---
permalink: gamevault/07-sessions/2026/2026-07-15-lantern-realignment-purge
---

---
title: 2026-07-15 — LANTERN Realignment & Purge (the whole plan, shipped)
date: 2026-07-15
links: [[DR-051_Lantern_Realignment_Purge]], [[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]], [[Lantern_Strip_Mothball_Inventory]], [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]]
---

# 2026-07-15 — LANTERN Realignment & Purge

Operator brief: the re-enabled Synty world didn't match ArtStaging; old systems/scenes kept getting in the way. "The new direction is absolute — don't worry about preserving stuff. Exactly these scenes: DevSandbox (Gym renamed, old one deleted), ArtStaging, Game, MainMenu — all one look. Then the new character model, fully in, so movement/animation tuning can start."

Three plan-mode forks locked by the operator: **delete outright** (not mothball) · **Game = LANTERN seabed arena** · **legacy AbilityRef/CharacterId refactor INCLUDED**.

## Shipped (10 commits on main, every one compile-clean + tests green)

| Commit | What |
|---|---|
| `511e78556` | Checkpoint of the operator's working tree (Gym→GymSub repoint, SampleScene deletion, ai.assistant pkg re-added) |
| `a0f6d4a5c` | B1: automation chain deleted (−43 tests → 459). `RuntimePlacedTag` rescued into StructureComponents.cs |
| `835dace21` | B2: EB-2 turrets deleted (−7 → 452) |
| `b34945c2d` | B3+B5: cycle/core/win-lose spine + onboarding deleted; save epoch v7 (→ 390 green; Play-clean) |
| `4a8220ad3` | B6: legacy single-ability path deleted; sockets seed unconditionally (Play-verified: frame 2, Sparks [7,8,6,9] on a NON-gym spawn) |
| `77de740b6` | B7: `CharacterId` → `FrameKind` |
| `c58439d33` | P3: PostFX_Lantern + Env_SeabedKit + scene surgery (Gym→DevSandbox rename, SyntyWorld/biomes deleted, ScenePolicy gates, murk WorldAtmosphere) |
| `12d5b96b7` | P4: arena roster [Drowner,Grindylow,Drowner,Drowner]; 10 old enemy prefabs deleted; invisible-wall collider groups removed |
| `210d30740` | P5: Bathynaut suit body onto Player.prefab in place (PlayerRigTools.BuildBathynautPlayer) |
| (docs) | DR-051 + this log + inventory/CLAUDE.md updates |

## Field notes / gotchas confirmed this session

- **The misalign hazard is alive**: two apply_text_edits landed on wrong spans mid-session (BuildSendSystem orphan fragment; RunDirectorSystem double-`if`) — caught by the re-read-neighbors habit both times. The span validator also false-positives ("duplicate ResourceSprite", tuple-deconstruction "unbalanced braces") — `replace_method`/`delete_method` are the reliable fallback; `validate:"basic"` clears some but not all.
- **Deleting a component file can take a KEEPER with it**: `RuntimePlacedTag` (save marker) lived inside AutomationComponents.cs. Grep the whole file's declarations before deleting "a dead system's components".
- **"Frozen enemies" that aren't**: AFK-player samples caught identical enemy positions + flat HP across 60s and looked like the no-pathfinding freeze — it was mid-cycle sampling; the player had died and respawned between samples. Check respawn-invuln ticks before diagnosing a freeze.
- **Synty character prefabs are 20-SMR variant containers** — a flatten copies ALL of them; only the active ones matter. Strip inactive SMRs after the flatten (17 removed from Player.prefab).
- **Removing the skybox exposes camera clearFlags** — corners render the default blue; set SolidColor + deep-water background wherever the LANTERN look lands.
- The renamed DevSandbox **revived** `DebugOverlay`/`PixelArtDevControls`/`ClassSwitchHotkeySystem` (they gate on the "DevSandbox" scene name and had been dead in Gym).

## Verified end-state

- Game (Play): murk fog/ambient live via the retuned atmosphere system, seabed kit + warm/cold pools, Drowner wave spawns → seeks → strikes → kills the AFK player → respawn. Zero errors.
- DevSandbox (Play): LANTERN look + Bathynaut suit player idling correctly (not T-posed/sunken), Rukhanka rig baked, 9 drive params, dev overlay + re-meant wave buttons + F1/F2 present.
- 390/390 EditMode tests green.

## Next session

**Movement/animation tuning** (the operator's stated priority — now unblocked): CC feel knobs + locomotion blend + clip pass on the suit, live TuningConfig knobs already in the overlay. Follow-ups parked in DR-051 (EnemyRigTools templates, suit attachments via /art-dev, fog-density taste pass, HUD vocab).