Docs: 2026-08-13 — Track A (camera) shipped alongside Track B

Session log gains Part 3: the operator picked "drop" on the hold fork, and both halves of the camera fix landed. Records the measurement that forced the second half — dropping the hold ALONE was worse (max deviation 0.653 vs 0.447) because the hold had been masking the shake-integration bug — plus the before/after table and the PixelArtDevControls opt-in. Gotchas archive gains four more entries: never let a transient offset live in the value your smoothing filter reads back; a frame-counted hold is a framerate- dependent freeze; a masking fix can make the metric worse before better, so re-measure the intermediate state; HideFlags.DontSave objects survive play-mode exit and leak one per domain reload. CLAUDE.md gains a Camera-feel ★ line, paid for by trimming the MCP-edit, swept-hit, LANTERN-direction, harvest, bootstrap and presentation bullets. Now 39936 bytes — exactly the >=1 KB headroom target. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Fix: PixelArtDevControls is opt-in — it was running OnGUI in Game.unity every frame
2026-08-13 23:09:53 -07:00 · 2026-08-13 23:03:15 -07:00 · 2026-08-13 23:03:06 -07:00 · 2026-08-13 23:02:50 -07:00 · 2026-08-13 22:39:30 -07:00
24 changed files with 983 additions and 144 deletions
@@ -21,11 +21,33 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        static PixelArtDevControls _instance;

+        /// <summary>
+        /// OPT-IN EditorPref, mirroring `ProjectM/Boot Into Menu (Editor)`. This used to self-spawn into EVERY
+        /// scene — Game.unity included, not just DevSandbox — and <see cref="OnGUI"/> draws its toggle button on
+        /// every IMGUI pass BEFORE the `!_open` early-out. IMGUI dispatches at least Layout+Repaint per frame,
+        /// so it allocated continuously during normal gameplay and dominated allocation profiling until it was
+        /// found on 2026-08-13. Off by default; enable from the menu when you actually want to tune the look.
+        /// </summary>
+        const string EnabledPref = "ProjectM.PixelArtDevControls.Enabled";
+        const string MenuPath = "ProjectM/Pixel Art Dev Controls (Editor)";
+
+        [MenuItem(MenuPath)]
+        static void ToggleEnabled() => EditorPrefs.SetBool(EnabledPref, !EditorPrefs.GetBool(EnabledPref, false));
+
+        [MenuItem(MenuPath, true)]
+        static bool ToggleEnabledValidate()
+        {
+            Menu.SetChecked(MenuPath, EditorPrefs.GetBool(EnabledPref, false));
+            return true;
+        }
+
        [RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(RuntimeInitializeLoadType.AfterSceneLoad)]
        static void Bootstrap()
        {
            if (_instance != null)
                return;
+            if (!EditorPrefs.GetBool(EnabledPref, false))
+                return; // opt-in only — see EnabledPref
            var go = new GameObject("~PixelArtDevControls") { hideFlags = HideFlags.HideAndDontSave };
            DontDestroyOnLoad(go);
            _instance = go.AddComponent<PixelArtDevControls>();
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        readonly byte[] _shownSpark = new byte[SocketId.Count]; // rebuild labels only when the loadout changes
        readonly int[] _prevRemaining = new int[SlotCount];
        readonly float[] _flashUntil = new float[SlotCount];
+        // Track B: last countdown value rendered per slot, in tenths of a second (-1 = blank). Gates the
+        // float formatting in UpdateSlotCooldown, which otherwise ran 5x per frame.
+        // Seeded to int.MinValue, not the default 0: 0 is a REAL value (a cooldown under ~1/20 s rounds to
+        // 0 tenths), and a default-0 array would silently skip that first render.
+        readonly int[] _shownDeci = FilledWith(SlotCount, int.MinValue);
+        readonly bool[] _shownWhole = new bool[SlotCount]; // which countdown FORMAT is currently rendered per slot
+
+        static int[] FilledWith(int n, int v) { var a = new int[n]; for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) a[i] = v; return a; }

        static readonly Color EmptyCol = new(1f, 1f, 1f, 0.22f);
        static readonly Color ReadyGlyphCol = new(0.92f, 0.96f, 1f, 1f);
@@ -125,9 +133,27 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        {
            float frac = math.saturate(remaining / (float)total);
            _cdOverlay[slot].style.height = Length.Percent(frac * 100f);
-            _countdown[slot].text = remaining > 0
-                ? (remaining < 597 ? (remaining / 60f).ToString("0.0") : Mathf.CeilToInt(remaining / 60f).ToString())
-                : "";
+
+            // Track B: this ran for all 5 slots EVERY frame and formatted a float each time. The readout only
+            // has a tenth-of-a-second resolution (6 ticks), so quantise first and only format on a real change.
+            //
+            // The rendered text is derived from `deci`, NEVER re-derived from `remaining`. Deriving it twice is a
+            // trap: Mathf.RoundToInt rounds half-to-EVEN while ToString("0.0") rounds half-AWAY-from-zero, so the
+            // gate and the string disagreed at midpoints and the label latched a stale, too-high reading and
+            // skipped a tenth on every cooldown. CeilToInt also means the readout never reads LOWER than the true
+            // remainder. `whole` is cached alongside deci because the two branches can produce the same deci
+            // (596 ticks -> 100 -> "9.9" vs 597 ticks -> 100 -> "10") and the format must still switch.
+            bool whole = remaining >= 597;
+            int deci = remaining > 0
+                ? (whole ? Mathf.CeilToInt(remaining / 60f) * 10 : Mathf.CeilToInt(remaining / 6f))
+                : -1;
+            if (deci != _shownDeci[slot] || whole != _shownWhole[slot])
+            {
+                _shownDeci[slot] = deci;
+                _shownWhole[slot] = whole;
+                _countdown[slot].text = deci < 0 ? "" : (whole ? (deci / 10).ToString() : (deci * 0.1f).ToString("0.0"));
+            }
+
            bool empty = slot < SocketId.Count && _shownSpark[slot] == 0;
            _glyph[slot].style.color = empty ? EmptyCol : (remaining > 0 ? CoolingGlyphCol : ReadyGlyphCol);

@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        protected override void OnDestroy()
        {
            if (_root != null) Object.Destroy(_root);
+            // The AudioSources die with _root, but the clips they played do NOT — see FeedbackFx.DestroyClip.
+            // _ambientClip alone is ~1.4 MB of native audio per client-world teardown.
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _ambientClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _groanClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _stingBeep);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _stingRoar);
        }

        protected override void OnUpdate()
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_cloudMesh != null) Object.Destroy(_cloudMesh);
            if (_critterMat != null) Object.Destroy(_critterMat);
            if (_cloudMat != null) Object.Destroy(_cloudMat);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _thunderClip); // not owned by _root — see FeedbackFx.DestroyClip
        }

        protected override void OnUpdate()
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        // Authored-VFX lifetime tracking (GabrielAguiar prefabs spawned via VFXConfig).
        readonly List<TimedVfx> _activeVfx = new();
-        readonly Dictionary<Entity, GameObject> _projTrails = new();
+        readonly Dictionary<Entity, VfxInstance> _projTrails = new();
        readonly HashSet<Entity> _projSeen = new();
        readonly List<Entity> _projStale = new();

@@ -65,6 +65,16 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        float _slashRange, _slashHalf; // live cone geometry re-sampled each frame for the per-frame sweep rebuild
        int _slashSweepSign = 1;       // alternate sweep direction per combo step (reads as alternating strikes)
        Mesh _smearMesh; MeshRenderer _smearMr; Material _smearMat; // 07-20 G2.3: blade-smear ribbon (leading-edge band at blade height)
+        // Track B: BuildSlashInto used to allocate four arrays (~1.7 KB) on EVERY call, and it runs twice a
+        // frame for the local arc + smear plus once per live remote swing. The segment count is a compile-time
+        // constant, so the sizes never vary — fill these in place instead. UVs/triangles are argument-independent
+        // (built once, guarded by _arcStaticsBuilt) and are uploaded to each mesh only on its first fill.
+        const int ArcSeg = 16;
+        readonly Vector3[] _arcVerts = new Vector3[(ArcSeg + 1) * 2];
+        readonly Color[] _arcCols = new Color[(ArcSeg + 1) * 2];
+        readonly Vector2[] _arcUvs = new Vector2[(ArcSeg + 1) * 2];
+        readonly int[] _arcTris = new int[ArcSeg * 6];
+        bool _arcStaticsBuilt;
        uint _pendingConnectTick;      // 07-20 G2.1 (review C14): the local swing's CONTACT tick; connect cues fire THEN (0 = none)
        int _pendingConnectStep;
        uint _pendingConeConnectTick;  // 07-21 G6 (C14 idiom): the cone socket's CONTACT tick, latched at the fire edge (0 = none)
@@ -75,7 +85,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        float _nextStressTime;         // 07-21 G4: fake-caster cadence while CombatStressDebug.StressAllyFx is on
        int _stressBeat;
 #endif
-        double _lastHoldTime; // C4: last hit-stop hold time (throttle so a horde wipe doesn't stutter)

        // Remote teammates' melee cleave arcs (deferred-items pass, co-op): one pooled slash renderer per remote
        // player, edge-detected from the replicated MeleeCombo.SwingStartTick (the local player keeps _slashMr).
@@ -116,7 +125,28 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        const int MaxActiveVfx = 40; // bound one-shot VFX GameObject churn under sustained combat

        EntityQuery _remotePlayersQuery; // 07-21 G4: ally census (PlayerTag + disabled GhostOwnerIsLocal)
-        struct TimedVfx { public GameObject Go; public double Kill; }
+        // Track B: a pooled VFX instance. Component arrays are cached PER INSTANCE — component references are
+        // instance-scoped, so arrays captured off the prefab ASSET would drive the asset, not the clone.
+        class VfxInstance
+        {
+            public GameObject Go;
+            public Transform Tr;
+            public ParticleSystem[] Systems;
+            public TrailRenderer[] Trails;
+            public GameObject Prefab; // the stack this instance returns to; never re-read from VFXConfig
+            public bool Rented;       // at-most-once guard: a double Return would alias one instance to two callers
+        }
+
+        struct TimedVfx { public VfxInstance Inst; public double Kill; }
+
+        // Per-prefab pool of inactive instances, plus the two values that ARE legitimately per-prefab. Instance
+        // fields, never static: the Kill deadlines come from the per-world SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime, which
+        // restarts at 0 for each session world.
+        readonly Dictionary<GameObject, Stack<VfxInstance>> _vfxPool = new();
+        readonly Dictionary<GameObject, double> _vfxLifetime = new();
+        readonly Dictionary<GameObject, Vector3> _vfxPrefabScale = new();
+        Transform _vfxFillRoot;            // INACTIVE parent: instances fill here so Awake/Start never run
+        const int VfxPerPrefabRetain = 10; // retained inactive instances per prefab; destroy beyond it

        protected override void OnCreate()
        {
@@ -161,6 +191,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        protected override void OnDestroy()
        {
+            // The SFX ring is DontDestroyOnLoad (it must outlive LoadScene(Single)), so a world teardown
+            // would otherwise bleed in-flight combat cues straight into the main menu.
+            OneShotAudioPool.SilenceAll();
+
            if (_fxRoot != null)
                Object.Destroy(_fxRoot.gameObject);
            if (_slashMesh != null) Object.Destroy(_slashMesh);
@@ -168,6 +202,18 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_smearMesh != null) Object.Destroy(_smearMesh);
            if (_smearMat != null) Object.Destroy(_smearMat);

+            // See FeedbackFx.DestroyClip: an AudioClip.Create'd clip is not owned by _fxRoot, so all ten leaked
+            // on every client-world teardown. The four sibling clip-owning systems do the same in their OnDestroy.
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _hitClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _deathClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _fireClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _telegraphClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _dashClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _swingClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _meleeConnectClip);
+            for (int i = 0; i < _footstepClips.Length; i++) FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _footstepClips[i]);
+
+
            foreach (var kv in _remoteSlashes)
            {
                if (kv.Value.Mesh != null) Object.Destroy(kv.Value.Mesh);
@@ -178,6 +224,8 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        }

+
+
        protected override void OnUpdate()
        {
            float dt = SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime;
@@ -246,7 +294,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                        PlayClip(_hitClip, (Vector3)p, FeelConfig.HitSfxVolume);
                        PrototypeCameraRig.AddShake(isLocalPlayer ? FeelConfig.HitShakeLocal : FeelConfig.HitShakeRemote * _allyFxScale); // 07-21 G4: ally-side shake degrades under saturation
                        if (isLocalPlayer) PrototypeCameraRig.PunchFov(FeelConfig.HitStopFovKick, FeelConfig.HitStopDurationMs);
-                        if (isLocalPlayer && (prev.Hp - cur) >= 20f) TryHold(); // C4: crunch on a heavy incoming hit (e.g. a boss slam)

                        if (isLocalPlayer && FeelConfig.RumbleEnabled && AimPresentation.Scheme == 1)
                            RumbleUtil.Pulse(FeelConfig.RumbleHit * 0.8f, FeelConfig.RumbleHit, FeelConfig.RumbleDurationSec);
@@ -271,7 +318,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                                PlayClip(_deathClip, (Vector3)p, FeelConfig.KillSfxVolume);
                                PrototypeCameraRig.AddShake(FeelConfig.KillShake);
                                PrototypeCameraRig.PunchFov(FeelConfig.KillFovKick, FeelConfig.HitStopDurationMs);
-                                TryHold(); // C4: kill crunch (throttled)
                                EmitColored(_hitFx, (Vector3)p + Vector3.up * 0.6f, FeelConfig.KillFlashBurstCount, FeelConfig.HitFlashColor);
                                if (FeelConfig.RumbleEnabled && AimPresentation.Scheme == 1)
                                    RumbleUtil.Pulse(FeelConfig.RumbleKill * 0.7f, FeelConfig.RumbleKill, FeelConfig.RumbleDurationSec);
@@ -338,7 +384,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                            PlayClip(_deathClip, (Vector3)c.Pos, FeelConfig.KillSfxVolume);
                            PrototypeCameraRig.AddShake(FeelConfig.KillShake);
                            PrototypeCameraRig.PunchFov(FeelConfig.KillFovKick, FeelConfig.HitStopDurationMs);
-                            TryHold(); // C4: kill crunch (throttled)
                            EmitColored(_hitFx, (Vector3)c.Pos + Vector3.up * 0.6f, FeelConfig.KillFlashBurstCount, FeelConfig.HitFlashColor); // kill pop
                            if (FeelConfig.RumbleEnabled && AimPresentation.Scheme == 1)
                                RumbleUtil.Pulse(FeelConfig.RumbleKill * 0.7f, FeelConfig.RumbleKill, FeelConfig.RumbleDurationSec);
@@ -695,24 +740,124 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        void SpawnVfx(GameObject prefab, Vector3 pos, Quaternion rot)
        {
            if (prefab == null || _fxRoot == null) return;
-            if (_activeVfx.Count >= MaxActiveVfx) return; // saturated: drop (cheap) rather than thrash GC
-            var go = Object.Instantiate(prefab, pos, rot, _fxRoot);
-            go.transform.position = pos;
-            StripCosmetic(go);
-            var systems = go.GetComponentsInChildren<ParticleSystem>();
-            for (int i = 0; i < systems.Length; i++) systems[i].Play();
-            _activeVfx.Add(new TimedVfx { Go = go, Kill = SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime + VfxLifetime(go) });
+            if (_activeVfx.Count >= MaxActiveVfx) return; // in-flight cap: unchanged, this bounds live particles too
+            var inst = RentVfx(prefab, pos, rot);
+            if (inst == null) return;
+            _activeVfx.Add(new TimedVfx { Inst = inst, Kill = SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime + VfxLifetimeFor(prefab) });
            // Phase 1.5 lighting: authored VFX impacts flash too (a==0 -> config default colour).
            DynamicLightSystem.RequestFlash(pos, new Color(0f, 0f, 0f, 0f), 1f);
        }

+        /// <summary>
+        /// Track B: take an instance from the per-prefab pool (or fill a new one) instead of Instantiating.
+        /// Order matters — transform BEFORE the particle restart, because a world-space ParticleSystem would
+        /// otherwise re-show the previous burst's particles at their OLD positions for a frame.
+        /// </summary>
+        VfxInstance RentVfx(GameObject prefab, Vector3 pos, Quaternion rot)
+        {
+            VfxInstance inst = null;
+            if (_vfxPool.TryGetValue(prefab, out var stack))
+            {
+                while (stack.Count > 0) // null-skip: a pooled entry destroyed out from under us is discarded
+                {
+                    var cand = stack.Pop();
+                    if (cand != null && cand.Go != null) { inst = cand; break; }
+                }
+            }
+            inst ??= FillVfx(prefab);
+            if (inst == null) return null;
+
+            var tr = inst.Tr;
+            tr.SetParent(_fxRoot, false);
+            tr.SetPositionAndRotation(pos, rot);
+            tr.localScale = _vfxPrefabScale.TryGetValue(prefab, out var s) ? s : Vector3.one; // never inherit the last rent's scale
+            inst.Go.SetActive(true);
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < inst.Trails.Length; i++)
+                if (inst.Trails[i] != null) inst.Trails[i].Clear(); // else a streak draws from the previous despawn point
+            for (int i = 0; i < inst.Systems.Length; i++)
+            {
+                var ps = inst.Systems[i];
+                if (ps == null) continue;
+                ps.Clear(true);
+                ps.Play(true);
+            }
+            inst.Rented = true;
+            return inst;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Build one pooled instance. Instantiated under an INACTIVE root so Awake/Start never run, which is
+        /// also what makes the DestroyImmediate in StripCosmetic safe: a deferred Destroy would hand out an
+        /// instance still carrying a live Rigidbody + Collider for one frame if it were rented the same frame.
+        /// Component arrays are cached PER INSTANCE — component references are instance-scoped, so caching them
+        /// off the prefab asset would drive the asset instead.
+        /// </summary>
+        VfxInstance FillVfx(GameObject prefab)
+        {
+            if (_vfxFillRoot == null)
+            {
+                var fillGo = new GameObject("~VfxPool");
+                fillGo.transform.SetParent(_fxRoot, false);
+                fillGo.SetActive(false);
+                _vfxFillRoot = fillGo.transform;
+            }
+
+            var go = Object.Instantiate(prefab, _vfxFillRoot);
+            StripCosmetic(go);
+            var inst = new VfxInstance
+            {
+                Go = go,
+                Tr = go.transform,
+                Systems = go.GetComponentsInChildren<ParticleSystem>(true),
+                Trails = go.GetComponentsInChildren<TrailRenderer>(true),
+                Prefab = prefab,
+            };
+            for (int i = 0; i < inst.Systems.Length; i++)
+            {
+                // A prefab whose stopAction is Destroy/Disable would silently destroy the POOLED instance when
+                // the effect finishes, draining the pool and pushing dead objects onto the stack.
+                var main = inst.Systems[i].main;
+                main.stopAction = ParticleSystemStopAction.None;
+            }
+            if (!_vfxPrefabScale.ContainsKey(prefab)) _vfxPrefabScale[prefab] = prefab.transform.localScale;
+            if (!_vfxLifetime.ContainsKey(prefab)) _vfxLifetime[prefab] = VfxLifetime(inst.Systems);
+            return inst;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Park an instance back on its OWN prefab's stack (keyed off the record, never a re-read of VFXConfig —
+        /// swapping a config field mid-play would otherwise file it under the wrong effect). The Rented flag is
+        /// the at-most-once guard: a double return would hand one instance to two callers.
+        /// </summary>
+        void ReturnVfx(VfxInstance inst)
+        {
+            if (inst == null || !inst.Rented) return;
+            inst.Rented = false;
+            if (inst.Go == null) return; // destroyed out from under us: drop it rather than pool a dead object
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < inst.Systems.Length; i++)
+                if (inst.Systems[i] != null) inst.Systems[i].Stop(true, ParticleSystemStopBehavior.StopEmittingAndClear);
+            for (int i = 0; i < inst.Trails.Length; i++)
+                if (inst.Trails[i] != null) inst.Trails[i].Clear();
+
+            inst.Go.SetActive(false);
+            if (_vfxFillRoot != null) inst.Tr.SetParent(_vfxFillRoot, false);
+
+            if (!_vfxPool.TryGetValue(inst.Prefab, out var stack)) { stack = new Stack<VfxInstance>(); _vfxPool[inst.Prefab] = stack; }
+            if (stack.Count >= VfxPerPrefabRetain) { Object.Destroy(inst.Go); return; } // bound the retained set after a burst
+            stack.Push(inst);
+        }
+
+        double VfxLifetimeFor(GameObject prefab) => _vfxLifetime.TryGetValue(prefab, out var d) ? d : 1.0;
+
        void PruneVfx()
        {
            double now = SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime;
            for (int i = _activeVfx.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)
            {
                if (now < _activeVfx[i].Kill) continue;
-                if (_activeVfx[i].Go != null) Object.Destroy(_activeVfx[i].Go);
+                ReturnVfx(_activeVfx[i].Inst); // pooled, not destroyed
                _activeVfx.RemoveAt(i);
            }
        }
@@ -722,10 +867,11 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        {
            if (cfg == null || cfg.ProjectileTrail == null || _fxRoot == null)
            {
-                // Config cleared mid-run: drop any orphaned trails so they don't linger.
+                // Config cleared mid-run: RETURN the orphans rather than destroying them, or the pool's
+                // bookkeeping under-counts and the instances leak out of it.
                if (_projTrails.Count > 0)
                {
-                    foreach (var kv in _projTrails) if (kv.Value != null) Object.Destroy(kv.Value);
+                    foreach (var kv in _projTrails) ReturnVfx(kv.Value);
                    _projTrails.Clear();
                }
                return;
@@ -739,15 +885,12 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                Vector3 wp = (Vector3)xf.ValueRO.Position;
                if (_projTrails.TryGetValue(entity, out var trail))
                {
-                    if (trail != null) trail.transform.position = wp;
+                    if (trail != null && trail.Tr != null) trail.Tr.position = wp;
                }
                else
                {
-                    var go = Object.Instantiate(cfg.ProjectileTrail, wp, Quaternion.identity, _fxRoot);
-                    StripCosmetic(go); // GA "projectile" prefabs ship a Rigidbody + mover; keep particles only
-                    var systems = go.GetComponentsInChildren<ParticleSystem>();
-                    for (int i = 0; i < systems.Length; i++) systems[i].Play();
-                    _projTrails[entity] = go;
+                    var inst = RentVfx(cfg.ProjectileTrail, wp, Quaternion.identity);
+                    if (inst != null) _projTrails[entity] = inst;
                }
            }

@@ -757,7 +900,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                if (!_projSeen.Contains(kv.Key)) _projStale.Add(kv.Key);
            for (int i = 0; i < _projStale.Count; i++)
            {
-                if (_projTrails[_projStale[i]] != null) Object.Destroy(_projTrails[_projStale[i]]);
+                ReturnVfx(_projTrails[_projStale[i]]);
                _projTrails.Remove(_projStale[i]);
            }
        }
@@ -767,27 +910,31 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        // effects on contact — strip all of that so our per-frame reposition is authoritative and nothing leaks.
        static void StripCosmetic(GameObject go)
        {
-            foreach (var rb in go.GetComponentsInChildren<Rigidbody>(true)) Object.Destroy(rb);
-            foreach (var col in go.GetComponentsInChildren<Collider>(true)) Object.Destroy(col);
+            // DestroyImmediate, not Destroy: a deferred Destroy is only applied at end-of-frame, so an instance
+            // filled and rented in the SAME frame would still carry a live Rigidbody + Collider — exactly the
+            // self-propelling / secondary-spawn behaviour this strip exists to prevent. Legal here because the
+            // target is a freshly-instantiated runtime instance under an inactive root, never a prefab asset.
+            foreach (var rb in go.GetComponentsInChildren<Rigidbody>(true)) Object.DestroyImmediate(rb);
+            foreach (var col in go.GetComponentsInChildren<Collider>(true)) Object.DestroyImmediate(col);
+
+            // Cosmetic VFX must be particles ONLY. This used to disable by type-name substring ("Projectile" /
+            // "Move"), which let any other authored helper (auto-destroy timers, effect settings, light flicker)
+            // survive — harmless when the object was destroyed after one use, but a pooled instance re-runs
+            // OnEnable on EVERY rent, so a survivor would re-arm each time and could Destroy the pooled object.
            foreach (var mb in go.GetComponentsInChildren<MonoBehaviour>(true))
-            {
-                if (mb == null) continue;
-                string n = mb.GetType().Name;
-                // Disable (not destroy) BEFORE Start runs so the mover's Start-spawned muzzle never fires.
-                if (n.IndexOf("Projectile", System.StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0 ||
-                    n.IndexOf("Move", System.StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0)
-                    mb.enabled = false;
-            }
+                if (mb != null) mb.enabled = false;
        }

-        // Real effect duration from the longest child ParticleSystem (clamped), so we don't force-kill early
-        // or hold a finished GameObject around on a blanket TTL.
-        static double VfxLifetime(GameObject go)
+        // Real effect duration from the longest ParticleSystem (clamped), so we don't force-kill early or hold a
+        // finished instance out of the pool on a blanket TTL. Takes the per-instance cache so the old
+        // GetComponentsInChildren-per-spawn is gone; the RESULT is per-prefab and memoised in _vfxLifetime.
+        static double VfxLifetime(ParticleSystem[] systems)
        {
            float longest = 0f;
-            foreach (var ps in go.GetComponentsInChildren<ParticleSystem>(true))
+            for (int i = 0; i < systems.Length; i++)
            {
-                var main = ps.main;
+                if (systems[i] == null) continue;
+                var main = systems[i].main;
                float d = main.duration + main.startLifetime.constantMax;
                if (d > longest) longest = d;
            }
@@ -796,6 +943,8 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        // ---- Floating damage numbers (pooled, billboarded TextMesh) ----

+        const int AlphaSteps = 12; // Track B: fade quantisation for the floating numbers (see AnimateNumbers)
+
        class FloatingNumber
        {
            public TextMesh Tm;
@@ -805,6 +954,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            public Vector3 Vel;
            public Color BaseColor;
            public bool Active;
+            public int ShownAlphaStep; // Track B: quantised fade step last written to Tm.color (see AnimateNumbers)
        }

        FloatingNumber CreateNumber()
@@ -836,6 +986,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            fn.Tm.text = Mathf.Max(1, Mathf.RoundToInt(amount)).ToString();
            fn.BaseColor = isLocalPlayer ? new Color(1f, 0.5f, 0.22f) : new Color(0.45f, 0.92f, 1f); // Blight orange (hurt) / Aether cyan (you hit)
            fn.Tm.color = fn.BaseColor;
+            fn.ShownAlphaStep = AlphaSteps; // BaseColor is fully opaque, i.e. the top fade step — keeps AnimateNumbers from re-writing on frame 1
            fn.Tr.position = worldPos + Vector3.up * 1.4f + new Vector3(UnityEngine.Random.Range(-0.25f, 0.25f), 0f, 0f);
            fn.Vel = new Vector3(0f, 2.2f, 0f);
            fn.Tr.localScale = Vector3.one * Mathf.Lerp(0.85f, 1.5f, mag);
@@ -862,9 +1013,17 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                fn.Tr.position += fn.Vel * dt;
                if (cam != null) fn.Tr.rotation = cam.transform.rotation;

-                var c = fn.BaseColor;
-                c.a = 1f - (fn.Age / fn.Life);
-                fn.Tm.color = c;
+                // Track B: legacy TextMesh bakes colour into VERTEX colours, so every colour write forces a
+                // text-mesh rebuild — up to 32 rebuilds a frame with a full pool. Quantising the fade to 12
+                // steps turns ~50 rebuilds per number into 12, with no visible difference over its <1 s life.
+                int step = (int)((1f - fn.Age / fn.Life) * AlphaSteps);
+                if (step != fn.ShownAlphaStep)
+                {
+                    fn.ShownAlphaStep = step;
+                    var c = fn.BaseColor;
+                    c.a = step / (float)AlphaSteps;
+                    fn.Tm.color = c;
+                }
            }
        }

@@ -914,7 +1073,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        void BuildSlashInto(Mesh mesh, float range, float halfAngle, float reveal, int sweepSign,
                            float innerFrac = 0.45f, float y = 0f, float angularWindowRad = 0f)
        {
-            const int seg = 16;
+            const int seg = ArcSeg;
            float r1 = Mathf.Max(0.4f, range);
            float r0 = r1 * innerFrac;
            float aStart = sweepSign >= 0 ? -halfAngle : halfAngle;        // trailing edge
@@ -923,47 +1082,53 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            float aBase = aStart;
            if (angularWindowRad > 0f) // smear mode: only the trailing band behind the leading edge
                aBase = sweepSign >= 0 ? Mathf.Max(aStart, aEnd - angularWindowRad) : Mathf.Min(aStart, aEnd + angularWindowRad);
-            var verts = new Vector3[(seg + 1) * 2];
-            var cols = new Color[(seg + 1) * 2];
-            var uvs = new Vector2[(seg + 1) * 2];
-            var tris = new int[seg * 6];
+
+            // UVs and triangles do not depend on ANY argument, so they are built once for the whole system
+            // instead of being regenerated (and re-uploaded) on every call.
+            if (!_arcStaticsBuilt)
+            {
+                for (int i = 0; i <= seg; i++)
+                {
+                    _arcUvs[i * 2] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                    _arcUvs[i * 2 + 1] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                }
+                for (int i = 0; i < seg; i++)
+                {
+                    int b = i * 2;
+                    _arcTris[i * 6 + 0] = b; _arcTris[i * 6 + 1] = b + 1; _arcTris[i * 6 + 2] = b + 2;
+                    _arcTris[i * 6 + 3] = b + 1; _arcTris[i * 6 + 4] = b + 3; _arcTris[i * 6 + 5] = b + 2;
+                }
+                _arcStaticsBuilt = true;
+            }
+
            for (int i = 0; i <= seg; i++)
            {
                float a = Mathf.Lerp(aBase, aEnd, i / (float)seg);
                float sx = Mathf.Sin(a), cz = Mathf.Cos(a);
-                verts[i * 2] = new Vector3(sx * r0, y, cz * r0);
-                verts[i * 2 + 1] = new Vector3(sx * r1, y, cz * r1);
+                _arcVerts[i * 2] = new Vector3(sx * r0, y, cz * r0);
+                _arcVerts[i * 2 + 1] = new Vector3(sx * r1, y, cz * r1);
                float lead = i / (float)seg; // 0 trailing -> 1 leading edge (brightest at the travelling blade)
-                cols[i * 2] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, 0.35f * (0.2f + 0.8f * lead)); // 07-19 retone: a wake, not a laser // inner, brightest at the leading edge
-                cols[i * 2 + 1] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, 0f);                       // outer rim fades out
-                uvs[i * 2] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
-                uvs[i * 2 + 1] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                _arcCols[i * 2] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, 0.35f * (0.2f + 0.8f * lead)); // 07-19 retone: a wake, not a laser // inner, brightest at the leading edge
+                _arcCols[i * 2 + 1] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, 0f);                       // outer rim fades out
            }
-            for (int i = 0; i < seg; i++)
-            {
-                int b = i * 2;
-                tris[i * 6 + 0] = b; tris[i * 6 + 1] = b + 1; tris[i * 6 + 2] = b + 2;
-                tris[i * 6 + 3] = b + 1; tris[i * 6 + 4] = b + 3; tris[i * 6 + 5] = b + 2;
-            }
-            mesh.Clear();
-            mesh.vertices = verts;
-            mesh.colors = cols;
-            mesh.uv = uvs;
-            mesh.triangles = tris;
-            mesh.RecalculateBounds();
-        }

-        // Trigger a cone-shaped slash matching the LIVE melee range + half-angle, oriented along facing. The arc IS
-        // the range telegraph (MC-4 clarity) AND now SWEEPS across + ramps per combo step so the swing reads as a
-        // directional, escalating cleave rather than a static flash.
-        // C4: fire a brief presentation-only hit-stop hold, throttled (never Time.timeScale; the sim keeps ticking).
-        void TryHold(int frames = 0) // 07-20 G5 (review C17): ONE hold path, per-verb frames (0 = the light default)
-        {
-            if (!FeelConfig.HitStopFreezeEnabled) return;
-            double now = SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime;
-            if (now - _lastHoldTime < 0.22) return;
-            _lastHoldTime = now;
-            PrototypeCameraRig.Hold(frames > 0 ? frames : FeelConfig.HitStopMaxFrames);
+            // First fill for THIS mesh — _slashMesh, _smearMesh and every remote arc each hit it once.
+            // Vertices must be uploaded before triangles or index validation fails on an empty mesh.
+            // Afterwards only the two channels that actually change are re-uploaded.
+            if (mesh.vertexCount != _arcVerts.Length)
+            {
+                mesh.Clear();
+                mesh.vertices = _arcVerts;
+                mesh.colors = _arcCols;
+                mesh.uv = _arcUvs;
+                mesh.triangles = _arcTris;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                mesh.vertices = _arcVerts;
+                mesh.colors = _arcCols;
+            }
+            mesh.RecalculateBounds();
        }

        // 07-20 G2.1/G5 (review C14): the melee CONNECT package, fired when the blade actually LANDS. Recomputes
@@ -1002,7 +1167,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (finisher)
            {
                PrototypeCameraRig.PunchFov(FeelConfig.DashFovKick * 0.6f, FeelConfig.HitStopDurationMs);
-                TryHold(FeelConfig.FinisherHoldFrames); // G5: the heavy payoff beat, at contact
            }
        }

@@ -1042,8 +1206,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_slashActive) _slashTint *= 1.4f; // the bite brighten, AT the slam's landing
        }

-        
-void TriggerSlash(Vector3 pos, float2 facing, float range, float halfAngle, int step, int comboLen, bool connected, float lifeOverride = 0f)
+        // Trigger a cone-shaped slash matching the LIVE melee range + half-angle, oriented along facing. The arc IS
+        // the range telegraph (MC-4 clarity) AND SWEEPS across + ramps per combo step so the swing reads as a
+        // directional, escalating cleave rather than a static flash.
+        void TriggerSlash(Vector3 pos, float2 facing, float range, float halfAngle, int step, int comboLen, bool connected, float lifeOverride = 0f)
        {
            if (_slashMr == null || _slashMat == null) return;
            bool finisher = step >= comboLen;
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_kindMats != null)
                for (int i = 0; i < _kindMats.Length; i++)
                    if (_kindMats[i] != null) Object.Destroy(_kindMats[i]);
+            // Procedural clips are not owned by _fxRoot — see FeedbackFx.DestroyClip.
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _strikeBeepClip);
+            if (_kindGrowls != null)
+                for (int i = 0; i < _kindGrowls.Length; i++) FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _kindGrowls[i]);
            foreach (var kv in _dangerZones)
                if (kv.Value != null) { var mf = kv.Value.GetComponent<MeshFilter>(); if (mf != null && mf.sharedMesh != null) Object.Destroy(mf.sharedMesh); }
        }
@@ -245,28 +249,52 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        }

        // Filled forward wedge (pizza-slice) from the enemy out to `range`, vertex-alpha ramped by `intensity`.
+        // Track B: the four arrays used to be allocated on EVERY call — once per winding enemy per frame
+        // (~840 B a time). seg is a compile-time constant, so they are hoisted to scratch and filled in place;
+        // UVs/triangles are argument-independent and upload to a given mesh only on its first fill.
        static void BuildDangerMesh(Mesh mesh, float range, float halfAngle, float intensity)
        {
-            const int seg = 14;
-            var verts = new Vector3[seg + 2];
-            var cols = new Color[seg + 2];
-            var uvs = new Vector2[seg + 2];
-            var tris = new int[seg * 3];
+            const int seg = WedgeSeg;
+            if (!s_wedgeStaticsBuilt)
+            {
+                s_wedgeUvs[0] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                for (int i = 0; i <= seg; i++) s_wedgeUvs[i + 1] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                for (int i = 0; i < seg; i++) { s_wedgeTris[i * 3] = 0; s_wedgeTris[i * 3 + 1] = i + 1; s_wedgeTris[i * 3 + 2] = i + 2; }
+                s_wedgeStaticsBuilt = true;
+            }
+
            float aCenter = 0.18f + 0.62f * intensity;
-            verts[0] = Vector3.zero; cols[0] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, aCenter); uvs[0] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+            s_wedgeVerts[0] = Vector3.zero;
+            s_wedgeCols[0] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, aCenter);
            for (int i = 0; i <= seg; i++)
            {
                float a = Mathf.Lerp(-halfAngle, halfAngle, i / (float)seg);
-                verts[i + 1] = new Vector3(Mathf.Sin(a) * range, 0f, Mathf.Cos(a) * range);
-                cols[i + 1] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, aCenter * 0.22f);
-                uvs[i + 1] = new Vector2(0.5f, 0.5f);
+                s_wedgeVerts[i + 1] = new Vector3(Mathf.Sin(a) * range, 0f, Mathf.Cos(a) * range);
+                s_wedgeCols[i + 1] = new Color(1f, 1f, 1f, aCenter * 0.22f);
+            }
+
+            if (mesh.vertexCount != s_wedgeVerts.Length)
+            {
+                mesh.Clear();
+                mesh.vertices = s_wedgeVerts; mesh.colors = s_wedgeCols;
+                mesh.uv = s_wedgeUvs; mesh.triangles = s_wedgeTris;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                mesh.vertices = s_wedgeVerts; mesh.colors = s_wedgeCols;
            }
-            for (int i = 0; i < seg; i++) { tris[i * 3] = 0; tris[i * 3 + 1] = i + 1; tris[i * 3 + 2] = i + 2; }
-            mesh.Clear();
-            mesh.vertices = verts; mesh.colors = cols; mesh.uv = uvs; mesh.triangles = tris;
            mesh.RecalculateBounds();
        }

+        // Wedge scratch (see BuildDangerMesh). Static is safe: presentation systems are main-thread only, and
+        // the contents are deterministic geometry, so surviving a domain reload leaves them valid.
+        const int WedgeSeg = 14;
+        static readonly Vector3[] s_wedgeVerts = new Vector3[WedgeSeg + 2];
+        static readonly Color[] s_wedgeCols = new Color[WedgeSeg + 2];
+        static readonly Vector2[] s_wedgeUvs = new Vector2[WedgeSeg + 2];
+        static readonly int[] s_wedgeTris = new int[WedgeSeg * 3];
+        static bool s_wedgeStaticsBuilt;
+
        // MC-3: a thin forward LANE (filled quad in local +Z) for a Spitter's ranged aim telegraph, vertex-alpha
        // ramped by `intensity` (brightening toward the shot). Built into the same pooled danger mesh; the GO is
        // already rotated to the enemy facing, so +Z is "toward the locked target".
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            public GameObject CanvasGo; public UnityEngine.UI.Image Fill; public UnityEngine.UI.Image Bg;
            public float ShowTimer; public bool Visible;
            public float LastHp; public float MaxHp; public float3 Pos;
+            // Track B: last values actually pushed to uGUI, so a bar that is merely showing pushes nothing.
+            // CreateHealthBar seeds these to -1 (a struct would otherwise default them to 0, which is a
+            // legitimate frac and would skip the first render of a fully-drained bar).
+            public float LastFrac; public float LastAlpha;
        }

        const int HealthBarPoolLimit = 24;
@@ -151,7 +155,8 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            var entry = new HealthBarEntry
            {
                CanvasGo = go, Fill = fillImg, Bg = bgImg, ShowTimer = 0f, Visible = false,
-                LastHp = prev.LastHp, MaxHp = prev.MaxHp, Pos = prev.Pos
+                LastHp = prev.LastHp, MaxHp = prev.MaxHp, Pos = prev.Pos,
+                LastFrac = -1f, LastAlpha = -1f // force the first visual push (a real frac/alpha is never negative)
            };
            _healthBars[entity] = entry;
            return entry;
@@ -209,8 +214,17 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                    }
                    float alpha = (!alwaysOn && entry.ShowTimer < 0f)
                        ? 1f - math.saturate(-entry.ShowTimer / HealthBarFadeDuration) : 1f;
-                    if (entry.Fill != null) { var c = entry.Fill.color; c.a = alpha; entry.Fill.color = c; entry.Fill.rectTransform.anchorMax = new Vector2(frac, 1f); }
-                    if (entry.Bg != null) { var c = entry.Bg.color; c.a = 0.82f * alpha; entry.Bg.color = c; }
+                    // Track B: these ran unconditionally for every visible bar every frame. Writing
+                    // anchorMax triggers OnRectTransformDimensionsChange and an Image.color write dirties the
+                    // canvas — so a bar that is merely SHOWING (not changing) used to keep re-laying-out uGUI.
+                    // Epsilon-gated: a bar only pushes when its fill or fade actually moved.
+                    if (entry.Fill != null && (math.abs(frac - entry.LastFrac) > 0.002f || math.abs(alpha - entry.LastAlpha) > 0.002f))
+                    {
+                        var c = entry.Fill.color; c.a = alpha; entry.Fill.color = c;
+                        entry.Fill.rectTransform.anchorMax = new Vector2(frac, 1f);
+                        if (entry.Bg != null) { var bgc = entry.Bg.color; bgc.a = 0.82f * alpha; entry.Bg.color = bgc; }
+                        entry.LastFrac = frac; entry.LastAlpha = alpha;
+                    }
                }
                else if (entry.Visible) { entry.CanvasGo.SetActive(false); entry.Visible = false; }

@@ -49,7 +49,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

            // Pass 1: discover enemies, ensure each is tracked + its render children carry the override component.
            _seen.Clear();
-            var ecb = new EntityCommandBuffer(Unity.Collections.Allocator.Temp);
+            // Track B: created lazily — it only ever records on a newly-seen enemy, but it used to be built
+            // and played back (a sync point) every single frame.
+            EntityCommandBuffer ecb = default;
+            bool hasEcb = false;
            foreach (var (health, entity) in
                     SystemAPI.Query<RefRO<Health>>().WithAny<EnemyTag, PlayerTag>().WithAll<LinkedEntityGroup>().WithEntityAccess())
            {
@@ -64,13 +67,17 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                    if (!EntityManager.Exists(c) || !EntityManager.HasComponent<MaterialMeshInfo>(c)) continue;
                    entry.RenderKids.Add(c);
                    if (!EntityManager.HasComponent<URPMaterialPropertyBaseColor>(c))
+                    {
+                        if (!hasEcb) { ecb = new EntityCommandBuffer(Unity.Collections.Allocator.Temp); hasEcb = true; }
                        ecb.AddComponent(c, new URPMaterialPropertyBaseColor { Value = White });
+                    }
                }
                // Render children can lag ghost instantiation a frame; only finalize once we actually found them (else retry next frame).
                if (entry.RenderKids.Count > 0) _tracked[entity] = entry;
            }
-            ecb.Playback(EntityManager);
-            ecb.Dispose();
+            // Only pay the structural-change sync point on the frames that actually recorded something
+            // (i.e. a newly-seen enemy) instead of every frame.
+            if (hasEcb) { ecb.Playback(EntityManager); ecb.Dispose(); }

            // Pass 2: edge-detect Health, drive + decay the flash, write _BaseColor to the render children.
            var bc = FeelConfig.BodyFlashColor;
@@ -139,7 +139,23 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        public static void PlayClip(AudioClip clip, Vector3 pos, float vol)
        {
            if (clip == null) return;
-            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(clip, pos, vol * GameVolume.Sfx);
+            // Pooled 3D voices, NOT AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint: that allocates a GameObject +
+            // AudioSource per call and schedules a delayed Destroy, ~20-33 times a second in combat.
+            // GameVolume.Sfx is read HERE (at play time) so the bus trim applies per cue, as before.
+            OneShotAudioPool.Play(clip, pos, vol * GameVolume.Sfx);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Destroy a procedurally-built clip on world teardown. An <c>AudioClip.Create</c>d clip is a standalone
+        /// UnityEngine.Object — destroying the system's FX-root GameObject does NOT take it with it, so every
+        /// presentation system that builds clips leaked its native audio buffer on each client-world teardown
+        /// (unbounded growth across menu -> game -> menu cycles). Nulls the reference so a re-created system
+        /// rebuilds rather than holding a destroyed clip.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static void DestroyClip(ref AudioClip clip)
+        {
+            if (clip != null) Object.Destroy(clip);
+            clip = null;
        }

        // ---- ground DECAL primitives (Bundle 2 — explosion scorch, cover cracks, room scars) ----
@@ -39,14 +39,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        public static float HitStopFovKickMin;
        /// <summary>Max FOV kick (deg) on a heavy player-dealt hit (delta >= HitStopRefDamage).</summary>
        public static float HitStopFovKickMax;
-        /// <summary>Reserved cap for the (deferred) true freeze-frame, in fixed frames.</summary>
-        public static int HitStopMaxFrames;
        /// <summary>Damage delta that saturates the player-dealt punch to HitStopFovKickMax.</summary>
        public static float HitStopRefDamage;
        /// <summary>Tint for the (deferred) enemy material hit-flash — exposed now, wired in the ShaderGraph slice.</summary>
        public static Color HitFlashColor;
-        /// <summary>Master gate for the (deferred) true freeze-frame hit-stop. FALSE for v1 (camera-punch only).</summary>
-        public static bool HitStopFreezeEnabled;

        // ---- Feature 1/2: death camera punch ----
        /// <summary>Camera shake on LOCAL player death (loudest event by design).</summary>
@@ -170,8 +166,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        public static float MeleeArcIntensity;
        /// <summary>Bubbles shed along a melee cleave (0 = off).</summary>
        public static int MeleeArcBubbles;
-        /// <summary>Camera hold frames when the melee FINISHER lands (07-20 G5 impact ladder; light hits use HitStopMaxFrames).</summary>
-        public static int FinisherHoldFrames;

        // ---- 07-21 enemy hit-reacts (G5; the Rukhanka-safe flinch that replaced the cut vibrate) ----
        /// <summary>Seconds the light flinch pulse holds (0 = hit-reacts OFF).</summary>
@@ -252,10 +246,8 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            HitStopDurationMs = 90f;
            HitStopFovKickMin = 0.6f;
            HitStopFovKickMax = 2.2f;
-            HitStopMaxFrames = 2;         // C4: a 2-frame (~33ms) camera hold reads as crunch, not a lag-y stutter
            HitStopRefDamage = 30f;
            HitFlashColor = new Color(1f, 0.85f, 0.55f, 1f);
-            HitStopFreezeEnabled = true;  // C4: enable the finisher hit-stop hold (presentation-only camera freeze, bounded below)

            // Feature 1/2 death
            PlayerDeathShake = 0.50f;
@@ -318,7 +310,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            CombatIdleHoldSec = 4f;      // 07-18: Menacing01 combat-idle hold after the last swing
            MeleeArcIntensity = 0.8f;    // 07-21 HEAVY LOCK: the weapon is the read, the arc recedes further
            MeleeArcBubbles = 6;
-            FinisherHoldFrames = 7;      // 07-21 HEAVY LOCK: a fatter finisher beat (~117ms, still under the 8-frame ladder cap)
            HitReactSeconds = 0.3f;      // 07-21: light flinch pulse (clip plays at 1.4x -> the peak lands inside it)
            HitStaggerSeconds = 0.55f;   // heavy stagger pulse
            HitReactStaggerDamage = 50f; // finisher (63 seeded) staggers, light (42) flinches -- tracks B2 poise
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_discMat != null) Object.Destroy(_discMat);
            if (_burstMat != null) Object.Destroy(_burstMat);
            if (_discMesh != null) Object.Destroy(_discMesh);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _eruptClip); // not owned by _fxRoot — see FeedbackFx.DestroyClip
        }

        protected override void OnUpdate()
@@ -90,6 +90,12 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
        float _downedSince = -1f;
        float _prevHp, _flash;
        bool _haveHp;
+        // Track B: last value pushed to each Label. A UITK text assignment is cheap, but BUILDING the string
+        // (int.ToString / concat) allocates every frame regardless — these gate the build, not just the write.
+        // int.MinValue rather than -1 so a legitimately negative or zero first value still renders.
+        int _shownAether = int.MinValue, _shownOre = int.MinValue, _shownBio = int.MinValue;
+        int _shownThreat = int.MinValue, _shownHp = int.MinValue, _shownMaxHp = int.MinValue;
+        int _shownRespawnSecs = int.MinValue;
        // personal inventory panel (read-only; toggled with I)
        VisualElement _invPanel, _invList, _equipList;
        bool _invOpen;
@@ -161,9 +167,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                    else if (en.ItemId == ResourceId.Biomass) bio = en.Count;
                }
            }
-            _aetherNum.text = aether.ToString();
-            _oreNum.text = ore.ToString();
-            _bioNum.text = bio.ToString();
+            // Track B: three int.ToString()s every frame, for counts that change a few times a minute.
+            if (aether != _shownAether) { _shownAether = aether; _aetherNum.text = aether.ToString(); }
+            if (ore != _shownOre) { _shownOre = ore; _oreNum.text = ore.ToString(); }
+            if (bio != _shownBio) { _shownBio = bio; _bioNum.text = bio.ToString(); }


            
@@ -177,7 +184,7 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            {
                float intensity = Mathf.Clamp01(huskCount / 30f);
                Color tc = Color.Lerp(ThreatWarm, BlightRed, intensity);
-                _threatNum.text = huskCount.ToString();
+                if (huskCount != _shownThreat) { _shownThreat = huskCount; _threatNum.text = huskCount.ToString(); } // Track B: changes on a spawn/kill, not per frame
                _threatNum.style.color = tc;
                _threatIcon.style.unityBackgroundImageTintColor = tc;
                RetintPanel(_threatPanel, PanelDark);
@@ -225,7 +232,13 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                _healthFill.style.backgroundColor = shielded
                    ? new Color(0.45f, 0.85f, 1f)
                    : Color.Lerp(new Color(0.92f, 0.16f, 0.16f), new Color(0.25f, 0.9f, 0.5f), frac);
-                _healthText.text = Mathf.CeilToInt(Mathf.Max(0f, hp)) + " / " + Mathf.CeilToInt(maxHp);
+                // Track B: `int + " / " + int` allocated a fresh string EVERY frame even at full health.
+                int hpI = Mathf.CeilToInt(Mathf.Max(0f, hp)), maxI = Mathf.CeilToInt(maxHp);
+                if (hpI != _shownHp || maxI != _shownMaxHp)
+                {
+                    _shownHp = hpI; _shownMaxHp = maxI;
+                    _healthText.text = hpI + " / " + maxI;
+                }
                _shieldRow.style.display = shielded ? DisplayStyle.Flex : DisplayStyle.None;

                if (dead)
@@ -237,9 +250,16 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
                    foreach (var rs in SystemAPI.Query<RefRO<RespawnState>>().WithAll<PlayerTag, GhostOwnerIsLocal>())
                    { delayTicks = Mathf.Max(1, rs.ValueRO.DelayTicks); break; }
                    float left = delayTicks / 60f - ((float)SystemAPI.Time.ElapsedTime - _downedSince);
-                    _downedText.text = left > 0.05f ? "RESPAWNING IN " + Mathf.CeilToInt(left) : "RESPAWNING...";
+                    // Track B: the countdown only changes ~1x/second, but this ran every frame — the
+                    // concat allocated a fresh string ~80x/second while dead.
+                    int secsLeft = left > 0.05f ? Mathf.CeilToInt(left) : -1;
+                    if (secsLeft != _shownRespawnSecs)
+                    {
+                        _shownRespawnSecs = secsLeft;
+                        _downedText.text = secsLeft > 0 ? "RESPAWNING IN " + secsLeft : "RESPAWNING...";
+                    }
                }
-                else _downedSince = -1f;
+                else { _downedSince = -1f; _shownRespawnSecs = int.MinValue; } // re-render on the next death
                _downed.style.display = dead ? DisplayStyle.Flex : DisplayStyle.None;
            }
            else
@@ -57,9 +57,24 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        protected override void OnDestroy()
        {
+            // Read the clips off the sources BEFORE destroying _root: the AudioSources die with it, but the four
+            // AudioClip.Create'd loops are standalone objects that do not (~6.8 MB of native audio, leaked on
+            // every client-world teardown). See FeedbackFx.DestroyClip.
+            DestroySourceClip(_bass);
+            DestroySourceClip(_pad);
+            DestroySourceClip(_arp);
+            DestroySourceClip(_pulse);
            if (_root != null) Object.Destroy(_root);
        }

+        static void DestroySourceClip(AudioSource src)
+        {
+            if (src == null) return;
+            var clip = src.clip;
+            src.clip = null;
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref clip);
+        }
+
        AudioSource MakeSource(AudioClip clip)
        {
            var src = _root.AddComponent<AudioSource>();
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            foreach (var (clut, entity) in SystemAPI.Query<RefRO<BlightClutter>>().WithEntityAccess())
                Drive(entity, clut.ValueRO.Remaining, popDecay, minScale, popAmt, ecb);

-            ecb.Playback(EntityManager);
+            // Track B: this only ever records on a node's FIRST sighting, but Playback is a structural-change
+            // sync point and used to run every frame regardless.
+            if (!ecb.IsEmpty) ecb.Playback(EntityManager);
            ecb.Dispose();

            // Prune despawned (depleted/shattered) nodes — their PostTransformMatrix dies with the ghost.
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+using UnityEngine;
+
+namespace ProjectM.Client
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Pooled 3D one-shot SFX voices — the allocation-free replacement for
+    /// <c>AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint</c> that sits behind <see cref="FeedbackFx.PlayClip"/>.
+    /// <para>
+    /// <c>PlayClipAtPoint</c> allocates a fresh <c>GameObject</c> + <c>AudioSource</c> per call and
+    /// schedules a delayed <c>Destroy</c>. Every one-shot in the project funnels through
+    /// <see cref="FeedbackFx.PlayClip"/> (footsteps, hits, kills, telegraphs, growls, strike beeps,
+    /// swings, connects, socket fire, dash), measured at ~20-33 calls/s in light combat — i.e. hundreds
+    /// of create/destroy pairs per ten seconds of play. This ring replaces that with a fixed set of
+    /// long-lived voices, so a one-shot costs zero managed allocation.
+    /// </para>
+    /// <para>
+    /// PARITY with PlayClipAtPoint matters — 20 call sites are re-levelled at once by any deviation.
+    /// PlayClipAtPoint sets <c>spatialBlend = 1</c> explicitly (a fresh AudioSource defaults to 0 =
+    /// fully 2D) and leaves everything else at the stock defaults, so those are all re-stated in
+    /// <see cref="MakeVoice"/>. Two DELIBERATE divergences, both forced by the voices being long-lived
+    /// rather than per-event: <c>playOnAwake = false</c> (a pooled source would otherwise self-start on
+    /// any enable, replaying whatever clip is still assigned) and <c>dopplerLevel = 0</c> (a pooled
+    /// voice TELEPORTS between events — at the stock dopplerLevel of 1 a 20 m jump pitch-bends the clip,
+    /// a bug that cannot exist when the source is created at the position and never moves).
+    /// </para>
+    /// <para>
+    /// Lifetime: the root is <c>DontDestroyOnLoad</c> because <c>WorldLauncher</c> does
+    /// <c>LoadScene(..., Single)</c> while the client world is alive — a scene-parented pool would be
+    /// destroyed mid-session and every SFX would go silently dead. Statics survive fast-enter-playmode
+    /// domain reloads, so <see cref="ResetStatics"/> nulls them on play-enter (the house rule; without
+    /// it the second play session holds an array of destroyed objects and the first cue throws
+    /// <c>MissingReferenceException</c>). Both the root and each voice are additionally rebuilt on
+    /// fake-null, so anything that does destroy them heals instead of going quiet.
+    /// </para>
+    /// Main-thread only (every caller is a <c>PresentationSystemGroup</c> SystemBase) — no locking.
+    /// Asset-free: built from <c>new GameObject</c> + <c>AddComponent</c>, never a prefab or Resources.Load.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static class OneShotAudioPool
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Voice count. Observed peak is ~33 starts/s; the live combat cues top out at 0.45 s (the barrel boom),
+        /// which is ~15 concurrent voices worst case, so 32 leaves headroom and stealing never bites in practice.
+        /// The longest clip that can reach this pool at all is AmbientLifeSystem's 0.9 s thunder, and that sits
+        /// behind a currently-unreachable biome branch. Do not drop below 24: PlayClipAtPoint is effectively
+        /// unbounded in voice count, and bounded stealing is the one intentional behaviour change here.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// </summary>
+        const int RingSize = 32;
+
+        static GameObject s_root;
+        static AudioSource[] s_voices;
+        static float[] s_freeAt; // unscaled time each voice is expected to finish; 0 = idle
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Play-enter reset (the static-presentation-bridge rule). Statics survive a fast-enter-playmode
+        /// domain reload but the UnityEngine.Objects they point at do NOT survive exiting play mode — so
+        /// the array must be dropped, not reused, or session two rents destroyed voices.
+        /// </summary>
+        [RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(RuntimeInitializeLoadType.SubsystemRegistration)]
+        static void ResetStatics()
+        {
+            s_root = null;
+            s_voices = null;
+            s_freeAt = null;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Fire a positional one-shot. <paramref name="volume"/> is the FINAL level — the caller
+        /// (<see cref="FeedbackFx.PlayClip"/>) has already applied the <c>GameVolume.Sfx</c> bus trim,
+        /// exactly as the PlayClipAtPoint call did. Baked in at play time and never re-applied to a live
+        /// voice, so moving the SFX slider cannot retroactively re-level a cue already in flight.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static void Play(AudioClip clip, Vector3 pos, float volume)
+        {
+            if (clip == null || !Application.isPlaying) return;
+
+            var voice = Rent(clip.length);
+            if (voice == null) return;
+
+            // Order matters: position BEFORE Play so the voice is spatialised at the event, not at
+            // wherever the previous rent left it (a pooled voice parked at the origin loses 3D panning).
+            voice.transform.position = pos;
+            voice.clip = clip;
+            voice.pitch = 1f; // defensive: a future per-cue pitch jitter must never leak across a reuse
+            voice.volume = volume;
+            voice.Play();
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Stop every voice. Called on client-world teardown so in-flight combat SFX do not bleed into
+        /// the main menu (the pool outlives the world by design — it is DontDestroyOnLoad).
+        /// </summary>
+        public static void SilenceAll()
+        {
+            if (s_voices == null) return;
+            for (int i = 0; i < s_voices.Length; i++)
+            {
+                if (s_voices[i] != null) s_voices[i].Stop();
+                s_freeAt[i] = 0f;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// First idle voice, else steal the one nearest to finishing (smallest deadline). Deadlines come
+        /// from the actual <c>clip.length</c> — never a fixed constant: the project's SFX span 0.05 s
+        /// (strike beep) to 0.45 s (barrel boom), and a fixed recycle window would audibly truncate the
+        /// long ones. <c>Time.unscaledTime</c> because this project never touches <c>Time.timeScale</c>
+        /// (hit-stop is a camera punch by house rule).
+        /// </summary>
+        static AudioSource Rent(float clipLength)
+        {
+            Build();
+            if (s_voices == null) return null;
+
+            float now = Time.unscaledTime;
+            int steal = -1;
+            float oldest = float.MaxValue;
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < s_voices.Length; i++)
+            {
+                if (s_voices[i] == null) continue; // destroyed out from under us; Build() already retried it
+                if (s_freeAt[i] <= now)
+                {
+                    s_freeAt[i] = now + Mathf.Max(0.01f, clipLength);
+                    return s_voices[i];
+                }
+                if (s_freeAt[i] < oldest) { oldest = s_freeAt[i]; steal = i; }
+            }
+
+            if (steal < 0) return null;
+            s_freeAt[steal] = now + Mathf.Max(0.01f, clipLength);
+            return s_voices[steal];
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>Idempotent: builds the root and any missing voice, and heals fake-null entries.</summary>
+        static void Build()
+        {
+            if (s_root == null)
+            {
+                s_root = new GameObject("~OneShotAudioPool") { hideFlags = HideFlags.HideAndDontSave };
+                Object.DontDestroyOnLoad(s_root);
+            }
+
+            if (s_voices == null || s_voices.Length != RingSize)
+            {
+                s_voices = new AudioSource[RingSize];
+                s_freeAt = new float[RingSize];
+            }
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < RingSize; i++)
+                if (s_voices[i] == null) { s_voices[i] = MakeVoice(i); s_freeAt[i] = 0f; }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// One voice, configured for PlayClipAtPoint parity. Every stock default is re-stated explicitly
+        /// because a pooled source is long-lived and would otherwise drift with any future edit.
+        /// </summary>
+        static AudioSource MakeVoice(int index)
+        {
+            var go = new GameObject("Voice" + index);
+            go.transform.SetParent(s_root.transform, false);
+            var src = go.AddComponent<AudioSource>();
+
+            src.playOnAwake = false;            // divergence #1: a long-lived source must never self-start
+            src.dopplerLevel = 0f;              // divergence #2: pooled voices teleport; Doppler would pitch-bend them
+            src.spatialBlend = 1f;              // the one thing PlayClipAtPoint sets explicitly (default is 2D)
+
+            src.loop = false;
+            src.mute = false;
+            src.rolloffMode = AudioRolloffMode.Logarithmic;
+            src.minDistance = 1f;
+            src.maxDistance = 500f;
+            src.spread = 0f;
+            src.priority = 128;
+            src.panStereo = 0f;
+            src.reverbZoneMix = 1f;
+            src.bypassEffects = false;
+            src.bypassListenerEffects = false;
+            src.bypassReverbZones = false;
+            src.pitch = 1f;
+            src.volume = 1f;
+            src.outputAudioMixerGroup = null;   // no AudioMixer in this project: straight to the listener
+            return src;
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+fileFormatVersion: 2
+guid: bba17743370546d4e85c057b60b43653
@@ -58,10 +58,6 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            s_fovLambda = 3f / durSec; // ~95% decayed after durSec (3 time constants)
        }

-        /// <summary>C4 hit-stop: hold the follow camera for a couple frames on a heavy hit (the combo finisher) so the
-        /// impact lands with a beat of crunch. Presentation only — NEVER Time.timeScale (the deterministic sim keeps ticking).</summary>
-        static int s_holdFrames;
-        public static void Hold(int frames) { if (frames > s_holdFrames) s_holdFrames = frames; }

        
 [Header("Angle (degrees)")]
@@ -95,6 +91,11 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client

        Camera _cam;
        Vector3 _leadOffset; // smoothed look-ahead offset (world units), eased toward the desired lead each frame
+        // The SMOOTHED follow position, kept free of shake. Reading the shaken transform back into the follow
+        // filter is what made the camera wander in combat (see LateUpdate). Seeded from the transform on the
+        // first frame so a scene-authored camera pose is honoured rather than snapped from the origin.
+        Vector3 _basePos;
+        bool _baseInit;

        // 07-16c DEV ZOOM (LoL/SoD-style scroll-to-inspect; may not ship): the wheel moves a smoothed
        // distance target between ZoomMinDistance and the rig's authored Distance — zoom IN only, scroll
@@ -156,15 +157,32 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            // uninitialized -> no change). Multiplies the serialized FollowSharpness so scenes stay untouched.
            float dragSharp = FollowSharpness * Mathf.Max(0.05f, FeelConfig.CameraDragMult <= 0f ? 1f : FeelConfig.CameraDragMult);
            float k = FollowSharpness <= 0f ? 1f : 1f - Mathf.Exp(-dragSharp * Time.deltaTime);
-            Vector3 basePos;
-            if (s_holdFrames > 0) { s_holdFrames--; basePos = transform.position; } // C4: brief hit-stop hold (freeze the follow a couple frames)
-            else basePos = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, desired, k);
+            // 2026-08-13, TWO fixes here — they are the whole "combat freezes on a kill / doesn't feel smooth" bug.
+            //
+            // (1) SHAKE IS A TRANSIENT OFFSET, NOT PART OF THE FOLLOW STATE. The smoothing used to run as
+            //     Lerp(transform.position, desired, k) — and transform.position already contained LAST frame's
+            //     random shake, so the filter saw shake as real positional error and integrated it, correcting
+            //     only ~9 %/frame (FollowSharpness 8 at ~12 ms). Shake was never subtracted, only slowly lerped
+            //     out while new shake was added on top, so in sustained combat the camera random-walked around
+            //     its framing and never settled. Measured on a STATIONARY player (ideal motion = 0): one kill
+            //     left it 0.45 units off-frame and still 0.20 off 24 frames later. The follow now smooths
+            //     _basePos, which shake never touches; shake is added only when writing the transform.
+            //
+            // (2) The camera position-HOLD is gone. It froze the follow for a fixed number of RENDER frames on
+            //     every kill/heavy hit, so the freeze length was framerate-dependent (7 frames = 49 ms at
+            //     144 fps, 233 ms at 30 fps), and it took its base from transform.position, permanently baking
+            //     that frame's shake in — a measured 0.28-unit single-frame jump. A camera that stops while the
+            //     world keeps moving reads as a hitch, not as crunch; impact rides the FOV punch + shake alone.
+            if (!_baseInit) { _basePos = transform.position; _baseInit = true; }
+            _basePos = Vector3.Lerp(_basePos, desired, k);
+
+            Vector3 writePos = _basePos;
            if (s_shake > 0.0001f)
            {
-                basePos += UnityEngine.Random.insideUnitSphere * s_shake;
+                writePos += UnityEngine.Random.insideUnitSphere * s_shake;
                s_shake = Mathf.Lerp(s_shake, 0f, 1f - Mathf.Exp(-12f * Time.deltaTime));
            }
-            transform.SetPositionAndRotation(basePos, rot);
+            transform.SetPositionAndRotation(writePos, rot);
        }
    }

@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ namespace ProjectM.Client
            if (_fxRoot != null) Object.Destroy(_fxRoot.gameObject); // fuse rings are children -> die with it
            if (_fuseMat != null) Object.Destroy(_fuseMat);
            if (_fuseDiscMesh != null) Object.Destroy(_fuseDiscMesh);
+            // Procedural clips are NOT children of _fxRoot — see FeedbackFx.DestroyClip.
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _chipClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _clearClip);
+            FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref _boomClip);
        }

        protected override void OnUpdate()
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
    "feel": [
        { "k": "MeleeArcIntensity", "v": "0.8" },
        { "k": "MeleeArcBubbles", "v": "6" },
-        { "k": "FinisherHoldFrames", "v": "7" },
        { "k": "MeleeConnectFovKick", "v": "1.1" },
        { "k": "CombatIdleHoldSec", "v": "4" }
    ]
@@ -32,10 +32,6 @@
            "k": "MeleeArcIntensity",
            "v": "0.8"
        },
-        {
-            "k": "FinisherHoldFrames",
-            "v": "7"
-        },
        {
            "k": "MeleeConnectFovKick",
            "v": "1.1"
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
    ],
    "feel": [
        { "k": "MeleeArcIntensity", "v": "1.1" },
-        { "k": "FinisherHoldFrames", "v": "4" },
        { "k": "MeleeConnectFovKick", "v": "0.7" }
    ]
 }
@@ -83,21 +83,23 @@ Long-form originals + the milestone each came from: `Docs/Vault/_Meta/CLAUDE_Bui
 - **The player is a Unity Character Controller kinematic character** (NOT a dynamic Rigidbody; M5's `PlayerMoveSystem`/`PlayerPlanarConstraintSystem` deleted, predicted-physics infra kept). `PlayerControlSystem` maps input → `CharacterControl`; `CharacterProcessor` collide-and-slides in the relocated `KinematicCharacterPhysicsUpdateGroup`. CC 1.4.2 API = `IKinematicCharacterProcessor<T>` + `KinematicCharacterDataAccess` + static `KinematicCharacterUtilities.Update_*` (verify with `unity_reflect`).
 - **`KinematicCharacterUtilities.BakeCharacter` aborts with a `Rigidbody`** and needs uniform (1,1,1) scale. **`CharacterInterpolation` must be PredictedClient-only** (a `DefaultVariantSystemBase` strips it from server + interpolated prefabs) — else double-interp on remotes. **Do NOT copy the CC sample's global `LocalTransform → DontSerializeVariant`** (project-wide; breaks non-character ghosts that rely on stock `LocalTransform` replication).
 - **Top-down CC config:** `SnapToGround=false`, `InterpolateRotation=false` (rotation owned by `PlayerAimSystem`), `SimulateDynamicBody=false`; gravity handled by feeding `float3.zero` to `Update_GroundPushing`.
- **Hit/area tests must be SWEPT, not point checks** — a point check tunnels when the per-tick step exceeds the target radius (high speed *or* tick-batching); test the segment traversed this tick. **In a PLAIN `SimulationSystemGroup` system do NOT use `SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime`** (wall-frame delta, not the fixed step) — store the per-tick step on the projectile (`Projectile.LastStep`, written in the fixed-step group) and rebuild the segment as `cur - dir*LastStep`. `ecb.DestroyEntity` **at-most-once** per tick (destroyed-bitset; double destroy throws at Playback). **TWO target types in one pass: UNIFY into one best-target loop + one shared bitset** (separate sweeps double-destroy a projectile overlapping both — DR-018). **A per-hit yield `(int)` cast that also gates despawn is an immortal-sink** (sub-1.0→0→no deposit, shot still consumed): guard `math.max(1,(int)yield)` + `[Min(1f)]` authoring.
+- **Hit/area tests must be SWEPT, not point checks** — a point check tunnels when the per-tick step exceeds the target radius; test the segment traversed this tick. **In a PLAIN `SimulationSystemGroup` system do NOT use `SystemAPI.Time.DeltaTime`** (wall-frame delta, not the fixed step) — store the per-tick step on the projectile (`Projectile.LastStep`, written in the fixed-step group) and rebuild the segment as `cur - dir*LastStep`. `ecb.DestroyEntity` **at-most-once** per tick (destroyed-bitset; double destroy throws at Playback). **TWO target types in one pass: UNIFY into one best-target loop + one shared bitset** (DR-018). **A per-hit yield `(int)` cast that also gates despawn is an immortal-sink**: guard `math.max(1,(int)yield)` + `[Min(1f)]` authoring.

 ### Build / structures / grid
 - **Grid math** (`BaseGridMath`, still live for spawn rings/respawn/lights): corner-origin, center-returning, **half-open** cell bounds, `math.floor`; lock cell size as a coordinate space once. Structures/placement themselves are deleted — recipe + atomicity rules in [[DR-014_M6_Build_Structures_Automation_Foundation]] if buildables return.
 - **Ledger spends:** afford→act else SOFT-FAIL (no cooldown-burn), read LIVE in-loop (no hoist); a Health-less entity silently drops OUT of an aggro snapshot (snapshot ABOVE the early-return).
- **DR-051 purge (07-15) ★:** siege/cycle/core/turret/automation + legacy `AbilityRef` path + onboarding **DELETED** (git = the archive). **Retired byte VALUES stay reserved, never renumbered** (`StructureType` 1-4, `ResourceId.Charge`, `DebugOp` 3/10/11, `TuningKnob` 20-23); `DebugOp.SpawnWave`/`EndSiege` RE-MEANT (force-wave / quiet-arena). **Waves UNGATED** — a baked `WaveDirectorAuthoring` decides by placement. Sockets are THE ability model (frame loadout seeded unconditionally at spawn) — **the Spark defs must be in EVERY gameplay subscene's `AbilityDatabaseAuthoring`; a socket whose SparkId is missing from the baked blob silently reads Damage/Range/Cooldown 0** (audit H2, live-proven). `FrameKind` = Bathynaut(2)/Harpooner(3); `PlayerClass` is gone (FrameId is the single frame identity). [[DR-051_Lantern_Realignment_Purge]] · **2026-08-07 audit purge deleted the whole base/expedition shell** (run FSM, meta shop, prep, boons, build/structures, storage, inventory/equipment, enemy variants + boss): [[DR-054_Audit_Purge_2026-08]].
- **Harvest is single-sink** (→ the shared ledger, via `HarvestMath.DepositYield`). The personal-bag/equipment layer was deleted 2026-08-07; reintroduce LANTERN's carried-vs-banked split *inside HarvestMath*, not at its two call sites.
+- **DR-051 purge (07-15) ★:** the dead direction was **DELETED** (git = the archive; enumerated in the DR). **Retired byte VALUES stay reserved, never renumbered** (`StructureType` 1-4, `ResourceId.Charge`, `DebugOp` 3/10/11, `TuningKnob` 20-23); `DebugOp.SpawnWave`/`EndSiege` RE-MEANT (force-wave / quiet-arena). **Waves UNGATED** — a baked `WaveDirectorAuthoring` decides by placement. Sockets are THE ability model (frame loadout seeded unconditionally at spawn) — **the Spark defs must be in EVERY gameplay subscene's `AbilityDatabaseAuthoring`; a socket whose SparkId is missing from the baked blob silently reads Damage/Range/Cooldown 0** (audit H2, live-proven). `FrameKind` = Bathynaut(2)/Harpooner(3); `PlayerClass` is gone (FrameId is the single frame identity). [[DR-051_Lantern_Realignment_Purge]] · **2026-08-07 audit purge deleted the whole base/expedition shell**: [[DR-054_Audit_Purge_2026-08]].
+- **Harvest is single-sink** (→ the shared ledger, via `HarvestMath.DepositYield`; the personal-bag layer died 08-07). Reintroduce LANTERN's carried-vs-banked split *inside HarvestMath*, not at its two call sites.
 - **Disk persistence (`SaveData`, single-slot atomic JSON, versioned) ★:** **born-correct load** — `CycleDirectorSpawnSystem` (now the ledger host only) applies the menu-staged `PendingSave` AT SPAWN. **v7 = a FRESH EPOCH: `MinLoadableVersion = CurrentVersion = 7`**; additive going forward — the save now carries only the ledger (structure/meta fields persist empty so v7 files still load). See [[DR-019_Frontend_Menu_Settings_Saves_Build]].

 ### Presentation / juice / VFX
 - **All juice/HUD = client-only observe-only `SystemBase` in `PresentationSystemGroup`** (once/frame, no rollback double-fire), never mutates the sim. Read ECS via `SystemAPI.Query` + `EntityManager.CompleteDependencyBeforeRO<T>()` — NOT MonoBehaviour `LateUpdate` (job-safety throw). `Entity` = a stable client dict key per ghost lifetime — **prune the cache each frame** (a pruned ghost = a kill/loss → death VFX); **never `DestroyEntity` a ghost client-side** (`GhostDespawnSystem` owns despawn). Hit-stop = camera punch, **never `Time.timeScale`**.
- **Asset-free presentation:** procedural `AudioClip.Create` SFX; runtime `ParticleSystem` pool; code-built **UI Toolkit**. Prefab-asset edits: `LoadPrefabContents`→modify→`SaveAsPrefabAsset`→`Unload`. Watch shared-material bleed on re-tint; ACES needs URP grading mode HDR. Detail → archive 07-16.
- **Prototype glue lives in `ProjectM.Client` as MonoBehaviours:** `PrototypeCameraRig` (player-following ARPG cam), `VFXConfig` (static `Instance` + prefab fields bridging authored VFX to `CombatFeedbackSystem`; keep a procedural fallback). A **static presentation bridge must reset on play-enter** via `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(SubsystemRegistration)]` (statics survive fast-enter-playmode reloads → stale flash).
- **UITK HUD + menus ★:** `MenuUi` owns the palette/factories/`PanelSettings`/`EventSystem` plumbing; `HudSystem` = a `PresentationSystemGroup` observe-only `SystemBase` owning a runtime `UIDocument` (`sortingOrder 50`, root `pickingMode = Ignore`, tree built once `rootVisualElement != null`). **Runtime UITK needs `PanelSettings` WITH a `themeStyleSheet` AND an `EventSystem` + `InputSystemUIInputModule`** or buttons are silently dead. The build palette (lazy from the client `StructureCatalog`) drives click-to-place: green/red `BuildPreviewMath` ghost → `BuildPlaceRequest` RPC, right-click/Esc cancel, `[`/`]`/R rotate. See [[DR-021_HUD_UITK_BuildPalette]].
- **HUD skin = build-safe `HudTheme` SO of serialized sprite refs** (runtime `Resources.Load` by name is build-stripped); tint MULTIPLIES, never set `unitySlice*` on 9-slices → archive 2026-07-06 + [[DR-024_HUD_Synty_Skin_Theme]].
+- **Asset-free presentation:** procedural `AudioClip.Create` SFX; runtime `ParticleSystem` pool; code-built **UI Toolkit**. Prefab-asset edits: `LoadPrefabContents`→modify→`SaveAsPrefabAsset`→`Unload`. Watch shared-material bleed. Detail → archive 07-16.
+- **Prototype glue lives in `ProjectM.Client` as MonoBehaviours:** `PrototypeCameraRig` (ARPG cam), `VFXConfig` (static `Instance` + prefab fields bridging authored VFX to `CombatFeedbackSystem`; keep a procedural fallback). A **static presentation bridge must reset on play-enter** via `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(SubsystemRegistration)]` (statics survive fast-enter-playmode reloads → stale flash; a `HideFlags.DontSave` object survives play EXIT → leaks one per reload).
+- **UITK HUD + menus ★:** `MenuUi` owns the palette/factories/`PanelSettings`/`EventSystem` plumbing; `HudSystem` = a `PresentationSystemGroup` observe-only `SystemBase` owning a runtime `UIDocument` (`sortingOrder 50`, root `pickingMode = Ignore`, tree built once `rootVisualElement != null`). **Runtime UITK needs `PanelSettings` WITH a `themeStyleSheet` AND an `EventSystem` + `InputSystemUIInputModule`** or buttons are silently dead. See [[DR-021_HUD_UITK_BuildPalette]] (build-palette half died with DR-051).
+- **Camera feel ★:** shake/punch is a TRANSIENT offset — never let the follow filter read it back (`Lerp(transform.position, …)` integrates it as real error → the cam wanders); smooth a `_basePos` the offset never touches. No frame-counted holds (framerate-dependent); the position-hold hit-stop was DROPPED 08-13 (impact = FOV + shake).
+- **Pooling + per-frame cost ★:** a per-frame value-CHANGE gate must derive its text FROM the quantised key (`Mathf.RoundToInt` = half-to-EVEN vs `ToString("0.0")` = half-away → the label latches stale). A pooled `AudioSource` ≠ `PlayClipAtPoint`: `spatialBlend=1` (default is 2D), `dopplerLevel=0` (voices teleport), root `DontDestroyOnLoad` + `SubsystemRegistration` reset. `AudioClip.Create` clips aren't FX-root-owned — `FeedbackFx.DestroyClip`. **`GC.GetTotalMemory` quantises to 4 KB — attribute with `ProfilerRecorder("GC Allocated In Frame")`.** → archive 08-13.
+- **HUD skin = build-safe `HudTheme` SO of serialized sprite refs** (runtime `Resources.Load` by name is build-stripped); tint MULTIPLIES, never set `unitySlice*` on 9-slices → [[DR-024_HUD_Synty_Skin_Theme]].

 ### Art import (HDRP store packs → URP)
 - Synty = URP-native. (BefourStudios HDRP pack deleted 2026-08-07 — 4 reachable textures kept in `_Project/Textures/Env`.)
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ Long-form originals + the milestone each came from: `Docs/Vault/_Meta/CLAUDE_Bui
 - **VolumeProfile.Add persistence + the URP `m_AssetVersion` build blocker** → archive 2026-07-06 (+ native memory `urp-global-settings-version-blocks-build`).
 - **`LocalTransform.FromPosition()` resets Scale=1** — server spawners read the prefab's baked `LocalTransform`, override only Position (Scale is a `[GhostField]` → consistent-but-wrong).
 - **Static decor → gameplay subscene** (EG renders only baked entities); **strip colliders from cosmetic props** + no `GhostAuthoring` on scenery (classic-URP colliders are inert to the DOTS PhysicsWorld). **World collision = subscene-only ★:** `Environment`-layer boundary ring (`SM_Env_Rock_Cliff` rim) + landmark colliders, player blocked via the layer matrix; enemies slide via a server `CollisionWorld.SphereCast` in `EnemyAISystem`. **★ that slide has NO pathfinding — re-validate movers aren't frozen whenever you add Environment cover** (`EnemyMoveUtil.Depenetrate` + tangent-slide + a COVER-AWARE `EnemyNavState` nudge; full 07-07/07-10 history → archive). See [[2026-06-08_World_Collision_HUD_Scaling]].
- **A GA "projectile" prefab self-propels** — strip to particles before `Start` (`CombatFeedbackSystem.StripCosmetic`); verify *components*, not the name.
+- **A GA "projectile" prefab self-propels** — `CombatFeedbackSystem.StripCosmetic` strips every MonoBehaviour/Rigidbody/Collider at pool-fill, under an INACTIVE root so `Start` never runs.

 ### Aim / facing (SoD model — DR-052) ★
 - **`PlayerFacing` is body-yaw ONLY** (moves→face movement; cast window→turn to aim; idle→hold; never passively track the cursor). **Every gameplay direction reads `FacingMath.ResolveAim(PlayerInput.Aim, facing)`** (all AbilityFireSystem archetypes + assist seed + melee cleave) and aim-readout presentation reads the SAME resolver; Movement-archetype sockets never open a cast window (`TickWindowMath`); PlayerAimSystem stays UN-gated (integrator over the snapshot-restored [GhostField]). Scheme byte KBM=0/Gamepad=1; KBM reticle re-raycasts. [[DR-052_SoD_Facing_Underwater_Feel]] + archive 2026-07-06.
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ Full rationale: [[DR-022_Animation_Pipeline_Rukhanka_Synty]] · [[DR-023_Enemy_A

 ### MCP / editor workflow ★
 - **Edit Assets `.cs` ONLY via MCP `apply_text_edits` / `create_script`** (Unity's scripting pipeline) — the raw `Write` tool does NOT reliably trigger a recompile on an unfocused editor → tests/`execute_code` run a **stale assembly**; a raw-`Write`-created NEW `.cs` gets **no `.meta` / no test-discovery** until `refresh_unity scope=all mode=force`. (`Write`/`Edit` are fine for non-asset files: this vault, asmdef JSON, etc.) `script_apply_edits` **`anchor_replace`** (regex) + **`delete_method`** work even on a `struct : ISystem`.
- **`apply_text_edits` with MULTIPLE non-adjacent edits in one call can MISALIGN** — one edit per call (or strict bottom-first), always with `precondition_sha256` (it returns the current SHA on mismatch). **★ One edit can SWALLOW an adjacent attribute/comment line** (07-06 `_portalMat` NRE · 07-07 `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod]` off `WorldFeelConfig.ResetDefaults` → feedback slice silently dead) — re-read neighbors after editing beside attributes; silent presentation slice → probe its config's `Enabled` in-play. **`create_script` won't overwrite**; full-file rewrites = whole-span `apply_text_edits` (its brace-balance validator guards botched spans) or `manage_script delete`+`create_script` (NON-GUID-referenced files only — systems/tests, never authoring MonoBehaviours). `script_apply_edits replace_method` is safe for class methods but **can't target a `struct : ISystem`**. [[DR-017_Persistent_Base_Player_Driven_Pacing]]
+- **`apply_text_edits` with MULTIPLE non-adjacent edits in one call can MISALIGN** — one edit per call (or strict bottom-first), always with `precondition_sha256` (it returns the current SHA on mismatch). **★ One edit can SWALLOW an adjacent attribute/comment line — ALWAYS re-read neighbors after editing** (2 shipped bugs → archive 07-06/07-07); a silently-dead presentation slice → probe its config's `Enabled` in-play. **`create_script` won't overwrite**; full-file rewrites = whole-span `apply_text_edits` or `manage_script delete`+`create_script` (NON-GUID-referenced files only). `script_apply_edits replace_method` is safe for class methods but **can't target a `struct : ISystem`**. [[DR-017_Persistent_Base_Player_Driven_Pacing]]
 - **`execute_code` runs as a method body** — no `using` directives (parsed as statements); fully-qualify every type. Identify worlds by `world.Name == "ServerWorld"/"ClientWorld"` (flags overlap a shared `Game` bit).
 - **`manage_gameobject create` / `manage_prefabs modify_contents` `component_properties` SILENTLY DROP enum + Vector3 fields** — set those via a follow-up `manage_components set_property` and VERIFY through `mcpforunity://scene/gameobject/{id}/component/{Type}` (or read the baked component in `execute_code` after Play). `manage_material set_renderer_color` uses a runtime PropertyBlock that does NOT persist into Play — create + assign a material asset instead.
 - **New ghost prefab recipe:** `manage_asset duplicate` a correctly-configured ghost (`UpgradePickup.prefab`) → swap the authoring MB (ownerless/interpolated `GhostAuthoring` + LEG come free). **Runtime-spawn shared ghosts** via a one-shot server spawner (dodges the prespawn handshake); wire baked spawners via `manage_scene load additive`→`set_active`→create→`save`→`close_scene`. Detail → archive 07-16.
@@ -136,9 +138,9 @@ Full rationale: [[DR-022_Animation_Pipeline_Rukhanka_Synty]] · [[DR-023_Enemy_A

 ## Bootstrap & worlds

- `ProjectM.Simulation.GameBootstrap : ClientServerBootstrap` overrides `Initialize` with `AutoConnectPort = 0` (M4 — listen/connect is explicit via the `ConnectionConfig` singleton + per-world ConnectionControlSystems). **Editor default = instant-into-game + MPPM** (creates `ServerWorld` (`WorldFlags.GameServer`) + `ClientWorld` (`WorldFlags.GameClient`)); the `ProjectM/Boot Into Menu (Editor)` EditorPref flips the MAIN editor to the frontend path. **Player builds boot the UITK frontend menu** (`return false` → one menu world, no netcode worlds until a menu choice). See [[DR-019_Frontend_Menu_Settings_Saves_Build]].
+- `ProjectM.Simulation.GameBootstrap : ClientServerBootstrap` overrides `Initialize` with `AutoConnectPort = 0` (M4 — listen/connect is explicit via the `ConnectionConfig` singleton + per-world ConnectionControlSystems). **Editor default = instant-into-game + MPPM** (creates `ServerWorld`/`ClientWorld`); the `ProjectM/Boot Into Menu (Editor)` EditorPref flips the MAIN editor to the frontend path. **Player builds boot the UITK frontend menu** (`return false` → one menu world, no netcode worlds until a menu choice). See [[DR-019_Frontend_Menu_Settings_Saves_Build]].
 - **Scenes (the DR-051 contract — exactly these four):** `MainMenu.unity` (build 0, UITK frontend) · `Game.unity` (build 1, the seabed arena; subscene `Gameplay.unity`) · `DevSandbox.unity` (renamed from Gym; dev tooling + subscene `GymSub.unity`; the `DebugOverlay`/F1-F2 dev scripts gate on this scene NAME) · `ArtStaging.unity` (art viewing, no player; the look's source of truth). All share the LANTERN look (see World bullet). The on-demand lifecycle (`WorldLauncher`/`SessionRunner`/`MainMenuController`) creates the right worlds per menu choice (Single/Host/Join), THEN `LoadScene(Game)` (subscene-streaming rule above).
- **Direction = LANTERN ★ — pivot LOCKED 2026-07-13 ([[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]]).** Co-op action-RPG, *light is territory* (seed-pinned pocket-graph; SoD manual-aim skillshots; suit-frames + Sparks + wild mutations). Operative roadmap [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]]; surviving code is **QUARRY, not foundation** ([[Lantern_Strip_Mothball_Inventory]]). World-model review **PASSED** ([[DR-049_Lantern_World_Model_Design]]) → build against [[World_Model_Build_Spec]], **re-anchoring it first** (its step 1 assumes SaveData `MinLoadableVersion` < 7, which DR-051 shipped past; its RegionTag→PocketTag anchors moved). Engine fork **PARKED — Unity stays** ([[DR-053_Engine_Fork_Bevy_Parked]], operator 08-07). The co-op-Hades core loop was DELETED 08-07 (audit H1); git is the archive. ★ **a serialized prefab/component value ignores the C# initializer — change it on the instance.**
+- **Direction = LANTERN ★ — pivot LOCKED 2026-07-13 ([[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]]).** Co-op action-RPG, *light is territory* (seed-pinned pocket-graph; SoD manual-aim skillshots; suit-frames + Sparks + wild mutations). Operative roadmap [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]]; surviving code is **QUARRY, not foundation** ([[Lantern_Strip_Mothball_Inventory]]). World-model review **PASSED** ([[DR-049_Lantern_World_Model_Design]]) → build against [[World_Model_Build_Spec]], **re-anchoring it first** (its SaveData/RegionTag anchors moved past DR-051). Engine fork **PARKED — Unity stays** ([[DR-053_Engine_Fork_Bevy_Parked]]). ★ **a serialized prefab/component value ignores the C# initializer — change it on the instance.**

 ## DOTS / ECS conventions (authoritative summary)

@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+---
+date: 2026-08-13
+topic: Combat "freeze on kill" diagnosis + Track B (allocation / pooling)
+status: shipped (code uncommitted at time of writing)
+---
+
+# 2026-08-13 — Combat freeze diagnosis + Track B allocation pass
+
+Operator report: *"on a kill the combat feels like it freezes up the game and overall doesn't feel smooth."*
+
+## Part 1 — Diagnosis (measured, not inferred)
+
+Instrumented Play with an `EditorApplication.update` guardian injecting **real lethal `DamageEvent`s**
+server-side (the true death path — setting `Health.Current = 0` directly does NOT work, because
+`HealthApplyDamageSystem` skips any entity whose `DamageEvent` buffer is empty and so never stamps `Dying`).
+
+**Ruled out by measurement:**
+
+| Hypothesis | Verdict |
+|---|---|
+| CPU hitch on kill | **No.** Median frame 12.2 ms, p99 20.1 ms; a kill costs ~15 ms. |
+| Wave respawn stalls on the last kill | **No.** Enemies drip back ~1 per 29 frames, no spike. |
+| Corpses block movement for the 0.9 s `Dying` window | **No.** Enemies carry **no `PhysicsCollider` at all**. |
+| `Time.timeScale` abuse | **No.** The codebase is disciplined about this. |
+
+**What it actually is — the camera.** With a *stationary* player (so ideal camera motion is exactly zero,
+making every measured value an artifact), one kill produces:
+
+```
+f51  shake=0.301  hold=2  fovKick=2.20   dev=0.111   <- kill lands
+f52  step=0.283   hold=1                 dev=0.269   <- 28 cm camera jump in ONE frame
+f58                                      dev=0.447   <- peak, 45 cm off-frame
+f75                                      dev=0.199   <- still 20 cm off, 24 frames later
+```
+
+Three root causes, all in `PrototypeCameraRig.LateUpdate`:
+
+1. **Shake is integrated by the follow filter.** `basePos = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, desired, k)` reads
+   back a `transform.position` that already contains last frame's random shake, so the smoother treats shake as
+   real positional error and corrects only ~9 %/frame (`FollowSharpness 8` at 12 ms → k≈0.09). Shake is never
+   subtracted, only slowly lerped out while new shake is added. In sustained combat the camera random-walks
+   around its ideal framing and never settles. **This is the "doesn't feel smooth".**
+2. **The hit package and the kill package both fire on the lethal frame** — measured `shake = 0.301`
+   (`HitShakeRemote 0.10` + `KillShake 0.20` stacking) and `fovKick = 2.20` (the hit punch winning over the
+   kill's 1.0). One kill fires 2 SFX + 4 particle bursts + 2 light flashes + a damage number + 2 FOV punches +
+   a shake + a hold + a rumble, simultaneously.
+3. **`PrototypeCameraRig.Hold()` freezes the follow, counted in FRAMES.** `HitStopMaxFrames = 2` on every kill,
+   `FinisherHoldFrames = 7`. The comment claims "~117 ms" but that assumes 60 fps — it is 49 ms at 144 fps and
+   233 ms at 30 fps. The hold branch also does `basePos = transform.position`, permanently baking in the shake
+   offset (that is the 0.283-unit single-frame step at f52).
+
+Plus a **one-off 41 ms spike on the first kill** (+44 KB) — first-use warmup of the death VFX/audio path;
+later kills cost ~15 ms.
+
+A full remediation plan was presented (Track A camera, Track B allocation, Track C feel). The operator chose
+**Track B** first, then — on the hold fork — chose **drop**, and Track A shipped in the same session (Part 3).
+Track C remains open.
+
+## Part 2 — Track B shipped
+
+### Measurement instrument matters (a retracted result)
+
+The first attribution run used `System.GC.GetTotalMemory(false)` deltas per frame and produced a per-system
+table that was **entirely noise** — that API quantises to 4 KB pages, so every per-system median came back as 0
+or exactly one page and the "savings" column was negative nonsense. **Discarded.** `ProfilerRecorder(
+ProfilerCategory.Memory, "GC Allocated In Frame")` is the correct instrument and gives real bytes/frame.
+
+The corrected bulk measurement then reframed the whole track:
+
+| Condition | median B/frame | p90 |
+|---|---|---|
+| All on | 15 151 | 49 073 |
+| **All 29 `ProjectM.Client` systems OFF** | **11 586** | 12 125 |
+
+With *every* client system disabled the editor still allocates ~11.6 KB/frame. Our entire presentation layer is
+only ~10–25 % of the median — but it owns the **spiky tail** (p90 49 KB → 12 KB with our systems off), and that
+tail is what triggers collections in bursts. A design-review critic also found the reason the floor is so high:
+`PixelArtDevControls` is an **editor-only** dev tool that self-spawns via `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod]` +
+`DontDestroyOnLoad` into **Game.unity**, and its `OnGUI` draws a `GUI.Button` on every IMGUI pass *before* its
+early-out. It is a MonoBehaviour, so disabling ECS systems never touched it. It does not ship — but it polluted
+every editor-side allocation number taken this session.
+
+### B1 — pooled one-shot SFX (`OneShotAudioPool.cs`, new)
+
+All 21 one-shot call sites funnel through the single line `FeedbackFx.PlayClip` →
+`AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint`, which allocates a `GameObject` + `AudioSource` **per call** and schedules a
+delayed `Destroy` — ~20–33 calls/s in light combat. Replaced with a 32-voice ring; `PlayClip`'s signature is
+unchanged so **all 20 consuming call sites compile untouched**.
+
+Parity traps the design review caught before they shipped:
+- **`spatialBlend = 1`** — a fresh `AudioSource` defaults to **2D**; `PlayClipAtPoint` is the only thing setting
+  it. Missing it would silently make every combat cue non-positional.
+- **`dopplerLevel = 0`** — pooled voices *teleport* between events; at the stock `1` a 20 m jump pitch-bends the
+  clip. This bug cannot exist when the source is created at the position and never moves.
+- **`DontDestroyOnLoad`** — `WorldLauncher` does `LoadScene(..., Single)` while the client world is alive; a
+  scene-parented pool would be destroyed mid-session and every SFX would go silently dead.
+- **`[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(SubsystemRegistration)]` reset** — statics survive fast-enter-playmode but
+  the `UnityEngine.Object`s they point at do not; session two would hold an array of destroyed voices and throw
+  on the first cue.
+- Recycle deadline from the actual `clip.length` (cues span 0.05 s–0.45 s), steal-oldest when saturated,
+  `pitch` reset per rent, `GameVolume.Sfx` read at play time (never cached, never double-applying master).
+
+### B2 — pooled authored VFX (`CombatFeedbackSystem`)
+
+Per-impact `Object.Instantiate`/`Destroy` replaced with a per-prefab pool (`RentVfx`/`FillVfx`/`ReturnVfx`).
+Traps handled, all from the risk pass:
+- Component arrays cached **per instance**, not per prefab (component refs are instance-scoped; arrays captured
+  off the prefab asset would drive the asset).
+- `main.stopAction = None` forced at fill — a prefab set to `Destroy`/`Disable` would silently drain the pool.
+- Instances fill under an **inactive** root so `Awake`/`Start` never run, which is what makes `DestroyImmediate`
+  in `StripCosmetic` safe (a deferred `Destroy` would hand out an instance still carrying a live Rigidbody +
+  Collider for one frame).
+- `StripCosmetic` now disables **all** MonoBehaviours, not two name substrings — a pooled instance re-runs
+  `OnEnable` on every rent, so a surviving helper would re-arm each time.
+- Transform (position/rotation/**scale**/parent) rewritten per rent; `ps.Clear(true)` before `Play` (a
+  world-space system would re-show the previous burst); `TrailRenderer.Clear()` after the reposition.
+- `Rented` flag = at-most-once guard against a double `Return` aliasing one instance to two callers.
+- Returned by the prefab stored **on the record**, never a re-read of `VFXConfig` (an inspector swap mid-play
+  would file it under the wrong effect). In-flight cap `MaxActiveVfx = 40` unchanged; separate retained cap
+  `VfxPerPrefabRetain = 10`.
+
+### B3 — per-frame allocation
+
+- `BuildSlashInto` + `BuildDangerMesh`: four arrays each (~1.7 KB / ~840 B) allocated on **every** call — the
+  first runs twice a frame while a swing arc is alive, the second once per winding enemy per frame. Hoisted to
+  scratch fields; UVs/triangles are argument-independent so they now upload to a mesh only on its first fill.
+- `HudSystem`, `AbilityBarSystem`: unguarded per-frame `Label.text` builds gated on a changed value.
+- `CombatFeedbackSystem.AnimateNumbers`: legacy `TextMesh` bakes colour into vertex colours, so every colour
+  write rebuilds the text mesh — fade quantised to 12 steps.
+- `EnemyHealthBarSystem`: per-bar uGUI writes epsilon-gated (an `anchorMax` write triggers
+  `OnRectTransformDimensionsChange`).
+- `EnemyHitFlashSystem` / `NodeFeedbackSystem`: stopped playing back an **empty** `EntityCommandBuffer` (a
+  structural-change sync point) every frame.
+- **`AudioClip` leak, closed across all seven clip-owning systems.** An `AudioClip.Create`d clip is a standalone
+  `UnityEngine.Object` — destroying a system's FX-root does **not** take it with it, so every client-world
+  teardown leaked its native audio buffer (`MusicSystem` alone ~6.8 MB, `AmbientAudioSystem` ~2 MB). Helper
+  promoted to `FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref AudioClip)`.
+
+## Validation
+
+- **L1** console clean (0 errors) against the session baseline.
+- **L2** EditMode **304/304 green** (304 is the expected post-purge count, matching 2026-08-07).
+- **L3 live**, the structural proofs that are immune to editor noise:
+  - **`oneShotAudioObjectsSeen = 0`** — `PlayClipAtPoint`'s signature `"One shot audio"` GameObject never
+    appeared once across 270 frames of combat with kills.
+  - VFX pool filled to its `VfxPerPrefabRetain = 10` cap and **stabilised** (bounded reuse, not churn).
+  - Audio verified live end-to-end: real cues (`husk_hit`, `strike`, `growl_grunt` ×2) serviced through the
+    ring within 2 s of a non-lethal injected hit.
+  - Clean-run frame time **median 8.6 ms / p99 13.2 ms** (pre-change runs measured 12.2–13.3 ms / 20–21 ms).
+    Caveat: the two harnesses are not byte-identical (the pre-change one built a string per frame), so treat
+    the direction as solid and the exact delta as indicative.
+  - Allocation medians stayed inside the editor noise band — expected, given our layer is a minority of it.
+    **A player build is required for a true allocation number.**
+
+### A false negative worth remembering
+
+An intermediate audio check reported `framesWithAudio = 0/280` and looked exactly like a silent-audio
+regression. It was a **dead window** — the previous run had killed every enemy, so nothing was cueing. Direct
+probing (`OneShotAudioPool.Play` → `isPlaying = true`, plus `s_freeAt` showing four voices serviced in the last
+0.4 s) disproved it. *Rule: before believing a "feature is dead" measurement, prove the stimulus actually
+occurred.*
+
+## Reviews
+
+- **Pre-code audit** (4 lenses + completeness critic + refactor-risk verifier, 6/6 agents, 0 failures): produced
+  the parity spec and the trap list above. Caught `spatialBlend`, Doppler, `LoadScene(Single)`, and the
+  play-enter static reset **before** they shipped, plus the `PixelArtDevControls` measurement contaminant.
+- **Post-impl diff review** (3 lenses + 19 adversarial verifiers, 22/22 agents, 0 failures): **19 findings → 5
+  confirmed**, all fixed:
+  1. **Real regression I introduced** — `Mathf.RoundToInt` rounds **half-to-even** while `ToString("0.0")`
+     rounds **half-away-from-zero**, so my ability-bar gate key and the string it guarded disagreed at
+     midpoints; the label latched a stale, too-high reading and skipped a tenth on every cooldown. Fixed by
+     single-sourcing the text from the quantised integer and switching to `CeilToInt` (a countdown should never
+     read lower than the true remainder), with the branch bool cached so the format still switches at 597 ticks.
+  2. The clip-leak fix was **half-closed** — only `CombatFeedbackSystem`'s ten clips. Completed across all seven
+     owners.
+  3–5. Two duplicated comment blocks left by structured edits, and a doc-accuracy nit on the ring-size rationale.
+
+## Part 3 — Track A shipped (the camera), + the dev-tool contaminant
+
+Operator resolved the fork: **drop the position hold**, impact rides the FOV punch + shake.
+
+**A2 — the hold is gone.** `PrototypeCameraRig.Hold`/`s_holdFrames`, `CombatFeedbackSystem.TryHold` and its four
+call sites, and the `HitStopMaxFrames` / `HitStopFreezeEnabled` / `FinisherHoldFrames` knobs all retired; the
+three saved feel profiles drop the dead keys (`FeelProfileService` skips unknown keys with a warning, so this
+was safe either way — verified before removing).
+
+**A1 — the shake channel, which the measurement forced.** Dropping the hold *alone* measured **worse** (max
+deviation 0.653 vs 0.447): the hold had been partly masking the real bug by pinning the camera during the
+frames shake was loudest. So A1 landed too — the follow now smooths a `_basePos` that shake never touches, and
+shake is applied only when writing the transform.
+
+| | max per-frame step | max deviation | mean deviation |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Original | 0.283 | 0.447 (still 0.199 at +24 frames) | — |
+| Hold dropped only | 0.429 | 0.653 | — |
+| **Both fixes** | 0.428 (the shake impulse itself) | **0.329, back to 0.000 within a few frames** | **0.038** |
+
+Deviation at f42/f45/f50 after the f40 kill is now literally `0.000` (was 0.269/0.429/0.399). Shake reads as a
+crisp transient punch instead of a drift the follow filter spends half a second digesting.
+
+**`PixelArtDevControls` is now opt-in.** Gated behind an EditorPrefs toggle (checked menu item, mirroring
+`ProjectM/Boot Into Menu (Editor)`), off by default. Extra find: the object carries `HideFlags.DontSave`, so it
+**survives play-mode exit** while the static `_instance` does not — the old code leaked one instance per domain
+reload, and two live strays were cleared out of the editor.
+
+## Notes / loose ends
+
+- `Assets/_Project/Shaders/PixelOutline.mat` was dirtied by `PixelArtDevControls` writing to the shared material
+  asset during the Play sessions (`_MasterEnabled` 0→1). **Reverted on the operator's instruction** — it was not
+  an intentional change. The dev tool is now opt-in, so it cannot recur silently.
+- **CLAUDE.md is at 39 936 / 40 960 bytes** — exactly the ≥1 KB-headroom target. Two ★ rules were added (camera
+  feel; pooling + per-frame cost) and paid for under the net-zero rule by retiring the DR-051 build-palette text
+  (that code died with the purge), the two purge enumerations now carried by their DRs, and prose trims across
+  the MCP-edit, swept-hit, LANTERN-direction and presentation bullets. It is still tight — a dedicated
+  condensation pass would buy room for the next few sessions.
+
+## Next session
+
+1. **Track A leftovers** (the two smaller items from the original plan, not yet done): **de-stack the lethal
+   frame** — the hit package and the kill package still both fire on the kill (measured shake 0.10+0.20 stacking,
+   two FOV punches, two SFX, four bursts) — and **prewarm** the first-kill VFX/audio path to kill the one-off
+   41 ms spike.
+2. **Track C — feel**: enemies have **no collider** (you walk straight through them, which is the biggest
+   remaining feel gap); FOV pumps on every hit; the 0.9 s corpse window wants re-judging now the camera is calm.
+3. Measure allocation in a **player build** to get a number free of editor contamination.
+4. **Eyes-on the camera.** The numbers say it settles; whether the impact still reads as *impact* with the hold
+   gone is a feel call only the operator can make.
@@ -553,3 +553,93 @@ long forms are preserved here.
   shaking."* An `EditorApplication.update` trace quantified it instantly (y 1.157↔13.559, 7.43 units/tick; after
   the fix span 0.051, max step 0.004). Gate such effects on the presence of the owning component
   (`GetComponent<PrototypeCameraRig>()`), never on a scene name.
+
+## 2026-08-13 — Combat-freeze diagnosis + Track B (allocation / pooling)
+
+Session log: [[2026-08-13_Combat_Freeze_Diagnosis_Track_B_Allocation]]. Payment for the CLAUDE.md line added
+this session (net-zero rule): the six items below stay here, one condensed pointer lives inline.
+
+1. **`GC.GetTotalMemory(false)` is USELESS for per-frame allocation attribution — it quantises to 4 KB pages.**
+   A 29-system toggle sweep produced medians of exactly `0` or `4096` and a "savings" column of pure noise; I
+   nearly shipped a refactor ranked off it. The correct instrument is
+   `ProfilerRecorder.StartNew(ProfilerCategory.Memory, "GC Allocated In Frame")`, which reports real
+   bytes/frame. Retract and re-measure rather than reasoning over a quantised signal.
+
+2. **Attribute allocation by BULK toggle before ranking per-system work.** Disabling all 29 `ProjectM.Client`
+   systems at once dropped the median from ~15.1 KB to ~11.6 KB/frame — i.e. the whole presentation layer was
+   only ~10–25 % of the editor-side number, while owning the spiky tail (p90 49 KB → 12 KB). Per-system deltas
+   were inside the noise; only the bulk delta was legible. Rank work off the bulk number, not the per-item one.
+
+3. **★ An editor-only IMGUI dev tool can dominate your allocation measurement.** `PixelArtDevControls`
+   self-spawns via `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(AfterSceneLoad)]` + `DontDestroyOnLoad` into **Game.unity**
+   (not just DevSandbox) and its `OnGUI` draws a `GUI.Button` on EVERY IMGUI pass *before* its `if (!_open)
+   return`. It is a MonoBehaviour, so an ECS-system toggle sweep never touches it. Exclude it before
+   attributing any editor-measured allocation to the game.
+
+4. **★ A value-CHANGE gate must be single-sourced with the value it renders.** Gating a label on
+   `Mathf.RoundToInt(x)` while the string is built by `ToString("0.0")` is a live bug: `Mathf.RoundToInt` is
+   round-half-to-**EVEN**, custom numeric formats round half-**AWAY-from-zero**. They disagree at midpoints, so
+   the gate latches and the label holds a stale, too-high reading and visibly skips a value. Derive the rendered
+   text FROM the quantised key, never re-derive it from the raw input. For a countdown prefer `CeilToInt` so the
+   readout never reads lower than the true remainder. (Caught by the post-impl review, not by 304 green tests.)
+
+5. **Pooling an `AudioSource` is not a drop-in for `AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint` — three properties bite.**
+   (a) a fresh `AudioSource` defaults to `spatialBlend = 0` (**2D**); PlayClipAtPoint is the only thing setting
+   it to 1, so a naive pool silently makes every cue non-positional and no test catches it. (b) `dopplerLevel`
+   defaults to 1 and a pooled voice **teleports** between events — a 20 m jump pitch-bends the clip, a failure
+   that cannot exist when the source is created at the position and never moves; set 0. (c) `playOnAwake`
+   defaults true, which is harmless for a one-frame object and wrong for a long-lived one. Also: the pool root
+   needs `DontDestroyOnLoad` (WorldLauncher does `LoadScene(..., Single)` while the client world is alive) and a
+   `[RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod(SubsystemRegistration)]` reset, or session two holds destroyed voices.
+
+6. **Pooling a ParticleSystem prefab: `SetActive(false)/(true)` does NOT reset it.** Rent order is transform →
+   `SetActive(true)` → `ps.Clear(true); ps.Play(true)` (a world-space system otherwise re-shows the previous
+   burst at its OLD positions) and `TrailRenderer.Clear()` AFTER the reposition (else a streak draws from the
+   last despawn point). Force `main.stopAction = None` at fill — a prefab set to `Destroy` silently drains the
+   pool. Cache component arrays **per instance** (component refs are instance-scoped; arrays captured off the
+   prefab asset drive the asset). Fill under an **inactive** root so `Awake`/`Start` never run, which is what
+   makes `DestroyImmediate` of the Rigidbody/Collider safe — a deferred `Destroy` would hand out an instance
+   still carrying them for one frame. Guard `Return` with a `Rented` flag: a double return aliases one instance
+   to two callers.
+
+7. **An `AudioClip.Create`d clip is NOT owned by the GameObject that played it.** Destroying a system's FX-root
+   in `OnDestroy` leaves every procedural clip alive — seven presentation systems here leaked their native audio
+   buffers on every client-world teardown (`MusicSystem` ~6.8 MB, `AmbientAudioSystem` ~2 MB), growing unbounded
+   across menu → game → menu cycles. Shared helper: `FeedbackFx.DestroyClip(ref AudioClip)`.
+
+8. **Before believing a "the feature is dead" measurement, prove the STIMULUS occurred.** A 280-frame watch
+   reported `framesWithAudio = 0` and looked exactly like a silent-audio regression from the new pool. It was a
+   dead window — the prior run had killed every enemy, so nothing was cueing. Direct probing (a synthetic
+   `PlayClip` → `isPlaying = true`, plus `s_freeAt` showing four voices serviced within 0.4 s) disproved it in
+   one call. The same false-negative class as the 07-21 auto-recast retraction.
+
+9. **Injecting a kill: append a lethal `DamageEvent`, never write `Health.Current = 0`.**
+   `HealthApplyDamageSystem` early-`continue`s on an empty `DamageEvent` buffer, so a direct Health write is
+   never seen by the death branch and no `Dying` is ever stamped.
+
+### 2026-08-13b — camera feel (Track A, same session)
+
+10. **★ Never let a transient offset (shake, recoil, punch) live in the same value your smoothing filter reads
+    back.** `Lerp(transform.position, desired, k)` where `transform.position` already carries last frame's shake
+    makes the filter treat shake as real positional error and INTEGRATE it — at `FollowSharpness 8` / ~12 ms
+    that is ~9 %/frame, so it washes out over half a second while new shake piles on. Measured on a stationary
+    player (ideal motion = 0): one kill left the camera 0.447 units off-frame, still 0.199 off 24 frames later.
+    Fix: smooth a private `_basePos` the offset never touches; add the offset only when writing the transform.
+    After: deviation returns to 0.000 within a few frames, mean 0.038.
+
+11. **A frame-counted hold is a framerate-dependent freeze.** `FinisherHoldFrames = 7` was documented as
+    "~117 ms" — true only at 60 fps; it is 49 ms at 144 and 233 ms at 30. Anything that gates on *feel duration*
+    must be time-based. Worse, the hold branch took its base from `transform.position`, permanently baking that
+    frame's shake in (a measured 0.283-unit single-frame jump).
+
+12. **★ A masking fix can make the metric WORSE before it makes it better — measure the intermediate state.**
+    Dropping the camera hold alone measured worse than leaving it (max deviation 0.653 vs 0.447), because the
+    hold had been pinning the camera during the frames shake was loudest and thereby hiding the integration bug
+    in #10. Had I shipped the drop on its own and stopped, the "fix" would have been a regression. Re-measure
+    after each half of a two-part fix.
+
+13. **`HideFlags.DontSave` objects SURVIVE play-mode exit.** A self-spawning dev tool created with
+    `HideAndDontSave` + `DontDestroyOnLoad` outlives the play session while its `static _instance` guard is
+    cleared by the domain reload — so it leaks one live instance per reload (two were found). If you gate such
+    a bootstrap off, also sweep the existing strays with
+    `Resources.FindObjectsOfTypeAll<GameObject>()` — `GameObject.Find` alone will not show you the history.
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
kronic	5dced78de2	Docs: 2026-08-13 — Track A (camera) shipped alongside Track B Session log gains Part 3: the operator picked "drop" on the hold fork, and both halves of the camera fix landed. Records the measurement that forced the second half — dropping the hold ALONE was worse (max deviation 0.653 vs 0.447) because the hold had been masking the shake-integration bug — plus the before/after table and the PixelArtDevControls opt-in. Gotchas archive gains four more entries: never let a transient offset live in the value your smoothing filter reads back; a frame-counted hold is a framerate- dependent freeze; a masking fix can make the metric worse before better, so re-measure the intermediate state; HideFlags.DontSave objects survive play-mode exit and leak one per domain reload. CLAUDE.md gains a Camera-feel ★ line, paid for by trimming the MCP-edit, swept-hit, LANTERN-direction, harvest, bootstrap and presentation bullets. Now 39936 bytes — exactly the >=1 KB headroom target. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-13 23:09:53 -07:00
kronic	150f30f56c	Fix: PixelArtDevControls is opt-in — it was running OnGUI in Game.unity every frame The editor-only pixel-art tuner self-spawned via [RuntimeInitializeOnLoadMethod] + DontDestroyOnLoad into EVERY scene, not just DevSandbox, and its OnGUI draws the toggle button on every IMGUI pass BEFORE the `!_open` early-out. IMGUI dispatches at least Layout+Repaint per frame, so it allocated continuously during normal gameplay — it is a MonoBehaviour, so an ECS system-toggle sweep never touched it, and it dominated this session's allocation profiling until it was found. Now gated behind an EditorPrefs opt-in with a checked menu toggle, mirroring `ProjectM/Boot Into Menu (Editor)`. Off by default. Separately: because the object carries HideFlags.DontSave it SURVIVES play-mode exit while the static _instance does not, so the old code leaked one instance per domain reload — two live strays were found and cleared in the editor. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-13 23:03:15 -07:00
kronic	4bd00818e1	Fix: the combat "freeze on a kill" — camera shake channel + drop the position hold This is what the operator's report was actually describing, and it was never a CPU hitch: median frame was 12.2 ms with a kill costing ~15 ms, wave respawn is not a spike, and enemies carry no PhysicsCollider so corpses never blocked. Two bugs in PrototypeCameraRig.LateUpdate, both measured with a STATIONARY player so the ideal camera motion is exactly zero and everything observed is artifact: 1. Shake was integrated by the follow filter. The smoothing ran as Lerp(transform.position, desired, k), and transform.position already contained last frame's random shake — so the filter treated shake as real positional error and corrected only ~9 %/frame. Shake was never subtracted, just slowly lerped out while new shake piled on, so in sustained combat the camera random-walked around its framing and never settled. One kill left it 0.447 units off-frame and still 0.199 off 24 frames later. The follow now smooths a _basePos that shake never touches; shake is applied only when writing the transform. 2. The position HOLD froze the follow for a fixed number of RENDER frames on every kill and heavy hit (2, or 7 on a finisher), making the freeze framerate-dependent — 49 ms at 144 fps, 233 ms at 30 fps — and it took its base from transform.position, permanently baking that frame's shake in as a 0.283-unit single-frame jump. A camera that stops while the world keeps moving reads as a hitch, not as crunch. Dropped; impact rides the FOV punch + shake alone (operator's call). HitStopMaxFrames / HitStopFreezeEnabled / FinisherHoldFrames retire with it, and the three saved feel profiles drop the dead keys. Worth recording: dropping the hold ALONE measured slightly worse (max deviation 0.653 vs 0.447) — the hold had been partly masking the shake integration. Both fixes together: deviation returns to 0.000 within a few frames of a kill, mean deviation 0.038 across the window. The 0.428 peak is now the shake impulse itself, a transient punch that immediately returns instead of a drift that lingers. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-13 23:03:06 -07:00
kronic	e0c59ad663	Perf: pool one-shot SFX + authored VFX, cut per-frame presentation allocation Track B. All 21 one-shot cues funnelled through FeedbackFx.PlayClip -> AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint, which allocates a GameObject + AudioSource per call and schedules a delayed Destroy — ~20-33 times a second in light combat. New OneShotAudioPool is a 32-voice 3D ring behind an UNCHANGED PlayClip signature, so all 20 consuming call sites are untouched. Parity is the whole game here: PlayClipAtPoint sets spatialBlend = 1 explicitly (a fresh AudioSource is 2D) and leaves the rest at stock defaults. Two deliberate divergences, both forced by the voices being long-lived: playOnAwake = false, and dopplerLevel = 0 because a pooled voice TELEPORTS between events and would otherwise pitch-bend. Root is DontDestroyOnLoad (WorldLauncher does LoadScene(Single) while the client world is alive) with a SubsystemRegistration reset, or session two rents destroyed voices. Authored impact VFX are pooled per prefab instead of Instantiate/Destroy per hit: components cached per INSTANCE (refs are instance-scoped), main.stopAction forced to None (a prefab set to Destroy silently drains the pool), instances filled under an inactive root so Awake/Start never run — which is what makes the DestroyImmediate in StripCosmetic safe — ps.Clear before Play, TrailRenderer.Clear after the reposition, and a Rented flag as the at-most-once guard against a double Return aliasing one instance to two callers. Per-frame allocation: the slash-arc and enemy-wedge mesh builders each allocated four arrays on every call (up to twice a frame, and once per winding enemy); HUD and ability-bar labels rebuilt their strings every frame; damage-number fades rewrote TextMesh vertex colours every frame; health bars pushed uGUI writes unconditionally; two systems played back an empty EntityCommandBuffer (a structural-change sync point) every frame. Also closes an AudioClip leak across all seven clip-owning systems: an AudioClip.Create'd clip is a standalone UnityEngine.Object, so destroying a system's FX root left it alive (MusicSystem ~6.8 MB, AmbientAudioSystem ~2 MB per client-world teardown). CombatFeedbackSystem's TryHold call sites go with this commit because they share the file; the camera-side removal lands in the next one. Verified live: PlayClipAtPoint's "One shot audio" GameObject never appears again across 270 frames of combat with kills; the VFX pool fills to its retain cap and stabilises; real cues route through the ring. 304/304 EditMode green. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-13 23:02:50 -07:00
kronic	bdeee3c51a	Docs: 2026-08-13 session — combat freeze diagnosis + Track B allocation pass Session log for the "freezes on a kill" diagnosis (the cause is the camera, not CPU: shake is integrated by the follow filter, the hold is frame-counted, and the hit + kill packages stack on the lethal frame) and for the Track B allocation work the operator selected. Gotchas archive gains nine dated entries, incl. two that changed how the work was ranked: GC.GetTotalMemory quantises to 4 KB and is useless for allocation attribution (use ProfilerRecorder), and an editor-only IMGUI dev tool self-spawns into Game.unity and dominated every editor-side measurement. CLAUDE.md: one new pooling/per-frame-cost line, paid for under the net-zero rule by dropping the DR-051 build-palette text (that code died with the purge), the two purge enumerations now carried by their DRs, and a duplicated ACES clause. 40183 bytes, under the 40960 budget. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-13 22:39:30 -07:00