Document MPFB full-body NPC prototype status and seams

TODO.md

@@ -167,6 +167,8 @@ the rest of §C remains the broad review checklist.
       the hair cap, keep boundary faces as a safety band, and trim the hidden neck plug to 12
       segments. This saves ~950 tris on every variant.
 - [ ] Owner approves the hair cap and full-body silhouette on the local `npc_casual` prototype.
+      **Status (2026-11-04):** the current body candidate is the MPFB full-body prototype below,
+      not the narrowed procedural body; the 12-variant rebuild is blocked on that review.
 - [ ] Rebuild the 12 committed character GLBs with `--head mh`, in asset-family batches, then
       regenerate their AO maps and manifest entries. Never run a no-op full-library rebuild.
 - [ ] Run `blender_assets.py audit`, `fit`, `inspect` and `texels`, plus
@@ -184,11 +186,41 @@ the rest of §C remains the broad review checklist.
       no second rig, no material-slot rename.
 - [ ] Keep the MakeHuman body prototype consumable with the same approved head/hands; do not let it
       grow a second face/hand implementation while the part pipeline is being proven.
+
 - [ ] Rebuild only the changed character GLBs, AO maps and manifest entries; never run a no-op full
       library rebuild. Commit one asset family per change.
 - [ ] Re-run `blender_assets.py audit`/`fit`/`inspect`, `npc_proportions.py`, the 24-NPC budget,
       Godot and Python tests, the 48-frame baseline and the 96-frame final-context review.
 
+### Full-body MPFB prototype
+
+Goal: assemble the accepted MakeHuman head onto a CC0 MPFB body with project hands, shoes and
+14-bone contract rig, inside the 16,000/16,000 character budget. Local development only until the
+owner reviews the silhouette and a production integration decision is recorded.
+
+- [x] Build the dev pipeline at `tmp/npc-research/build_mpfb_npc.py`: create a macro-driven MPFB
+      human, bake targets, add the `game_engine` rig, capture arm points/weights, remove the rig,
+      apply the helper MASK, scale to 1.81 m, retarget the A-pose arms to the contract wrist
+      (`x=±0.27`, `z=0.78`), cut the neck at 1.505, decimate, bisect the clothing boundaries, paint
+      the five slots, add a short neck flare, project hands, rounded shoe shells, cuffs, the
+      accepted head and the 14-bone armature. Current output: **15,917 tris / 9,543 raw verts /
+      1.811 m / 14 bones / 10 materials**; `inspect` clean, feet grounded.
+- [x] Replace the spiky decimated MPFB hands with the project palm/finger primitives, straighten the
+      splayed MPFB feet so the shoes point forward, and use rounded shoe shells + cuffs instead of
+      flat blocks. Use flat slot colours in the prototype because the one-shot MPFB UV unwrap does
+      not match the per-slot NPC atlases.
+- [ ] Owner reviews the MPFB body renders (`tmp/npc-parts/mpfb_proto/renders/`): neck reads as a
+      short collar, boxy/finned outer thighs at the 2k body budget, blocky shoe silhouette, and
+      seam gaps that grow when the body target is raised above ~2k tris.
+- [ ] Fix the low-budget seams before any rollout: weld the torso/hip/arm components after the
+      bisects, protect the hip/knee loops during decimation (or rebalance head/body triangles), and
+      rebuild the neckline so the accepted head does not sit on a flared collar.
+- [ ] Record the production integration decision: either bake the approved MPFB body to a committed
+      source GLB (CI and fresh checkouts stay MPFB-free) or keep the procedural body as the shipped
+      path. Do not add the MPFB extension as a build/CI dependency.
+- [ ] If approved, roll the MPFB body into the 12 variants and regenerate AO maps, manifest entries,
+      `inspect`/`fit`/`audit`/`texels`, the proportion report and the 12 × 6 baseline.
+
 ### 6. QA, docs and exit
 
 - [ ] Capture front/three-quarter/profile head comparisons and open/grip hand comparisons; add