Phase 7 Onboarding Upgrade + Phase 8 Ecology Readability Update

This update focuses on improving Phase 7 onboarding while continuing to strengthen Phase 8 ecology readability. Start Game -> Observer is now clearly positioned as the beginner tutorial path, with rewritten menu copy and a much more practical first-run tutorial. The tutorial is shorter, easier to follow, and now advances through real interactions instead of auto-skipping steps. New players are first taught how to read Rule Trace, Membrane Approach, click particles into the observation board, and understand how the system is approaching membrane formation.

We also refined several key Phase 7 entry points and feedback layers, including the observation board, default Rule Editor presets, observation mode feedback, and interaction fixes for the gene editor’s simple mode. The goal is to make the first session much clearer: what to watch, what to click, and whether the world is actually becoming meaningful.

On the Phase 8 side, this update continues to improve ecological readability. Producer / consumer / apex roles are more clearly distinguished, and Pond / 3-tier food chain interactions now provide more legible predation, symbiosis, and competition feedback. Ecology presets, state flow, and value scales were also cleaned up so the system behaves more consistently and is easier to read. The goal is for Phase 7 to feel like a real entry point, and for Phase 8’s ecosystem relationships to be understandable rather than just visually busy.