Combat clarity

• Final deaths now show the impact and fatal cause clearly, clear lingering hazards, and transition into Game Over without the red vignette seam or secondary combat messages covering the moment.
• Game Over, results, and leaderboard transitions now stay composed while data loads instead of dropping to a black screen.
• Score, combo, survival, mission status, and high-score chase information have clearer priority during dense fights.
• Ace identity plates, combo feedback, first-run controls, and combat notifications now avoid the permanent HUD lanes.
• Ordinary full-health enemy bars are quieter while damaged, durable, elite, Ace, and boss health remains readable.
• Pilot Order progress respects its compact top-lane presentation and lower-priority messages are suppressed during life loss.

Controls and run flow

• Added Fire Input Hold/Toggle and Mouse Steering Off/On options, with local and Steam Cloud persistence.
• Fire input now remains consistent through pause and presentation transitions and resets safely after focus loss or a new run.
• Combo progress now carries through non-interactive wave and boss transitions and expires only during active play.
• Bomb targeting and opening boss inputs are more reliable around briefings and vulnerability windows.
• Overrun entry reinforcements no longer cause ship contact damage before their entry phase is active.

Menu, Hangar and accessibility

• Mode briefings now include an explicit LAUNCH RUN action while keyboard and controller quick launch remain available.
• Hangar descriptions, traits, and weaknesses no longer truncate at common desktop resolutions.
• Viewing a hull no longer silently equips it. Previewed and active hulls are labeled clearly, launching commits the visible choice, and VIEW RECOMMENDED is available.
• Ship Details keeps the Hangar context visible instead of opening over an empty black backdrop.
• Added persistent UI Volume, Flash Intensity, and Reduced Motion settings.

Thanks for the reports, recordings, and difficult edge cases. They continue to make the swarm clearer without making it softer.