Files
gig-line/Docs/Architecture/04_solution_strategy.md
zwitschi 4d27109668 refactor(tools): group the sixty scripts by what they talk to
One directory with sixty scripts stopped being navigable, and the grouping is also the sandbox boundary:

  Tools/unreal/    commandlets and the two map builders, with ue_common.py and ue_placement.py as the
                   shared imports (they need the engine)
  Tools/blender/   builders, exporters, the FBX preset, the MPFB character pipeline, blender_screenshots
                   (they need the Blender Flatpak)
  Tools/review/    the visual loop: render_screenshots.sh, judge_screenshot.py, hero_compare.py,
                   build_comparison_md.py, e2e_asset_check.py, hero_iterate.sh, visual_loop.py,
                   visual_targets.json
  Tools/gen/       image and texture generation: the ComfyUI driver, deterministic texture writers,
                   reference fetching
  Tools/input/     OS-level input injection
  root             _common.py, check-lfs.sh, addon_compat_probe.py, sibling_asset_audit.py, tests/

Every moved script now resolves the repository root as ../.. and puts the tools root plus its siblings on
sys.path, so 'import ue_common' still works from unreal/. The test suite bootstrap does the same for the five
folders. render_screenshots.sh takes the folder as a third argument to run_cmdlet, and the e2e driver,
hero_iterate.sh and the comparison generator were repointed.

51 README rows now link to their new location, the README gains a Layout section naming each folder's
sandbox, and the architecture notes and Blender README follow the moves.

Verified: 108 tests pass, prettier is clean, judge_screenshot.py and hero_compare.py run from their new
homes, and the e2e run was aborted mid-way (it had been rebuilding an empty DemoMap for 15 minutes) and is
being rerun against the new layout.
2026-11-10 12:40:30 +01:00

2.6 KiB

Solution Strategy

Technology decisions

  • Unreal Engine 5.8.4 for rendering, World Partition, physics (Chaos), and the Enhanced Input system. Chosen for its Linux support, open C++ source, and real-time rendering quality.

  • Blender 5.2 LTS for all 3D modelling, UV work, and collision mesh authoring. Driven headlessly via bpy Python scripts, not MCP.

  • QGIS 4.2.3 for geographic data cleanup, coordinate conversion (EPSG:26911), and DEM preparation.

  • Blosm 2.7.28 for OSM building and street blockouts inside Blender (layout data only — not authoritative façade, height, or pavement detail).

  • MPFB 2.0.18 for human base meshes and baked materials (NPCs in 0.2.0+).

Top-level decomposition

The system is a single Unreal game module (GigLine) with no plugins beyond EnhancedInput. Content is organised by domain under /Game/Hollywood/:

  • Site/ — terrain, road, sidewalks, kerbs, crossing markings, site materials

  • ElCapitan/ — hero façade mesh and materials

  • Frontage/ — south-side block building meshes

  • North/ — north-side building meshes

  • Input/ — Enhanced Input actions and mapping context

All modelling and geographic processing live outside the game project in Art/, Geo/, and Tools/. The Game/ directory contains only engine-ready content and C++ source.

Quality achievement

  • Realism first: reference photography and measured data drive every façade decision; renders are compared against the photographs with Tools/review/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.

  • Fidelity: geographic data verified before modelling (footprints, bounds, DEM); building placement checked against street mesh, never in isolation; reference photography drives façade work.

  • Reproducibility: pinned toolchain in Docs/toolchain.md, named export presets, Tools/check-lfs.sh gate, fresh-checkout build procedure in Docs/build.md.