Give the chip a box it fits in, and a spin that settles

The chip window was 60 x 44 with the curl tumbling about its centre. The curl
reaches 24.2 units from that pivot once the stroke is counted, so a half height
of 22 clipped the top and bottom off it on every turn.

The box is now 52 x 58 with the pivot at (26, 33), measured off the actual
Bezier curve rather than its control points. The shadow sits at 15.1 below the
pivot, which is where the curl comes to rest, so the chip lands on its own
shadow instead of floating above it.

The endless rotation is gone. Each bat now adds one or two whole turns in the
direction it was hit and coasts to a stop, so the resting silhouette is always
the same one, the one the shadow was placed under.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

qml/CatDefs.qml

@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ QtObject {
     // holds the whiskers, the tail and the glyphs that float above the head.
     readonly property real aspect: 106 / 120
 
+    // Chip.qml draws in a 52 x 58 box, large enough to hold the tumbling curl.
+    readonly property real chipAspect: 58 / 52
+
     readonly property var moodNames: ["walking", "running", "sitting", "grooming", "stretching",
                                       "sleeping", "loving", "alert", "chasing", "batting", "drinking"]
 

qml/Chip.qml

@@ -3,27 +3,41 @@ import QtQuick
 import QtQuick.Shapes
 
 // A curled steel chip, the kind that comes off a milling cutter.
-// Design space is 60 x 44 units.
+//
+// The box is 52 x 58 and the curl tumbles about (26, 33). Sizing rules, all in
+// design units, all measured off the actual Bezier curve rather than its
+// control points:
+//   * farthest point of the curl from the pivot is 24.2 including the stroke,
+//     so the box has to give 24.2 in every direction or spinning clips it
+//   * at rest the curl reaches 15.1 below the pivot, which is where the shadow
+//     goes, so it comes to rest sitting on its own shadow
+//   * spins are whole turns, so the resting silhouette is always the same one
 Item {
     id: chip
 
-    property int kick: 0
+    // Degrees, driven from outside. Each bat adds most of a turn and the
+    // Behavior lets it coast to a stop.
+    property real spin: 0
 
-    readonly property real unit: width / 60
+    readonly property real unit: width / 52
 
-    implicitWidth: 60
-    implicitHeight: 44
+    implicitWidth: 52
+    implicitHeight: 58
+
+    Behavior on spin {
+        NumberAnimation { duration: 750; easing.type: Easing.OutCubic }
+    }
 
     Item {
-        width: 60
-        height: 44
+        width: 52
+        height: 58
         transformOrigin: Item.TopLeft
         scale: chip.unit
 
-        Rectangle { // ground shadow
-            x: 14; y: 36
-            width: 32; height: 6
-            radius: 3
+        Rectangle { // ground shadow, under where the curl comes to rest
+            x: 9; y: 48
+            width: 26; height: 4
+            radius: 2
             color: "#000000"
             opacity: 0.18
             antialiasing: true
@@ -31,8 +45,10 @@ Item {
 
         Item {
             id: curl
-            x: 30; y: 22
-            width: 0; height: 0
+            x: 26; y: 33
+            width: 0
+            height: 0
+            rotation: chip.spin
 
             Shape {
                 x: -30; y: -22
@@ -58,13 +74,6 @@ Item {
                     PathCubic { control1X: 5; control1Y: 19; control2X: 16; control2Y: 8; x: 30; y: 12 }
                 }
             }
-
-            RotationAnimation on rotation {
-                running: true
-                loops: Animation.Infinite
-                from: 0; to: 360
-                duration: 2600
-            }
         }
     }
 }

qml/ChipWindow.qml

@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ Window {
     required property CatController cat
     required property AppSettings settings
 
-    readonly property int chipSize: Math.round(settings.catSize * 0.45)
+    readonly property int chipSize: Math.round(settings.catSize * 0.46)
 
     width: chipSize
-    height: Math.round(chipSize * 0.73)
+    height: Math.round(chipSize * CatDefs.chipAspect)
     x: cat.chipX - width / 2
     y: Screen.desktopAvailableHeight - height - settings.bottomMargin
     color: "transparent"
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@ Window {
 
     Chip {
         anchors.fill: parent
-        kick: win.cat.chipKick
+        spin: win.cat.chipSpin
     }
 }

qml/OverlayWindow.qml

@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ Window {
     Chip {
         x: win.cat.chipX - width / 2
         y: win.height - height - win.settings.bottomMargin
-        width: Math.round(win.settings.catSize * 0.45)
-        height: Math.round(width * 0.73)
+        width: Math.round(win.settings.catSize * 0.46)
+        height: Math.round(width * CatDefs.chipAspect)
         visible: win.cat.chipVisible
-        kick: win.cat.chipKick
+        spin: win.cat.chipSpin
 
         Behavior on x {
             NumberAnimation { duration: 320; easing.type: Easing.OutQuad }

src/catcontroller.cpp

@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ void CatController::tossChip()
     setChipX(fromLeft ? margin : m_stageWidth - margin);
 
     m_batsLeft = rng->bounded(2, 5);
+    m_chipSpin = fromLeft ? 360.0 : -360.0; // it rolls in already turning
+    emit chipSpinChanged();
     m_chipVisible = true;
     emit chipVisibleChanged();
 
@@ -223,9 +225,6 @@ void CatController::endCoffee()
 void CatController::batChip()
 {
     auto *rng = QRandomGenerator::global();
-    ++m_chipKick;
-    emit chipKickChanged();
-
     const qreal distance = rng->bounded(140, 380);
     qreal next = m_chipX + (m_facingRight ? distance : -distance);
     const qreal edge = 40.0;
@@ -235,6 +234,11 @@ void CatController::batChip()
     }
     setChipX(next);
 
+    // Whole turns in the direction it was hit, so it always lands on the same
+    // silhouette, right on top of its shadow. The QML side lets it coast.
+    m_chipSpin += (m_facingRight ? 1 : -1) * 360.0 * rng->bounded(1, 3);
+    emit chipSpinChanged();
+
     if (--m_batsLeft <= 0) {
         endChase();
         holdMood(Mood::Sitting, 2500); // pleased with itself

src/catcontroller.h

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class CatController : public QObject
 
     Q_PROPERTY(bool chipVisible READ chipVisible NOTIFY chipVisibleChanged)
     Q_PROPERTY(qreal chipX READ chipX NOTIFY chipXChanged)
-    Q_PROPERTY(int chipKick READ chipKick NOTIFY chipKickChanged)
+    Q_PROPERTY(qreal chipSpin READ chipSpin NOTIFY chipSpinChanged)
     Q_PROPERTY(bool cupVisible READ cupVisible NOTIFY cupVisibleChanged)
     Q_PROPERTY(qreal cupX READ cupX NOTIFY cupXChanged)
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public:
 
     bool chipVisible() const { return m_chipVisible; }
     qreal chipX() const { return m_chipX; }
-    int chipKick() const { return m_chipKick; }
+    qreal chipSpin() const { return m_chipSpin; }
     bool cupVisible() const { return m_cupVisible; }
     qreal cupX() const { return m_cupX; }
 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ signals:
     void lookChanged();
     void chipVisibleChanged();
     void chipXChanged();
-    void chipKickChanged();
+    void chipSpinChanged();
     void cupVisibleChanged();
     void cupXChanged();
 
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ private:
 
     bool m_chipVisible = false;
     qreal m_chipX = 0;
-    int m_chipKick = 0;
+    qreal m_chipSpin = 0;
     int m_batsLeft = 0;
 
     bool m_cupVisible = false;