🎨 Palette: Enhanced Score Readability and Achievement Context

.Jules/palette.md

@@ -29,3 +29,7 @@
 ## 2025-01-24 - Real-time Achievement Feedback in CLI
 **Learning:** In terminal-based games, displaying achievement progress (like a live high score) in real-time provides immediate tactile reward and engagement. Furthermore, inclusive UX means ensuring first-time players also receive "New Best" feedback, even when their initial record is zero.
 **Action:** Update session-high-score variables immediately upon record-breaking and display them in the live HUD. Ensure achievement conditions (`score > highscore`) don't exclude the first-time user experience.
+
+## 2026-06-25 - Data Readability and Achievement Context
+**Learning:** In numeric-heavy CLI applications, formatting large numbers with thousands separators (e.g., `1,000,000`) significantly reduces cognitive load. Furthermore, when a user achieves a new personal best, providing the previous record for context transforms a generic "Success" message into a meaningful achievement celebration.
+**Action:** Implement a `formatWithCommas` utility for all numeric displays in CLI apps and always provide "previous state" context when announcing new records or milestones.

src/main.cpp

@@ -20,10 +20,23 @@
 #define CLR_HARD  "\033[1;31m"
 #define CLR_NORM  "\033[1;32m"
 #define CLR_CTRL  "\033[1;33m"
+#define CLR_EOL   "\033[K"
 #define CLR_RESET "\033[0m"
 
 struct termios oldt;
 
+std::string formatWithCommas(long long value) {
+    std::string s = std::to_string(value);
+    int n = static_cast<int>(s.length());
+    int limit = (value < 0) ? 1 : 0;
+    int insertPosition = n - 3;
+    while (insertPosition > limit) {
+        s.insert(insertPosition, ",");
+        insertPosition -= 3;
+    }
+    return s;
+}
+
 void restore_terminal(int signum) {
     tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &oldt);
     // Use write() and _exit() because they are async-signal-safe
@@ -77,7 +90,7 @@ int main() {
     std::cout << CLR_CTRL << "==========================\n      SPEED CLICKER\n==========================\n" << CLR_RESET;
 
     if (highscore > 0) {
-        std::cout << " Personal Best: " << CLR_SCORE << highscore << CLR_RESET << "\n\n";
+        std::cout << " " << CLR_SCORE << "Personal Best: " << formatWithCommas(highscore) << CLR_RESET << "\n\n";
     }
 
     std::cout << "Controls:\n " << CLR_CTRL << "[h]" << CLR_RESET << " Toggle Hard Mode (10x Speed!)\n "
@@ -141,10 +154,11 @@ int main() {
         }
 
         if (updateUI) {
-            std::cout << "\r" << CLR_SCORE << "Score: " << score << CLR_RESET << " | High: " << highscore << " "
+            std::cout << "\r" << CLR_SCORE << "Score: " << formatWithCommas(score) << CLR_RESET
+                      << " | " << CLR_SCORE << "High: " << formatWithCommas(highscore) << CLR_RESET << " "
                       << (hardMode ? CLR_HARD "[HARD MODE]" : CLR_NORM "[NORMAL MODE]")
-                      << (score > initialHighscore ? " NEW BEST! 🥳" : "")
-                      << "           " << std::flush;
+                      << (score > initialHighscore ? CLR_NORM " NEW BEST! 🥳" CLR_RESET : "")
+                      << CLR_EOL << std::flush;
             updateUI = false;
         }
     }
@@ -154,9 +168,10 @@ int main() {
     }
 
     tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &oldt);
-    std::cout << "\n\n" << CLR_SCORE << "Final Score: " << score << CLR_RESET << "\n";
+    std::cout << "\n\n" << CLR_SCORE << "Final Score: " << formatWithCommas(score) << CLR_RESET << "\n";
     if (score > initialHighscore) {
-        std::cout << "Congratulations! A new personal best!\n";
+        std::cout << CLR_NORM << "Congratulations! A new personal best! " << CLR_RESET
+                  << "(Previous: " << formatWithCommas(initialHighscore) << ")\n";
     }
     std::cout << "Thanks for playing!\n";
     std::cout << "\033[?25h" << std::flush;