v0.7.5 — solitaire asks before it deals, the same way multiplayer already does

A new #solitairesetup screen in play.html asks the full shared game-options
block — type, starting hand, Extra start, revenue, victory conditions,
optional rules — before a genuinely fresh visit deals a game. A saved game,
an explicit ?seed=, or a URL a Deal already wrote all skip past it, same as
?lobby already skips the front doors on an invite link.

The in-game dialog, the lobby and this screen now share one
wireGameTypeBlock()/commitNewGame() pair instead of the dialog carrying its
own copy of the questions.

859 tests pass. Not yet played in a browser.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01AdG46Ja2PEDBkpqiDazMoX

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -19,6 +19,45 @@ page as `v0.1.0 · <sha> · <date>`, so what is deployed can always be identifie
 
 ---
 
+## 0.7.5 — 2026-08-29
+
+### Solitaire asks first, the same way multiplayer already does
+
+Jesse: "let the user choose their options like the start of a multiplayer game"; "asking first is
+the only path." A bare visit to `play.html` used to deal a game on the spot, at whatever defaults
+`gameOptionsFromUrl` fell back to, and the only way to see or change a setting was to open the
+in-game "New game" dialog after the fact — compare a hand you already have, not one you are about
+to be dealt. The lobby has asked this question for every multiplayer game since v0.6.0; solitaire
+never did.
+
+A genuinely fresh visit now lands on a new `#solitairesetup` screen first: game type, starting hand,
+where an Extra may start, the three revenue rates, victory conditions, and the three optional rules
+— then a Deal button. A saved game, an explicit `?seed=`, or a URL a Deal already wrote (`hand` is
+the field every write always sets, so its presence is what tells the difference) all skip straight
+past it, the same way `?lobby` already skips the front doors on an invite link — those are not "no
+plan yet", they are a choice already made, elsewhere.
+
+**One shared block instead of two copies drifting apart.** The in-game dialog, the lobby, and now
+this screen all drive the identical `settings-form.ts` block through one new function,
+`wireGameTypeBlock()` — factored out of what used to be dialog-only code. Only Solitaire can be
+dealt outside the lobby, so the setup screen shows the other four types exactly as the dialog always
+has: present, disabled, with a note pointing at the Multiplayer door. Committing an answer — from
+either the dialog or the setup screen — goes through one `commitNewGame()`, which builds the URL and
+navigates; `start()` is still the only place that turns a URL into a game.
+
+Prefilling is deliberately left to the caller rather than folded into `wireGameTypeBlock` itself:
+the dialog opens on the game CURRENTLY IN PLAY, so redealing to compare keeps comparing against it,
+while the setup screen opens on the plain Solitaire defaults, since there is no live game yet to
+read.
+
+`index.html`'s door copy changed to match: "Start a game" reads "Set up a game" now, and the blurb
+states the floor (15, not "20 Revenue") since that is what a player is agreeing to before they deal.
+
+859 tests pass. **Not yet played in a browser** — verified by `tsc --noEmit`, the full suite, and
+reading the diff, not by loading `play.html` fresh and clicking through it.
+
+---
+
 ## 0.7.4 — 2026-08-29
 
 Three rules issues off the tracker, in the order Jesse asked for them: #13, #5, #19. All three are

TODO.md

@@ -308,6 +308,17 @@ Queued 2026-08-29, from building Gitea#11 and #16 (both shipped in v0.7.3, main
     Stage for switching, which needs it to know it wants time — a notion it does not have. Reasoning
     and the measurement are under Bot Performance.
 
+42. ~~**Solitaire must ask before it deals, the same way multiplayer's lobby already does.**~~ — done
+    2026-08-29 in v0.7.5. Jesse: "let the user choose their options like the start of a multiplayer
+    game"; "asking first is the only path." A new `#solitairesetup` screen in `play.html` asks the
+    full shared block — game type, starting hand, Extra start, revenue, victory conditions, optional
+    rules — before a genuinely fresh visit deals anything; a saved game, an explicit `?seed=`, or a
+    URL a Deal already wrote all skip past it. The in-game dialog, the lobby and this screen now
+    share one `wireGameTypeBlock()`/`commitNewGame()` pair instead of the dialog carrying its own
+    copy. Reasoning in `CHANGELOG.md`. **Committed but not yet played in a browser** — verified by
+    `tsc --noEmit` and the full suite (859 pass), not by loading the page and clicking through it.
+    Worth being an early item in the next play session, alongside #39's four unplayed v0.7.4 features.
+
 ---
 
 ## Replay / Save Games

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "station-master",
-  "version": "0.7.4",
+  "version": "0.7.5",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Station Master — a railroad operations game",

src/web/index.html

@@ -81,11 +81,11 @@ footer{margin-top:26px;color:var(--dim);font-size:11px;display:flex;gap:18px;fle
 
     <a class="door" href="./play.html">
       <h2>Play solitaire</h2>
-      <p>Play by yourself and run the entire division for five full days. Your goal is 20 Revenue.
-         Your game data is saved in your browser &mdash; if you close the tab and reopen this site
+      <p>Play by yourself and run the entire division for five full days. Clear the Revenue floor of
+         15 by the end or the game is a loss. Your game data is saved in your browser &mdash; if you close the tab and reopen this site
          without clearing your cache, your game is preserved and you can continue automatically.
          During the game you can also explicitly save your progress for later replay.</p>
-      <span class="go">Start a game &rarr;</span>
+      <span class="go">Set up a game &rarr;</span>
     </a>
 
     <a class="door" href="./replays.html">

src/web/main.ts

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import {
 } from './presets.ts';
 import type { GameType, PresetName } from './presets.ts';
 import { settingsForm } from './settings-form.ts';
+import type { SettingsForm } from './settings-form.ts';
 
 const SAVE_KEY = 'station-master.save.v1';
 const SETTINGS_KEY = 'station-master.settings.v1';
@@ -628,12 +629,15 @@ function noteFirstFrame(f: Frame): void {
   );
 }
 
-/** Toggles the two mutually-exclusive top-level screens `play.html` defines — `#lobby` (Phase 4)
- * and `#gameui` (the board, whether local or remote). Both start `hidden` in the markup so neither
- * ever flashes before `start()` decides which one this load actually needs. */
-function showScreen(which: 'lobby' | 'gameui'): void {
+/** Toggles the three mutually-exclusive top-level screens `play.html` defines — `#lobby` (Phase 4),
+ * `#gameui` (the board, whether local or remote), and `#solitairesetup` (asked before the first
+ * solitaire deal, the same way `#lobby` is asked before the first multiplayer one — Jesse,
+ * 2026-08-29). All three start `hidden` in the markup so none ever flashes before `start()` decides
+ * which one this load actually needs. */
+function showScreen(which: 'lobby' | 'gameui' | 'solitairesetup'): void {
   document.getElementById('lobby')!.hidden = which !== 'lobby';
   document.getElementById('gameui')!.hidden = which !== 'gameui';
+  document.getElementById('solitairesetup')!.hidden = which !== 'solitairesetup';
 }
 
 /**
@@ -739,16 +743,35 @@ function start(): void {
     return;
   }
 
-  showScreen('gameui');
+  // A saved game carries its OWN rules and re-deals itself under them, whatever the URL says — see
+  // `configFor`. Read once, here, so the same answer decides both whether to ask before dealing and
+  // (below) whether to restore.
+  const saved = load();
   const requested = params.get('seed');
+
+  /**
+   * ASK BEFORE THE FIRST DEAL, THE SAME WAY THE LOBBY ASKS BEFORE THE FIRST MULTIPLAYER GAME
+   * (Jesse, 2026-08-29 — "let the user choose their options like the start of a multiplayer game";
+   * "asking first is the only path").
+   *
+   * A saved game or an explicit `seed=` both mean this visit is not "no plan yet" — a saved game is
+   * a game to resume, and a seed names a specific deal someone already chose to share or bookmark,
+   * the same reasoning `?lobby` already uses to skip past the doors on an invite link. `hand` is the
+   * one field every `commitNewGame` write always sets (`rulesToUrl`), so its presence means this
+   * navigation IS the setup screen's own Deal button, landing back here to actually deal — checking
+   * it is what stops the screen asking itself the question a second time.
+   */
+  if (!saved && requested === null && !params.has('hand')) {
+    showScreen('solitairesetup');
+    runSolitaireSetup(params);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  showScreen('gameui');
   // A seed in the URL makes a game shareable and reproducible: same link, same deal.
   const seed = requested !== null ? Number(requested) || 1 : Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9);
   const local = createLocalSession(seed, solitaireDefaults(gameOptionsFromUrl(params)));
   session = local;
-
-  // A saved game carries its OWN rules and re-deals itself under them, whatever the URL says — see
-  // `configFor`. That is why the restore happens after the session is built rather than feeding it.
-  const saved = load();
   if (saved && requested === null) local.restore(saved);
 
   applyCapabilities();
@@ -1895,58 +1918,77 @@ if (leaveBtn) {
   };
 }
 
-const newBtn = document.getElementById('newgame');
-const dlg = document.getElementById('newgamedlg') as HTMLDialogElement | null;
-if (newBtn && dlg) {
-  const field = <T extends HTMLElement>(id: string): T => document.getElementById(id) as T;
-  const ngForm = settingsForm('ng-');
+/**
+ * ONE GAME-TYPE BLOCK, WIRED — the type radios, the shared rules form beneath them, and the small
+ * glue between them (which type is currently selected, what its note says, how Days feeds the
+ * floor). The in-game "New game" dialog (`ng-`) and the pre-game setup screen (`ss-`, Gitea
+ * "let the user choose their options like the start of a multiplayer game", 2026-08-29) both need
+ * an identical copy of this — factored out once so the two cannot drift apart the way the rules
+ * block itself already had before `settings-form.ts` existed to stop it.
+ *
+ * PREFILLING IS DELIBERATELY LEFT TO THE CALLER. The dialog opens on the game CURRENTLY IN PLAY
+ * (so redealing to compare keeps comparing); the setup screen opens on the plain Solitaire
+ * defaults, because there is no game yet to read. `setBase` plus a direct `form.write(...)` is the
+ * seam that lets each caller do its own version of "what do these fields show at first paint"
+ * without this function having to guess which one it is wiring.
+ */
+type WiredGameType = {
+  form: SettingsForm;
+  days(): number;
+  refresh(): void;
+  /** The common case: prefill straight from a named type's own defaults, then repaint. */
+  selectPreset(name: PresetName): void;
+  /** The dialog's case: the caller writes the form itself (from a live game), then calls `refresh`
+   * — this only sets which type that write should be compared against. */
+  setBase(name: PresetName, type: GameType): void;
+};
 
-  /**
-   * THE SAME FIVE GAME TYPES THE LOBBY OFFERS, and the same shared rules block under them.
-   *
-   * The dialog used to carry its own copy of the questions and its own idea of the defaults, which
-   * is how it ended up with "where an Extra may start" that the lobby did not have and none of the
-   * three optional rules that it did. Both screens now read `presets.ts` and drive their block
-   * through `settings-form.ts`; only Solitaire can actually be DEALT here, so the three multiplayer
-   * types are shown disabled rather than hidden — what this screen offers and what the lobby offers
-   * should read as one list, not two.
-   */
-  let ngBase: PresetName = 'solitaire';
-  let ngType: GameType = 'solitaire';
+function wireGameTypeBlock(prefix: string, root: ParentNode): WiredGameType {
+  const field = <T extends HTMLElement>(id: string): T => document.getElementById(`${prefix}${id}`) as T;
+  const form = settingsForm(prefix);
+
+  let base: PresetName = 'solitaire';
+  let type: GameType = 'solitaire';
   /** As in the lobby: the floor is derived from the length until the player sets one themselves. */
-  let ngFloorTyped = false;
+  let floorTyped = false;
 
-  const ngDays = (): number => {
-    const raw = Number(field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-days').value);
+  const days = (): number => {
+    const raw = Number(field<HTMLInputElement>('days').value);
     return Number.isFinite(raw) && raw >= 1 ? Math.round(raw) : 5;
   };
 
-  const ngTypeRadios = (): HTMLInputElement[] =>
-    Array.from(dlg.querySelectorAll<HTMLInputElement>('input[name="ng-type"]'));
+  const typeRadios = (): HTMLInputElement[] =>
+    Array.from(root.querySelectorAll<HTMLInputElement>(`input[name="${prefix}type"]`));
 
-  function ngRefresh(): void {
-    const differing = ngForm.mark(ngBase, 1, ngDays());
-    if (differing.length > 0) ngType = 'custom';
-    else if (ngType === 'custom') ngType = ngBase;
-    for (const r of ngTypeRadios()) r.checked = r.value === ngType;
-    const note = field<HTMLElement>('ng-type-note');
+  function refresh(): void {
+    const differing = form.mark(base, 1, days());
+    if (differing.length > 0) type = 'custom';
+    else if (type === 'custom') type = base;
+    for (const r of typeRadios()) r.checked = r.value === type;
+    const note = field<HTMLElement>('type-note');
     note.textContent =
-      ngType === 'custom'
-        ? `${gameTypeLabel('custom', preset(ngBase).scoring)} · ${differing.length} ` +
-          `${differing.length === 1 ? 'setting differs' : 'settings differ'} from ${preset(ngBase).label}.`
-        : preset(ngType as PresetName).blurb;
+      type === 'custom'
+        ? `${gameTypeLabel('custom', preset(base).scoring)} · ${differing.length} ` +
+          `${differing.length === 1 ? 'setting differs' : 'settings differ'} from ${preset(base).label}.`
+        : preset(type as PresetName).blurb;
   }
 
-  function ngSelectPreset(name: PresetName): void {
-    ngBase = name;
-    ngType = name;
-    ngFloorTyped = false;
-    const values = presetSettings(name, 1, ngDays());
-    ngForm.write(values, values);
-    ngRefresh();
+  function selectPreset(name: PresetName): void {
+    base = name;
+    type = name;
+    floorTyped = false;
+    const values = presetSettings(name, 1, days());
+    form.write(values, values);
+    refresh();
   }
 
-  for (const r of ngTypeRadios()) {
+  function setBase(name: PresetName, t: GameType): void {
+    base = name;
+    type = t;
+    floorTyped = false;
+  }
+
+  for (const r of typeRadios()) {
     // Nothing here can deal a multiplayer game: a `LocalSession` runs the engine in this browser and
     // a table needs a server. The lobby is the door, and the row says so rather than just refusing
     // the click (Jesse, 2026-08-23 — a disabled radio that looks enabled reads as a broken one).
@@ -1964,33 +2006,99 @@ if (newBtn && dlg) {
     r.onchange = () => {
       if (!r.checked) return;
       if (r.value === 'custom') {
-        ngType = 'custom';
-        ngRefresh();
+        type = 'custom';
+        refresh();
         return;
       }
-      ngSelectPreset(r.value as PresetName);
+      selectPreset(r.value as PresetName);
     };
   }
 
-  ngForm.onEdit((key) => {
-    if (key === 'minCombinedRevenue') ngFloorTyped = true;
-    ngType = 'custom';
-    ngRefresh();
+  form.onEdit((key) => {
+    if (key === 'minCombinedRevenue') floorTyped = true;
+    type = 'custom';
+    refresh();
   });
 
   // Days is a parameter, not a rule: it re-derives the floor and never makes a game Custom by itself.
-  field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-days').oninput = () => {
-    if (!ngFloorTyped) {
-      const values = ngForm.read();
-      const want = presetSettings(ngBase, 1, ngDays());
-      ngForm.write({ ...values, minCombinedRevenue: want.minCombinedRevenue }, want);
+  field<HTMLInputElement>('days').oninput = () => {
+    if (!floorTyped) {
+      const values = form.read();
+      const want = presetSettings(base, 1, days());
+      form.write({ ...values, minCombinedRevenue: want.minCombinedRevenue }, want);
     }
-    ngRefresh();
+    refresh();
   };
 
   // "Everyone moves one chair left" has no meaning at a table of one — disabled with the rest of the
-  // block still visible, so the two screens read the same.
-  ngForm.setEmployeeRotationAvailable(false);
+  // block still visible, so every screen that offers it reads the same.
+  form.setEmployeeRotationAvailable(false);
+
+  return { form, days, refresh, selectPreset, setBase };
+}
+
+/**
+ * THE COMMIT — reads a wired block's answers and turns them into a URL, the same path `?seed=`
+ * already took: `start()` reads it back out, so there is exactly one place that turns a URL into a
+ * game, whichever screen produced it.
+ */
+function commitNewGame(wired: WiredGameType, seedFieldValue: string): void {
+  const asked = seedFieldValue.trim();
+  // A seed the browser cannot parse is not a reason to refuse to deal — blank and unparseable both
+  // mean "surprise me", which is what leaving the box alone plainly asks for.
+  const seed = asked === '' || !Number.isFinite(Number(asked)) ? '' : String(Math.trunc(Number(asked)));
+  const settings = wired.form.read();
+  const rules = houseRules({
+    houseRules: {
+      startingHand: settings.startingHand,
+      extraStart: settings.extraStart,
+      discardTimetabled: settings.discardTimetabled,
+      revenue: {
+        passengerPerCoach: settings.passengerPerCoach,
+        freightPerLoad: settings.freightPerLoad,
+        trainPerTransit: settings.trainPerTransit,
+      },
+    },
+  });
+  const victory: NewGameOptions = {
+    days: Math.max(1, wired.days()),
+    minCombinedRevenue: settings.minCombinedRevenue,
+    maxCollisionsPerDay: settings.maxCollisionsPerDay,
+    maxCollisionsTotal: settings.maxCollisionsTotal,
+    optionalRules: {
+      reducedVisibility: settings.reducedVisibility,
+      // Never on at a table of one, whatever the box says — the control is disabled for the same
+      // reason, and this is the half that reaches the engine.
+      employeeRotation: false,
+      emergencyToolbox: settings.emergencyToolbox,
+    },
+  };
+
+  clearSave();
+  const next = rulesToUrl(rules, victory, seed);
+  // Assigning the search string the page ALREADY has does nothing at all, which reads as a button
+  // that did not work — and it is the common case: deal a random seed, decide it was a bad deal,
+  // deal another at the same settings. Reload instead, and `start()` rolls a fresh seed.
+  if (next === location.search) location.reload();
+  else location.search = next;
+}
+
+const newBtn = document.getElementById('newgame');
+const dlg = document.getElementById('newgamedlg') as HTMLDialogElement | null;
+if (newBtn && dlg) {
+  const field = <T extends HTMLElement>(id: string): T => document.getElementById(id) as T;
+
+  /**
+   * THE SAME FIVE GAME TYPES THE LOBBY OFFERS, and the same shared rules block under them.
+   *
+   * The dialog used to carry its own copy of the questions and its own idea of the defaults, which
+   * is how it ended up with "where an Extra may start" that the lobby did not have and none of the
+   * three optional rules that it did. Every screen now reads `presets.ts` and drives its block
+   * through `settings-form.ts`; only Solitaire can actually be DEALT here, so the three multiplayer
+   * types are shown disabled rather than hidden — what this screen offers and what the lobby offers
+   * should read as one list, not two.
+   */
+  const ng = wireGameTypeBlock('ng-', dlg);
 
   /**
    * ASK FOR ALL OF IT, rather than documenting URL parameters in the title bar.
@@ -2019,67 +2127,49 @@ if (newBtn && dlg) {
 
     field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-seed').value = '';
     field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-days').value = String(f.days);
-    ngBase = 'solitaire';
-    ngType = 'solitaire';
-    ngFloorTyped = false;
+    ng.setBase('solitaire', 'solitaire');
     // The rules actually in play, then the comparison decides what to call them.
-    ngForm.write(settingsOf(configFromFrame(f)), presetSettings('solitaire', 1, f.days));
-    ngForm.setEmployeeRotationAvailable(false);
-    ngRefresh();
+    ng.form.write(settingsOf(configFromFrame(f)), presetSettings('solitaire', 1, f.days));
+    ng.refresh();
     dlg.showModal();
   };
 
   /**
    * One handler for every way the dialog can close — the Deal button, the Cancel button, and Esc,
    * which `<dialog>` answers with an empty `returnValue` and no submit event at all.
-   *
-   * The answers go into the URL and the page navigates, which is the same path `?seed=` already
-   * took: `start()` reads them back, so there is exactly one place that turns a URL into a game.
    */
   dlg.addEventListener('close', () => {
     if (dlg.returnValue !== 'deal') return;
-
-    const asked = field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-seed').value.trim();
-    // A seed the browser cannot parse is not a reason to refuse to deal — blank and unparseable
-    // both mean "surprise me", which is what leaving the box alone plainly asks for.
-    const seed = asked === '' || !Number.isFinite(Number(asked)) ? '' : String(Math.trunc(Number(asked)));
-    const settings = ngForm.read();
-    const rules = houseRules({
-      houseRules: {
-        startingHand: settings.startingHand,
-        extraStart: settings.extraStart,
-        discardTimetabled: settings.discardTimetabled,
-        revenue: {
-          passengerPerCoach: settings.passengerPerCoach,
-          freightPerLoad: settings.freightPerLoad,
-          trainPerTransit: settings.trainPerTransit,
-        },
-      },
-    });
-    const victory: NewGameOptions = {
-      days: Math.max(1, ngDays()),
-      minCombinedRevenue: settings.minCombinedRevenue,
-      maxCollisionsPerDay: settings.maxCollisionsPerDay,
-      maxCollisionsTotal: settings.maxCollisionsTotal,
-      optionalRules: {
-        reducedVisibility: settings.reducedVisibility,
-        // Never on at a table of one, whatever the box says — the control is disabled for the same
-        // reason, and this is the half that reaches the engine.
-        employeeRotation: false,
-        emergencyToolbox: settings.emergencyToolbox,
-      },
-    };
-
-    clearSave();
-    const next = rulesToUrl(rules, victory, seed);
-    // Assigning the search string the page ALREADY has does nothing at all, which reads as a button
-    // that did not work — and it is the common case: deal a random seed, decide it was a bad deal,
-    // deal another at the same settings. Reload instead, and `start()` rolls a fresh seed.
-    if (next === location.search) location.reload();
-    else location.search = next;
+    commitNewGame(ng, field<HTMLInputElement>('ng-seed').value);
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * THE PRE-GAME SETUP SCREEN — asked before the FIRST solitaire deal, the same way `#lobby` is
+ * already asked before the first multiplayer one (Jesse, 2026-08-29: "let the user choose their
+ * options like the start of a multiplayer game"; "asking first is the only path").
+ *
+ * Only reached for a genuinely fresh visit — `start()` is what decides that; by the time this runs,
+ * there is no saved game and no URL already carrying a deal's answers. It opens on the plain
+ * Solitaire defaults, since there is no live game to compare against yet, and reuses the identical
+ * `wireGameTypeBlock`/`commitNewGame` pair the in-game dialog uses — the two are one design, not two.
+ */
+function runSolitaireSetup(params: URLSearchParams): void {
+  const screen = document.getElementById('solitairesetup');
+  const dealBtn = document.getElementById('ss-deal');
+  if (!screen || !dealBtn) return;
+
+  const ss = wireGameTypeBlock('ss-', screen);
+  // A `?seed=` with no other rules params still means SOMETHING — a shared or bookmarked link
+  // naming a specific deal — so it is honoured as a prefill rather than discarded because this
+  // visit happened to be routed through the screen that now asks first.
+  const seedField = document.getElementById('ss-seed') as HTMLInputElement | null;
+  if (seedField) seedField.value = params.get('seed') ?? '';
+
+  ss.selectPreset('solitaire');
+  dealBtn.onclick = () => commitNewGame(ss, seedField?.value ?? '');
+}
+
 const zoomOutBtn = document.getElementById('zoomout') as HTMLButtonElement | null;
 const zoomInBtn = document.getElementById('zoomin') as HTMLButtonElement | null;
 const zoomLabel = document.getElementById('zoomlabel');

src/web/play.html

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ main{display:grid;grid-template-columns:minmax(0,1fr) 400px;gap:14px;padding:14p
 @media(max-width:1100px){main{grid-template-columns:1fr}}
 section{background:var(--panel);border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:7px;
   padding:10px 12px;margin-bottom:12px}
-#lobby{max-width:1040px;margin:0 auto;padding:14px}
+#lobby,#solitairesetup{max-width:1040px;margin:0 auto;padding:14px}
 /* The create form is two short lists, not one long one: what game this is on the left, what its
    rules are on the right. Collapses to one column where there is no room for two. */
 .lb-two{display:grid;grid-template-columns:minmax(0,1fr) minmax(0,1.1fr);gap:22px;align-items:start}
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ section{background:var(--panel);border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:7px;
 .ng-radio.disabled{opacity:.45;cursor:not-allowed}
 .ng-radio.disabled:hover{background:none}
 .lb-why{color:#e0b060;font-size:11px}
-#lobby h2{margin-top:0}
-#lobby h3{margin-bottom:2px}
+#lobby h2,#solitairesetup h2{margin-top:0}
+#lobby h3,#solitairesetup h3{margin-bottom:2px}
 .lb-seat{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;padding:5px 0;border-bottom:1px solid var(--line)}
 .lb-seat:last-child{border-bottom:none}
 .lb-seat .who{flex:1}
@@ -592,6 +592,185 @@ ul.blocked li{padding:2px 0}
   </section>
 </div>
 
+<!-- ===================================================================
+     SOLITAIRE SETUP — the same question multiplayer already asks first,
+     now asked here too (Jesse, 2026-08-29): a genuinely fresh visit deals
+     nothing until this screen's own Deal button is pressed. A saved game,
+     an explicit `?seed=`, or a URL already carrying a Deal's answers (any
+     of the shared block's fields — `hand` names the one always written)
+     all skip straight past this screen, exactly as `?lobby` already skips
+     past it into the lobby: those are not "no plan yet", they are a
+     choice already made, elsewhere.
+
+     THE SAME BLOCK THE DIALOG AND THE LOBBY USE, same shared module
+     (`settings-form.ts`), same order — three screens are one design now
+     instead of two. Only Solitaire can be dealt from here, so the other
+     four types are shown exactly as the in-game dialog shows them: present,
+     disabled, with a note pointing at the Multiplayer door instead.
+     ==================================================================== -->
+<div id="solitairesetup" hidden>
+  <header><b><a href="./index.html" class="home">Station Master</a></b> — <span class="dim">Solitaire</span></header>
+
+  <section>
+    <h2>New solitaire game</h2>
+    <p class="ng-note">One railroad, one player, five full days by default — everything below is
+       yours to change before you deal. Clearing the Revenue floor wins; falling short loses.</p>
+
+    <div class="lb-params">
+      <label class="ng-num"><span>Seed</span>
+        <input id="ss-seed" type="text" inputmode="numeric" autocomplete="off" placeholder="blank for a random seed"></label>
+      <label class="ng-num"><span>Days</span>
+        <input id="ss-days" type="number" min="1" max="20" step="1" value="5"></label>
+    </div>
+    <p class="ng-note">The same seed and the same settings always deal the same railroad, so a game
+       can be shared, compared or replayed. Leave it blank for a random one.</p>
+
+    <h3>Game type</h3>
+    <div class="set-row" id="ss-type-row">
+      <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-type" value="solitaire" checked>
+        <span><b>Solitaire</b><br><span class="dim">One railroad, one player. The whole Division is yours to run.</span></span></label>
+      <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-type" value="coop">
+        <span><b>Co-op</b><br><span class="dim">Everyone&#8217;s Revenue is one table score. You win together or lose together.</span></span></label>
+      <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-type" value="competitive">
+        <span><b>Competitive</b><br><span class="dim">Highest Revenue wins — unless the table misses its combined minimum, and then everyone loses.</span></span></label>
+      <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-type" value="cutthroat">
+        <span><b>Cutthroat</b><br><span class="dim">Highest Revenue wins, and nothing is shared — the only way everyone loses is three collisions in one Day.</span></span></label>
+      <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-type" value="custom">
+        <span><b>Custom</b><br><span class="dim">Whatever you set below. Selected for you the moment you change a rule; it is scored as the type you started from.</span></span></label>
+    </div>
+
+    <p class="ng-note" id="ss-type-note"></p>
+
+    <details id="ss-settings" open>
+      <summary>Game settings</summary>
+      <p class="ng-note">Every rule the game type sets, and every one of them yours to change.
+         Changing any of them selects <b>Custom</b>; clicking a type again resets all of them back
+         to it.</p>
+      <div class="set-groups">
+
+      <div class="set-group">
+      <h3>Starting hand</h3>
+      <p class="ng-note">What you are dealt before the first turn. The hand limit is three either
+         way — deal six and the first turn is spent choosing which of them to keep.</p>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-hand-row">
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-hand" value="threeRandom">
+          <span><b>Three random cards</b><br><span class="dim">The original rule. At the hand limit already, and no guarantee of track.</span></span></label>
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-hand" value="sixRandom" checked>
+          <span><b>Six random cards</b><br><span class="dim">Twice the choice, still no guaranteed track — the first turn is a discard.</span></span></label>
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-hand" value="threeTrackThreeOther">
+          <span><b>Three random track and three random non-track cards</b><br><span class="dim">Dealt from two piles, so the district you can build is dealt rather than waited for.</span></span></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-hand-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="set-group">
+      <h3>Where an Extra may start</h3>
+      <p class="ng-note">The player who plays an Extra Train card chooses where its Crew Tray goes,
+         and the place decides which way it runs — a Division Point sends it away from itself; in the
+         middle of the railroad the player picks east or west. The Division Points and the Interchange
+         belong to nobody and are always available. Starting one inside a district is the part that
+         favours a seat, so it is set here. An Office must be a Control Point whatever this says: a
+         Whistle Post never qualifies.</p>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-extra-row">
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-extra" value="divisionPointsOnly">
+          <span><b>Division Points and the Interchange only</b><br><span class="dim">The strictest reading. Every Extra begins on shared ground.</span></span></label>
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-extra" value="ownOffice">
+          <span><b>Also the playing player&#8217;s own Control Point</b><br><span class="dim">You may start one at home, but not in somebody else&#8217;s district.</span></span></label>
+        <label class="ng-radio"><input type="radio" name="ss-extra" value="anyOffice">
+          <span><b>Also any player&#8217;s Control Point</b><br><span class="dim">The most permissive — an Extra may be planted in another player&#8217;s district.</span></span></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-extra-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="set-group">
+      <h3>Revenue</h3>
+      <p class="ng-note">What each piece of work pays, 0 to 5. A coach pays when it is boarded and
+         again when it is detrained; a load pays when it is made up and again when it is broken. Zero
+         switches an economy off so the others can be read.</p>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-passenger-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Passenger revenue per coach</span>
+          <input id="ss-passenger" type="number" min="0" max="5" step="1" value="1"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-passenger-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-freight-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Freight revenue per load</span>
+          <input id="ss-freight" type="number" min="0" max="5" step="1" value="1"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-freight-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-transit-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Train revenue per transit</span>
+          <input id="ss-transit" type="number" min="0" max="5" step="1" value="0"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-transit-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <p class="ng-note">A transit pays every player, once, when a train runs off the end of the
+         Division — the one thing nobody has to work for.</p>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="set-group">
+      <h3>Victory conditions</h3>
+      <p class="ng-note">The ways this game can end badly. How long it runs is set above, in Days.</p>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-minrev-row">
+        <label class="ng-gate"><input type="checkbox" id="ss-minrev-on" checked>
+          <span>You lose if Revenue at the end is under</span>
+          <input id="ss-minrev" type="number" min="0" step="1" class="gate-num"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-minrev-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-colday-row">
+        <label class="ng-gate"><input type="checkbox" id="ss-colday-on" checked>
+          <span>The game ends in a loss if collisions in one Day reach</span>
+          <input id="ss-colday" type="number" min="0" step="1" class="gate-num"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-colday-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-coltotal-row">
+        <label class="ng-gate"><input type="checkbox" id="ss-coltotal-on" checked>
+          <span>The game ends in a loss after this many collisions in the whole game</span>
+          <input id="ss-coltotal" type="number" min="0" step="1" class="gate-num"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-coltotal-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <p class="ng-note">The opponent-directed cards — Derail, Watertower, Hobo Jungle and the
+         nineteen others, along with the seven that answer them — are not implemented yet, so no game
+         type deals them whatever else is set here.</p>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="set-group">
+      <h3>Optional rules</h3>
+      <p class="ng-note">Off in every game type; each one changes how the game plays.</p>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-visibility-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Reduced Visibility — five switching Moves instead of six in the
+          night Stages (1&ndash;3 and 11&ndash;12)</span>
+          <input id="ss-visibility" type="checkbox"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-visibility-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-rotation-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Employee Rotation — meaningless at a table of one, shown here so
+          this screen and the lobby read as one list</span>
+          <input id="ss-rotation" type="checkbox" disabled></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-rotation-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-toolbox-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>Emergency Toolbox — start holding a Red Flag, so a hand of four;
+          play or discard down to three on the first turn</span>
+          <input id="ss-toolbox" type="checkbox"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-toolbox-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="set-row" id="ss-tossloco-row">
+        <label class="ng-num"><span>A Timetabled train may be discarded — toss it face-up to a
+          Department slot. Turn this off and a train card can only ever be played onto the timetable.
+          An Extra is never discardable either way</span>
+          <input id="ss-tossloco" type="checkbox"></label>
+        <span class="set-hint" id="ss-tossloco-hint"></span>
+      </div>
+      </div>
+
+      </div>
+    </details>
+
+    <menu class="ng-buttons">
+      <button id="ss-deal" type="button">Deal</button>
+    </menu>
+  </section>
+</div>
+
 <div id="gameui" hidden>
 <div class="topbar">
 <header>

test/web.test.ts

@@ -3815,18 +3815,20 @@ describe('the lobby and the dialog ask the same questions', () => {
     return readFileSync(join(dist, 'play.html'), 'utf8');
   };
 
-  it('carries every field of the shared block on both screens', () => {
+  it('carries every field of the shared block on all three screens', () => {
+    // `ss-` joined `lb-`/`ng-` 2026-08-29: the pre-game solitaire setup screen drives the identical
+    // block ("asking first is the only path"). Same drift guard, one more prefix.
     const html = page();
-    for (const prefix of ['lb-', 'ng-']) {
+    for (const prefix of ['lb-', 'ng-', 'ss-']) {
       for (const selector of fieldSelectors(prefix)) {
         assert.ok(html.includes(selector), `the ${prefix} block is missing ${selector}`);
       }
     }
   });
 
-  it('offers all five game types on both screens', () => {
+  it('offers all five game types on all three screens', () => {
     const html = page();
-    for (const prefix of ['lb-', 'ng-']) {
+    for (const prefix of ['lb-', 'ng-', 'ss-']) {
       for (const type of ['solitaire', 'coop', 'competitive', 'cutthroat', 'custom']) {
         assert.ok(
           html.includes(`name="${prefix}type" value="${type}"`),
@@ -3905,6 +3907,13 @@ describe('the New Game dialog', () => {
       'ng-hand': group(['threeRandom', 'sixRandom', 'threeTrackThreeOther'], 'sixRandom'),
       'ng-extra': group(['divisionPointsOnly', 'ownOffice', 'anyOffice'], 'anyOffice'),
       'ng-type': group(['solitaire', 'coop', 'competitive', 'cutthroat', 'custom'], 'coop'),
+      // The pre-game setup screen (Gitea, "asking first is the only path", 2026-08-29) drives the
+      // same shared block under the `ss-` prefix — one set here too, matching the markup's own
+      // `checked` defaults rather than the dialog's (Solitaire, not Co-op: there is no live game to
+      // reopen on, so the static default IS the Solitaire default).
+      'ss-hand': group(['threeRandom', 'sixRandom', 'threeTrackThreeOther'], 'sixRandom'),
+      'ss-extra': group(['divisionPointsOnly', 'ownOffice', 'anyOffice'], 'anyOffice'),
+      'ss-type': group(['solitaire', 'coop', 'competitive', 'cutthroat', 'custom'], 'solitaire'),
     };
     const matching = (sel: string): Radio[] => {
       const name = /name="([^"]+)"/.exec(sel)?.[1] ?? '';
@@ -4142,11 +4151,22 @@ describe('the New Game dialog', () => {
     assert.match(String(els.get('gametype')!['title']), /Days: 5/, 'the tooltip does not carry the victory conditions');
   });
 
+  it('asks before the first deal — a bare visit shows the setup screen, not a dealt game', async () => {
+    // Jesse, 2026-08-29: "let the user choose their options like the start of a multiplayer game";
+    // "asking first is the only path". A saved game, an explicit seed, or a URL a Deal already wrote
+    // (checked via `hand`, below) all skip this screen — nothing else does.
+    const { els } = await load('');
+    assert.equal(els.get('solitairesetup')!['hidden'], false, 'the setup screen stayed hidden');
+    assert.equal(els.get('gameui')!['hidden'], true, 'a game was dealt before anyone chose anything');
+  });
+
   it('deals six cards by default now, matching what the lobby calls Solitaire', async () => {
     // Jesse, 2026-08-23: every game type opens with six. `SOLO_CONFIG` — the ENGINE's fallback, which
-    // every sim measurement is taken against — deliberately did not move; this is the page's deal.
-    const { els } = await load('');
-    assert.match(String(els.get('houserules')!['textContent']), /6 cards/);
+    // every sim measurement is taken against — deliberately did not move; this is what the setup
+    // screen deals when nothing on it is touched, the same way the dialog always has.
+    const { els, nav } = await load('');
+    (els.get('ss-deal')!['onclick'] as () => void)();
+    assert.match(nav.search, /hand=sixRandom/, "the setup screen's own default was not six cards");
   });
 
   it('ignores a seed the browser cannot parse rather than refusing to deal', async () => {