Cosmetic throne-room presentation

The original Civilization II manual, Throne Room, explicitly says additions may be ignored “with no repercussions” and that disabling Throne Room in Graphics Options hides them. It separately describes clicking the colored schematic elements to select decorations. Source: original manual.

The original GAME.TXT resources distinguish the complete @THRONE narrative from @ADDTOTHRONE, “Which section shall we improve?” The normal runner may acknowledge the complete source-matched narrative. It does not automatically choose a decoration from the following graphical room.

Attempt 004 encountered that graphical boundary during development. The operator used the following ordinary, individually recorded cosmetic inputs:

Original captures	Ordinary input	Observed result
350 → 351	Escape	Pixels unchanged; no dismissal claimed
352 → 353	Click observed question heading	Pointer moved; chooser remained
355 → 356	Click the visible central chair at (302, 286)	Room presentation changed
357	Three seconds of painting, no ordinary input	Wooden chair visibly rendered
358 → 359	Click completed room floor at (320, 380)	Original map returned, displaying 3300 BC

The records are separate native_cosmetic_escape_attempted, native_cosmetic_click_attempted, native_cosmetic_section_clicked, and native_cosmetic_display_click_attempted events. They retain actual source and result image hashes, ordinary input receipts, and reviewed visual references. The section selection is explicitly operator-selected cosmetic decoration; it is not a Jev choice or evidence of autonomous gameplay. Failed probes do not claim success. The guarded development helpers did not alter game memory, rules, saves, or model probabilities.

At a recognized native-map boundary, civ2.preferences.configure_throne_presentation(ui) can disable future Throne Room presentations through the original Ctrl+P menu. It reads all six checkboxes before and after, changes only Throne Room if needed, and refuses to confirm if any other checkbox changes. Its graphics_preferences_configured receipt has the explicit scope Original cosmetic Throne Room presentation only; no gameplay command. On a fresh run, the runner performs the existing Civilopedia-only setup and this Throne Room toggle as two separate verified transactions at the first recognized map boundary, reobserving after each. Neither is opened over a research, production, or other mandatory dialog.

Attempt 004 verified Throne Room True → False. Diplomacy Screen, Animated Heralds, High Council, and Wonder Movies stayed True; Civilopedia for Advances stayed False. The original post-configuration image SHA-256 was e0061c11b35605f6a96afe23ee664cd6d4c25819e10ec9e8c3fda972e96e58cb.

No permanent palace-selection policy is implemented. Cosmetic receipts remain distinct from model decisions and native gameplay checkpoint evidence.