AGENTS.md

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Rules for `TODO.md`:
 - When **all** steps in a version section are done: write a short descriptive entry to `CHANGELOG.md`, remove the version section from `TODO.md`, and leave its goal in `ROADMAP.md`.
 - Release checks for each version are listed at the end of its `TODO.md` section; `Docs/release-checks.md` defines the checks themselves. If a check fails, do not tag the release; open a patch task in `TODO.md` and report the failing check in `CHANGELOG.md`.
 - Finish each milestone's release checks **before** expanding scope. Cut map size and simulation complexity before compromising the core walking/driving experience.
+- **Realism leads, performance is a floor.** When a realism improvement costs frame time, realism wins and the cost is paid — but 60 FPS at 1440p without frame generation must still be met at every release. If realism cannot fit the budget, reduce the realism scope deliberately and record it in `CHANGELOG.md`; never ship below the floor without the owner's approval. Walkability outranks realism in one direction only: a block the player falls through is not a demo.
 
 ## Git workflow
 

Docs/Architecture/01_introduction_and_goals.md

@@ -20,11 +20,14 @@ Full requirements and progress are in [TODO.md](../../TODO.md); version directio
 
 | Priority | Quality Goal | Scenario |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| 1 | **Performance efficiency** | 60 FPS at 2560×1440 on RTX 5070 Ti, documented preset, no frame generation |
-| 2 | **Terrain walkability** | Zero raycast holes across both sidewalks and the carriageway (84-sample transect passes) |
-| 3 | **Geographic fidelity** | Building placement, street scale, and façade identity match reference photography |
+| 1 | **Visual realism** | Renders read as the reference photographs: façade identity, proportion, material and light — judged side by side, shot against photo |
+| 2 | **Geographic fidelity** | Building placement and street scale match the measured data and the photographs |
+| 3 | **Terrain walkability** | Zero raycast holes across both sidewalks and the carriageway (84-sample transect passes) |
 | 4 | **Build reproducibility** | Fresh checkout + documented engine path produces a runnable Linux build |
 | 5 | **Provenance** | Every committed asset has recorded provenance |
+| 6 | **Performance efficiency** | 60 FPS at 2560×1440 on RTX 5070 Ti, documented preset, no frame generation |
+
+**How the order is used.** It decides trade-offs. When realism and performance disagree, realism wins and the cost is paid — but never by silently shipping a frame rate below the floor. The 60 FPS figure is a **budget that must still be met**, so the response to "realism costs too much frame time" is to cut the realism feature deliberately, record the cut, and keep the floor — not to let frames slip. Walkability outranks realism in one direction only: a beautiful block the player falls through is not a demo.
 
 ## Stakeholders
 

Docs/Architecture/04_solution_strategy.md

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ All modelling and geographic processing live outside the game project in `Art/`,
 
 ## Quality achievement
 
-- **Performance**: dynamic-only lighting (no build step, no static shadow maps), world-space-noise materials (cheap procedural variation), minimal overdraw (simple street-level geometry).
+- **Realism first**: reference photography and measured data drive every façade decision; renders are compared against the photographs with `Tools/visual_loop.py`, and a façade is built from the shared 4.96 m module kit so the street wall reads consistently. Materials are authored in Unreal with world-aligned generated textures, and lighting is fixed daytime so a shot is comparable between runs.
+- **Performance as a budget, not a driver**: dynamic-only lighting (no build step, no static shadow maps), world-space-noise materials (cheap procedural variation), minimal overdraw for street-level geometry, and a 60 FPS at 1440p floor that every release must meet. It closes the quality list because it constrains how much realism fits, not what the block should look like.
 
 - **Walkability**: complex-as-simple collision on terrain (C++ helper forces the flag on the asset), block-all collision on every site mesh, swept transect QA verifies zero raycast holes.
 

Docs/Architecture/10_quality_requirements.md

@@ -2,24 +2,34 @@
 
 ## Quality Requirements Overview
 
-| Category | Requirement | Priority |
+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).
+
+| Priority | Category | Requirement |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| Performance efficiency | 60 FPS at 2560×1440, documented preset, no frame generation | 1 |
-| Reliability / Terrain | Zero raycast holes across sidewalks and carriageway (84-sample transect) | 1 |
-| Accuracy / Fidelity | Building placement matches reference photography within ~1 m | 2 |
-| Accuracy / Fidelity | Street scale (lane width, sidewalk width) within ~10 cm of measured profile | 2 |
-| Usability | WASD + mouse look, jump, reset (R), pause (Escape) — no tutorial needed | 2 |
-| Maintainability | Fresh checkout builds with documented engine installation | 2 |
-| Portability | Linux build packages and runs; Windows build ships | 3 |
+| 1 | Realism / Fidelity | Façade identity, proportion, material and lighting read like the reference photographs when compared side by side |
+| 2 | Realism / Fidelity | Building placement matches the measured footprints and the photographs (within ~1 m) |
+| 2 | Realism / Fidelity | Street scale (lane width, sidewalk width) within ~10 cm of the measured profile |
+| 3 | Reliability / Terrain | Zero raycast holes across sidewalks and carriageway (84-sample transect) |
+| 3 | Usability | WASD + mouse look, jump, reset (R), pause (Escape) — no tutorial needed |
+| 4 | Maintainability | Fresh checkout builds with the documented engine installation |
+| 4 | Portability | Linux build packages and runs; Windows build ships |
+| 5 | Provenance | Every committed asset has a recorded source and licence |
+| 6 | Performance efficiency | 60 FPS at 2560×1440, documented preset, no frame generation |
+
+**Trade-off rule.** Realism leads: when a realism improvement costs frame time, the improvement wins. Performance is still a **floor, not a preference** — 60 FPS at 1440p without frame generation must be met at every release. If realism cannot fit inside that budget, reduce the realism scope deliberately and record the reduction in `CHANGELOG.md`; never ship below the floor without the owner's explicit approval. Walkability outranks realism in one direction: a block the player falls through is not a demo, whatever it looks like.
 
 ## Quality Scenarios
 
 | ID | Source/Stimulus | Response | Metric |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| QS-1 | Player walks both sides of the demo | No fall-through, character stays at ground Z | 0 raycast holes in 84-sample transect |
-| QS-2 | Player holds W for 2 s on flat road | Character moves forward | ≥ 200 cm displacement, Z constant within ±5 cm |
-| QS-3 | Player presses R | Character teleports to spawn | < 100 cm from `StartLocation` |
-| QS-4 | Player presses Escape | Game pauses, cursor appears | `IsGamePaused()` = true |
-| QS-5 | Player presses Escape while paused | Game unpauses, cursor hides | `IsGamePaused()` = false |
-| QS-6 | Game runs on dev workstation at 1440p | Frame rate stable | ≥ 60 FPS, 99th percentile ≥ 55 FPS |
-| QS-7 | Fresh checkout + engine install | Build succeeds | Exit code 0, runnable binary produced |
+| QS-1 | Screenshot is compared against its reference photograph | The render reads as the same building | Similarity score and visual match confirmed by the owner; `Tools/visual_loop.py` reports the deltas |
+| QS-2 | A façade is placed from measured data | It sits on its verified footprint | World span probed against `Geo/verification/` within ~1 m |
+| QS-3 | Player walks both sides of the demo | No fall-through, character stays at ground Z | 0 raycast holes in 84-sample transect |
+| QS-4 | Player holds W for 2 s on flat road | Character moves forward | ≥ 200 cm displacement, Z constant within ±5 cm |
+| QS-5 | Player presses R | Character teleports to spawn | < 100 cm from `StartLocation` |
+| QS-6 | Player presses Escape | Game pauses, cursor appears | `IsGamePaused()` = true |
+| QS-7 | Player presses Escape while paused | Game unpauses, cursor hides | `IsGamePaused()` = false |
+| QS-8 | Fresh checkout + engine install | Build succeeds | Exit code 0, runnable binary produced |
+| 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.

Docs/Architecture/architecture.md

@@ -27,11 +27,14 @@ Full requirements and progress are in [TODO.md](../../TODO.md); version directio
 
 | Priority | Quality Goal | Scenario |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| 1 | **Performance efficiency** | 60 FPS at 2560×1440 on RTX 5070 Ti, documented preset, no frame generation |
-| 2 | **Terrain walkability** | Zero raycast holes across both sidewalks and the carriageway (84-sample transect passes) |
-| 3 | **Geographic fidelity** | Building placement, street scale, and façade identity match reference photography |
+| 1 | **Visual realism** | Renders read as the reference photographs: façade identity, proportion, material and light — judged side by side, shot against photo |
+| 2 | **Geographic fidelity** | Building placement and street scale match the measured data and the photographs |
+| 3 | **Terrain walkability** | Zero raycast holes across both sidewalks and the carriageway (84-sample transect passes) |
 | 4 | **Build reproducibility** | Fresh checkout + documented engine path produces a runnable Linux build |
 | 5 | **Provenance** | Every committed asset has recorded provenance |
+| 6 | **Performance efficiency** | 60 FPS at 2560×1440 on RTX 5070 Ti, documented preset, no frame generation |
+
+**How the order is used.** It decides trade-offs. When realism and performance disagree, realism wins and the cost is paid — but never by silently shipping a frame rate below the floor. The 60 FPS figure is a **budget that must still be met**, so the response to "realism costs too much frame time" is to cut the realism feature deliberately, record the cut, and keep the floor — not to let frames slip. Walkability outranks realism in one direction only: a beautiful block the player falls through is not a demo.
 
 ## Stakeholders
 
@@ -129,7 +132,9 @@ All modelling and geographic processing live outside the game project in `Art/`,
 
 ## Quality achievement
 
-- **Performance**: dynamic-only lighting (no build step, no static shadow maps), world-space-noise materials (cheap procedural variation), minimal overdraw (simple street-level geometry).
+- **Realism**: reference photography drives every façade decision, measured data fixes placement and scale, and renders are compared against the photographs (`Tools/visual_loop.py`, `Screenshots/README.md`). One module kit at the 4.96 m bay keeps the street wall coherent; materials are world-aligned and lit by a fixed daytime rig so a shot is comparable between runs.
+
+- **Performance holds the floor, it does not set the agenda**: dynamic-only lighting (no build step, no static shadow maps), cheap procedural materials, minimal overdraw for street-level geometry, and 60 FPS at 1440p as a budget every release must meet.
 
 - **Walkability**: complex-as-simple collision on terrain (C++ helper forces the flag on the asset), block-all collision on every site mesh, swept transect QA verifies zero raycast holes.
 
@@ -450,27 +455,37 @@ Rule: place a building only against a neighbour or street mesh, never in isolati
 
 ## Quality Requirements Overview
 
-| Category | Requirement | Priority |
+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).
+
+| Priority | Category | Requirement |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| Performance efficiency | 60 FPS at 2560×1440, documented preset, no frame generation | 1 |
-| Reliability / Terrain | Zero raycast holes across sidewalks and carriageway (84-sample transect) | 1 |
-| Accuracy / Fidelity | Building placement matches reference photography within ~1 m | 2 |
-| Accuracy / Fidelity | Street scale (lane width, sidewalk width) within ~10 cm of measured profile | 2 |
-| Usability | WASD + mouse look, jump, reset (R), pause (Escape) — no tutorial needed | 2 |
-| Maintainability | Fresh checkout builds with documented engine installation | 2 |
-| Portability | Linux build packages and runs; Windows build ships | 3 |
+| 1 | Realism / Fidelity | Façade identity, proportion, material and lighting read like the reference photographs when compared side by side |
+| 2 | Realism / Fidelity | Building placement matches the measured footprints and the photographs (within ~1 m) |
+| 2 | Realism / Fidelity | Street scale (lane width, sidewalk width) within ~10 cm of the measured profile |
+| 3 | Reliability / Terrain | Zero raycast holes across sidewalks and carriageway (84-sample transect) |
+| 3 | Usability | WASD + mouse look, jump, reset (R), pause (Escape) — no tutorial needed |
+| 4 | Maintainability | Fresh checkout builds with the documented engine installation |
+| 4 | Portability | Linux build packages and runs; Windows build ships |
+| 5 | Provenance | Every committed asset has a recorded source and licence |
+| 6 | Performance efficiency | 60 FPS at 2560×1440, documented preset, no frame generation |
+
+**Trade-off rule.** Realism leads: when a realism improvement costs frame time, the improvement wins. Performance is still a **floor, not a preference** — 60 FPS at 1440p without frame generation must be met at every release. If realism cannot fit inside that budget, reduce the realism scope deliberately and record the reduction in `CHANGELOG.md`; never ship below the floor without the owner's explicit approval. Walkability outranks realism in one direction: a block the player falls through is not a demo, whatever it looks like.
 
 ## Quality Scenarios
 
 | ID | Source/Stimulus | Response | Metric |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| QS-1 | Player walks both sides of the demo | No fall-through, character stays at ground Z | 0 raycast holes in 84-sample transect |
-| QS-2 | Player holds W for 2 s on flat road | Character moves forward | ≥ 200 cm displacement, Z constant within ±5 cm |
-| QS-3 | Player presses R | Character teleports to spawn | < 100 cm from `StartLocation` |
-| QS-4 | Player presses Escape | Game pauses, cursor appears | `IsGamePaused()` = true |
-| QS-5 | Player presses Escape while paused | Game unpauses, cursor hides | `IsGamePaused()` = false |
-| QS-6 | Game runs on dev workstation at 1440p | Frame rate stable | ≥ 60 FPS, 99th percentile ≥ 55 FPS |
-| QS-7 | Fresh checkout + engine install | Build succeeds | Exit code 0, runnable binary produced |
+| QS-1 | Screenshot is compared against its reference photograph | The render reads as the same building | Similarity score and visual match confirmed by the owner; `Tools/visual_loop.py` reports the deltas |
+| QS-2 | A façade is placed from measured data | It sits on its verified footprint | World span probed against `Geo/verification/` within ~1 m |
+| QS-3 | Player walks both sides of the demo | No fall-through, character stays at ground Z | 0 raycast holes in 84-sample transect |
+| QS-4 | Player holds W for 2 s on flat road | Character moves forward | ≥ 200 cm displacement, Z constant within ±5 cm |
+| QS-5 | Player presses R | Character teleports to spawn | < 100 cm from `StartLocation` |
+| QS-6 | Player presses Escape | Game pauses, cursor appears | `IsGamePaused()` = true |
+| QS-7 | Player presses Escape while paused | Game unpauses, cursor hides | `IsGamePaused()` = false |
+| QS-8 | Fresh checkout + engine install | Build succeeds | Exit code 0, runnable binary produced |
+| 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.
 
 # Risks and Technical Debts
 

Docs/release-checks.md

@@ -13,7 +13,19 @@ Record results in the table at the end of this file, with the date, the exact bu
 3. **Licensing.** Every new asset has provenance in `THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md`, or is recorded as unresolved and kept out of the build.
 4. **Version discipline.** Patch releases contain fixes, optimisation, docs, or tuning only — no new scope.
 
-## Performance check
+## `0.1.0` checks
+
+1. **Realism first.** Building placement, street width, sidewalk depth, material read and site identity match the reference photography. Compare side by side and note every deliberate deviation. "Looks right" is not evidence.
+2. Player traverses both the south-side frontage and the north-side frontage of the demo without falling through geometry, including the designated crossing. Walk the route twice: once normally, once with collision debug visualisation enabled.
+3. No blocking collision, no invisible walls, no gaps at sidewalk/road seams.
+4. Fresh checkout builds against the documented external engine installation.
+5. Linux build packaged and launched; controls documented in `Docs/` and shown in-game.
+6. **Performance last.** 60 FPS at 1440p per the performance check below — a floor every release meets, not the goal that shapes the content.
+7. Tag `v0.1.0`, write the `CHANGELOG.md` entry, then remove the completed section from `TODO.md` (its goal stays in `ROADMAP.md`).
+
+## Performance check (last)
+
+Performance is the **last** check on purpose: realism leads the design and the frame budget only decides how much of it fits. It is still a floor — a release is not tagged below 60 FPS at 1440p without the owner's explicit approval.
 
 Measured at 1440p on the development workstation: Bazzite, Ryzen 7 7700X, 64 GB RAM, RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB.
 
@@ -22,16 +34,6 @@ Measured at 1440p on the development workstation: Bazzite, Ryzen 7 7700X, 64 GB
 - Target: 60 FPS at 1440p without frame generation.
 - Capture a frame-time graph over a fixed traversal route, not a single sample. State the route.
 
-## `0.1.0` checks
-
-1. Player traverses both the south-side frontage and the north-side frontage of the demo without falling through geometry, including the designated crossing. Walk the route twice: once normally, once with collision debug visualisation enabled.
-2. Building placement, street width, sidewalk depth, and site identity match the reference photography. Compare side by side and note every deliberate deviation. "Looks right" is not evidence.
-3. No blocking collision, no invisible walls, no gaps at sidewalk/road seams.
-4. 60 FPS at 1440p per the performance check above.
-5. Fresh checkout builds against the documented external engine installation.
-6. Linux build packaged and launched; controls documented in `Docs/` and shown in-game.
-7. Tag `v0.1.0`, write the `CHANGELOG.md` entry, then remove the completed section from `TODO.md` (its goal stays in `ROADMAP.md`).
-
 ## Check-record template
 
 | Version | Check | Result | Evidence | Date |

MEMORY.md

@@ -420,3 +420,19 @@ Scope: facts and traps that cost time to establish. Planned work lives in [TODO.
 - Owner reviewed the four demo captures locally and approved the set. Signoff recorded in `Docs/reviews/0.1.4-review.md` (7/7 items) and in the per-shot `Approved` column of `Screenshots/README.md`.
 - The three geometry items that `0.1.4` did not finish — retail neighbours from their own references, hero fluting/motto band, blockout cleaning — move to a new **`0.1.5` Façade finishing** patch rather than growing this one, plus a much-needed **1440p performance re-measure** (625 kit actors have never been measured; `0.1.0` measured 414 fps).
 - Decision recorded because it sets a precedent: finish and sign off a version when its _stated_ scope is done, and carry leftover scope into the next patch — do not let a patch accumulate unmeasured geometry.
+
+## 2026-11-09 — quality priority flipped: realism first, performance last
+
+- Owner decision: realism leads; performance closes the quality list. Applied in
+  `Docs/Architecture/01_introduction_and_goals.md`, `10_quality_requirements.md`,
+  `04_solution_strategy.md`, the combined `architecture.md`, `Docs/release-checks.md`
+  (performance section now last, with the reason), `ROADMAP.md` (a "Quality priority"
+  section) and `AGENTS.md` (the tie-break rule next to the scope-cutting rule).
+- Ordering used: 1 visual realism, 2 geographic fidelity, 3 walkability/usability,
+  4 build reproducibility/portability, 5 provenance, 6 performance.
+- **Both revisions carry the same guard so the order cannot be used as an excuse:**
+  performance is a *floor*, not a preference — 60 FPS at 1440p without frame
+  generation must be met at every release, and if realism cannot fit, the realism
+  scope is cut deliberately and recorded in `CHANGELOG.md`, never the frame rate.
+  Walkability outranks realism in one direction: a block the player falls through is
+  not a demo.

ROADMAP.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 Development roadmap for this project: milestone goals, scope, decisions, and release gates. Actionable tasks, claims, and progress marks live in [TODO.md](TODO.md).
 
+## Quality priority
+
+**Realism leads; performance is a floor.** Façade identity, proportion, material and light are judged against the reference photographs and drive design decisions. Performance closes the quality list: 60 FPS at 1440p without frame generation is a budget every release must meet, and if realism cannot fit inside it the realism scope is cut deliberately and recorded — never the frame rate.
+
 ## Status at a glance — 2026-11-08 15:30
 
 Workstation, geo pipeline, and engine validation are done. The art pipeline has a first blockout, terrain, and street in metres, in one shared coordinate frame. **Project bootstrap is complete**: `Game/GigLine` builds, packages, and both content-acceptance tests (static-mesh scale, MPFB skeletal character) pass. **`v0.1.0` released 2026-11-08**: the walkable demo, hero façade, verified block frontage, first-person controls, ODbL attribution, and every release check pass (traversal, placement, collision, 60 fps at 1440p, fresh-checkout build, packaged build with controls). Next: the `0.1.1`–`0.1.4` patch series (collision detail, scale/façade corrections, packaging fixes, real building façades), then `0.2.0` (player body, third-person camera, animation).