Docs: 07-21 ArtStaging A0 value/composition rework log (J) + roadmap A0 update

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-21 20:46:26 -07:00
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+# 2026-07-21 (J) — ArtStaging A0 value-hierarchy + composition pass
+
+**Operator: screenshot ArtStaging, critically analyze, then "implement all of those changes."** A critical read of
+the A0 style-proof scene found the mood + material system passing but the **value hierarchy and composition
+failing** — the suit's cream albedo (and later its lamp emissive) out-valued the warm beacon, inverting the
+"light is territory" thesis; the Drowner faced away and died at 200px; the crate was occluded; the suit was
+T-posed. Four of five fixes were staging (headless); the fifth (pose) is a Blender sitting.
+
+## Shipped (ArtStaging.unity + shared assets)
+
+1. **Value hierarchy — the thesis fix.** The culprit was GLOBAL fill flattening the scene: `KeyWarm`
+   directional 1.25→**0.15**, `CausticsSpot` 32→**9**, `GloamFill` 0.5→**0.22**. Then `WarmPool` (was a point
+   light sitting over the crate, blasting the suit's chest into a blown bloom streak) → converted to a
+   **downward warm SPOT** (pos y3.6, straight down, 80° cone, range 10, intensity 85): a defined warm ground
+   DISC = literal territory, lighting the suit top-down instead of punching its chest. `M_Emissive_Warm`
+   (chest/port/shoulder lamps) tamed 1.0→**0.62**; bloom threshold 1.0→**1.3** (the three coincident lamp
+   emissives were blooming into a horizontal streak at the old threshold). **Grayscale-verified:** the gold
+   dome (a LIGHT) is now the brightest value and the warm disc reads as a mid-value territory — the correct
+   winner. Iterated across 4 capture passes to land the pool strength vs suit-blast balance.
+2. **Drowner** rotated to face camera (was showing its back, Y20→Y200) + `M_Emissive_Gloam` accents boosted
+   (0.16,1,0.53 → 0.45,1.3,0.75) so the silhouette rims from any angle (VFX-first identity). Now reads at 200px.
+3. **Recompose**: crate inside the warm pool beside the suit (ours/banked), Drowner at the pool's RIGHT edge
+   (threat lives at the light boundary), suit center — the composition serves the fiction. Triad reads as three.
+4. **Ability-bar leak fixed** (my regression): `AbilityBarSystem.OnUpdate` early-returns with no valid
+   NetworkTime, so in ArtStaging (client world, no connection) the tree built but the "hide when no local
+   player" line never ran → an empty 5-slot bar polluted the frame. Fix: root defaults `DisplayStyle.None` at
+   build, flips to Flex only when a local player is found — also kills any pre-connect/menu flash in gameplay.
+
+## NOT done — the suit pose (operator-gated Blender sitting)
+
+The staging suit is one combined Synty body mesh (`SM_Chr_SpaceSoldier_Male_01`) welded with 37 static kit
+attachments, **no rig** in the exported asset (Unity: SMR=0, no Animator). Posing the T-pose requires a Blender
+session — rig the body to the Synty humanoid armature (which is conveniently the current Blender workspace:
+`Armature` + `SK_DUMMY_POLYGON_01` + a `PoseCam` are open), pose it, re-parent/re-weld the 37 attachments, and
+re-export. That's an `/art-dev` nudge-and-bake sitting (operator is a Blender beginner), NOT a headless tweak,
+and it aligns with the roadmap already flagging the custom Wick pose/sculpt as **A3** work. Did NOT force a
+scripted pose (would risk breaking the 37-attachment fit) and did NOT clobber the operator's live Blender
+session. Presented as the one remaining A0 item.
+
+## A0 verdict
+
+Mood + material system: PASS (unchanged). Value hierarchy + composition: now PASS on the mechanical three-way
+judge (full-size / 200px / grayscale). Remaining before sign-off: the suit pose, plus the two eyes-on-only
+criteria a still can't judge (flicker-cadence steady-vs-gutter, and the binding "this game and no other game"
+call). Captures: scratchpad `artstaging_final.png` + `final_gray.png` + `final_200.png`.
+
+**Next:** the pose sitting (if the operator wants A0 closed now) or accept the concept-pose and sign off on the
+lighting/composition; either way the style-proof scene is materially stronger than the 07-14 build.