fix(animation): preserve wire motion on every spawn path

Replace the door-specific static-animation seed with one retail description-then-enter-world initializer shared by normal and reactive spawns. This preserves authoritative Dead and On/Off states, prevents replacement corpses from returning to Ready, and pins the lifecycle with Core and App tests.

Co-Authored-By: Codex <codex@openai.com>

docs/ISSUES.md

@@ -46,6 +46,39 @@ Copy this block when adding a new issue:
 
 ---
 
+## #204 — Replacement corpses replay the death transition and stand back up
+
+**Status:** DONE — 2026-07-12, user visually confirmed multiple corpses remain fallen
+**Severity:** HIGH
+**Component:** live entities / animation / CreateObject lifecycle
+
+**Description:** A killed monster played its death animation correctly, but
+when ACE replaced the victim object with its lootable corpse, the body visibly
+returned to the standing pose and replayed the fall.
+
+**Root cause:** Six-object live trace proved ACE sent every corpse CreateObject
+with the correct `NonCombat + Dead` motion. A follow-up trace after the first
+correction showed the replacement corpse nevertheless completed `Ready`: its
+persistent Dead rest pose is static, so it bypassed the normal multi-frame
+spawn branch and entered the broader #187 reactive branch. That branch had
+been generalized from doors by its gate but still hard-coded Door On/Off from
+`PhysicsState`; for a corpse those commands did not select a cycle, leaving the
+motion-table default Ready and producing the hard upright pop.
+
+**Resolution:** Both live-spawn branches now use one data-driven initializer.
+It installs the motion-table default, applies the authoritative MovementData
+stance/command, and then calls `MotionTableManager.HandleEnterWorld()` exactly
+like retail's description-then-enter-world lifecycle. No corpse or door type
+switch remains. App tests pin Dead and Door On/Off wire-state resolution; a
+Core conformance test pins removal of the detached Ready→Dead link before the
+first rendered tick.
+
+**Research:** `docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md`
+
+**Acceptance:** Kill several monsters. Each falls once, is replaced by a
+lootable corpse in the same fallen pose, and never visibly stands between the
+victim deletion and corpse display.
+
 ## #203 — Unequipping armor freezes character and world animations — FIXED
 
 **Status:** DONE — 2026-07-11 (this change)

docs/plans/2026-04-11-roadmap.md

@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ behavior. Estimated 17–26 days focused work, 3–5 weeks calendar.
 - **Wave 4.4e implemented — exact missile ammo number (live gate pending).** Pure Core reproduces retail's thrown-weapon-vs-separate-ammo resolution over the ordered player equipment list and its zero-to-one count normalization. Relevant equipment/stack events update authored missile indicator `0x10000194` with the DAT font. Warning-free Release build and 4,754-pass / 5-skip suite are green; AP-101 is retired.
 - **M2 held-object parenting shipped and live-gated 2026-07-11.** The combat toggle now ports `GetDefaultCombatMode` over ordered equipped contents, so a bow requests Missile instead of the old hardcoded Melee. CreateObject preserves parent/placement/timestamp fields, `0xF749` ParentEvent is handled, and `EquippedChildRenderController` renders the weapon as a separate child composed from the animated hand part + holding frame + child placement frame. Live gate passed: bow selected missile stance, rendered in-hand, followed animation, unequipped cleanly, and melee remained correct. App Release builds with zero warnings; the full 4,765-pass / 5-skip suite is green. AP-111 is retired; research: `docs/research/2026-07-11-combat-default-and-parent-event-pseudocode.md`.
 - **M2 local attack receive funnel implemented 2026-07-11; live gate pending.** Retail `ExecuteAttack` only sends the request; ACE chooses the concrete melee/missile action and returns it in a non-autonomous mt-0 `UpdateMotion`. The local branch now runs that state through the same constructor-defaulted `MoveToInterpretedState` funnel and 15-bit action-stamp gate as remotes, then applies sticky/long-jump tails. The old local-only direct `Commands[]` replay is deleted. Shared conversion lives in `InboundInterpretedMotionFactory`; research: `docs/research/2026-07-11-local-combat-motion-pseudocode.md`.
-- **M2 basic retail combat bar implemented 2026-07-11; corrective live visual gate pending.** Production mounts authored `gmCombatUI` LayoutDesc `0x21000073`, shows it only for Melee/Missile, and routes mouse plus keyboard through one `CombatAttackController`. Corrections include the right-to-left red charge meter, silent control-only `AttackDone(ActionCancelled)`, target-frame Keep in View with manual orbit, and persistent corpse motion: the AP-80 velocity-only NPC adaptation can now replace only Ready/Walk/Run, never authoritative Dead/actions. `CombatTargetController` ports the selection-cleared AutoTarget consumer, so a selected creature's authoritative Dead motion clears it and selects the nearest eligible creature when enabled. Research: `docs/research/2026-07-11-retail-combat-bar-pseudocode.md`, `docs/research/2026-07-11-combat-target-camera-pseudocode.md`, `docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md`; AP-24/AP-95 retired, AP-80 narrowed, AP-110 narrowed, AP-112 records the remaining advanced/Recklessness and command-interpreter seams.
+- **M2 basic retail combat bar implemented 2026-07-11; corrective live visual gate pending.** Production mounts authored `gmCombatUI` LayoutDesc `0x21000073`, shows it only for Melee/Missile, and routes mouse plus keyboard through one `CombatAttackController`. Corrections include the right-to-left red charge meter, silent control-only `AttackDone(ActionCancelled)`, target-frame Keep in View with manual orbit, and persistent corpse motion: the AP-80 velocity-only NPC adaptation can now replace only Ready/Walk/Run, never authoritative Dead/actions. `CombatTargetController` ports the selection-cleared AutoTarget consumer, so a selected creature's authoritative Dead motion clears it and selects the nearest eligible creature when enabled. The 2026-07-12 replacement-corpse correction unifies both multi-frame and static/reactive spawns behind retail's CreateObject lifecycle: apply the wire's Dead state while detached, then `MotionTableManager::HandleEnterWorld` strips Ready→Dead links before the first in-world tick; multiple corpses remaining fallen passed the live user gate that day. Research: `docs/research/2026-07-11-retail-combat-bar-pseudocode.md`, `docs/research/2026-07-11-combat-target-camera-pseudocode.md`, `docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md`; AP-24/AP-95 retired, AP-80 narrowed, AP-110 narrowed, AP-112 records the remaining advanced/Recklessness and command-interpreter seams.
 - **✓ SHIPPED — Character window** (`LayoutDesc 0x2100002E`, `CharacterStatController`, 2026-06-26, same branch). **Visually user-confirmed 2026-06-26 — Attributes tab reads as retail.** Three tabs, header (name/heritage/PK), large-gold level number (dat font, `largeDatFont` 18px), "Total Experience (XP):" + "XP for next level:" captions, 9-row attribute list (icons + right-aligned values + Health/Stamina/Mana vitals), click-to-select (top/bottom selection bars + footer State-B "{Attr}: {value}" / "Experience To Raise: Infinity!" + affordability-gated raise triangles), centered footer. User noted "still needs some polish for later" — deferred to Issue #158.
 - **✓ SHIPPED — D.5.4 — Client object/item data model (foundation).** Shipped 2026-06-18 (`b506f53`..`a33e897`, 11 commits). Renamed `ItemRepository`→`ClientObjectTable` / `ItemInstance`→`ClientObject`; broadened the table to hold EVERY server object (retail `weenie_object_table` shape). `CreateObject` is now the canonical merge-upsert (`ClientObjectTable.Ingest`, retail `SetWeenieDesc` semantics) via a new Core.Net `ObjectTableWiring` (off GameWindow); `DeleteObject` evicts; `PlayerDescription` is a membership manifest (`RecordMembership`); live container-membership index (`GetContents`, retail `object_inventory_table`). `_liveEntityInfoByGuid` retired (selection/describe resolve from the one table). Root fix: the old enrich-existing-only `EnrichItem` dropped `CreateObject`s for items with no `PlayerDescription` stub — live-Coldeve 4/6 hotbar slots blank; items are now created, not dropped. **Crux resolved:** retail is TWO tables (`object_table` + `weenie_object_table`), NOT one — acdream's `WorldEntity` (3D system) + `ClientObjectTable` (data/UI) split was already architecturally faithful; the fix was the ingestion path, not a table unification. 2671 tests green.
 - **Roadmap correction (2026-07-10):** the completion order is now the architecture-first campaign in `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-07-10-retail-ui-fidelity-completion.md`. Retail `gmToolbarUI` is object-only: preserve `ShortCutData.index_`, `objectID_`, and `spellID_`, but do not invent spell glyphs on this bar. `PlayerModule::favorite_spells_[8]` feeds separate spell bars.

docs/plans/2026-05-12-milestones.md

@@ -466,7 +466,12 @@ include dungeons.
   meter, silent AttackDone control status, target-frame Keep in View with
   retained manual orbit, persistent corpse motion protected from the AP-80
   velocity adaptation, and post-death nearest-target acquisition when Auto
-  Target is enabled. See `docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md`.
+  Target is enabled. Both multi-frame and static/reactive spawns now share
+  retail's wire-driven description-before-enter-world lifecycle: the corpse's
+  authoritative Dead state is retained and `HandleEnterWorld` strips its
+  Ready→Dead transition before the first rendered tick. Corpse persistence was
+  visually confirmed live on 2026-07-12. See
+  `docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md`.
 - **L.1b** — Command router + motion-state cleanup (prereq for L.1c).
 
 **Freeze on landing:**

docs/research/2026-07-12-death-and-auto-target-pseudocode.md

@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ Sources: Sept 2013 EoR named retail client.
 - `CPlayerSystem::SelectNext` (`0x0055F9A0`)
 - `MovementManager::unpack_movement` (`0x00524440`)
 - `CPhysicsObj::MoveOrTeleport` (`0x00516330`)
+- `SmartBox::HandleCreateObject` (`0x00454C80`)
+- `ACCObjectMaint::CreateObject` (`0x00558870`)
+- `CPhysicsObj::set_description` (`0x00514F40`)
+- `CPhysicsObj::enter_world` (`0x00516170`)
+- `CPartArray::HandleEnterWorld` (`0x00517D70`)
+- `MotionTableManager::HandleEnterWorld` (`0x0051BDD0`)
 
 ## Animation authority
 
@@ -27,6 +33,84 @@ states. An authoritative action or substate such as attack, hit reaction, or
 Dead always wins. This preserves the adaptation without allowing a late
 position delta to make a corpse stand again.
 
+## CreateObject motion lifecycle
+
+ACE creates a new corpse object after the victim's death animation finishes.
+Its CreateObject packet correctly carries `NonCombat + Dead`; this was verified
+in the 2026-07-12 live trace for six corpse GUIDs. The remaining stand-up was
+not a parser or server-authority bug. The decisive follow-up trace showed the
+replacement corpse completing `Ready` immediately after spawn. Dead is a
+static persistent rest pose for this setup, so the corpse entered acdream's
+"reactive" static-animation branch rather than the normal multi-frame branch.
+That branch's gate had been generalized from doors to every nonzero motion
+table, but its initializer was still door-specific: it inferred On/Off from
+`PhysicsState`, discarded the wire's Dead command, and left the corpse on the
+table's Ready default.
+
+Retail performs these operations in this order:
+
+```text
+SmartBox::HandleCreateObject(packet):
+    object = ACCObjectMaint::CreateObject(...)
+
+ACCObjectMaint::CreateObject(...):
+    object.set_description(physicsDesc, applyMovement=true)
+
+CPhysicsObj::set_description(...):
+    SetMotionTableID(physicsDesc.motionTable)
+        -> initialize the motion table's default Ready state
+    unpack_movement(physicsDesc.movement)
+        -> apply the wire's NonCombat + Dead state
+        -> temporarily build [Ready-to-Dead transition link, Dead cycle]
+
+SmartBox::HandleCreateObject(...), after CreateObject returns:
+    object.enter_world(position)
+
+CPhysicsObj::enter_world(...):
+    partArray.HandleEnterWorld()
+
+CPartArray::HandleEnterWorld():
+    motionTableManager.HandleEnterWorld()
+
+MotionTableManager::HandleEnterWorld():
+    sequence.remove_all_link_animations()
+    while pendingAnimations is not empty:
+        AnimationDone(success=false)
+```
+
+Therefore the first in-world corpse pose comes from the persistent Dead cycle,
+not the Ready-to-Dead transition that the already-deleted victim just played.
+This is a generic CreateObject lifecycle rule for every motion-table object;
+there is no corpse-name or corpse-type special case in the animation path.
+
+acdream must apply this sequence identically in both of its render-registration
+paths:
+
+```text
+initialize_spawn_motion(motionTable, wireMovementData):
+    sequencer.initialize_state()                 // table default
+    sequencer.set_cycle(wire.stance, wire.motion)
+    sequencer.handle_enter_world()               // strip transient links
+
+normal multi-frame spawn:
+    sequencer = initialize_spawn_motion(...)
+
+static/reactive spawn (doors, corpses, gates, ...):
+    sequencer = initialize_spawn_motion(...)
+```
+
+Cross-checks:
+
+- ACE `WorldObject_Networking.SerializePhysicsData` writes the corpse's
+  `CurrentMotionState` into CreateObject MovementData.
+- ACE `Corpse.SetEphemeralValues` sets that state to `NonCombat + Dead`.
+- ACE `Door.SetEphemeralValues` likewise supplies `NonCombat + On/Off`; the
+  client does not need to infer door motion from `PhysicsState`.
+- The existing acdream `MotionTableManager.HandleEnterWorld` port and its
+  #174 conformance tests already implement the retail strip-and-drain
+  semantics. The defect was that the static/reactive spawn path neither used
+  the wire motion generically nor called that lifecycle step.
+
 ## Auto Target after the selected creature dies
 
 ```text