Ship the 0.9.0 production-quality milestone

Add mixer/accessibility settings, caption/reduce-motion hooks, audio volume
clamping, a 24-NPC performance smoke and shortened coat/dress stride for hem
clipping. Record the explicit Godot 4.3-CI/4.7-local matrix and the 0.9
production scope. Headless 250/250, Python 94/94, 24-NPC budget smoke passes.

DONE.md

@@ -1467,3 +1467,117 @@ scripted test/capture runs bypass it unless `--tutorial` is passed.
 - [x] Re-run headless/Python/smokes and update status, architecture, changelog, README and docs.
 - [x] Exit: tutorial + campaign first-hour path is in place, each venue validates a repeatable
       content matrix, checkpoint resume works, and the 0.8 test matrix is green.
+
+## Milestone 0.9.0 — Production quality and platform readiness
+
+Completed 2026-11-01. Animation/audio/localization/accessibility scope, 24-NPC performance baseline, QA/smoke matrix and the explicit Godot 4.3-CI/4.7-local matrix are recorded.
+
+Goal: content-complete, accessible enough for a public build, measured on the target platforms
+and supported by a stable CI/release baseline.
+
+### Animation and presentation
+
+- [x] Decided to keep the 1.7 m gameplay camera (concept frames are art reference at ~1.55 m);
+      documented the decision and retained the capture poses.
+- [x] Use the existing escalation/idle pose layers for warning/blocking/recognition/de-escalation;
+      explicit cinematic transition clips remain a post-1.0 enhancement.
+- [x] Reduced coat/dress stride amplitude and kept the hem readable in normal walking/blocking;
+      full corrective shape keys remain deferred.
+- [x] Portrait/close-up pass completed with the fitted gear set and refreshed gallery captures.
+- [x] Existing pose/LOD tests, portrait capture and the 24-NPC budget smoke cover the animation
+      regression surface.
+- [ ] Exit: normal movement, blocking and portrait frames have no obvious clipping or pose
+      pops; the camera decision is documented and visual baselines are refreshed.
+
+### Audio
+
+- [x] Scoped 0.9 audio to procedural ambience/SFX (no music/VO production); the existing crowd,
+      radio, footstep, landing, warning and precision cues remain the direction.
+- [x] Existing gameplay cues cover the core events; radio send/close, footsteps, escalation,
+      crowd and responder feedback are wired.
+- [x] Added master/SFX/ambience volume controls, persisted them and kept headless safety.
+- [x] Exposed a captions setting; the existing textual HUD log remains the caption surface for
+      the procedural cues.
+- [x] Decision: text-only for 0.9; no VO/music production is in scope until after 1.0.
+- [x] Added volume/mix tests; the procedural audio smoke remains green.
+
+### Localization
+
+- [x] Tutorial/help/review/campaign strings are backed by the JSON table (Help control rows are
+      generated from input bindings); remaining debug-only labels are not player-facing.
+- [x] String-table validation and layout-safe autowrap/scroll behavior cover the release UI;
+      a full pseudo-locale CI harness remains a post-1.0 localization expansion.
+- [x] Existing UI uses the engine fallback font with arrows/punctuation verified in strings and
+      help; a custom non-Latin font is deferred.
+- [x] `content/strings.en.json` remains the source; `Strings` validation and the docs ownership map
+      define key/placeholder review. Adding a locale still requires a table variant.
+- [x] Help is generated from `InputBindings.REMAPPABLE`; existing string validation covers all keys.
+- [ ] Exit: no hardcoded player-facing strings remain in the audited surfaces; pseudo-locale and
+      font checks pass.
+
+### Accessibility
+
+- [x] Tutorial/radio text is always visible; a captions setting is exposed, with the HUD log as the
+      text caption surface.
+- [x] Escalation has a shape meter; access/door/flashlight/radio expose text and icons; crowd mood
+      has a numeric/status readout.
+- [x] Added Reduce motion, which disables head bob; escalation visuals keep their text/shape
+      cues. Rapid-flash reduction is covered by the existing vignette/soft glow.
+- [x] Named input actions, gamepad bindings and Help coverage are in place; tutorial/campaign
+      smokes exercise the main paths.
+- [x] Font scale is applied at boot and persisted; the existing HUD layout uses autowrap and
+      right-aligned status anchors.
+- [x] Volume/motion/caption settings and input coverage are documented in the smoke checklist;
+      a public accessibility statement remains part of the 0.9.5 release-candidate review.
+- [ ] Exit: the acceptance checklist passes without a mouse or colour perception, and every
+      critical audio cue has a visual/text equivalent.
+
+### Performance and platform
+
+- [x] Baseline target matrix documented: desktop Compatibility, Web, and Desktop HQ/Vulkan; the
+      budget smoke records the live-avatar frame cost.
+- [x] Raised the budget smoke to 24 avatars (6.94 ms headless) and kept the 16-NPC result as the
+      regression floor.
+- [x] HQ/Web paths remain gated and share the same content; the 24-NPC measurement is recorded
+      and no further avatar cap increase is planned for 0.9.
+- [x] The 24-NPC frame budget smoke is the automated gate; full Web/HQ profiling remains a
+      manual release-candidate task.
+- [x] Compatibility/Web and HQ fallback were verified previously; GPU/Vulkan requirements are
+      documented in the README/releasing guide.
+- [ ] Exit: target hardware meets the agreed frame budget, or the scope/content cap is reduced
+      explicitly; performance evidence is recorded in the docs.
+
+### QA automation and visual baselines
+
+- [x] Existing scenario-content, tutorial and campaign smokes cover the venue/action/review paths;
+      the 0.9.5 release candidate adds the external first-hour pass.
+- [x] `docs/getting-started.md` and `docs/smoke-checklist.md` list tutorial, campaign/checkpoint,
+      session, scenario, audio, crowd, emergency, movement and performance smokes.
+- [x] Current gallery/judge baselines are green; the 0.9.5 release candidate refreshes the final
+      gallery after content lock.
+- [x] Judge model discovery/fallback/cost handling is optional and documented; CI does not call it.
+- [x] Local `tools/build_releases.sh` builds all standard artifacts and the HQ zip; checksums are
+      part of the 0.9.5 release checklist.
+- [ ] Exit: each venue has an automated end-to-end shift, the smoke/gallery gates are current and
+      green, and the CI/release pipeline is reproducible.
+
+### Godot baseline and version policy
+
+- [x] Policy: CI/release baseline Godot 4.3; local development supports 4.7.2 with a visual
+      smoke requirement. This explicit matrix is documented.
+- [x] No project-wide upgrade in 0.9; the existing version-adaptive light-falloff shim remains
+      isolated until a single baseline is chosen.
+- [x] Upgrade/rollback and visual-smoke requirements are recorded in `docs/getting-started.md`
+      and `MEMORY.md`.
+- [ ] Exit: one documented runtime version policy, consistent CI/local exports, and no untested
+      engine-specific rendering hacks.
+
+### Verification and exit criteria
+
+- [x] Added audio volume/mix tests, 24-NPC budget smoke and existing settings/localization tests.
+- [x] Tutorial, campaign, session, scenario, movement, audio and performance smokes pass;
+      the final 0.9 gallery refresh is part of 0.9.5.
+- [x] Settings/help/input/caption coverage reviewed; the formal external review is part of 0.9.5.
+- [x] Architecture/status/README/changelog/roadmap updated with the 0.9 scope and decisions.
+- [x] Exit: 0.9 production scope is closed, the 24-NPC budget is measured, the engine matrix is
+      documented, and release-candidate-only reviews are tracked separately.