Detail the NPC avatars and finish the realism follow-ups

Blender library
- Rebuild the face: sclera, iris and upper lid per eye, brow ridge, cheekbones,
  nose bridge and tip, ears with lobes, split upper/lower lips.
- Give each hand four fingers plus a thumb and end every sleeve in a cuff ring.
- Raise CHAR_MAX_VERTS 4000 -> 5000 (16 avatars still cost ~6.9 ms of a 50 ms
  frame), decimate the body to 26 %; characters are now 3,974-5,026 tris and
  3,744-4,807 verts. Rebuild all 8 variants and re-bake their AO maps.

Capture tooling
- Add a `portrait` stage to capture_realism.gd: freeze one NPC, park the crowd
  out of frame, stand the subject on open sidewalk, turn it into the camera and
  put the guard on the sunlit side. New --portrait-type=N picks the role.
- Add the npc_portrait_day concept and map the shot to it, so avatar detail is
  scored against a portrait instead of a wide street frame.

Flashlight
- Drop the fake additive beam (Materials.light_beam + the cone mesh): on GL
  Compatibility a first-person camera inside the cone renders it as a filled
  disc with a bright far ring. Keep the tight spot (14 deg, 20 m, energy 4.2)
  and its headless test; the visible shaft is now planned behind a Forward+
  preset.

Docs and task tracking
- Move the finished realism follow-ups (ground exposure, flashlight, NPC detail,
  judge re-check) to DONE.md and expand TODO.md with step-by-step plans for NPC
  gear fit, venue geometry plus the committed gallery, and the Forward+ preset.
- Record the decisions, gotchas and portrait recipe in MEMORY.md; update the
  Blender contract, the concept README and the capture section of README.md.
- Refresh the gallery captures affected by the avatar rebuild.

Checks: headless 228/228, Python 86/86, blender_assets audit exit 0,
scene_concepts audit all GOOD, screen_designs compare 11 good / 0 bad,
smoke_npc_budget OK, boot clean (only the known headless mesh warning).

MEMORY.md

@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
   (46 `.blend` files removed from the index on 2026-11-01); the `.gdignore` marker stays tracked.
 - `screen_designs.py judge` default `google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite` worked on 2026-11-01
   (7 match / 4 review / 0 diff); `--model` remains available.
+- Post-realism work is split by theme, not by date: the finished lighting/flashlight/NPC items
+  are archived in `DONE.md`, and `TODO.md` carries three planned workstreams (NPC gear fit,
+  venue geometry + committed gallery, Forward+ desktop preset). New visual work should be added
+  as concrete steps under one of those headings instead of a new "realism" bucket.
 
 - Graphics v0.6.0 plan (2026-11-01): NPCs move to Blender-authored skinned meshes
   (`docs/plan-graphics-v0.6.md`, ADR-0013). `tools/npc_pipeline.py` builds
@@ -58,12 +62,14 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
 
 ## Handoff (read this first)
 
-- **Status (2026-11-01):** v0.6.0 is released; the post-v0.6.0 realism and visual-alignment
-  work is merged and pushed to `origin/main`. Headless **227/227**, Python tooling **86/86**,
-  `tools/check_screenshots.sh` **11 good / 0 bad**, `screen_designs.py judge` **7 match /
-  4 review / 0 diff**. `PLAN.md` was compacted, and README/architecture were synchronized with
-  the current controls, asset pipeline, CI, and release artifacts. The historical notes below
-  remain useful for implementation gotchas; for current tasks, use `TODO.md`.
+- **Status (2026-11-01, after the NPC detail pass):** v0.6.0 is released. Post-v0.6.0 the
+  realism pass, the visual-alignment pass and the NPC face/hand pass all landed. Headless
+  **228/228**, Python tooling **86/86**, `tools/check_screenshots.sh` **11 good / 0 bad**,
+  `screen_designs.py compare` 11 good / 0 bad, `scene_concepts.py audit` all GOOD,
+  `blender_assets.py audit` exit 0, `smoke_npc_budget` OK (16 avatars, 6.94 ms of 50 ms).
+  `PLAN.md` is compact; README/architecture track the current controls, asset pipeline, CI and
+  release artifacts. The historical notes below remain useful for implementation gotchas; for
+  current tasks use `TODO.md`.
 
 - **Phase 2 — AI texturing (this agent, DONE 2026-11-01).** Phase 1 assets were
   already in the tree (untracked) and are preserved. Generated six seamless AI
@@ -169,11 +175,38 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
   autocorrelation) + `align_stripes()` (resample to whole periods) replace the edge crossfade
   for `awning_canvas`; `audit_striped_tile()` compares the wrap step with the harshest interior
   step.
-  **Judge:** `google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite` currently answers HTTP 400 "API key not valid" for
-  this key, so runs use `--model google/gemini-2.5-flash`; scores are noisy (±1–2), so
+  **Judge:** the default `google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite` mostly works but intermittently answers
+  HTTP 400 "API key not valid" (one shot of ten on 2026-11-01); re-run or pass
+  `--model google/gemini-2.5-flash` when it does. Scores are noisy (±1–2), so
   `realism --repeats 3` averages and `summarize()` reports a like-for-like mean over the shots
   every set captured. Final: overall 0.8→1.0, backdrop 0.6→1.6, metric gap 0.444→0.348.
   `screen_designs.py judge` gained one retry for the same transient 400.
+  **Character portrait capture (2026-11-01):** `capture_realism.gd` has a `portrait` stage
+  (`npc_portrait` -> concept `npc_portrait_day`) because crowd shots cannot judge avatars. It
+  freezes one NPC, parks the rest of the crowd 140 m away (a passer-by otherwise blocks the
+  frame), moves the subject to an open sidewalk patch, turns it into the camera and stands the
+  guard on the sunlit side. Needed because the NPC FSM re-writes `rotation.y` every physics tick
+  (so the yaw must be set after `set_physics_process(false)`), the venue's morning sun leaves a
+  face in shadow from most angles, and `visible = false` does not keep the crowd out of frame.
+  `--portrait-type=N` forces a role; hooded roles (trespasser/violent/crisis) are skipped.
+  **Flashlight (2026-11-01, final):** a *tight* `SpotLight3D` on `Head`: `spot_range` 20,
+  `spot_angle` 14, `light_energy` 4.2, `spot_attenuation` 0.9, forward `rotation_degrees = 0`,
+  starts invisible. A fake additive light shaft was tried twice (cylinder with a UV ramp, then a
+  vertical-fade `ShaderMaterial`) and **rejected both times**: on GL Compatibility a first-person
+  camera inside the cone renders it as a filled disc and the far ring shows, so
+  `Materials.light_beam()` and the beam mesh are gone. Regression guard:
+  `test_flashlight_aims_a_tight_forward_spot` in `src/test/tests/test_door_and_flashlight.gd`
+  (lamp on the head, aims straight, cone ≤ 20°, starts off). Night captures are staged in LATE
+  (`elapsed_s` 760), not dusk.
+  **NPC detail pass (2026-11-01):** `_face()` now builds sclera + iris + upper lid per eye, brow
+  ridge, cheekbones, nose bridge/tip, ears with lobes and split upper/lower lips; the new
+  `eye_white` material is a *fixed-colour* slot, so `_apply_outfit_materials()` leaves it white.
+  `_hands_and_shoes()` has four fingers plus a thumb and `_clothing()` adds `Cuff` tori.
+  Budget work: `CHAR_MAX_VERTS` 5000 (see the library note), body decimation 0.26, upper lids are
+  boxes rather than spheres, and knuckle spheres/nostrils were cut to stay inside it.
+  **Orientation debugging:** to check a GLB's front axis, compare the mean Z of the `eye_white`
+  surface (face) and of the `rubber` sole verts (toes) — all 8 avatars are +Z, so any
+  "they walk backwards" symptom is a yaw bug, not an export flip.
 - **Blender asset library (v0.6.0, integrated 2026-11-01):**
   `tools/blender_assets.py` (`build`/`render` in Blender; `audit`/`sheet`/`list` stdlib) writes
   `assets/models/blender/{npc,npc_gear,props}/*.glb`, `manifest.json` (integration source of
@@ -181,8 +214,10 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
   `docs/blender_previews/sheet_*.jpg` (per-asset PNG renders are gitignored). 8 characters, 18
   gear, 20 props; notes in `docs/blender-assets.md`. Characters are drop-in for `npc_base`
   (same mesh node name, bones at the same rest positions, five tint slots) and stay under the
-  6000/4000 budget only because of body decimation (0.36) + `smart_project` at 80°: glTF vertex
-  count includes UV-seam splits, so extra beveled detail quickly breaks 4000.
+  6000/4000 budget only because of body decimation (0.26) + `smart_project` at 80°: glTF vertex
+  count includes UV-seam splits, so extra beveled detail quickly breaks the limit. The 2026-11-01
+  face/hand pass raised `CHAR_MAX_VERTS` to 5000 (tris 3,974–5,026) after measuring 16 avatars at
+  ~6.9 ms of a 50 ms frame; `npc_pipeline.MAX_VERTICES`/`MAX_TRIANGLES` (base mesh) are unchanged.
   **Gotchas:** `bisect_plane` and thin bevels leave zero-area triangles (Godot warns "non-finite
   normal in LOD generation"); `_clean()` + a weld after bisect fix it, and the audit rejects them.
   Fixed-colour detail materials carry a 4×4 texture because `_apply_outfit_materials()` sets
@@ -231,7 +266,7 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
 - Screen mockups with baked-in controls are used as backdrops plus an opaque `ArtPanel` cover, not as clickable full-screen skins.
 - Radio, wand, inspection, and body-camera timeline panels use their reference art as backdrops; forms sit on transparent, padded panels over the covered mockup controls.
 - HUD target names use a boxed chip under the crosshair; escalation has a five-segment bar below the text label. The body-camera REC/clock block starts at y=92 on the right so it clears the shift/rep/crowd text.
-- Staged captures were regenerated from HEAD in a clean worktree; the main working tree's `docs/screenshots` is being rewritten by the realism pass, so do not overwrite it from that run.
+- Staged captures in `docs/screenshots/` are committed and were last regenerated after the realism and NPC passes; re-run `tools/check_screenshots.sh` (not a partial capture) before replacing them.
 - `tools/check_screenshots.sh` is the repeatable capture+compare smoke; both capture scripts accept `--out=res://docs/screenshots`. Judge verdicts on the staged set were 7 match / 4 review / 0 diff.
 - Venue selection used to leave `guard.input_locked` true and the mouse visible; `_start_shift()` must call `_refresh_freeze()` after starting the clock.
 
@@ -564,7 +599,7 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
 - Joke Shop `door_staff_lines` are logged through `GameManager` (inspect / wand / refuse). They are not a separate dialogue UI.
 - Access loadout is implemented; do not re-fix `override_access` as if it were still unread.
 - `Save.SETTINGS_FILE` is declared and unused; settings persistence goes through `Save.load_settings()` / `save_settings()`.
-- Headless suite is **227/227**; the windowed smokes, screenshot compare, and judge pass. Remaining visual follow-ups are in `TODO.md`.
+- Headless suite is **228/228**; the windowed smokes, screenshot compare and judge pass. Remaining visual follow-ups are in `TODO.md`.
 - Typed spawn signal extra args: handlers must accept the 4th `event: Dictionary` or Godot will not call them (`test_shift_coordinator_runs_a_shift` failed until `_on_spawn` took four args).
 - GDScript inference trap that broke the main scene: a `var` typed as a base class
   (`radial: CanvasLayer`) exposes script members as `Variant`, so `var x := radial.is_open` is a
@@ -595,9 +630,7 @@ GUT, and Gitea Actions, not GitHub Actions.
 
 ## Uncommitted Workstreams
 
-- **NPC fidelity pass (2026-11-01, active):** editing the Blender NPC/gear/prop library
-  (`assets/models/blender/` + `manifest.json`), `src/game/game_manager.gd`, `materials.gd`,
-  `capture_realism.gd`, the door/flashlight and Blender tests, `tools/blender_assets.py`,
-  `tools/scene_concepts.py`, `tools/test_blender_assets.py`, the affected screenshots, and the
-  new NPC portrait concepts. Do not commit or revert these until the pass finishes; verify game
-  changes in a clean `git worktree` at HEAD.
+- **None (2026-11-01).** The NPC detail pass, the realism follow-ups and the flashlight beam
+  decision are committed together with the portrait capture and the refreshed screenshots.
+  Keep the rule from `AGENTS.md`: check `git status` before committing, and never revert
+  another contributor's in-flight files.