docs #429 + probe: frame stalls are pack-independent (~1.7/s both arms); the pack converts them into visible player jumps (59 vs 3); prediction-snap theory dead

Adds the TEMPORARY PlayerPresentationProbe (ACDREAM_PROBE_PLAYER_PRESENT)
per the #429 apparatus plan and records the measured two-arm evidence in
the issue. Probe strips with the fix.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/ISSUES.md

@@ -115,6 +115,39 @@ ACE's >=800 misread), accumulating drift that the AutoPos/correction loop
 snaps back on its cadence. Walking (speed 1.0 both sides) and strafing
 accumulate little or no drift — matching the report exactly.
 
+**MEASURED 2026-08-23 (same session) — the story inverted twice and is now
+pinned by data.** A per-frame probe (`PlayerPresentationProbe`,
+`ACDREAM_PROBE_PLAYER_PRESENT=<csv>`, TEMPORARY, wired in
+`WorldRenderFrameBuilder`/`RuntimeWorldFrameEnvironmentPreparation`)
+captured `(t, camera, presented player position)` per frame over ~50 s
+of running per arm (`artifacts/owner-gate/player-present-429-packON.csv`
+/ `-packoff.csv`, ~270 FPS baseline, median frame 3.7 ms):
+
+- Frame stalls of 15-25 ms (max ~230-260 ms) occur ~1.7/s while moving in
+  BOTH arms — pack ON 88, pack OFF 83 — the Atmospheric pack does NOT
+  cause the stalls. The uncapped run reproducing the hitch had already
+  killed the #235 capped-alias theory.
+- The pack changes what a stall LOOKS like: with pack ON, 59 of the 88
+  long frames carry a 3x-5x player-position jump (the visible hitch);
+  with pack OFF only 3 of 83 do — the same stall lands at a pipeline
+  phase where the presented position has not advanced, so the player
+  stays visually smooth and the owner never perceived it.
+- Right after ON-arm stall clusters, normal-length frames show ~zero
+  player motion (catch-up artifacts). The prediction/AutoPos-correction
+  hypothesis is DEAD: position advances exactly proportionally to
+  elapsed time through the stalls; no snap-back is present in the data.
+
+**Two separated defects:**
+1. BASE CLIENT: periodic 15-25 ms frame stalls (~1.7/s while moving).
+   GC exonerated (Gen0 at 6.3 s cadence, gen1/2 zero). Suspects:
+   streaming publication/upload bursts on movement, present-path stalls.
+   Instrument with a per-stall stack/phase capture, not more theories.
+2. PACK FRAME GRAPH: its ordering shifts the stall's position relative
+   to the physics commit/presented-position sampling, converting silent
+   stalls into visible player jumps. Establish where the ON-arm long
+   frames spend their extra time (the pack's CPU stage profiler names
+   stages) and where the player position is sampled relative to it.
+
 **Next probes (in order):**
 1. `ACDREAM_DUMP_MOTION=1` + a temporary inbound-position log for the
    LOCAL guid: does ACE send position sets for the local player every

src/AcDream.App/Rendering/PlayerPresentationProbe.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Globalization;
+using System.Numerics;
+
+namespace AcDream.App.Rendering;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// TEMPORARY #429 apparatus. One CSV row per rendered frame:
+/// <c>seconds,camX,camY,camZ,playerX,playerY,playerZ</c>, where seconds is a
+/// Stopwatch-derived monotonic time and player is the frame's
+/// <c>PlayerViewPosition</c> — the presented local-player position driving
+/// lighting/visibility this frame. Off unless
+/// <c>ACDREAM_PROBE_PLAYER_PRESENT=&lt;path&gt;</c> is set (one null check per
+/// frame). Analysis: a hitch frame shows the player's per-frame delta
+/// collapsing to ~0 or doubling; whether the SAME frame's dt is smooth
+/// separates a presentation-phase bug (pack frame graph sampling a stale
+/// snapshot) from genuine frame-pacing spikes. Strip with the #429 fix.
+/// </summary>
+internal sealed class PlayerPresentationProbe : IDisposable
+{
+    private readonly StreamWriter _writer;
+    private readonly long _startTimestamp = Stopwatch.GetTimestamp();
+    private int _linesSinceFlush;
+
+    private PlayerPresentationProbe(StreamWriter writer)
+    {
+        _writer = writer;
+        _writer.WriteLine("seconds,camX,camY,camZ,playerX,playerY,playerZ");
+    }
+
+    internal static PlayerPresentationProbe? CreateFromEnvironment()
+    {
+        string? path = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ACDREAM_PROBE_PLAYER_PRESENT");
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path))
+            return null;
+
+        try
+        {
+            return new PlayerPresentationProbe(new StreamWriter(path, append: false));
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Console.Error.WriteLine(
+                $"[player-present] probe file '{path}' could not be opened: {ex.Message}");
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    internal void Observe(in Vector3 cameraPosition, in Vector3 playerViewPosition)
+    {
+        double seconds = (Stopwatch.GetTimestamp() - _startTimestamp)
+            / (double)Stopwatch.Frequency;
+        _writer.WriteLine(string.Create(
+            CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
+            $"{seconds:F6},{cameraPosition.X:F4},{cameraPosition.Y:F4},{cameraPosition.Z:F4},{playerViewPosition.X:F4},{playerViewPosition.Y:F4},{playerViewPosition.Z:F4}"));
+        if (++_linesSinceFlush >= 240)
+        {
+            _linesSinceFlush = 0;
+            _writer.Flush();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void Dispose()
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            _writer.Flush();
+            _writer.Dispose();
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            // A probe must never turn teardown fallible.
+        }
+    }
+}

src/AcDream.App/Rendering/WorldRenderFrameBuilder.cs

@@ -450,6 +450,10 @@ internal sealed class RuntimeWorldFrameEnvironmentPreparation
     private readonly HashSet<uint> _visibleCells = [];
     private bool _visibleCellsValid;
 
+    /// <summary>TEMPORARY #429 — see <see cref="PlayerPresentationProbe"/>.</summary>
+    private readonly PlayerPresentationProbe? _playerPresentProbe =
+        PlayerPresentationProbe.CreateFromEnvironment();
+
     public RuntimeWorldFrameEnvironmentPreparation(
         RuntimeOptions options,
         WorldTimeService worldTime,
@@ -485,6 +489,10 @@ internal sealed class RuntimeWorldFrameEnvironmentPreparation
             activeDayGroup,
             camera.Position);
 
+        // TEMPORARY #429 apparatus — one CSV row per frame; off unless
+        // ACDREAM_PROBE_PLAYER_PRESENT names a file. Strip with the fix.
+        _playerPresentProbe?.Observe(camera.Position, roots.PlayerViewPosition);
+
         UpdateSunFromSky(foundation.Sky, roots.PlayerInsideCell);
         _lighting.UpdateViewerLight(roots.PlayerViewPosition);
         _lighting.Tick(camera.Position);