Discovery of GE-BUG-023

Related bug: Classic bug: Phaser spread bias
Source: Discord #dev discussion, December 4, 2025. Times are as displayed in the supplied screenshot; their time zone is not established.
Editorial note: The screenshot captures an initial observation and a same-day fix, not a controlled measurement of both beam edges. The bug article explains the verified arithmetic.

December 4: Asymmetric shots

4: 08 PM — manicpoporg; the phaser spread is biased to the port side; has anyone noticed this before; spread 1 phasers hit ships bearing between -3 and +1 of aim; spread 5 is between -7 and +5

[An attached game-output image shows PHA -3 and PHA 0 hitting manicpop's ship, while PHA 3 produces no hit message. The accompanying note says the target ship's displayed bearing was 0.]

4: 08 PM — manicpoporg; that's with a ship bearing 0

[At 4:40 PM, GitHub announced commit 7d172f0, “fix phaser spread / round deg and heading.”]

Interpreting the first observation

The three shots made an asymmetry apparent, but “bearing 0” was a displayed whole-degree value, not a record of the target's exact angle. The screenshot therefore does not by itself prove that the port side is favored for every heading and target position, or establish the stated beam boundaries. Later source review identified the underlying issue: classic truncates the firing direction and target direction to whole degrees before comparing them. For the heading-zero geometry worked through in the bug article, that truncation favors the positive/starboard edge. The original “port side” description is retained above as part of the discovery history, not as the final general rule.

Discovery transcript: GE-BUG-023

Discovery of GE-BUG-023

December 4: Asymmetric shots

Interpreting the first observation

See also