WALL) | already on 58k_replace58.js |
| rpg.tilt | TILT | REPLACE | map-tied (BOUNCY) | already on 58k_replace58.js |

## The OK BUT fix plan (shared across the 22)
1. **Head explosion endings:** K58.STYLE headPop or explode on most of them, varied (ANTI-TEMPLATE).
   - Limb-off for REFLEX-like beats.
   - Spine rip for one.
   - Full explode for the big blasts (MUSHROOM, RODEO, THE BUNKER).
2. **Faces, skulls, ribs and painted bands:** strip them from the rpg kit painters (my own files, so no central change).
3. **Static holds:** trim them, so the soul rise follows the payoff within ~1.5 s.
4. **Camera bugs:** THE LINE and MUSHROOM keep the body in the final. RODEO frames the body at ≥ the zoom floor.
5. **Costumes:** off (cat ears, party hats, helmets, beanies).