chore(art): stop shipping the two characters nothing draws

apps/game/public/assets/PROVENANCE.md

@@ -103,8 +103,6 @@ material-slot or `COL_` conventions the generated props use;
 
 | File                           | Source                                                      | Licence                         |
 | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
-| `models/fighter_insurgent.glb` | Synty POLYGON Military — `SK_Chr_Insurgent_Male_01`         | Synty Store licence (purchased) |
-| `models/fighter_soldier.glb`   | Synty POLYGON Military — `SK_Chr_Soldier_Male_01`           | Synty Store licence (purchased) |
 | `models/veh_armored_car.glb`   | Synty POLYGON Military — `SM_Veh_Light_Armored_Car_01`      | Synty Store licence (purchased) |
 | `models/veh_technical.glb`     | Synty POLYGON Military — `SM_Veh_Pickup_Technical_01`       | Synty Store licence (purchased) |
 | `models/prop_barrel.glb`       | Synty POLYGON Military — `SM_Prop_Barrel_01`                | Synty Store licence (purchased) |
@@ -125,6 +123,13 @@ royalty-free commercial use in unlimited titles and permits modification; it
 does **not** permit reselling the assets as assets. Not copyright ownership,
 which only a work-for-hire commission gives.
 
+The two Synty **characters** are converted by
+`tools/art/blender/import_synty.py` but are **not shipped**: neither route to
+animating them works yet (docs/HANDOFF-synty.md), and carrying two models
+nothing draws cost 1.24 MB of the shell download at every boot. The converters
+and the licence record stay; the GLBs are regenerated on demand with
+`node tools/art/import-synty.mjs --with-characters`.
+
 Source files are **not** committed — the pack is 406 MB unpacked and lives
 outside the repo. Only the converted GLBs and the shared atlases ship.
 

apps/game/public/assets/manifest.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "generator": "tools/art/build-assets.mjs",
   "blender": "Blender 4.5.12 LTS",
-  "commit": "8fb62aa99ff07aa4cc32ff0fea2ec71adb09fbb2",
+  "commit": "89ecfe33b694d24f41f3ec9bd585e7fdb24f68c1",
   "license": "Original work, © NIGHTCELL 7. No third-party assets.",
   "source": "Generated procedurally from the scripts in tools/art. No asset is downloaded, photographed, traced, or derived from another game.",
   "textureSize": 1024,
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@
     "character.glb",
     "container.glb",
     "deck.glb",
-    "fighter_insurgent.glb",
-    "fighter_soldier.glb",
     "hardpoint.glb",
     "lamp_mast.glb",
     "pipe_rack.glb",
@@ -94,9 +92,9 @@
     "throngva/the-wolf-called-want.mp3"
   ],
   "bytes": {
-    "models": 4722360,
+    "models": 3422320,
     "textures": 2447388,
     "audio": 402789,
-    "total": 7572537
+    "total": 6272497
   }
 }

apps/game/src/assets.test.ts

@@ -79,8 +79,6 @@ describe("generated models", () => {
    * a generator script.
    */
   const LICENSED = new Set([
-    "fighter_insurgent",
-    "fighter_soldier",
     // Synty POLYGON Military static meshes: licensed, and bound by their own
     // atlas slots (`synty_vehicles` / `synty_atlas`) rather than the generated
     // material set. Their provenance is the Synty licence in PROVENANCE.md, and

apps/game/src/assets.ts

@@ -55,11 +55,15 @@ export const MODELS = [
   "lamp_mast",
   "character",
   "carbine",
-  // Licensed CC0 characters (Quaternius). These carry their own rig,
-  // animations and materials, so they bypass the material-slot convention the
-  // generated props follow — see apps/game/public/assets/PROVENANCE.md.
-  "fighter_insurgent",
-  "fighter_soldier",
+  // The licensed Synty characters are deliberately NOT here.
+  //
+  // They convert, load and texture correctly, but neither route to animating
+  // them works yet — retargeting our clips onto Synty's skeleton leaves the
+  // arms in its T-pose, and skinning the mesh to our rig loses the arms in the
+  // bind (docs/HANDOFF-synty.md). Listing them anyway cost 1.24 MB of the shell
+  // download, fetched and parsed at every boot, for two models nothing drew.
+  // They are regenerated on demand by `tools/art/import-synty.mjs
+  // --with-characters` when there is something to ship.
   // Licensed Synty POLYGON Military static meshes. Vehicles bind the shared
   // `synty_vehicles` atlas; props reuse the character atlas (`synty_atlas`),
   // since both were authored against Synty's Texture_01_A. No new texture ships

apps/game/src/opponents.ts

@@ -138,22 +138,12 @@ export class Opponents {
     // One model per faction.
     //
     // Nightcell are irregulars: olive drab, boots, a pack — someone fighting
-    // with what they own. The first attempt used the pack's `Worker`, which is
-    // a hi-vis construction labourer and read exactly like one. That difference is
-    // the fastest target ID a player gets, and it is carried by the whole
-    // silhouette rather than by a colour swatch.
-    // Back on the generated character for now.
+    // Both sides use the generated character.
     //
-    // The licensed Quaternius models are committed and load fine, but they
-    // render as glowing white figures in this scene and three attempts did not
-    // fix it: scaling albedo to the yard's actual exposure budget (0.42, then
-    // 0.18), clearing emissive unconditionally, and excluding them from the
-    // GlowLayer all left them blown out. Something else in their imported
-    // material setup is driving it and I have not identified what.
-    //
-    // The generated character renders correctly, so the bots use it until the
-    // licensed ones are diagnosed. Swapping back is a one-line change:
-    //   assets.models.get("fighter_soldier") / ("fighter_worker")
+    // The licensed Synty characters would be a clear upgrade and are not ready:
+    // see docs/HANDOFF-synty.md for the two attempts and where each stops. They
+    // are told apart by team colour and weapon instead, which is what
+    // `brightenCharacter` and `weaponFor` below are for.
     const enemyModel = assets.models.get("character");
     const friendlyModel = assets.models.get("character");
     const character = enemyModel;

docs/HANDOFF-synty.md

@@ -12,16 +12,16 @@ oversight.
 The Synty characters are committed, load fine, are textured, and are **not
 shipped**, because their animation retarget is broken.
 
-| Thing                                                 | State                                           |
-| ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
-| `models/fighter_insurgent.glb`, `fighter_soldier.glb` | committed, load, textured, animation wrong      |
-| `textures/synty_atlas.webp`                           | working, 388 KB, shared by characters + props   |
-| `tools/art/blender/import_synty.py`                   | character converter; maths fixed, export broken |
-| `tools/art/blender/import_synty_prop.py`              | static-mesh converter; **working, shipped**     |
-| 2 vehicles + 5 props (`veh_*`, `prop_*`)              | **integrated** — converted, textured, placed    |
-| `textures/synty_vehicles.webp`                        | working, 76 KB, shared by all vehicles          |
-| 3 weapons (`wep_*`) + `synty_weapons.webp`            | **integrated** — player viewmodel and bot hands |
-| Shell budget                                          | 7.13 MB against a 9 MB guard                    |
+| Thing                                                 | State                                                                                                        |
+| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
+| `models/fighter_insurgent.glb`, `fighter_soldier.glb` | **not shipped** — convert and load, animation unsolved; regenerate with `import-synty.mjs --with-characters` |
+| `textures/synty_atlas.webp`                           | working, 388 KB, shared by characters + props                                                                |
+| `tools/art/blender/import_synty.py`                   | character converter; maths fixed, export broken                                                              |
+| `tools/art/blender/import_synty_prop.py`              | static-mesh converter; **working, shipped**                                                                  |
+| 2 vehicles + 5 props (`veh_*`, `prop_*`)              | **integrated** — converted, textured, placed                                                                 |
+| `textures/synty_vehicles.webp`                        | working, 76 KB, shared by all vehicles                                                                       |
+| 3 weapons (`wep_*`) + `synty_weapons.webp`            | **integrated** — player viewmodel and bot hands                                                              |
+| Shell budget                                          | 5.98 MB against a 9 MB guard                                                                                 |
 
 Source pack is at `~/src/nightcell7-assets/SourceFiles/` (406 MB, outside the
 repo, not committed).