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
daddy
coder-bot