Playtest log had the smoking gun:
WARNING: player.gd: no avatar to show; keeping the placeholder capsule
ERROR: Parameter "data.tree" is null. at: get_tree
avatar_loader.gd read raw .glb bytes and ran GLTFDocument.append_from_buffer
+ generate_scene() at runtime. In a release export that path produced NO
Skeleton3D (works fine in the editor / headless-from-source), so
load_base_body() returned null and the player fell back to the capsule.
The queue_free() calls in that path also errored (loader runs detached from
any tree).
Fix: load(path).instantiate() the Godot-imported PackedScene (the .scn that
actually ships in the pack, with the skeleton + skin set up by the import
pipeline). The raw-bytes GLTFDocument path stays available for future
user-uploaded models but isn't used for the bundled catalog.
- run_checkpoint_tests.py: also runs the avatar smoke against the EXPORTED
pack, not just source -- that's what catches release-only resource
differences. Verified: 14/14 against export/game.pck.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
- SpringArm3D was colliding with the player's own capsule (same layer) ->
camera yanked up against the head. add_excluded_object(self) in _ready +
gentler default pitch, shorter arm, lower pivot.
- AvatarSystem.build_current_avatar() is now self-sufficient: loads the
catalog itself and falls back to a bare default loadout if login didn't
prime one. So the in-world player always shows an avatar, never the
capsule, as long as the assets are packed (they are now).
- New AvatarSystem.assemble_avatar(): builds a standalone avatar with a
throwaway loader, touching no shared state -- so it's safe to call once
for the local player AND once per remote peer. (load_avatar()'s shared
loader reset()s and freed the previous avatar on every call.)
- game.gd: remote players render as the assembled avatar too (shared default
look, tinted per-peer, name tag) instead of a plain capsule.
Client-side -- rebuild the exe.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
You couldn't see your own character because the camera was first-person
(inside the avatar's head), and the customize screen's 3D preview rendered
nothing.
- player.tscn: camera now hangs off a SpringArm3D on a CameraPivot, 4 m
behind + above the player, pulled in on collision. player.gd: yaw still
turns the body, pitch orbits the arm (starts tilted down to frame the
avatar).
- avatar_customization_ui.gd: the preview SubViewport had own_world_3d=false,
so it shared the Control-only main world -- no scenario, nothing rendered.
Set own_world_3d=true, add a WorldEnvironment with ambient fill + a
key/fill light pair, make the camera current, tweak framing.
- smoke_test_player: assert the third-person SpringArm rig (18/18).
- smoke_test_enter_world: wait longer for the scene change -- a real
POST /join spawns a dedicated server, which is slow (9/9).
Client-side change -- rebuild the exe to get it.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
- api_client.gd: get_avatar_loadout() / save_avatar_loadout()
- main_menu.gd: on successful auth (fresh or session-restore), load the
catalog + fetch the saved loadout into AvatarSystem so the in-world
player renders as the player's avatar. Best-effort: a slow/failed prime
never gates getting in (UI goes authenticated first, prime runs after).
New "Customize Avatar" button (enabled only when signed in).
- avatar_system.gd: local-player convenience API -- ensure_catalog(),
set_loadout_from_dict() (from the backend's GET shape), has_loadout(),
build_current_avatar().
- player.gd: swaps the placeholder capsule for the assembled avatar
(feet-aligned to the capsule bottom) when a loadout is primed; silent
fallback to the capsule otherwise. Camera stays first-person for now
(third-person is a noted follow-up).
- avatar_visualizer.gd: rewrote it -- the old version referenced
AvatarLoader.SlotResult / load_slot() which never existed, so it didn't
compile and took avatar_customization_ui.gd down with it. Now a thin
wrapper over AvatarLoader for the preview.
- avatar_customization_ui.gd: seeds from the live loadout, saves through to
AvatarSystem + PUT /api/avatar/loadout (local file kept as fallback),
fixed a Camera3D.look_at() before-in-tree crash.
- scenes/avatar_customization.tscn rebuilt (old one used the Godot-3
`ViewportContainer` node type) + avatar_customization_screen.gd wrapper
that returns to the menu on close.
- smoke_test_avatar_in_world.gd: primed loadout -> game.tscn -> player
shows the assembled avatar, capsule hidden, rig + bone mounts present.
Verified: cold-cache smokes green (player 15/15, avatar_system 14/14,
avatar_in_world 10/10, main_menu_ui 13/13); against a live backend
main_menu_full_flow 12/12, main_menu_back 20/20, world_list 4/4,
enter_world 9/9, e2e 4/4; plus a manual register->default-loadout->
customize->save->re-fetch-persisted round trip.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
assets/avatars/catalog.json referenced 14 GLB files that were never in the
repo, so the avatar system could not load a single avatar. And the loader's
assembly path had never run against a real skeleton -- it called
Skeleton3D.has_bone() (no such method in Godot 4) and hand-copied bones in a
way that dropped the skin binding.
- scripts/tools/gen_placeholder_avatars.gd: generates the pack headlessly via
GLTFDocument -- one rigged/skinned base body (the full 24-bone canonical
rig from a T-pose) + 13 primitive attachments. Crude on purpose; real art
swaps in as a pure content change (catalog paths unchanged).
- assets/avatars/*.glb: the generated pack (checked in).
- avatar_loader.gd: rewrote _parse_glb_as_avatar to lift the skin-bound
Skeleton3D that generate_scene() already produces, instead of rebuilding it.
Attachments now mount via BoneAttachment3D to the catalog's mount_bone and
are actually added to the avatar tree (they were parsed then dropped).
Fixed the has_bone() crash, the null ARRAY_BONES cast in _retarget_skin,
and the Array[String] type mismatch on the accessory list.
- smoke_test_avatar_system.gd: replaced the "asserts it fails gracefully
because the files don't exist" section with a real assembly check --
Skeleton3D present, full 24-bone rig, canonical bones resolve by name,
visible body mesh, equipped items mounted to bones. 14/14 from a cold cache.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
Root cause: a stale .godot/global_script_class_cache.cfg was force-committed
to the repo (last regenerated before the avatar system merged), and Godot
does not rebuild the global class registry on a plain headless scene run --
only an editor scan / `--import` does. So every cross-file `class_name`
reference in the avatar module failed to resolve from a fresh clone, and the
AvatarSystem autoload failed to instantiate entirely.
- Untrack .godot/ and sandbox_probe/.godot/ (already in .gitignore; were
force-added during old WIP checkpoints)
- Reference sibling avatar scripts via preload() constants instead of their
global class_name, so the module parses independent of scan order. Keeps
the class_name declarations for editor/tooling use.
- avatar_loadout.gd's static from_json() factory self-references via a
preload const too (a script can't resolve its own class_name mid-compile
on a cold cache).
- smoke_test_avatar_system.gd: same preload treatment so it runs from a bare
`--script` invocation.
Verified from a wiped .godot/: main_menu.tscn and game.tscn boot with zero
script errors; smoke_test_avatar_system 10/10, smoke_test_player 15/15,
smoke_test_main_menu_ui 13/13, smoke_test_test_level PASS.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015jtxAiu5dAW4WxCNdGkrkJ
- avatar_slot_registry.gd: _slot_data/_slot_definitions made static (every
caller uses AvatarSlotRegistry.method() on the class, never an instance,
so the old instance _init() populating them was never invoked); moved
registry build to static func _static_init()
- avatar_catalog.gd: compute_loadout_hash() return type uint32 -> int
(GDScript has no fixed-width uint type)
- avatar_loader.gd: GLTFDocument.parse() (doesn't exist) -> the real
append_from_buffer()+generate_scene() API; Error.parse_error() (doesn't
exist) -> error_string(); Mesh.ARRAY_JOINTS (doesn't exist) ->
Mesh.ARRAY_BONES; removed a dead 'mesh is MultiMesh' check that can
never be true (MeshInstance3D.mesh is always Mesh, never MultiMesh);
fixed _merge_node_into_avatar to recurse into a Skeleton3D's children
(skinned meshes are commonly children of the skeleton in a GLB export,
the old code returned before ever reaching them)
- avatar_customization_ui.gd: added the missing _on_slot_button_pressed
handler (referenced by a button connect, never defined -- just calls
the existing _select_slot())
Verified: godot --headless --import + --quit is fully clean, and the
avatar_customization.tscn scene now instantiates successfully.
Remaining, scoped separately: avatar_visualizer.gd calls a
AvatarLoader.load_slot() static async API and SlotItem/SlotResult types
that don't exist -- AvatarLoader's real API (matching the project's own
avatar.md spec: one canonical skeleton, attachments retargeted onto it)
is instance-based load_base_body()/load_attachment(). AvatarVisualizer
needs rewriting to use that real API; it's the one out of step with spec,
not AvatarLoader.
- scenes/avatar_customization.tscn: script_extense -> script (typo meant
the customization UI script was never actually attached to the scene)
- scripts/avatar/avatar_loadout.gd: add missing class_name AvatarLoadout
(avatar_system.gd references the type everywhere; only this file among
the avatar scripts lacked its class_name)
- scripts/main_menu.gd: _ready() referenced _customize_button/_settings_button/
_quit_button but the @onready vars are named without the leading
underscore
daddy
coder-bot