yaze/docs/internal/research/implot-visualization-ideas.md

ImPlot Integration and Visualization Ideas

This repository now ships a thin wrapper for ImPlot under yaze::gui::plotting (src/app/gui/plots/implot_support.*). The helpers:

• Ensure the ImPlot context exists (EnsureImPlotContext()).
• Apply theme-aware styling (PlotStyleScope, BuildStyleFromTheme).
• Wrap BeginPlot/EndPlot with RAII (PlotGuard).

Example usage:

using namespace yaze::gui::plotting;

PlotStyleScope plot_style(ThemeManager::Get().GetCurrentTheme());
PlotConfig config{.id = "Tile Usage", .flags = ImPlotFlags_NoLegend};
PlotGuard plot(config);
if (plot) {
  ImPlot::PlotHistogram("tiles", tile_hist.data(), tile_hist.size());
}

Candidate ROM-hacking visualizations worth adding:

• Tile and palette analytics: histograms of tile IDs per region; stacked bars of palette usage; scatter of tile index vs. frequency to find unused art.
• VRAM/CHR timelines: line plots of VRAM writes or DMA burst sizes during playback; overlays comparing two builds to spot regressions.
• Memory watch dashboards: line plots of key WRAM variables (health, rupees, mode flags) with markers for room transitions or boss flags.
• RNG/logic inspection: scatter of RNG seed vs. outcome (drops, patterns); step plots of RNG state across frames to debug determinism.
• Audio/SPC insight: per-channel volume over time; simple spectrum snapshots before/after a music tweak.
• Compression/asset diffs: bar charts of bank sizes and free space; plot of LZ chunk sizes to catch anomalies.
• Overworld/dungeon tuning: line plots of enemy counts, chest density, or item rarity per region; cumulative difficulty curves across progression.
• Performance profiling: stacked bars for frame time breakdowns (render vs. emu vs. scripting); list of slowest frames with hover tooltips describing scene state.
• Script/event timelines: Gantt-like plots for cutscene steps or event triggers, with hover showing script IDs and offsets.