Docs: SL-1/SL-4 visual-cohesion session log + Backlog status

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Docs/Vault/06_Roadmap/Backlog.md

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Last decluttered 2026-06-08 (removed all shipped `[x]` items; their context is p
 **Critical path:** SL-1 → SL-2 → **SL-3 (END-2)** → SL-5 → SL-6 → SL-7; SL-4 (visual) runs parallel, done by Jun 23. Every milestone ends with a **falsifiable play/fun-gate**, not a test count. Full vision + visual direction + cohesion checklist + Done Definition: [[End_Of_Month_Game_Jam_Slice]].
 
 ### SL-1 — Scope Lock & Arena Cleanup `Jun 13-15` · risk LOW
+> **Largely DONE 2026-06-13** (with SL-4): ARPG camera locked to a research-grounded steeper telephoto (pitch 58 / dist 17 / FOV 44 so Core + arena read together); meadow noise removed (~390 cheer/village objects cut); the Ore annulus pulled into the arena (6–11.5 m, 12 nodes) + the Core staged as the hero. **Open:** the Pylon decision; final camera lock-in via the operator's playtest. See [[2026-06-13_SL1_SL4_Visual_Cohesion_Dark_Frontier]].
 - **Goal:** one compact (<~20 m radius, single-camera) base-defense arena with the Core as the hero object; lock the slice doc as the frozen target; set ARPG camera framing.
 - **Tasks:** confirm compact footprint + Core centered/dominant · hide/remove non-slice noise (expedition rift/warpgate/distracting props; keep perimeter dark & quiet) · tune `PrototypeCameraRig` (today Pitch 45° / Dist 13 / FOV 55 — verify player+enemies+2 structures+Core read in one view, dash trajectory visible) · verify Ore annulus (~10–12 nodes) spacing reads · **decide Pylon** (give the 4th palette entry a job + cyan accent, or cut it — slice names only Turret/Wall/Fabricator) · confirm Save/Continue (SaveData v4) is ready, no extra polish.
 - **Fun-gate:** a new viewer IDs player/Ore/Turret/Husk/Core/ground in <1 s; arena reads as a "small industrial clearing," not a meadow; camera neither too close nor too wide.
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ Last decluttered 2026-06-08 (removed all shipped `[x]` items; their context is p
 - **Deps:** SL-1 (arena), SL-2 (tuned baseline). **No save-schema bump** (bytes derivable on load → SaveData stays v4).
 
 ### SL-4 — Visual Cohesion Pass `Jun 20-23` (parallel) · risk MED
+> **Substantially DONE 2026-06-13** (research-grounded, screenshot-verified): the arena reads as a dark "Aether Siege Outpost" bullseye — dark teal-grey ground that recedes, cyan Core as the luminance peak, **amber** Ore ring, dark perimeter; ACES grade with gated bloom + cool-shadow/warm-highlight faction split + vignette; sun/ambient/fog darkened. **Remaining (polish + needs operator eyes):** cyan emissive on owned **structures** + orange-red Husk verification during a siege (gameplay-entity material work); 3 telegraphed spawn lanes + perimeter height-gate; minor (warm crate, Synty/Foliage grass shader, amber-emission tone). See [[2026-06-13_SL1_SL4_Visual_Cohesion_Dark_Frontier]] + the visual-direction research synthesis.
 - **Goal:** "Aether Siege Outpost" read — dark/quiet ground, cyan owned vs orange-red hostile, Core as hero; pass the slice's Visual Cohesion Checklist (slice §203–216).
 - **Tasks:** darken ground + neutral props (~40–50 %, recede them) · cyan emissive accents on player + all owned structures + Core (read at 13 m in motion) · orange-red on Husks + telegraphs · amber Ore legibility · 5–10 **dark** perimeter framing props (no sightline blockers, none brighter than Core) · post-FX: bloom only on Aether/Ore/attacks, reduce fog that washes silhouettes, subtle vignette, cool-shadow/warm-glow grade · re-test every asset import in Play (material-regression guard).
 - **Fun-gate:** a blind watcher of a 5 s clip IDs Core="base defended", cyan="owned", orange="enemy", ground="background", arena="engineered space not meadow"; cyan/orange ≥2× brighter than ground.