Mandatory Videos

Overview

You drop video files into a folder. The app picks one at random and plays it fullscreen, on top of whatever you were doing, a few times an hour. Nothing is downloaded for you and nothing is bundled - it only ever plays files you put there yourself.

By default you can still close a video with the panic key. If you want that taken away, that is what Strict Lock is for. Start with it off.

Video Settings

The two length sliders are the Duration filter. Both default to 0, which means no limit. Use them when your folder is a mix of ten-second clips and half-hour files and you only want one kind right now.

What actually happens

• Videos come from the videos/ subfolder of your assets folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\ConditioningControlPanel\assets\ by default, or wherever you point Pick Folder in the System card on the Dashboard)
• Recognised file types: .mp4, .mov, .avi, .wmv, .mkv, .webm
• Playback is fullscreen and always-on-top, with no title bar. You can't move it, resize it, or minimise it
• It plays on your primary monitor. Turn on Multi Mon in the System card and it fills every screen instead - on three or more monitors you also need Fill all monitors with video, which is off by default to keep the decoders from stacking up
• Audio from your other apps is ducked while it plays
• Press the panic key (default: Escape) to stop it, unless Strict Lock is on
• Watch time counts toward achievements and daily quests. XP for videos comes from the attention check mini-game, not from playback itself

Strict Lock Mode

Strict Lock removes your exit. With it on, a video plays to the end whether you want it to or not.

Turning it on

The app makes you confirm twice on purpose:

1. A dialog lists what you're agreeing to: no skipping, no closing, panic key only, "this can be very intense and restrictive"
2. Tick I understand enabling Strict Lock is dangerous. The confirm button stays greyed out until you do
3. Click Enable Anyway

Getting out

No Panic is a separate switch in System settings that disables the panic key everywhere, not just for videos. Stacking it with Strict Lock means the app has no stop button at all. Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) always works, and there is no penalty for using it.

Attention Checks (Mini-Game)

Also called Mini-Game in the app. While a video plays, buttons pop up at random spots on screen. Click them before they vanish. It's a proof-of-presence check: it stops the video from becoming background noise you scroll past.

The dice icon next to Targets randomises the count instead, picking anywhere from 1 up to your slider value each time.

How a round plays out

1. A button appears somewhere on screen with a phrase on it, like "GOOD GIRL" or "OBEY"
2. Click it before the timer runs out. That's a hit, worth +15 XP, and it can fire a haptic pulse if you have a device paired
3. On multi-monitor setups the same target spawns on every screen. Catching any one of them clears the whole batch
4. Catch every target and you get a completion bonus on top: 200 XP plus 50 more for each replay you had to sit through
5. Miss even one and the video starts over. That's the consequence

Editing the phrases

The Phrases button opens the target word list. It ships with a dozen defaults (CLICK ME, GOOD GIRL, DROP, OBEY, ACCEPT, SUBMIT and others) and you can add, remove, or switch off any of them. The Style button next to it changes how the target looks - colours, border, font.

Stare to click

If you've set up Webcam Tracking, the Stare to click toggle lets you hit a target by looking at it for about a second instead of clicking it. Same hit, same reward.

Audio Ducking

Ducking turns down everything else on your PC while a video plays, so the video is what you hear. It lives on the Audio card on the Dashboard, behind the advanced toggle, not in the video panel.

How it works

1. A video starts. The app turns down each other app's volume individually, using Windows' per-app mixer. Your system volume is not touched
2. The video plays at whatever you set under Video volume
3. Apps that start mid-video get turned down too - the app rescans while ducking is active
4. When the video ends, every app is put back where it was. If the app crashes mid-duck, it writes down the old levels first and restores them on next launch, so nothing stays stuck quiet

Tips & Troubleshooting

Which file formats to use

Playback runs on LibVLC, so most things work. If you're converting anyway:

• MP4 (H.264) - the safe default
• WebM - fine alternative
• MKV, MOV, AVI, WMV - all recognised, just bigger or fussier

Common issues