plan: give realistic buildings their own minor milestone (0.9.0)

The facade work started as a patch (0.1.4) and the 0.1.6 retail pass showed what
that costs: a patch has no release gate of its own, so a first pass that does not
yet read as the building can sit inside a done patch series. Realism is also the
leading quality goal, which a patch cannot carry.

New 0.9.0 - Realistic buildings, before the feature freeze: facade system with more
than one order, a profile library, storefront types, signage as decals, per-building
photo-matched models, a measured material library with a texel-density rule, and
LODs plus collision proxies. Former 0.9.0 freeze/beta/audit becomes 0.10.0 with
patches 0.10.1-0.10.3; 1.0.0 moves to weeks 39-44.

Recorded as ADR-8 (append-only) with a measurable gate BR-1..BR-5 in the quality
requirements, mirrored into the combined architecture.md. The 0.1.6 item now says
which of its gaps move to 0.9.0 and why more geometry cannot close them.

Docs/Architecture/09_architecture_decisions.md

@@ -55,3 +55,11 @@
 - **Decision**: All Blender work driven by Python scripts in `Tools/`. Skill packs used as method guides (checklists, naming, proportions) only.
 
 - **Consequences**: Scripts are version-controlled and repeatable. No live Blender session needed for CI.
+
+## ADR-8: Realistic building façades are a minor milestone, not a patch
+
+- **Context**: `0.1.4` carried the first façade pass as a _patch_, while the release policy says patches contain fixes and refinements and never new scope. The `0.1.6` retail pass then showed what that costs: a façade built in a patch has no release gate of its own, so a first pass that does not yet read as the building (`Screenshots/README.md`, 0.1.6 gaps) can sit inside a "done" patch series. Realism is also the project's leading quality goal, which a patch cannot carry.
+
+- **Decision**: Building realism gets its own minor milestone, `0.9.0 — Realistic buildings`, placed before the feature freeze. Its scope is the façade system (orders, profile library, storefront types, signage as decals), per-building photo-matched models, a measured material library with a texel-density rule, and LODs plus collision proxies. Patches keep fixes and refinements only. Renumbered by this decision: the former `0.9.0` freeze/beta/audit milestone becomes `0.10.0`, its patches `0.10.1`–`0.10.3`, and `1.0.0` moves to weeks 39–44.
+
+- **Consequences**: Façade work now has a release gate — every building measured against its own photograph, every building with a collision proxy and a LOD, no placeholder materials — so "modelled" means verified, not merely present. The price is that realism work stops being sliced into patches, and the schedule shifts by one minor cycle. Blockouts without a photograph stay blockouts and are listed as such, rather than being dressed up to fill the milestone.

Docs/Architecture/10_quality_requirements.md

@@ -33,3 +33,13 @@ Ordered by priority: realism first, performance last. The order decides design t
 | QS-9 | Game runs on dev workstation at 1440p | Frame rate holds the floor | ≥ 60 FPS, 99th percentile ≥ 55 FPS |
 
 > QS-9 is last on purpose. Performance is a floor that every release must meet, not the goal that shapes the content: realism decides what gets built, the frame budget decides how much of it.
+
+### Building realism gate (0.9.0)
+
+| ID | Check | Metric |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| BR-1 | A building with a reference photograph has a review shot compared against it | Silhouette and proportion deltas recorded per building in `Screenshots/README.md`; owner approval per shot |
+| BR-2 | Every building is either photo-matched or explicitly recorded as an unfounded blockout | List in `TODO.md`; no building in an in-between state |
+| BR-3 | Every building has a collision proxy and at least one LOD | Count of buildings missing either = 0 |
+| BR-4 | No surface carries a placeholder material | Material audit in `Tools/ue_audit_scene.py` reports 0 placeholder slots |
+| BR-5 | The realism pass does not break the floor | QS-9 still holds at 1440p, with the measured cost of the pass recorded |

Docs/Architecture/architecture.md

@@ -455,6 +455,14 @@ Rule: place a building only against a neighbour or street mesh, never in isolati
 
 # Quality Requirements
 
+## ADR-8: Realistic building façades are a minor milestone, not a patch
+
+- **Context**: `0.1.4` carried the first façade pass as a _patch_, while the release policy says patches contain fixes and refinements and never new scope. The `0.1.6` retail pass then showed what that costs: a façade built in a patch has no release gate of its own, so a first pass that does not yet read as the building (`Screenshots/README.md`, 0.1.6 gaps) can sit inside a "done" patch series. Realism is also the project's leading quality goal, which a patch cannot carry.
+
+- **Decision**: Building realism gets its own minor milestone, `0.9.0 — Realistic buildings`, placed before the feature freeze. Its scope is the façade system (orders, profile library, storefront types, signage as decals), per-building photo-matched models, a measured material library with a texel-density rule, and LODs plus collision proxies. Patches keep fixes and refinements only. Renumbered by this decision: the former `0.9.0` freeze/beta/audit milestone becomes `0.10.0`, its patches `0.10.1`–`0.10.3`, and `1.0.0` moves to weeks 39–44.
+
+- **Consequences**: Façade work now has a release gate — every building measured against its own photograph, every building with a collision proxy and a LOD, no placeholder materials — so "modelled" means verified, not merely present. The price is that realism work stops being sliced into patches, and the schedule shifts by one minor cycle. Blockouts without a photograph stay blockouts and are listed as such, rather than being dressed up to fill the milestone.
+
 ## Quality Requirements Overview
 
 Ordered by priority: realism first, performance last. The order decides design trade-offs; it does not license dropping a lower item silently (see the trade-off rule below the table).
@@ -489,6 +497,16 @@ Ordered by priority: realism first, performance last. The order decides design t
 
 > QS-9 is last on purpose. Performance is a floor that every release must meet, not the goal that shapes the content: realism decides what gets built, the frame budget decides how much of it.
 
+### Building realism gate (0.9.0)
+
+| ID | Check | Metric |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| BR-1 | A building with a reference photograph has a review shot compared against it | Silhouette and proportion deltas recorded per building in `Screenshots/README.md`; owner approval per shot |
+| BR-2 | Every building is either photo-matched or explicitly recorded as an unfounded blockout | List in `TODO.md`; no building in an in-between state |
+| BR-3 | Every building has a collision proxy and at least one LOD | Count of buildings missing either = 0 |
+| BR-4 | No surface carries a placeholder material | Material audit in `Tools/ue_audit_scene.py` reports 0 placeholder slots |
+| BR-5 | The realism pass does not break the floor | QS-9 still holds at 1440p, with the measured cost of the pass recorded |
+
 # Risks and Technical Debts
 
 | ID | Risk / Debt | Priority | Mitigation |