fix: complete retail parity stability pass

docs/launch-options.md

@@ -40,11 +40,13 @@ Assume a flag has a side effect until its row says otherwise.
 - **Everything diagnostic is OFF by default.** Every probe, dump, capture,
   and measurement flag in this document is inert until its variable is
   explicitly set — an unset environment runs zero diagnostics. Exactly
-  four flags default ON, and none is a diagnostic: `ACDREAM_RETAIL_CHASE`,
+  five flags default ON, and none is a diagnostic: `ACDREAM_RETAIL_CHASE`,
   `ACDREAM_CAMERA_COLLIDE`, `ACDREAM_CAMERA_ALIGN_SLOPE`, and
   `ACDREAM_RETAIL_CLOSE_DEGRADES` are retail *behaviors* wearing an A/B
-  off-switch (`=0` disables the behavior for a comparison run). That
-  four-flag set is frozen by `LaunchOptionsDocumentationTests` — a new
+  off-switch (`=0` disables the behavior for a comparison run), while
+  `ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI` is the product's only gameplay presentation and uses
+  the same explicit diagnostic opt-out. That five-flag set is frozen by
+  `LaunchOptionsDocumentationTests` — a new
   default-on flag fails the build.
 - `=1` means the code tests for exactly the string `1`. Setting `true`,
   `yes`, or `0` does **not** enable such a flag (and `0` does not disable
@@ -75,14 +77,13 @@ $env:ACDREAM_TEST_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
 $env:ACDREAM_TEST_PORT = "9000"
 $env:ACDREAM_TEST_USER = "testaccount"
 $env:ACDREAM_TEST_PASS = "testpassword"
-$env:ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI = "1"
 dotnet run --project src\AcDream.App\AcDream.App.csproj --no-build -c Release
 ```
 
 | Flag | Value | What it does | Side effects | Default | Read by |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | `ACDREAM_A2C` | `unset/""` keep preset; `"0"/"false"/"False"/"FALSE"` → off; any other non-empty → on | Overrides preset's `AlphaToCoverage` blend flag | Changes MSAA alpha-to-coverage blending mode for foliage/translucent draws — a visual-behavior change, not just perf | preset's `AlphaToCoverage` (High/Ultra=true, Low/Medium=false) | `QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides` (`QualityPreset.cs:52`) |
-| `ACDREAM_AC_DIR` | `=<path>` | Points at a real retail AC install dir; loads `<dir>/controls/controls.ini` to source retail keybind display strings for the retained UI. | Only has any effect when `ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI=1` (retained UI composed). Unset → `ControlsIni.Parse(string.Empty)`, an empty (not error) controls table — silent, no fallback file is searched. | unset (null) → empty controls table | `RuntimeOptions.AcDir` → `InteractionRetainedUiComposition.cs:610` |
+| `ACDREAM_AC_DIR` | `=<path>` | Points at a real retail AC install dir; loads `<dir>/controls/controls.ini` to source retail keybind display strings for the retained UI. | Only has any effect while the default-on retained UI is composed (`ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI` is not `0`). Unset → `ControlsIni.Parse(string.Empty)`, an empty (not error) controls table — silent, no fallback file is searched. | unset (null) → empty controls table | `RuntimeOptions.AcDir` → `InteractionRetainedUiComposition.cs:610` |
 | `ACDREAM_ANISOTROPIC` | `=<int>` (`int.TryParse`, invariant) | Overrides preset's `AnisotropicLevel` texture filtering | Changes GPU texture sampling filter level (visual sharpness), not just perf | preset's `AnisotropicLevel` (Low=4, Medium=8, High/Ultra=16) | `QualitySettings.WithEnvOverrides` (`QualityPreset.cs:49`) |
 | `ACDREAM_CACHE_DIR` | `=<path>` | Overrides the resolved cache-root directory (used for `DiagnosticsDirectory`, etc.) | none beyond redirecting cache I/O | Windows: `%LOCALAPPDATA%\acdream\cache`; Linux: `$XDG_CACHE_HOME/acdream` or `~/.cache/acdream` | `ApplicationPathSet.Resolve` (`ApplicationPathSet.cs:83`), via `IApplicationPathEnvironment` seam |
 | `ACDREAM_CAMERA_ALIGN_SLOPE` | `=0` disables (anything else/unset = on) | selects whether the chase camera basis tilts to the player's 5-frame averaged velocity vs staying flat/horizontal on slopes | alters camera orientation / rendered view every frame; startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)| true (on) | `AcDream.Core.Rendering.CameraDiagnostics.AlignToSlope` |
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ dotnet run --project src\AcDream.App\AcDream.App.csproj --no-build -c Release
 | `ACDREAM_RESIDENCY_STANDALONE_UNOWNED_MIB` | `=<int MiB>` (`>0`, else default) | Byte ceiling for unowned standalone texture memory | Same eviction-cadence caveat | 32 MiB | `ResidencyBudgetOptions.Parse` (`:73-75`) |
 | `ACDREAM_RETAIL_CHASE` | `=0` disables (anything else/unset = on) | selects the retail-faithful `RetailChaseCamera` vs. the legacy rigid-follow `ChaseCamera` | swaps the entire active camera implementation — changes camera motion/feel; startup-only in practice (its DebugPanel/DebugVM mirror is unreachable — #434)| true (retail camera on) | `CameraDiagnostics.UseRetailChaseCamera` |
 | `ACDREAM_RETAIL_CLOSE_DEGRADES` | inverted: `="0"` disables; any other value (incl. unset) enables | Default-**on** real gameplay behavior: applies retail's close-range LOD mesh-part swap (`GfxObjDegradeResolver`) to humanoid setups (issue #47), matching retail's close-detail degrade. | Inverted default (opposite of every other boolean flag in this table — presence of the literal string `"0"` is what disables it, not presence of `"1"` enabling it). Documented explicitly as "set only for before/after diagnostic comparisons" — so although default-on production behavior, its *disable* path exists purely for A/B measurement. | `true` (enabled) unless value is exactly `"0"` | `RuntimeOptions.RetailCloseDegrades` → `DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer.cs:275-276,480-498` |
-| `ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI` | `=1` | Switches on the retained retail UI host tree (`UiHost`/`UiRoot`, D.2b). Without it, no retained UI is composed at all — e.g. no chargen Appearance page, no Summary page. | **Forced to `true` unconditionally** for every `--session-config` / launcher launch (`RuntimeOptions.cs:282`, "a session-config launch IS a product launch — the retail UI is the shipped UI, not a dev option"), regardless of this env var's value — the env var only matters for the bare env-var dev-flow launch path. | `false` for the env-var dev flow; `true` always for `--session-config` launches | `RuntimeOptions.RetailUi` → `LivePresentationComposition.cs:1108-1131` (gates retained-UI mount via `InteractionRetainedUiComposition`), `GameWindow.cs:455,566` (comments), `RuntimeOptions.cs:277` |
+| `ACDREAM_RETAIL_UI` | `=0` disables; anything else/unset enables | Controls the retained retail UI host tree (`UiHost`/`UiRoot`, D.2b), the product's only gameplay UI. | Disabling it leaves world rendering with no gameplay interface and is intended only for diagnostics. The same rule applies to bare env and `--session-config`/launcher launches; no path force-overrides it. | `true` | `RuntimeOptions.RetailUi` → `LivePresentationComposition.cs` (gates retained-UI mount via `InteractionRetainedUiComposition`) |
 | `ACDREAM_TEST_HOST` | `=<host>` | ACE server hostname for live-mode connect. | none | `"127.0.0.1"` | `RuntimeOptions.LiveHost` (`RuntimeOptions.cs:142`) |
 | `ACDREAM_TEST_PASS` | `=<string>` | ACE account password for live-mode connect. | Redacted in `RuntimeOptions.ToString()`/diagnostic printing by design (`PrintMembers` override, `RuntimeOptions.cs:326-342`) — defense-in-depth so it can never leak into a log/exception via the record's default printing. | `null` (empty → `HasLiveCredentials` false) | `RuntimeOptions.LivePass` (`RuntimeOptions.cs:145`) |
 | `ACDREAM_TEST_PORT` | `=<int>` | ACE server port for live-mode connect. | none | `9000` | `RuntimeOptions.LivePort` (`RuntimeOptions.cs:143`) |
@@ -184,7 +185,7 @@ fall back to `ACDREAM_DAT_DIR`.
 | `ACDREAM_ORBIT_YAW_DEGREES` | `=<float>`, must be finite | Diagnostic-only initial orbit camera heading. | Non-finite values silently rejected (→ `null`). | `null` | `RuntimeOptions.InitialOrbitYawDegrees` → `GameWindow.cs:1413` |
 | `ACDREAM_PROBE_REVEAL_RADIUS` | `=<int>=1` (unparsable or `<1` → override absent; floor is 1, not 0) | #280 A/B measurement probe: forces the OUTDOOR reveal gate to use this landblock radius instead of the derived streaming window (near radius clamped to it), so a route can be measured with the pre-#280 behavior (`=1`, old `OutdoorNeighborhoodRadius`) vs. current | **Changes what gets revealed, not just measured** — genuinely resizes the reveal/visible window used by the live reveal gate. CLAUDE.md: "Leave it unset for any measurement or gate run — with it set you are measuring a different window than production." `=0` is rejected by the parser specifically because it would hang the very A/B route it exists to measure (`RequiredRenderRadius==0` fails `invalid-readiness-shape`). Not a user setting, not in Settings/RuntimeOptions, not persisted. | unset (derivation in charge, no override) | `StreamingDiagnostics.RevealRadiusOverride` (`StreamingDiagnostics.cs:25-27,76-80`), applied by `StreamingDiagnostics.ApplyRevealRadiusOverride` |
 | `ACDREAM_PROBE_WORLD_FRAME` | `=1` | gates one `[world-frame] agree` line per projected conversion in `DatLiveEntityProjectionMaterializer`, recording the world-frame center both `LiveWorldOriginState` (App) and Runtime's physics-state owner used (issue #283, "measurement only; it never gates placement") | print-only | off | `PhysicsDiagnostics.ProbeWorldFrameEnabled` |
-| `ACDREAM_SKY_PHASE_SECONDS` | `=<float>` (any finite value; negative accepted, taken mod 1 per axis) | Campaign V slice V7 instrument-determinism pin: freezes the sky's cloud-sheet UV scroll to a fixed elapsed-seconds value instead of wall-clock time, so two launches of a differential/offline gate agree about cloud position. | **Non-obvious dual effect**: this ONE var pins TWO independently-designed clocks that happen to share a name-adjacent purpose — the sky renderer's cloud scroll (`SkyRenderer.AnimationPhaseSecondsOverride`) AND, since Campaign VM slice VM6, the atmospheric post-process graph's foliage-wind clock (`_windClockSecondsOverride`). A gate that only knows about "sky clouds" and sets this to freeze them will *also* freeze foliage-wind evolution — deliberately snapped-to-target on the first advance per an A6 review fix, but still a second surface a naive reader wouldn't expect this var to touch. Distinct from `ACDREAM_DAY_GROUP`/`ACDREAM_WORLD_TIME`, which pin the OTHER sky clock (day group/sun angle) — retail's clouds drift independently of the calendar date by design. | `null` → wall-clock driven (every ordinary run) | `RuntimeOptions.SkyAnimationPhaseSeconds` → `SkyRenderer.cs:79,85` (cloud UV scroll) **and** `AtmosphericPostProcessGraph.cs:560,586,671` (foliage-wind clock) |
+| `ACDREAM_SKY_PHASE_SECONDS` | `=<float>` (any finite value; negative accepted, taken mod 1 per axis) | Campaign V slice V7 instrument-determinism pin: freezes the sky's cloud-sheet UV scroll to a fixed elapsed-seconds value instead of monotonic real elapsed time, so two launches of a differential/offline gate agree about cloud position. | **Non-obvious dual effect**: this ONE var pins TWO independently-designed clocks that happen to share a name-adjacent purpose — the sky renderer's cloud scroll (`SkyRenderer.AnimationPhaseSecondsOverride`) AND, since Campaign VM slice VM6, the atmospheric post-process graph's foliage-wind clock (`_windClockSecondsOverride`). A gate that only knows about "sky clouds" and sets this to freeze them will *also* freeze foliage-wind evolution — deliberately snapped-to-target on the first advance per an A6 review fix, but still a second surface a naive reader wouldn't expect this var to touch. Distinct from `ACDREAM_DAY_GROUP`/`ACDREAM_WORLD_TIME`, which pin the OTHER sky clock (day group/sun angle) — retail's clouds drift independently of the calendar date by design. | `null` → monotonic elapsed time (every ordinary run) | `RuntimeOptions.SkyAnimationPhaseSeconds` → `SkyRenderer.AnimationPhaseSecondsOverride` (cloud/rain UV scroll) **and** `AtmosphericPostProcessGraph`'s foliage-wind clock |
 | `ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_COMPLETIONS` | `=<int>` (`>0`, else default) | Per-frame ceiling on streaming completion admissions on the update thread | Class doc comment states explicitly: this whole `ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_*` family "exists for A/B measurement only" — not a user/production setting. Directly changes streaming throughput per frame; do not compare a measurement taken with this set against a default run. | 64 | `StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse` (`StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.cs:56-58`) |
 | `ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_CPU_MIB` | `=<int MiB>` (`>0`, else default) | Per-frame ceiling on adopted (newly resident) CPU bytes on the update thread | A/B-measurement-only family; changes per-frame CPU admission budget | 8 MiB | `StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse` (`:59-61`) |
 | `ACDREAM_STREAM_WORK_DEST_RESERVE_PERCENT` | `=<float percent>`, exclusive `0 < x < 100`, else default; stored as fraction (`percent/100`) | Fraction of the per-frame work budget reserved for the active reveal destination lane vs. background streaming | A/B-measurement-only family; reallocates frame budget between destination-lane and background streaming work, changing reveal-latency characteristics | 0.75 (75%) | `StreamingWorkBudgetOptions.Parse`/`ParseReservePercent` (`:71-73,154-169`) |