From b561a606e013bc9c1b78a8a13de4b3081f264ac8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "google-labs-jules[bot]"
 <161369871+google-labs-jules[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:34:42 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?=F0=9F=8E=A8=20Palette:=20Add=20explicit=20empt?=
 =?UTF-8?q?y=20state=20for=20high=20score?=
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💡 What: Added an explicit empty state message ("None yet! Start clicking!") when the player has no high score.
🎯 Why: Improves onboarding and clarity by showing the user what to achieve, rather than hiding the personal best section entirely.
📸 Before/After: Visual change in terminal output.
♿ Accessibility: Improves cognitive accessibility by providing clearer system state feedback.

Co-authored-by: EiJackGH <172181576+EiJackGH@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .Jules/palette.md | 4 ++++
 src/main.cpp      | 2 ++
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.Jules/palette.md b/.Jules/palette.md
index 05d4366..7a3ce83 100644
--- a/.Jules/palette.md
+++ b/.Jules/palette.md
@@ -33,3 +33,7 @@
 ## 2024-04-24 - Avoiding Trailing Artifacts in CLI Applications
 **Learning:** When dynamically updating terminal lines using carriage return (`\r`), relying on hardcoded padding spaces to overwrite old text is brittle and leads to trailing text artifacts when new lines are shorter than previous ones.
 **Action:** Always use the ANSI escape sequence `\033[K` (Erase in Line) immediately after the carriage return (`\r`) to cleanly clear the line before writing new content, rather than manually managing padding spaces.
+
+## 2024-05-28 - Explicit Empty States in CLI
+**Learning:** In terminal applications, users benefit from explicit empty states rather than simply hiding information when data is absent (e.g., a score of 0). This provides clearer system state and improves user onboarding.
+**Action:** Always provide explicit, encouraging empty states for data or achievements rather than hiding the UI element when empty.
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index b9144b7..e0b4899 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ int main() {
 
     if (highscore > 0) {
         std::cout << " Personal Best: " << CLR_SCORE << formatWithCommas(highscore) << CLR_RESET << "\n\n";
+    } else {
+        std::cout << " Personal Best: " << CLR_SCORE << "None yet! Start clicking!" << CLR_RESET << "\n\n";
     }
 
     std::cout << "Controls:\n " << CLR_CTRL << "[h]" << CLR_RESET << " Toggle Hard Mode (10x Speed!)\n "