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research(vm0): Campaign AR's pack-off path IS the pre-campaign renderer - PASS

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Exact-pixel and production-perf comparison of 6c79d35c (+ only the A2
normal files, so no terrain mask is needed) against c51b07ef with no pack:
connected as +Acdream, visible window, one isolated config clone per
variant, pinned clocks. Open field: the only differences are idle pose,
mana digits and a passing flyer. Holtburg: same-binary-twice defines the
dynamic mask (9.8%); in the static 90% both self-diffs have ZERO pixels
with |d|>=8 while base+normals vs HEAD-off has 841/729 - all streaks inside
the animated lifestone. Buildings, ground, trees, sky and UI are clean.

Perf (uncapped Release, no automation observer, ACDREAM_FRAME_PROF=1):
Holtburg CPU p50 4.7 -> 4.1 ms, Arwic 6.0 -> 5.2 ms, GPU unchanged,
alloc/frame 574 KB -> 21 KB. No regression; F5b's '27.8 ms retail CPU' was
the observer.

Three false alarms recorded so nobody repeats them: the isolated gate
settings lack fieldOfView (90 vs the real 86.33 -> a 0.952 zoom); the real
%APPDATA% settings still selected acdream.atmospheric/low (pack ON); a
minimized GLFW window is throttled and never settles.

Tools: tools/vm0/capture-visible.ps1 (pre-campaign gate + -Exe/-Live/
-ConfigDir/-CharacterName/-PreCaptureCommand), tools/vm0/perf-run.sh,
and -BuildingDetailTextures on run-offline-pixel-gate.ps1. Baseline
patches under docs/research/evidence/vm0/.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Erik 2026-08-22 21:40:40 +02:00
parent 4a69ecd32e
commit 30e72a2af8
12 changed files with 721 additions and 2 deletions
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6
docs/plans/2026-08-22-visualmaster-campaign.md
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@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ single-pass path darkens by ~10 %. Neither explains a scene-wide level.
| Slice | Closes | Gate |
|---|---|---|
| VM0 | F1 — default-path invariance | automated + Fable report |
| VM0 | F1 — default-path invariance | **CLOSED 2026-08-22 — PASS**; [report](../research/2026-08-22-vm0-default-path-invariance.md) |
| VM1 | F2 — invented detail fade | automated |
| VM2 | F3 — which retail detail path ran | **CLOSED 2026-08-22** — single-pass; see [cdb note](../research/2026-08-22-vm2-retail-detail-path-cdb.md) |
| VM3 | F4 — linear-light post stack | automated + **owner visual** |
@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ single-pass path darkens by ~10 %. Neither explains a scene-wide level.
| VM6 | Foliage wind | automated + **owner visual** |
| VM7 | Closeout: full gates, register, roadmap, merge | **owner** |
Order is VM2 (done) → VM0 → VM1 → VM4 → VM5 → VM3 → VM6 → VM7. VM0 goes first because everything after it is measured
Order is VM2 (done) → VM0 (done) → VM1 → VM4 → VM5 → VM3 → VM6 → VM7. VM0 goes first because everything after it is measured
against the baseline it establishes.
---
@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ performance against `6c79d35c`.
6. Add the masked comparison as a repeatable tool mode
(`-Baseline … -TerrainMask`) so VM3/VM6 can re-run it.
**OUTCOME (2026-08-22): PASS.** Connected, visible-window, isolated-config captures: base+normals vs HEAD-off has zero strong static differences outside the animated lifestone at Holtburg and the open field; production CPU is 13% cheaper and allocation 25x lower on HEAD's pack-off path (no observer, uncapped Release). Three config traps (isolated FOV, the real Roaming settings still selecting the pack, minimized-window throttling) are recorded in the report. Replaced the planned terrain mask with a base+normals baseline (no mask needed).
**Acceptance:** the two pixel assertions in step 4 hold; the perf A/B shows
no default-path regression; the Fable report records the exact commands,
commits and artifact paths. If a regression is found, it is fixed here and