# NPC visual baseline and acceptance criteria

Status: baseline captured 2026-11-02; the first P1 fixes were applied the same
day (tourist photo-prop visibility and backpack strap geometry). The face pass
and the remaining body/clothing work are still open. The baseline remains the
reference for the 0.9.4 NPC visual optimization; the post-fix comparison is
[`blender_previews/sheet_npc_baseline_compare-p1.jpg`](blender_previews/sheet_npc_baseline_compare-p1.jpg).

## What was captured

`src/test/capture_npc_baseline.gd` stages all eight library characters in a
neutral studio and captures six views per character:

| View | Camera | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `front` | 1.85 m, 32° FOV, head/upper body | face, hair, collar, shoulders |
| `three_quarter` | 1.85 m, yaw 35° | cheek/jaw, ear, profile transition |
| `profile` | 1.85 m, yaw 90° | head depth, nose, ear, chest silhouette |
| `back` | 1.85 m, yaw 180° | hair cap, neck, coat/backpack fit |
| `full_body` | 4.2 m, 38° FOV | proportions, hands, shoes, hem |
| `crowd` | 8.0 m, 45° FOV | silhouette read at normal crowd distance |

The stage is deliberately separate from the venue review harness: a mid-grey
solid background, ground plane, one key light and one cool fill light, no HUD,
no crowd, no flashlight, no phase lighting and no animation. Front is Godot +Z,
matching `NpcAvatar.yaw_towards()`. The camera orbits at the recorded yaw rather
than rotating the avatar, so the pose and foot contact stay fixed between views.
The full command is:

```bash
godot --path . --script res://src/test/capture_npc_baseline.gd -- \
  --out=res://tmp/npc-baseline
python3 tools/npc_baseline.py sheet --dir tmp/npc-baseline
```

The 48 raw PNGs are local QA under `tmp/` (gitignored). The committed contact
sheet is [`blender_previews/sheet_npc_baseline.jpg`](blender_previews/sheet_npc_baseline.jpg).
The capture is deterministic apart from engine rasterisation; re-running into
the same directory keeps the earlier files and writes `-vN` copies rather than
overwriting them.

## Acceptance criteria

The criteria below are for the stylized target, not photorealism. A change must
pass every applicable item before a library rebuild is accepted.

1. **Asset contract:** `npc_base` mesh node, the required bones, five tint slots,
   front +Z, feet within 3 cm of y=0, 1.6–2.1 m height, at most 6,000 triangles
   and 5,000 glTF vertices per character. Gear remains at most 1,500 triangles.
2. **Proportion and silhouette:** head, neck, shoulders, torso, hips, limbs and
   feet read as one body; front/three-quarter/profile silhouettes agree with the
   rest of the eight-character library; broad/slim/average build variation is
   preserved.
3. **Face:** at 1.85 m the eyes, iris, brows, nose, mouth and ears are distinct;
   the head volume has a readable jaw/cheek/chin transition; no face-plane seams,
   inverted normals or z-fighting. The face direction must remain unambiguous.
4. **Hair and headgear:** hair covers the scalp without gaps or scalp-through
   seams; fringes, buns and beards keep their silhouette. Caps, beanies, hoods,
   sunglasses and the firefighter helmet clear the brow, eyes and ears. Headgear
   may sit outside the 1.55–1.81 m face band, but its brim must not cover the
   eyes.
5. **Hands and footwear:** at conversation distance the fingers and thumb read
   as a hand, not a mitten; hand items contact the palm rather than floating;
   shoes and boots are grounded with a readable toe/heel silhouette and preserve
   the responder/firefighter footwear language.
6. **Clothing:** collars, cuffs, plackets, waistbands, pockets, badges and
   reflective bands transition cleanly; no z-fighting or floating detail; coat,
   dress and skirt hems do not show legs through the fabric during idle, walk,
   block, sit or turn; the five tint slots and fixed detail colours remain
   unchanged.
7. **Gear:** head gear clears the refined face/hair; the lanyard badge remains
   readable in front of the jacket; backpack, shoulder bag and SCBA tank straps
   lie outside the torso and do not read as a second bag; hand items use the
   authored grip points.
8. **Crowd and performance:** the silhouette remains readable at the 8 m crowd
   frame and the LOD/impostor tiers match the full mesh; the 24-NPC budget stays
   within the existing 6.93 ms baseline (no regression beyond the measured
   variance), and no new per-frame material or mesh churn is introduced.

Asset-space `fit` values are measurements of the untouched GLBs, not a pass/fail
result. A negative `x_clearance` means the gear's narrowest face is inside the
body reference; a negative `radial_clearance` means it extends beyond the body
silhouette (normal for a backpack, suspicious when it is a strap). Runtime
`NpcAvatar.GEAR_OFFSETS` is applied after attachment and is not part of the GLB
measurement.

## Baseline measurements

From `python3 tools/blender_assets.py fit` and the manifest:

| Character | Tris | Verts | Head width | Clothing radius | Notable gear clearances |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| `npc_casual` | 3,974 | 3,744 | 0.315 m | 0.191 m (hip) | backpack x −0.041, radial −0.162 |
| `npc_jacket` | 4,394 | 4,175 | 0.315 m | 0.191 m (hip) | lanyard x −0.116, radial +0.023 (runtime +4 cm forward) |
| `npc_coat` | 5,026 | 4,807 | 0.315 m | 0.225 m (skirt) | sunglasses width ratio 0.641; bag x +0.037, radial −0.130 |
| `npc_vest` | 4,474 | 4,340 | 0.315 m | 0.191 m (hip) | cap width ratio 1.067 |
| `npc_dress` | 4,428 | 4,026 | 0.315 m | 0.260 m (skirt) | bag x +0.002, radial −0.095 |
| `npc_hoodie` | 4,826 | 4,504 | 0.315 m | 0.190 m (hip) | — |
| `npc_firefighter` | 4,848 | 4,735 | 0.315 m | 0.255 m (skirt) | helmet width ratio 1.651; SCBA x −0.105, radial −0.076 |
| `npc_guard` | 4,560 | 4,529 | 0.315 m | 0.194 m (hip) | cap width ratio 1.067 |

The widest character is `npc_coat` at 5,026 triangles and 4,807 vertices, so
the current headroom is 974 triangles and 193 vertices per character. Any face
or hand refinement must come out of that budget or replace existing detail. The
refit backpack measures 380 triangles / 406 vertices; the character and gear
table above remains valid because the character meshes did not change.

## Baseline findings, ranked

### P1 — fix in the first model pass

1. **The tourist carried two bag silhouettes. Fixed 2026-11-02.** `_add_props()`
   created a 0.30 × 0.36 × 0.14 box at `(-0.34, 1.15, -0.18)` for the tourist
   photo pose while `_add_accessory("backpack")` also attached the library
   backpack. From the three-quarter/back view the two read as separate bags. The
   photo prop is now hidden outside `photo`/`film` poses
   (`photo_prop_visible_for_pose()`), so it only appears when the character is
   actually taking a picture; the after frame confirms one bag at rest.
2. **The face is the largest portrait gap.** The eyes, nose and lips are
   readable but sit on a shallow, faceted head: the eye whites protrude, the
   eyelid/cheek transition is missing, and the mouth is a dark slot. This is
   intentionally stylized, but the head volume and eye socket are the first
   things a player sees at conversation range.
3. **Backpack straps read as rigid black bars. Refit 2026-11-02.** The straps
   were thin round tubes whose chest/waist points sat inside the torso, so only
   fragments showed from the front. They are now flattened bands whose front path
   sits outside the chest; the after sheet shows a continuous strap instead of
   two detached rods. The backpack asset is now 380 triangles / 406 vertices
   (still far below the 1,500-triangle gear budget).

### P2 — fix after the first P1 pass

4. **Hands and grips are not proven at conversation distance.** The full-body
   frame shows small block hands; the camera, phone and clipboard need a
   close-up grip check before the hand mesh is accepted.
5. **Clothing detail is tile-driven and transitional seams are visible.** The
   fabric pattern repeats strongly on the casual, coat and dress variants, and
   collar/cuff/waist edges are abrupt. This is more visible than the shoe/hem
   details in the current portraits.
6. **Shoes are simple blocks.** They are grounded, but the toe/heel silhouette
   is minimal; the responder and firefighter footwear should remain distinct
   after any refinement.
7. **Headgear scale needs a visual, not just numeric, check.** The cap and
   helmet width ratios are 1.067 and 1.651; those are expected for headgear, but
   the brim/ear clearance and the helmet's relationship to the head still need a
   face-on check.
8. **Performer props dominate the silhouette.** The red cone hat and the
   primitive sign are intentionally large stage props, but they should be
   checked during the pose pass so they do not read as head/body geometry.

### Accepted or deferred for this baseline

- The hooded variants intentionally cover part of the face; face readability is
  judged on the visible lower face and silhouette, not on hidden eyes.
- The low-poly style is the target. The acceptance bar is readability and clean
  construction, not photoreal skin or hair.
- Hem-through-leg clipping during a walk cannot be judged from a rest pose; it
  stays in the body/clothing workstream.
- The 8 m `crowd` view is still LOD 0. The separate LOD/impostor check remains
  required; this baseline does not claim to validate it.

## Before/after workflow

Keep the baseline directory, rebuild the same capture into a new directory after
the model changes, then produce a comparison sheet. Do not overwrite the
committed baseline image:

```bash
godot --path . --script res://src/test/capture_npc_baseline.gd -- \
  --out=res://tmp/npc-baseline-after
python3 tools/npc_baseline.py compare \
  --before tmp/npc-baseline --after tmp/npc-baseline-after \
  --out tmp/npc-baseline-compare.jpg
```

The comparison sheet places the before/after pair for each view side by side.
The first run is committed as
[`sheet_npc_baseline_compare-p1.jpg`](blender_previews/sheet_npc_baseline_compare-p1.jpg);
keep the baseline sheet as the before artifact and add a new numbered/after
sheet rather than replacing it.

## Next implementation order

1. Refine the head/eye socket/jaw volume without changing the face direction or
   the five tint slots.
2. Add a conversation-distance hand/grip capture and fix hand geometry before
   judging hand items.
3. Audit hems and footwear in walk/sit/block poses.
4. Re-run the 48-frame baseline, the 96-frame final-context review, the 24-NPC
   budget and `blender_assets.py audit/fit`; publish the next comparison sheet.