Decide the canonical runtime image root (ADR-0014)

assets/images/ is now the runtime root for composed interface/scene art:
ui/ for screen and panel art, scenes/ for full-frame scene art. Tiled PBR
textures remain under assets/textures/; docs/screens/designs and concepts stay
reference-only; QA captures stay under docs/screenshots. Mockups that become
runtime art are copied/processed with a new name (no overwrites) and always
have a code fallback.

Records the convention in MEMORY, adds ADR-0014 to the architecture index, and
closes the first storage-restructure TODO item.

MEMORY.md

@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ Session memory for durable decisions, state, and gotchas. Keep concise, remove o
   avatars. Head-turn offsets use `+basis.z` for the same reason. Covered by
   `test_yaw_faces_the_movement_direction`.
 
+- **Image root (ADR-0014, 2026-11-01):** `assets/images/` is the runtime root for composed
+  interface/scene art (`ui/`, `scenes/`); tiled PBR textures stay under `assets/textures/`;
+  `docs/screens/designs/` and `docs/screens/concepts/` stay reference-only; QA captures stay in
+  `docs/screenshots/`. When a mockup becomes runtime art, copy/process it into `assets/images/`
+  with a new name (no overwrites) and keep a fallback in code.
+
 ## Handoff (read this first)
 
 - **Visual-alignment pass planned (2026-11-01):** `TODO.md` gains a "Visual

TODO.md

@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ and scene visuals with those mockups — verified with
 
 ### Storage restructure
 
-- [ ] Decide the canonical runtime image root (e.g. `assets/images/` for UI/scene art) and record it in `MEMORY.md` and an ADR.
+- [x] Decide the canonical runtime image root (`assets/images/` for UI/scene art): recorded in
+      `MEMORY.md` and [ADR-0014](docs/adr/0014-runtime-image-root.md).
 - [ ] Move the reference mockups from `docs/screens/designs/` into the runtime root (keep `docs/screens/designs/` as a docs-only copy or replace it with the new path).
 - [ ] Document one convention for game vs reference vs development images across `assets/textures/`, `assets/images/`, `assets/models/generated/`, `docs/screenshots/`, and `docs/screens/designs/`.
 - [ ] Re-run `godot --headless --path . --import` to regenerate `.import` sidecars after any move.

docs/adr/0014-runtime-image-root.md

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# ADR-0014: Canonical runtime image root and image conventions
+
+- **Status:** Accepted (2026-11-01)
+- **Date:** 2026-11-01
+
+## Context
+
+The project now contains several kinds of images, and their locations overlap:
+
+- hand-authored and AI-generated **surface textures** under `assets/textures/`
+  (`ai/game_ready/`, `ai/game_ready/v2/`, `npc/`),
+- **screen mockups** under `docs/screens/designs/`,
+- **scene references** under `docs/screens/concepts/`,
+- **QA captures** under `docs/screenshots/` and `docs/screens/realism/`,
+- **raw AI output** under gitignored `assets/textures/ai/*/raw/`.
+
+The visual-alignment pass needs the game to load proposed interface and scene
+art at runtime. That art is currently only in the docs tree, which is not the
+right place for resources the build must ship and which contributors expect to
+be documentation-only. Without a convention, UI art, tiled materials, reference
+mockups, and screenshots will keep being confused for one another.
+
+## Decision
+
+1. **`assets/images/` is the canonical runtime root for composed image art** —
+   interface art, backgrounds, and full-frame scene art that the game loads as
+   an image, not as a tiled material.
+   - `assets/images/ui/` — screen and panel art used by the UI layer (start
+     menu/venue selection background, pause/settings chrome, HUD plates).
+   - `assets/images/scenes/` — composed scene/background art loaded directly as
+     an image (not repeated as a surface texture).
+2. **Tiled material textures stay under `assets/textures/`.** Brick, concrete,
+   asphalt, fabric, skyline strips used with UV repetition, and model maps are
+   materials, not composed screen art. Raw AI output stays in gitignored
+   `assets/textures/ai/*/raw/`; validated environment candidates stay under
+   `assets/textures/ai/game_ready/v2/`.
+3. **`docs/screens/` remains reference-only.** `designs/` holds mockups and
+   `concepts/` holds larger art-direction sets; neither is shipped or loaded by
+   the game. When a reference becomes runtime art, it is copied/processed into
+   `assets/images/` with a new descriptive name, following the no-overwrite
+   rule (`-vN` suffixes from the asset tooling).
+4. **QA output stays in `docs/`.** `docs/screenshots/` holds the README/catalogue
+   captures and `docs/screens/realism/<run>/` holds trial captures/reports.
+   These are not runtime resources and may be regenerated.
+5. **Naming.** Files under `assets/images/` are lowercase `snake_case` PNGs,
+   `<screen>_<variant>.png`, at the native UI size (1280×720 for 16:9 screens)
+   or the size the scene actually uses. Every runtime image needs a procedural
+   or neutral fallback in code so a missing file never breaks a screen.
+6. **Imports.** Runtime images are normal Godot textures: commit the PNG, let
+   `godot --headless --path . --import` regenerate `.import` sidecars, and keep
+   development-only images out of `assets/images/`.
+
+## Consequences
+
+### Positive
+
+- One obvious place for art the game actually loads, separate from references
+  and QA captures.
+- Builds/exports can include `assets/images/**` without also shipping mockups,
+  screenshots, or raw AI output.
+- The no-overwrite rule and variant naming make visual experiments reversible
+  and keep the docs references stable.
+
+### Negative
+
+- A reference image that becomes runtime art exists in two places (docs copy +
+  processed runtime copy); contributors must keep the processed copy current.
+- Moving existing mockups later is a path migration that touches docs, tools,
+  and `preload()` paths — tracked as the remaining visual-alignment storage
+  tasks.
+
+## Alternatives considered
+
+- **Use `docs/screens/designs/` as the runtime root.** Rejected: docs are not
+  ship-ready gameplay resources, and mixing references with runtime art makes
+  exports and cleanup brittle.
+- **Put everything in `assets/textures/`.** Rejected: composed UI/scene art is
+  not a tiled material; mixing it with PBR tiles hides the distinction and
+  invites incorrect import settings.
+- **Keep images only in code / procedural UI.** Rejected: the visual-alignment
+  pass is explicitly about using the rendered mockups as the target look.

docs/architecture.md

@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ Architecture decisions are recorded as ADRs:
 - [ADR-0011: Aim-free selection and precision walk](adr/0011-aim-free-selection-and-precision-walk.md)
 - [ADR-0012: Surface materials and generated props](adr/0012-surface-materials-and-generated-props.md)
 - [ADR-0013: Blender-authored NPC characters and baked materials](adr/0013-blender-authored-npc-characters.md)
+- [ADR-0014: Canonical runtime image root and image conventions](adr/0014-runtime-image-root.md)
 
 ## 10. Quality Requirements