fix(chat): CH6c review fixes — opaque default, opacity-transition register clauses

BLOCKER: ChatSettings.DefaultOpacity shipped retail's base ChatInterface
value (0.5) as ONE shared global default applied to every
RetailWindowManager-registered window, not just the four floating chat
windows retail itself fades. That faded the whole out-of-box registered
UI (radar, vitals, toolbar, main chat, ...) to 50% opacity, including
several windows that can never take keyboard focus and so were stuck at
0.5 permanently. Fixed to gmMainChatUI's 1.0/1.0 override
(0x004CD0F0) instead — retail-identical opaque presentation for the 11
non-chat windows and the main chat window; only the four floating chat
windows now diverge from retail's 0.5-while-idle default, and the
Settings -> Chat transparency slider remains fully user-settable.

AP-190 reworded and gains two new decomp-verified clauses: (3) retail
eases opacity toward its target by 5% of the delta per tick
(ChatInterface::ListenToGlobalMessage @0x004F3840, armed from the focus
element-messages at @0x004F5275) where acdream snaps -- deferred, needs
a UI frame-tick hook the opacity controller doesn't have; (4) retail's
focus predicate is the chat ENTRY FIELD specifically
(ChatInterface::IsTextEntryFocused @0x004F30A0) where acdream uses
any-focusable-descendant. Both findings + the pre-existing UiMenu.cs
PushAlphaAbsolute(1f) popup bypass are folded into the window-shell
research doc's opacity section.

NITs: fixed the stale "text bypasses the alpha" comment in
UiElement.DrawSelfAndChildren (CH6c already routed DrawStringDat/
DrawString through the same ApplyAlpha chokepoint as sprites/rects);
added RetailWindowManager.WindowUnregistered + wired
RetailWindowOpacityController to detach and forget a window unregistered
while it held focus (previously only Dispose detached, leaking any
window unregistered mid-focus for the rest of the session); added
post-Dispose no-op guards to the three Set* opacity mutators; added a
DrawString (BitmapFont path) alpha regression test and a DrawStringDat
outline/background-pass alpha test (the existing tests only ever
exercised the foreground/fill pass).

Also fixes RuntimeSettingsControllerTests.SettingsViewModelSavePreserves
SectionAndTargetOrder's now-stale "target-chat-opacity:0.5:1" expectation
(caught by the full-suite run this fix requires) to match the new 1.0
default.

Campaign ledger CH6c row updated to APPROVE-WITH-FIXES.

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

docs/plans/2026-08-09-chat-parity-campaign.md

@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ implementer per slice against a pinned contract (per
 | Jump-in-air root cause (round-2 item 1, resolved) | `a5a7eb4f` | Runtime tests 1,323/0 | — | round-3 probe evidence pinpointed a missing `OnInterfaceText` wire on the production controller-commit path (`RuntimeLocalPlayerMovementState.CommitRuntimeOwnedController`); FIXED, regression test added |
 | User gate round 3 | `98de4f5a` | Debug (all projects): 12,329 passed / 4 skipped / 1 failed (pre-existing #351 Debug-only flake — reproduces identically on the pristine pre-round-3 commit, not a regression); Release (every project reachable while a live `AcDream.App.exe` client — PID 15064, must not be killed per project policy — holds its own Release binaries locked, blocking `AcDream.App`/`AcDream.App.Tests`/`AcDream.Core.Tests` specifically): `AcDream.UI.Abstractions.Tests` (the layer this round's `/help` fix lives in) 867/867, plus `Core.Net.Tests` 823/823, `Runtime.Tests` 1,323/1,323, `Content.Tests` 130/130, `Headless.Tests` 89/89, `Bake.Tests` 15/15, `Cli.Tests` 4/4 — all 0 failed | — | findings (a)-(c) fixed this commit — SpewBox flush-top + retail dat font, `/help`/`/help death` exact retail print sequence (see "User gate — round 3" below) |
 | CH6b floating windows 1–4 | `22020ef2`, reworked `1aa77099` | 12,420 passed / 4 skipped / 0 failed | REJECT (docs/research/2026-08-10-ch6ab-review-findings.md) → reworked `1aa77099` — SHOULD-FIXES 2/3/4/5 + NITs 1-5 applied | pending — no client launches this session (hard constraint); needs the next connected round for keybind/mirror/filter visual confirmation, plus the new 0x2100005B fixture's resolved-type assumptions |
-| CH6c opacity | `a819687c` | 12,459 passed / 4 skipped / 0 failed | pending (no subagent review pass this session — implementer-only) | pending — needs the next connected round for visual confirmation (window fade on focus change, Settings slider live-apply) |
+| CH6c opacity | `a819687c` | 12,459 passed / 4 skipped / 0 failed | APPROVE-WITH-FIXES; fixed this commit — BLOCKER (out-of-box `DefaultOpacity` 0.5→1.0), AP-190 reworded + two new decomp-verified clauses (retail's per-tick ease, retail's entry-field-specific focus predicate), NITs (`UiElement.cs` stale comment, `WindowUnregistered` detach, post-Dispose `Set*` guards, `DrawString`/outline-pass alpha tests) | pending — needs the next connected round for visual confirmation (window fade on focus change, Settings slider live-apply) |
 
 ### CH4 closeout (2026-08-09)
 

docs/research/2026-08-09-chat-retail-window-shell.md

@@ -503,15 +503,63 @@ than per-window: only a NEVER-SAVED option (a fresh character, nothing in the
 through, and even then only until the user's first slider drag pushes one
 shared value into every live window via `RecvNotice_GameplayOptionChanged`.
 
-acdream ships ONE shared global default — the base `ChatInterface` value,
+**CH6c review-fix round (2026-08-10): the shared default above was WRONG.**
-0.5/1.0 — applied uniformly to every window including the main chat window
+Shipping the base `ChatInterface` value (0.5/1.0) as ONE shared global
-(register row AP-190 in `docs/architecture/retail-divergence-register.md`),
+default, combined with the scope extension to every registered window, faded
-rather than replicating `gmMainChatUI`'s per-class 1.0/1.0 override. The
+the WHOLE registered UI (radar, vitals, toolbar, main chat, ...) to 50%
+opacity out of the box — including several windows that can never take
+keyboard focus at all, so they were stuck at 0.5 permanently. acdream now
+ships `gmMainChatUI`'s per-class 1.0/1.0 override (`0x004CD0F0`) as the
+shared global default instead (register row AP-190 in
+`docs/architecture/retail-divergence-register.md`), which is retail-identical
+for the 11 non-chat windows and the main chat window and leaves only the four
+floating chat windows diverging from retail's 0.5-while-idle fade — a
+default-VALUE divergence the transparency slider still fully covers. The
 linking invariant (active >= default, restored by dragging the OTHER value —
 verified from `SetDefaultOpacity`/`SetActiveOpacity`'s own bodies, matching
 the summary already recorded above) is ported exactly regardless of which
 default seeds it.
 
+### 3.1 Two more residuals found at the CH6c review (not yet ported)
+
+Both are decomp-verified and both are recorded as new AP-190 clauses; neither
+is implemented this round.
+
+**(a) Retail eases opacity between endpoints; acdream snaps.**
+`ChatInterface::ListenToGlobalMessage @0x004F3840` is the handler for global
+message id `3`, armed (`UIListener::RegisterForGlobalMessage(this, 3)`) from
+the element-focus messages `0x1A`/`0x1E`/`0x28`/`0x29`/`0x2E` inside the
+window's `ListenToElementMessage` switch at `0x004F5275`. Once armed, every
+tick nudges the live opacity toward whichever endpoint
+`IsTextEntryFocused` currently selects by 5% of the endpoint delta
+(`fabsl(target - current) * 0.05f`), and unregisters from the global message
+once the value lands within FP-epsilon of the target. acdream's
+`RetailWindowOpacityController.Apply` sets the target opacity directly on the
+focus-change event — the START and END states are retail-exact, but the
+transition is an instant snap instead of a roughly 20-tick fade. Porting the
+lerp needs a UI frame-tick hook `RetailWindowOpacityController` does not have
+today (it only reacts to `DescendantFocusChanged`); deferred.
+
+**(b) Retail's focus predicate is the chat entry field specifically; acdream's
+is any focusable descendant.** `ChatInterface::IsTextEntryFocused @0x004F30A0`
+tests `GetFocusDescendant(rootElement) == this->m_chatEntry` — literally the
+window's text-entry element, not "some descendant of this window has focus."
+acdream's `RetailWindowHandle.DescendantFocusChanged` (the event
+`RetailWindowOpacityController` subscribes to) fires whenever ANY focusable
+descendant of the window gains focus. For a window with exactly one
+focusable child the two predicates coincide; for a window with several (a
+settings panel's multiple controls, for example) acdream's broader predicate
+holds ActiveOpacity while retail would already have faded back to
+DefaultOpacity once focus left the specific text-entry widget.
+
+**Pre-existing, unrelated: `UiMenu.cs:293`'s opacity bypass.** Popup menus
+call `ctx.PushAlphaAbsolute(1f)` before drawing so a menu always reads solid
+even when it is opened from a translucent (faded) window — this is a
+deliberate acdream-only presentation choice (menus must stay legible
+regardless of the host window's current fade state), not a divergence from
+either of the two opacity mechanisms documented in this section, and it
+predates the CH6c slice.
+
 ---
 
 ## 4. Persistence — how filters, geometry, visibility and title survive

src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TextRenderer.cs

@@ -115,6 +115,21 @@ public sealed class TextRenderer : IDisposable
         }
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Test-only snapshot of the current frame's queued NORMAL-layer BITMAP FONT
+    /// text buffer (<see cref="DrawString"/>/<see cref="DrawStringClipped"/>,
+    /// the <see cref="AcDream.App.UI.UiRenderContext.DrawString"/> path used for
+    /// D.6 world-space HUD text): (vertex count, alpha of the first emitted
+    /// vertex — color.W at float index 7 of the 8-float vertex layout). Unlike
+    /// <see cref="DebugSpriteSegments"/> this buffer is not split per-texture —
+    /// bitmap-font glyphs all sample the one atlas — so there is exactly one
+    /// (count, alpha) pair to check. CH6c review NIT: pins that
+    /// <see cref="UiRenderContext.DrawString"/>'s alpha chokepoint is guarded
+    /// the same way <see cref="DrawStringDat"/>'s already was.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal (int VertexCount, float Alpha) DebugTextBuffer
+        => (_textVerts, _textBuf.Count > 0 ? _textBuf[7] : 0f);
+
     // Overlay layer — a parallel set of buckets drawn AFTER the normal sprite/rect/text
     // buckets, so open popups/menus composite on top of EVERYTHING, including translucent
     // rect panel backgrounds (which otherwise always win because rects flush after

src/AcDream.App/UI/RetailWindowManager.cs

@@ -43,6 +43,17 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowManager : IDisposable
     /// </summary>
     public event Action<RetailWindowHandle>? WindowRegistered;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Fires when a window is REMOVED from the registry (<see cref="Unregister"/>),
+    /// after teardown (<c>NotifyClosed</c>/<c>DisposeController</c>) but before the
+    /// handle is discarded. CH6c review NIT: <see cref="RetailWindowOpacityController"/>
+    /// subscribes here so it can drop its per-handle <c>DescendantFocusChanged</c>
+    /// subscription and forget the handle from its focused-window set — without this,
+    /// a window unregistered while it held keyboard focus stayed referenced by the
+    /// controller for the rest of the session.
+    /// </summary>
+    public event Action<RetailWindowHandle>? WindowUnregistered;
+
     public RetailWindowHandle Register(
         string name,
         UiElement outerFrame,
@@ -215,6 +226,7 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowManager : IDisposable
         _defaultInputs.Remove(handle);
         handle.NotifyClosed();
         handle.DisposeController();
+        WindowUnregistered?.Invoke(handle);
         return true;
     }
 

src/AcDream.App/UI/RetailWindowOpacityController.cs

@@ -29,9 +29,24 @@ namespace AcDream.App.UI;
 /// (<c>0x004F4550</c>, DefaultOpacity=0.5/ActiveOpacity=1.0) to DefaultOpacity=1.0
 /// (always fully opaque); <c>gmFloatyChatUI::Create</c> (<c>0x004CE2C0</c>) calls
 /// <c>ChatInterface::ChatInterface</c> directly with no override, so the four
-/// floating windows keep the base 0.5/1.0. acdream ships ONE shared default (the
+/// floating windows keep the base 0.5/1.0. <b>CH6c review fix:</b> acdream ships ONE
-/// base ChatInterface value, 0.5/1.0) applied uniformly, including to the main
+/// shared default — <c>gmMainChatUI</c>'s 1.0/1.0 override, not the base
-/// chat window — a simplification recorded alongside the scope extension above.
+/// ChatInterface value — applied uniformly to every window including the four
+/// floating chat windows. Shipping the base 0.5/1.0 pair globally (the original
+/// CH6c behavior) faded the WHOLE registered UI to 50% opacity out of the box,
+/// including windows that can never take keyboard focus and so were stuck at 0.5
+/// permanently; 1.0/1.0 is retail-identical for the 11 non-chat windows and the
+/// main chat window, and only the four floaties diverge from retail's
+/// 0.5-while-idle default now — user-settable via the same slider (register row
+/// AP-190).
+/// </para>
+///
+/// <para>
+/// Retail also EASES the live opacity toward its target by 5% of the delta per
+/// tick (<c>ChatInterface::ListenToGlobalMessage @0x004F3840</c>) rather than
+/// snapping, and its focus predicate is the chat ENTRY FIELD specifically
+/// (<c>ChatInterface::IsTextEntryFocused @0x004F30A0</c>), not "any descendant has
+/// focus". Both are recorded as AP-190 residuals — CH6c review, not yet ported.
 /// </para>
 /// </summary>
 public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
@@ -55,6 +70,7 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
             System.Math.Clamp(activeOpacity, 0f, 1f));
 
         _manager.WindowRegistered += OnWindowRegistered;
+        _manager.WindowUnregistered += OnWindowUnregistered;
         foreach (RetailWindowHandle handle in _manager.Windows)
             Attach(handle);
     }
@@ -72,6 +88,7 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
     /// </summary>
     public void SetDefaultOpacity(float value)
     {
+        if (_disposed) return;
         (DefaultOpacity, ActiveOpacity) = ChatOpacityLink.SetDefault(ActiveOpacity, value);
         ReapplyAll();
     }
@@ -82,6 +99,7 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
     /// </summary>
     public void SetActiveOpacity(float value)
     {
+        if (_disposed) return;
         (DefaultOpacity, ActiveOpacity) = ChatOpacityLink.SetActive(DefaultOpacity, value);
         ReapplyAll();
     }
@@ -94,6 +112,7 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
     /// </summary>
     public void SetOpacity(float defaultOpacity, float activeOpacity)
     {
+        if (_disposed) return;
         (DefaultOpacity, ActiveOpacity) = ChatOpacityLink.SetDefault(ActiveOpacity, defaultOpacity);
         (DefaultOpacity, ActiveOpacity) = ChatOpacityLink.SetActive(DefaultOpacity, activeOpacity);
         ReapplyAll();
@@ -101,6 +120,19 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
 
     private void OnWindowRegistered(RetailWindowHandle handle) => Attach(handle);
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// CH6c review NIT: without this, a window unregistered while it held
+    /// keyboard focus stayed in <see cref="_focused"/> — and its
+    /// <see cref="RetailWindowHandle.DescendantFocusChanged"/> subscription
+    /// stayed live — for the rest of the session, because the only prior
+    /// detach point was <see cref="Dispose"/>.
+    /// </summary>
+    private void OnWindowUnregistered(RetailWindowHandle handle)
+    {
+        handle.DescendantFocusChanged -= OnDescendantFocusChanged;
+        _focused.Remove(handle);
+    }
+
     private void Attach(RetailWindowHandle handle)
     {
         handle.DescendantFocusChanged += OnDescendantFocusChanged;
@@ -133,7 +165,9 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityController : IDisposable
         _disposed = true;
 
         _manager.WindowRegistered -= OnWindowRegistered;
+        _manager.WindowUnregistered -= OnWindowUnregistered;
         foreach (RetailWindowHandle handle in _manager.Windows)
             handle.DescendantFocusChanged -= OnDescendantFocusChanged;
+        _focused.Clear();
     }
 }

src/AcDream.App/UI/UiElement.cs

@@ -460,7 +460,10 @@ public abstract class UiElement
         if (!Visible) return;
 
         // Translate into our local space + push this window's opacity (multiplies into
-        // descendants' sprite/rect draws; text bypasses the alpha so it stays sharp).
+        // descendants' sprite, rect, AND text draws — CH6c ported DrawStringDat/DrawString
+        // through the same ApplyAlpha chokepoint as sprites/rects, matching retail's
+        // ChatInterface::SetOpacity (0x004F3120), which fades the whole composited window
+        // surface, chrome and glyphs together, not text-stays-sharp over a translucent panel).
         ctx.PushTransform(Left, Top);
         ctx.PushAlpha(Opacity);
         try

src/AcDream.UI.Abstractions/Panels/Settings/ChatSettings.cs

@@ -70,7 +70,20 @@ public sealed record ChatSettings(
     // ChatOpacityLink at every setter, not by clamping here. acdream applies this
     // GLOBALLY to every RetailWindowManager-registered window (register row
     // AP-190), where retail scopes it to ChatInterface-derived windows only.
-    float DefaultOpacity = 0.5f,
+    //
+    // CH6c review fix (2026-08-10): the base ChatInterface ctor's 0.5/1.0 pair
+    // is retail-correct ONLY for the four floating chat windows —
+    // gmMainChatUI overrides to 1.0/1.0 (0x004CD0F0), and every other
+    // RetailWindowManager-registered window (radar, vitals, toolbar, ...) has
+    // no retail opacity fade at all, so applying 0.5 to them out of the box
+    // rendered the whole registered UI half-transparent forever, including
+    // several windows that can never take keyboard focus and so were
+    // PERMANENTLY stuck at 0.5. DefaultOpacity now ships 1.0, matching
+    // retail-identical opaque presentation for the 11 non-chat windows and
+    // the main chat window; the four floating chat windows lose their
+    // retail 0.5-while-idle fade by default, but the Settings → Chat
+    // transparency slider remains fully user-settable (AP-190).
+    float DefaultOpacity = 1.0f,
     float ActiveOpacity = 1.0f)
 {
     /// <summary>

tests/AcDream.App.Tests/Settings/RuntimeSettingsControllerTests.cs

@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ public sealed class RuntimeSettingsControllerTests
             "save-gameplay",
             "target-ui-lock:True",
             "save-chat",
-            "target-chat-opacity:0.5:1",
+            "target-chat-opacity:1:1",
             "save-character:default",
         ],
             events);

tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/RetailWindowOpacityControllerTests.cs

@@ -185,4 +185,63 @@ public sealed class RetailWindowOpacityControllerTests
         // focus change after Dispose is not observed anymore.
         Assert.Equal(0.5f, handle.Opacity);
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void WindowUnregistered_DetachesSubscription_AndForgetsFocusedState()
+    {
+        // CH6c review NIT: before this fix, the only detach point for a
+        // handle's DescendantFocusChanged subscription (and its membership in
+        // _focused) was the CONTROLLER's own Dispose — a window unregistered
+        // while it held focus stayed subscribed and pinned in _focused for
+        // the rest of the session. Prove the RetailWindowManager.WindowUnregistered
+        // wiring actually detaches: a stray post-unregister notification (the
+        // kind a lingering external reference to the handle could still fire)
+        // must not reach the controller anymore.
+        UiRoot root = NewRoot();
+        (RetailWindowHandle handle, UiElement child) = RegisterWindow(root, "Chat");
+        var controller = new RetailWindowOpacityController(
+            root.WindowManager, defaultOpacity: 0.5f, activeOpacity: 1.0f);
+
+        root.SetKeyboardFocus(child);
+        Assert.Equal(1.0f, handle.Opacity);
+
+        root.WindowManager.Unregister("Chat");
+
+        // Unregister hides the outer frame, which drops keyboard focus off
+        // the now-invisible child — the manager's (still-live at that point)
+        // focus-change plumbing reapplies DefaultOpacity naturally. Expected
+        // either way; not itself the thing this test pins.
+        Assert.Equal(0.5f, handle.Opacity);
+
+        controller.SetActiveOpacity(0.7f);
+
+        // A stray post-unregister focus-gain notification (the kind a
+        // lingering external reference to the handle could still fire). If
+        // the controller were STILL subscribed, this would re-add the stale
+        // handle to _focused and apply the NEW active opacity (0.7).
+        handle.NotifyDescendantFocusChanged(child);
+
+        Assert.Equal(0.5f, handle.Opacity);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void SetMutators_AfterDispose_AreNoOps()
+    {
+        UiRoot root = NewRoot();
+        (RetailWindowHandle handle, _) = RegisterWindow(root, "Chat");
+        var controller = new RetailWindowOpacityController(
+            root.WindowManager, defaultOpacity: 0.5f, activeOpacity: 1.0f);
+
+        controller.Dispose();
+        controller.SetDefaultOpacity(0.9f);
+        controller.SetActiveOpacity(0.9f);
+        controller.SetOpacity(0.2f, 0.3f);
+
+        // None of the three post-Dispose calls changed anything — no
+        // ObjectDisposedException either, matching Dispose's own idempotent
+        // shape.
+        Assert.Equal(0.5f, controller.DefaultOpacity);
+        Assert.Equal(1.0f, controller.ActiveOpacity);
+        Assert.Equal(0.5f, handle.Opacity);
+    }
 }

tests/AcDream.App.Tests/UI/UiRenderContextAlphaTests.cs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using AcDream.App.Rendering.Gpu;
 using AcDream.App.Tests.Rendering.Gpu;
 using AcDream.App.UI;
 using DatReaderWriter.Types;
+using Xunit.Sdk;
 
 namespace AcDream.App.Tests.UI;
 
@@ -62,6 +63,43 @@ public sealed class UiRenderContextAlphaTests
             },
         });
 
+    /// <summary>Same shape as <see cref="BuildFont"/> but with a non-zero
+    /// background (outline) atlas, so <see cref="UiRenderContext.DrawStringDat"/>'s
+    /// <c>outline: true</c> branch actually emits its background sprite pass.</summary>
+    private static UiDatFont BuildOutlinedFont() => new(
+        fgTex: 1, fgW: 64, fgH: 64,
+        bgTex: 2, bgW: 64, bgH: 64,
+        lineHeight: 16f, baselineOffset: 12f,
+        glyphs: new Dictionary<char, FontCharDesc>
+        {
+            ['A'] = new FontCharDesc
+            {
+                Unicode = 'A',
+                Width = 8,
+                Height = 16,
+                OffsetX = 0,
+                OffsetY = 0,
+                HorizontalOffsetBefore = 0,
+                HorizontalOffsetAfter = 0,
+                VerticalOffsetBefore = 0,
+            },
+        });
+
+    /// <summary>Bakes a real <see cref="BitmapFont"/> from a system TTF so
+    /// <see cref="UiRenderContext.DrawString"/> (the BitmapFont path, distinct
+    /// from the dat-font <see cref="UiRenderContext.DrawStringDat"/> above) can
+    /// be exercised end-to-end. Skips rather than fails on a machine with none
+    /// of <see cref="BitmapFont.TryLoadSystemMonospaceFont"/>'s well-known
+    /// paths — matches the skip pattern other environment-dependent tests in
+    /// this suite already use (e.g. <c>RetailSelectionAssetTests</c>).</summary>
+    private static BitmapFont BuildBitmapFontOrSkip(IGpuDevice device)
+    {
+        byte[]? ttf = BitmapFont.TryLoadSystemMonospaceFont();
+        if (ttf is null)
+            throw SkipException.ForSkip("No system TTF font found for BitmapFont construction.");
+        return new BitmapFont(device, ttf, pixelHeight: 16f);
+    }
+
     // -- DrawSprite: full-opacity identity ---------------------------------
 
     [Fact]
@@ -172,4 +210,68 @@ public sealed class UiRenderContextAlphaTests
         var seg = Assert.Single(renderer.DebugSpriteSegments);
         Assert.Equal(0.5f, seg.Alpha);
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void HalfOpacityWindow_MultipliesDatFontOutlineAndForegroundPassAlpha()
+    {
+        // CH6c review NIT: BuildFont() above has bgTex == 0, so every existing
+        // DrawStringDat alpha test only ever exercised the foreground (fill)
+        // sprite pass. The background (outline) pass is a SEPARATE
+        // DrawSpriteAbsolute(applyAlpha: true) call site — this pins it too,
+        // with a font whose background atlas is actually present (bgTex != 0)
+        // and outline: true so both passes fire.
+        (TextRenderer renderer, UiRenderContext ctx) = Build();
+        UiDatFont font = BuildOutlinedFont();
+
+        ctx.PushAlpha(0.5f);
+        ctx.DrawStringDat(font, "A", 0, 0, new Vector4(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f), outline: true);
+        ctx.PopAlpha();
+
+        // Background pass (texture 2) submitted first, then foreground (texture 1) —
+        // both routes guarded by the same ApplyAlpha chokepoint.
+        Assert.Equal(2, renderer.DebugSpriteSegments.Count);
+        foreach (var seg in renderer.DebugSpriteSegments)
+            Assert.Equal(0.5f, seg.Alpha);
+    }
+
+    // -- DrawString (BitmapFont path): the same alpha chokepoint, guarded ---
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void FullOpacity_DrawString_BitmapFontPath_MatchesRequestedAlpha_Identity()
+    {
+        // CH6c review NIT: DrawStringDat (retail dat-font glyphs) had its own
+        // alpha regression tests above; UiRenderContext.DrawString — the
+        // BitmapFont path used for D.6 world-space HUD text — had none. Both
+        // route through the SAME private ApplyAlpha, but nothing pinned it for
+        // this path specifically.
+        var device = new RecordingGpuDevice();
+        using BitmapFont font = BuildBitmapFontOrSkip(device);
+        var renderer = new TextRenderer(device, new NullGpuFrameSource(), "unused");
+        renderer.Begin(new Vector2(800f, 600f));
+        var ctx = new UiRenderContext(renderer, new Vector2(800f, 600f));
+
+        ctx.DrawString("A", 0, 0, new Vector4(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f), font);
+
+        (int vertexCount, float alpha) = renderer.DebugTextBuffer;
+        Assert.True(vertexCount > 0);
+        Assert.Equal(1f, alpha);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void HalfOpacityWindow_MultipliesBitmapFontGlyphAlpha()
+    {
+        var device = new RecordingGpuDevice();
+        using BitmapFont font = BuildBitmapFontOrSkip(device);
+        var renderer = new TextRenderer(device, new NullGpuFrameSource(), "unused");
+        renderer.Begin(new Vector2(800f, 600f));
+        var ctx = new UiRenderContext(renderer, new Vector2(800f, 600f));
+
+        ctx.PushAlpha(0.5f);
+        ctx.DrawString("A", 0, 0, new Vector4(1f, 1f, 1f, 1f), font);
+        ctx.PopAlpha();
+
+        (int vertexCount, float alpha) = renderer.DebugTextBuffer;
+        Assert.True(vertexCount > 0);
+        Assert.Equal(0.5f, alpha);
+    }
 }

tests/AcDream.UI.Abstractions.Tests/Panels/Settings/ChatSettingsTests.cs

@@ -28,9 +28,18 @@ public sealed class ChatSettingsTests
         // Campaign CH slice CH6c: retail's base ChatInterface constructor
         // (0x004F4550) sets DefaultOpacity=0.5/ActiveOpacity=1.0 — the value
         // every gmFloatyChatUI (the four floating windows) keeps unmodified.
-        // acdream ships that pair as ONE shared global default (register row
+        // CH6c review fix (2026-08-10): shipping the base pair as acdream's
-        // AP-190), rather than gmMainChatUI's own 1.0/1.0 override.
+        // ONE shared global default faded every registered window (radar,
-        Assert.Equal(0.5f, d.DefaultOpacity);
+        // vitals, toolbar, main chat, ...) to 50% opacity out of the box,
+        // including several that can never take keyboard focus and so were
+        // permanently half-transparent. acdream now ships gmMainChatUI's own
+        // 1.0/1.0 override (0x004CD0F0) as the shared global default instead
+        // — retail-identical opaque presentation for the 11 non-chat windows
+        // and the main chat window; only the four floating chat windows
+        // diverge from retail's 0.5-while-idle fade, and the Settings → Chat
+        // transparency slider remains fully user-settable (register row
+        // AP-190).
+        Assert.Equal(1.0f, d.DefaultOpacity);
         Assert.Equal(1.0f, d.ActiveOpacity);
     }
 

tests/AcDream.UI.Abstractions.Tests/Panels/Settings/SettingsPanelTests.cs

@@ -523,7 +523,8 @@ public sealed class SettingsPanelTests
         // LAST-rendered opacity slider ("Active", rendered after "Background")
         // determines the final draft. That exercises ChatOpacityLink.SetActive's
         // drag-background-down path end-to-end through the real panel code,
-        // starting from ChatSettings.Default (DefaultOpacity=0.5, ActiveOpacity=1.0).
+        // starting from ChatSettings.Default (DefaultOpacity=1.0, ActiveOpacity=1.0
+        // as of the CH6c review fix).
         var (panel, vm, _, _) = Build();
         var r = new FakePanelRenderer
         {

tests/AcDream.UI.Abstractions.Tests/Panels/Settings/SettingsStoreTests.cs

@@ -333,12 +333,17 @@ public sealed class SettingsStoreTests : System.IDisposable
     // -- Campaign CH slice CH6c: window opacity round-trip -----------------
 
     [Fact]
-    public void LoadChat_returns_retail_ChatInterface_opacity_defaults_when_file_is_missing()
+    public void LoadChat_returns_acdream_opaque_opacity_defaults_when_file_is_missing()
     {
+        // CH6c review fix (2026-08-10): the pre-fix default was retail's base
+        // ChatInterface value (0.5/1.0), which faded every registered window
+        // to 50% opacity out of the box. acdream now ships gmMainChatUI's own
+        // 1.0/1.0 override (0x004CD0F0) as the shared global default — see
+        // ChatSettings.DefaultOpacity and register row AP-190.
         var store = new SettingsStore(_tempPath);
         ChatSettings loaded = store.LoadChat();
 
-        Assert.Equal(0.5f, loaded.DefaultOpacity);
+        Assert.Equal(1.0f, loaded.DefaultOpacity);
         Assert.Equal(1.0f, loaded.ActiveOpacity);
     }