PROGRESS: ███████░░░ 70%
Got the core rail-laying mechanic feeling really good this week. Nodes snap together with a satisfying little jolt and the cargo trains now pathfind correctly even on branching routes. Still wrestling with the UI for switching junctions but it's getting there.
The pathfinding was the big win. I was dreading it — branching routes with multiple valid paths felt like a nightmare to handle cleanly — but the approach I landed on is surprisingly elegant. Trains evaluate available routes at each junction and pick the one that gets them to the destination with the fewest handoffs. It means they sometimes take a longer physical path, but they never deadlock. Good enough for now.
Junction UI is still a mess. Right now you switch junction state by clicking directly on the junction node, which works fine when things are spread out — but once maps get dense, hitting the right node becomes a frustration exercise. Thinking about adding a hover-highlight radius so nearby junctions light up before you click. More playtesting needed.
Also added screen shake on delivery. It's dumb. It's so dumb. But every single time cargo hits a node and the screen stutters it feels incredible. Screenshake solves everything. This is the law.