# staging.director The staging slice's entry point. Requiring it registers three services on the bus and nothing else needs to know the slice exists: - `Bus.services.fx` — the impact language (sparks, dust, shake, hitstop, the screen flash, speed lines, cinematic bars). - `Bus.services.camera` — the only thing that moves `FightCamera`. - `Bus.services.staging` — the attract sequence and the staged moments. ```lua local Director = require("emberline.staging.director") Director.boot() -- builds the effect sheets, wires events Director.Staging.playAttract() -- the opening Director.Staging.preview("heavy") -- look at one beat on its own ``` `Director.boot(opts)` builds the effect sheets, resets the camera and starts the attract art building. Pass `{ eagerArt = true }` to draw the attract art up front instead of spreading it a canvas per frame. `Director.teardown()` undoes all of it and leaves no listener, tween or timeline behind. ## What it listens to Every `fight.*` event the combat slice raises is already wired: `hit` and `block` pick a spark by the move's strength, `land` / `jump` / `dash` put dust on the floor, `throwLand` lands like a heavy plus dust, `superStart` runs the super's camera move, `ko` runs the knockout, and `roundStart` ends the opening and plays the round-start push-in. Listeners are registered under the tag `staging`, so a hot reload never stacks a second copy. ## The timelines A timeline is a coroutine driven from `update`: `wait(seconds)` between beats, `tween(dur, fn)` for anything that has to move every frame while the beats keep coming. Starting one cancels the one before it, and `Staging.stop()` cancels whatever is running — so this slice never leaves a task ticking. - `playAttract()` — the opening: a pan across Kessai, the Emberline crossing behind the viaduct, the Ember held close, the title, the three fighters slamming in one at a time, a push-in on the Warden, then the title and the prompt. - `playIntro(data)` — the round-start push-in. - `playSuper(data)` — freeze, white out, snap onto the fighter, speed lines. - `playKo(data)` — freeze, white out, slow motion, and the camera falling onto whoever hit the ground. - `playEnding()` — the Ember rises out of the smog and the camera follows it. - `preview(what)` — play one beat by name, for looking at it on its own. ## Two things it writes that other slices read - `Bus.state.hitstop` — frames the fight should not advance for. - `Bus.state.timeScale` — 1.0 normally, dropped during the knockout and ramped back over about two and a half seconds.