Defer Gaussian splatting and re-plan maintenance

TODO.md

@@ -450,96 +450,6 @@ facade evidence is still the 2009 CC BY frame. The 8 downloaded candidates are i
       for shape and the generated board only informs colour, mood and detail density. Human review
       stays the acceptance gate, and AI output is never treated as licensed map data.
 
-### Gaussian splatting evaluation: photo intake and provenance
-
-Gaussian splatting is evaluated as a photo-driven pipeline: licensed or permissioned photos
-become a reference, texture source, mesh proxy or distant backdrop. It is an unversioned local
-track with no runtime dependency or release gate until the ADR closes it, and it extends the
-reference-image licence and privacy gates above rather than replacing them.
-
-- [ ] Define the accepted photo channels: project/team captures, volunteer or user-supplied
-      photos with written permission, and downloaded images from clearly licensed archives
-      (Wikimedia Commons, Openverse, Mapillary and similar). Record which channel produced
-      each reconstruction.
-- [ ] Write a one-page capture brief for user-supplied photos: overlapping arc or orbit around
-      the facade, 60–80% view overlap, 12 MP+ originals, fixed exposure/white balance, HDR and
-      filters off, no motion blur, no people or plates in frame where avoidable, overcast or
-      even light, and the facade height/doors/steps included in several frames.
-- [ ] Build an intake checklist and provenance sidecar per photo set: contributor, consent or
-      property permission, licence and attribution text, source URL, capture date, camera/lens,
-      location, faces/plates/interiors present, redactions applied, file hashes and whether the
-      set is shipped or development-only.
-- [ ] Set the licence gate: own photos need an explicit contributor licence; CC0/CC BY are
-      preferred; CC BY-SA triggers a share-alike review for derived textures and meshes; reject
-      Street View, social-media scrapes, unlicensed commercial imagery and AI-upscaled copies of
-      unknown originals. Attribution must be feasible in `CREDITS.md` before use.
-- [ ] Set the privacy gate: blur or remove faces, minors, licence plates, screens, private
-      interiors and anything behind a closed door; obtain property permission where required;
-      keep a redacted copy as the reconstruction input and never commit the originals.
-- [ ] Treat downloaded photo sets as sparse and of unknown intrinsics. Use them for reference,
-      palette and texture study, or as extra training views; do not expect a usable splat from
-      10–30 casual web photos of a facade.
-- [ ] Keep photos, masks, COLMAP databases, checkpoints and splats outside git; commit only
-      derived, licensed, provenance-stamped assets that pass the review gate.
-
-### Gaussian splatting: reconstruction and alignment
-
-- [ ] Pin a reproducible offline toolchain (for example COLMAP or GLOMAP for camera poses plus
-      gsplat, OpenSplat, Nerfstudio or Brush for training), with exact versions, GPU/VRAM/disk
-      needs and known failure modes recorded in the sidecar.
-- [ ] Reconstruct two quality tiers: a dense 100–400-photo arc/orbit capture and a sparse
-      10–30-photo downloaded set. Record camera-registration rate, training time, splat count,
-      file size and held-out PSNR/SSIM/LPIPS for both.
-- [ ] Mask sky, people, vehicles and moving foliage before training; verify the masks do not
-      erase facade edges, signage or window detail, and keep the redacted input variant.
-- [ ] Align the splat to game coordinates from the OSM footprint plus surveyed points (door
-      width, column spacing, step rise, storefront height) and record alignment residuals in a
-      Blender scene containing both the splat and the current venue geometry (`scene-assembly`).
-- [ ] Judge quality from held-out views and a render from the game's day/night camera poses
-      (`camera-cinematography`, `lookdev`, `qa-review`), not from training views alone; reject
-      splats that only look correct from the capture path.
-- [ ] Maintain a coverage map per block: which facades, corners and rooflines have usable views,
-      and which areas must fall back to the facade kit or stylized geometry.
-
-### Gaussian splatting: map enhancement paths
-
-- [ ] **Path A — Reference and QA (lowest risk):** render the splat from game camera poses and
-      compare it with the realism captures; derive dimensions, signage placement, facade rhythm
-      and material colours. No splat data reaches the runtime.
-- [ ] **Path B — Texture derivation:** project splat renders **or reference photos** onto the
-      facade kit to produce albedo, normal, roughness and AO candidates; de-light and bake them
-      (`texture-workflow`), then verify UV scale, tiling and readability under the Compatibility
-      renderer. Deriving directly from a committed reference photo requires its licence to allow
-      derived works and a `CREDITS.md` entry; CC BY-SA sources stay out unless reviewed.
-- [ ] **Path C — Mesh proxy:** extract a mesh from the splat or dense reconstruction, retopo and
-      dress it in Blender (`retopology`, `prop-artist`), assign LODs (`lod-pipeline`), and keep it
-      inside the venue triangle/material budgets with mesh-based colliders (`collision-proxy`).
-- [ ] **Path D — Distant backdrop:** test a baked panorama, impostor or billboard generated from
-      the splat for skyline and opposite-street depth where the player cannot walk; measure file
-      size, loading and visible pop at the venue boundary.
-- [ ] **Path E — User-photo supplement:** let a small supplied photo set improve one facade or
-      landmark (a signage patch, colour reference or hero detail) without rebuilding the venue;
-      define the minimum evidence and the same licence/privacy/review gate as a full capture.
-- [ ] For every path record quality gain versus effort, licence compatibility of the derived
-      output, and whether the result may ship or stays development-only. Prefer the cheapest
-      path that closes the visible gap.
-
-### Gaussian splatting: runtime evaluation and decision
-
-- [ ] Probe Godot 4.7.2 Compatibility and Web support for splat rendering in a throwaway scene:
-      addon or importer availability, shader/sort cost, memory, load time and fallback behaviour.
-      Do not add a splat dependency to the release project during evaluation.
-- [ ] Set hard limits before any runtime experiment: maximum per-splat file size and total
-      memory, allowed frame-time delta on the 24-NPC budget scene, acceptable Web load time, and
-      no compute-shader requirement for the Compatibility/Web path.
-- [ ] Keep collision and navigation mesh-based even if a splat is displayed; a splat must never
-      become the playable floor or the access/occlusion authority.
-- [ ] Write the ADR with a per-path go/no-go, the accepted licence/provenance rules, whether each
-      result ships or stays development-only, rejected alternatives and the evidence bundle.
-- [ ] Exit: one licensed photo capture measurably improves a venue through a documented path and
-      passes visual, performance and provenance review; or the approach is rejected with
-      reproducible findings and removed from the release path.
-
 ### QA and exit
 
 - [ ] Compare the data-backed block against the existing screenshots and map documentation; keep
@@ -562,27 +472,47 @@ reference-image licence and privacy gates above rather than replacing them.
 Unversioned housekeeping that keeps the planning sources trustworthy. Do these when they block a
 task, not on a schedule.
 
+**Status (2026-11-03):** v0.10.0-rc.1 source; three venues; 276 headless + 143 Python tests; the
+Hollywood and Joke Shop facade-realism passes landed (`limestone_ashlar`, `dark_stucco`, banner
+night emissive, marquee emissive test); reference boards (`hollywood`, `joke-shop`) with sidecars;
+three-up boards; `tools/refboard.py` + reference-anchored generation (`--reference`, `anchor`) +
+`tools/three_up.py`. Gaussian splatting is deferred to the end of this file.
+
 ### Memory and status accuracy
 
-- [ ] Trim `MEMORY.md` from ~970 lines to the durable set: drop the pre-0.8 host/disk/NSIS/release
+- [ ] Trim `MEMORY.md` from ~1088 lines to the durable set: drop the pre-0.8 host/disk/NSIS/release
       anecdotes, superseded v0.2.x handoff status and duplicated release notes, keep the gotchas
-      that still bite (async/event wiring, import order, colliders, RNG, contracts), and keep the
-      easter-egg note.
+      that still bite (async/event wiring, import order, colliders, RNG, contracts, the Godot
+      `--import` cache gotcha, the image-recitation filter), and keep the easter-egg note.
 - [ ] Re-check the remaining memory claims against code before deleting them; `MAX_LIVE_NPCS` is
       still 16 for gameplay while the separate budget smoke spawns 24, so do not "fix" that.
-- [ ] Fix stale status claims as they are found (the step-collider and flashlight-beam claims were
-      corrected on 2026-11-03); add a documentation check or grep note only if the same class of
-      drift returns.
+- [ ] Fix stale status claims as they are found; add a documentation check or grep note only if
+      the same class of drift returns.
+- [ ] Keep the Gap Analysis baseline and the README status line in sync when a test count, version
+      or feature milestone changes (the baseline was bumped to 276/143 on 2026-11-03).
 
-### Reference and generated imagery upkeep
+### Imagery and provenance upkeep
 
-- [ ] Keep `docs/screens/refs/` sidecars, concept-board records and `CREDITS.md` in sync whenever an
-      image is added, replaced or dropped, including the model/prompt for generated boards.
+- [ ] Keep `docs/screens/refs/` sidecars, concept-board records and `CREDITS.md` in sync whenever
+      an image is added, replaced or dropped; photo-anchored concept frames must keep their
+      `.refgen.json` provenance sidecar (source photo, licence, page, model) next to the frame.
 - [ ] Run `python3 tools/check_docs.py` after any gallery or reference-board edit so every tracked
       image stays linked from its folder README.
+- [ ] Use `tools/refboard.py search/fetch/rows` for new Commons research instead of ad-hoc API
+      scripts; downloads stay under `tmp/` and only licence-cleared rows (commit/review gate)
+      reach a board after a sidecar entry.
 - [ ] Delete or ignore development-only photos and raw generations once a board is committed; the
       repository carries the picks and their provenance, not the working set.
 
+### Godot import-cache hygiene
+
+- [ ] When a new committed texture (`assets/textures/...`, `picks/`) fails to import under the
+      existing `.godot/` cache, use the scratch-copy import (`rsync --exclude .godot ...` then
+      `godot --headless --import` and copy back the `.import` + `.godot/imported/*.ctex/.md5`);
+      never hand-edit the `uid=` in a copied `.import`. Record any new instance in MEMORY.
+- [ ] Prefer `tools/scene_concepts.py promote` (or a manual move into `game_ready/v2/` plus a
+      `PICKS` entry) so new picks follow the same path as `limestone_ashlar` and `dark_stucco`.
+
 ### Blender skills upkeep
 
 - [ ] Re-check the installed Blender pack (`version.json`) when updating it and record the version
@@ -594,7 +524,7 @@ task, not on a schedule.
 
 Baseline: **v0.9.6** (2026-11-03). Three playable venues, tutorial/campaign/checkpoint resume,
 difficulty/help, audio/accessibility settings, a 24-NPC budget baseline, a complete
-escalation/access/radio loop, shift review, the Blender asset library, 272 headless + 108 Python
+escalation/access/radio loop, shift review, the Blender asset library, 276 headless + 143 Python
 tests, a 21/21 clean screen-design judge and an optional Forward+ Desktop HQ build. This is the
 baseline; 0.10.0-rc.1 is the current candidate source, with release approvals still open.
 
@@ -826,3 +756,100 @@ order. Only a release-blocking defect from those tracks may enter this milestone
 - [ ] Swap the primitive prop builder for an image-to-mesh model API behind the same
       `assets/models/generated/<prop>.glb` contract.
 - [ ] Rare easter eggs/cameos (e.g. Bob Dobbs) only after core content and QA are stable.
+
+## Gaussian splatting evaluation (deferred)
+
+Postponed for further development on 2026-11-03. The local-map track ships the facade kit and
+reference-anchored material passes first; this photo-driven pipeline stays an unversioned,
+offline study with no runtime or release dependency until an ADR closes it. All licence and
+privacy gates below remain in force whenever the track resumes.
+
+### Photo intake and provenance
+
+Gaussian splatting is evaluated as a photo-driven pipeline: licensed or permissioned photos
+become a reference, texture source, mesh proxy or distant backdrop. It is an unversioned local
+track with no runtime dependency or release gate until the ADR closes it, and it extends the
+reference-image licence and privacy gates above rather than replacing them.
+
+- [ ] Define the accepted photo channels: project/team captures, volunteer or user-supplied
+      photos with written permission, and downloaded images from clearly licensed archives
+      (Wikimedia Commons, Openverse, Mapillary and similar). Record which channel produced
+      each reconstruction.
+- [ ] Write a one-page capture brief for user-supplied photos: overlapping arc or orbit around
+      the facade, 60–80% view overlap, 12 MP+ originals, fixed exposure/white balance, HDR and
+      filters off, no motion blur, no people or plates in frame where avoidable, overcast or
+      even light, and the facade height/doors/steps included in several frames.
+- [ ] Build an intake checklist and provenance sidecar per photo set: contributor, consent or
+      property permission, licence and attribution text, source URL, capture date, camera/lens,
+      location, faces/plates/interiors present, redactions applied, file hashes and whether the
+      set is shipped or development-only.
+- [ ] Set the licence gate: own photos need an explicit contributor licence; CC0/CC BY are
+      preferred; CC BY-SA triggers a share-alike review for derived textures and meshes; reject
+      Street View, social-media scrapes, unlicensed commercial imagery and AI-upscaled copies of
+      unknown originals. Attribution must be feasible in `CREDITS.md` before use.
+- [ ] Set the privacy gate: blur or remove faces, minors, licence plates, screens, private
+      interiors and anything behind a closed door; obtain property permission where required;
+      keep a redacted copy as the reconstruction input and never commit the originals.
+- [ ] Treat downloaded photo sets as sparse and of unknown intrinsics. Use them for reference,
+      palette and texture study, or as extra training views; do not expect a usable splat from
+      10–30 casual web photos of a facade.
+- [ ] Keep photos, masks, COLMAP databases, checkpoints and splats outside git; commit only
+      derived, licensed, provenance-stamped assets that pass the review gate.
+
+### Reconstruction and alignment
+
+- [ ] Pin a reproducible offline toolchain (for example COLMAP or GLOMAP for camera poses plus
+      gsplat, OpenSplat, Nerfstudio or Brush for training), with exact versions, GPU/VRAM/disk
+      needs and known failure modes recorded in the sidecar.
+- [ ] Reconstruct two quality tiers: a dense 100–400-photo arc/orbit capture and a sparse
+      10–30-photo downloaded set. Record camera-registration rate, training time, splat count,
+      file size and held-out PSNR/SSIM/LPIPS for both.
+- [ ] Mask sky, people, vehicles and moving foliage before training; verify the masks do not
+      erase facade edges, signage or window detail, and keep the redacted input variant.
+- [ ] Align the splat to game coordinates from the OSM footprint plus surveyed points (door
+      width, column spacing, step rise, storefront height) and record alignment residuals in a
+      Blender scene containing both the splat and the current venue geometry (`scene-assembly`).
+- [ ] Judge quality from held-out views and a render from the game's day/night camera poses
+      (`camera-cinematography`, `lookdev`, `qa-review`), not from training views alone; reject
+      splats that only look correct from the capture path.
+- [ ] Maintain a coverage map per block: which facades, corners and rooflines have usable views,
+      and which areas must fall back to the facade kit or stylized geometry.
+
+### Map enhancement paths
+
+- [ ] **Path A — Reference and QA (lowest risk):** render the splat from game camera poses and
+      compare it with the realism captures; derive dimensions, signage placement, facade rhythm
+      and material colours. No splat data reaches the runtime.
+- [ ] **Path B — Texture derivation:** project splat renders **or reference photos** onto the
+      facade kit to produce albedo, normal, roughness and AO candidates; de-light and bake them
+      (`texture-workflow`), then verify UV scale, tiling and readability under the Compatibility
+      renderer. Deriving directly from a committed reference photo requires its licence to allow
+      derived works and a `CREDITS.md` entry; CC BY-SA sources stay out unless reviewed.
+- [ ] **Path C — Mesh proxy:** extract a mesh from the splat or dense reconstruction, retopo and
+      dress it in Blender (`retopology`, `prop-artist`), assign LODs (`lod-pipeline`), and keep it
+      inside the venue triangle/material budgets with mesh-based colliders (`collision-proxy`).
+- [ ] **Path D — Distant backdrop:** test a baked panorama, impostor or billboard generated from
+      the splat for skyline and opposite-street depth where the player cannot walk; measure file
+      size, loading and visible pop at the venue boundary.
+- [ ] **Path E — User-photo supplement:** let a small supplied photo set improve one facade or
+      landmark (a signage patch, colour reference or hero detail) without rebuilding the venue;
+      define the minimum evidence and the same licence/privacy/review gate as a full capture.
+- [ ] For every path record quality gain versus effort, licence compatibility of the derived
+      output, and whether the result may ship or stays development-only. Prefer the cheapest
+      path that closes the visible gap.
+
+### Runtime evaluation and decision
+
+- [ ] Probe Godot 4.7.2 Compatibility and Web support for splat rendering in a throwaway scene:
+      addon or importer availability, shader/sort cost, memory, load time and fallback behaviour.
+      Do not add a splat dependency to the release project during evaluation.
+- [ ] Set hard limits before any runtime experiment: maximum per-splat file size and total
+      memory, allowed frame-time delta on the 24-NPC budget scene, acceptable Web load time, and
+      no compute-shader requirement for the Compatibility/Web path.
+- [ ] Keep collision and navigation mesh-based even if a splat is displayed; a splat must never
+      become the playable floor or the access/occlusion authority.
+- [ ] Write the ADR with a per-path go/no-go, the accepted licence/provenance rules, whether each
+      result ships or stays development-only, rejected alternatives and the evidence bundle.
+- [ ] Exit: one licensed photo capture measurably improves a venue through a documented path and
+      passes visual, performance and provenance review; or the approach is rejected with
+      reproducible findings and removed from the release path.