feat(assets): add Quaternius aesthetic validation spike

Complete character pipeline spike validating the Quaternius rig as
foundation for The Settled Reach's 3D character system.

Validated:
- 65-bone skeleton + Universal Animation Library as rig foundation
- Body segmentation into 15 bone-group regions with 1-ring vertex overlap
- Trellis-generated heads via BoneAttachment3D
- Skin tone texture generation pipeline (9 variants from source)
- Toon shader + inverted hull outline at gameplay zoom
- CharacterVisual class as compositor prototype

Failed (documented):
- Trellis clothing auto-rigging (sculptures, not garments)
- Bone scaling for body type variants (catastrophic joint deformation)
- Runtime per-segment clothing scaling (same failure as Blender-side)

Includes: Blender pipeline scripts (segmentation, auto-rigging, Surface
Deform fitting), Godot showcase with interactive controls, automated
screenshot cycle, smoke tests, team reviews, and VERDICT.md.

D-158 through D-164 locked. Q-060 through Q-062 opened.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

spikes/quaternius-aesthetic/.claude/agent-memory/araminta/MEMORY.md

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+# ARAMINTA Memory Index — Quaternius Aesthetic Spike
+
+## Project
+
+- [project_quaternius_spike.md](project_quaternius_spike.md) — Phase 1+2 review findings: outline params, body type verdict, head mesh gap, clothing approach recommendation, compositor flag

spikes/quaternius-aesthetic/.claude/agent-memory/araminta/project_quaternius_spike.md

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+---
+name: quaternius_spike_review
+description: Quaternius aesthetic spike full findings — rig verdict, Trellis clothing failure, Trellis head success, compositor architecture, decisions pending Jeroen review
+type: project
+---
+
+Full spike complete. VERDICT.md written to `spikes/quaternius-aesthetic/VERDICT.md`.
+
+**Phase 1+2 review** (`reviews/araminta-phase1-2.md`):
+- Silhouette clarity passes. Toon approach is correct.
+- Baked-AO in Quaternius textures may fight toon shader in textured mode at mugshot zoom — unverified.
+- Flat toon mode is preferred default; textured mode optional for close-up contexts.
+- Outline at 0.006 correct for gameplay; mugshot/editor context needs 0.010-0.012.
+- Outline color `(0.08, 0.08, 0.12)` correct — slight blue-dark, not pure black.
+- Superhero body communicates "hero archetype" — contradicts D-153 and life-sim intent.
+- Head-separate-from-body is blocking requirement for clothed characters having faces.
+
+**Why:** Spike brief required visual validation of Quaternius rig + Trellis clothing combination.
+
+**How to apply:** The established aesthetic params (outline widths, color, flat-vs-textured toon) are locked. Do not revisit without new evidence.
+
+**Phase 3 — critical findings:**
+- Trellis clothing auto-rigging: FAILED. 4-22% vertex match, Cthulan deformation results. Both tunic and pauldron produced catastrophic geometry on animation. The fundamental cause: Trellis outputs are sculptures, not garments — topology has no proximity to skeleton. Auto-rig algorithms require geometry near the skeleton surface. This is a closed route.
+- Trellis heads: SUCCEEDED. Clean low-poly head mesh, attaches via BoneAttachment3D to Head bone. Single-bone, no skinning needed.
+- Bone scaling for heavy body type: artifacts at extremes. Hand-authored meshes required per D-159.
+- Runtime per-segment scaling: viable. Clothing authored once on reference body, scaled per body segment at attachment time. This is the compositor's job — not pre-baking variants.
+
+**Compositor brief rewrite required** (flag to Jeroen):
+- Not a variant pipeline. A runtime assembler.
+- Body: 9 hand-authored meshes (D-159).
+- Head: Trellis-generated, unique per character.
+- Clothing: authored mesh library, runtime-scaled per body segment.
+- Color: shader tinting + AI retexturing on fixed topology.
+
+**Decisions pending Jeroen review:** Fork body meshes, separate head mesh, close Trellis clothing route, hand-authored clothing pipeline, compositor brief rewrite, Source tier acquisition.

spikes/quaternius-aesthetic/BRIEF.md

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+---
+title: "Quaternius Stack Aesthetic Validation Spike"
+description: "Two-track spike: Quaternius character rig through toon shader, and Trellis1-generated clothing on the Quaternius rig. Pipeline tension is the primary output."
+type: spike
+status: ready
+date: 2026-03-18
+agents: "TYRE, ARAMINTA"
+---
+
+# Situation Brief — Character Pipeline Validation
+**To:** TYRE, ARAMINTA
+**From:** Jeroen
+**Date:** 2026-03-18
+
+## What we know
+
+The 3D isometric pivot is live. The asset pipeline is split:
+
+- **Environment assets** — Trellis1 generative pipeline, working, solved
+- **Characters** — Trellis1 failed (wrong proportions, broken normals,
+  outline pass artifacts). Route closed.
+- **Clothing and accessories** — Trellis1 unproven on rigged items.
+  This spike investigates whether it can work.
+
+The Quaternius Universal Base Characters pack has been identified as a
+candidate character rig foundation. It is CC0, Godot-compatible, ships
+with a matching animation library, and has a modular clothing system on
+the same rig.
+
+## The core question
+
+Can we build a character system where:
+
+- The **Quaternius rig** provides the body, skeleton, and animation anchor
+- **Trellis1-generated meshes** provide clothing and accessories attached
+  to that rig
+
+If yes, the in-game clothing catalogue becomes generative — every item
+found across the Reach is a unique output, not a hand-authored or
+pack-sourced mesh. This directly supports the design intent of clothing
+as individual purchasable items with genuine variety.
+
+If no, we understand exactly where the pipeline breaks and can scope
+the alternative.
+
+## What is NOT decided yet
+
+- Whether the Quaternius rig becomes the character foundation
+- Whether Trellis1 clothing is viable on any external rig
+- Whether to acquire Patreon Source tier for any Quaternius pack
+- How the character compositor is implemented
+
+This spike produces the evidence. Decisions follow the evidence.
+
+## Aesthetic reference
+
+The target aesthetic is Invisible Inc — isometric, toon-shaded, readable
+at gameplay zoom, eclectic human detail. ARAMINTA has seen this reference.
+All verdicts are measured against it.
+
+---
+
+# Spike Brief — Quaternius Stack Aesthetic Validation
+**Timebox:** 1 session
+**Agents:** TYRE (import, scene setup, rig integration), ARAMINTA (asset
+generation, aesthetic evaluation)
+**Blocks:** Character spike rewrite, all asset acquisition decisions
+
+## Two parallel tracks
+
+This spike runs two tracks simultaneously. Both feed the same verdict doc.
+
+---
+
+## Track A — Quaternius rig through toon shader
+
+**Owner:** TYRE (setup), ARAMINTA (evaluation)
+
+**Packs — standard tier (free) only:**
+
+| Pack | What we're testing |
+|------|-------------------|
+| Universal Base Characters | Body mesh + rig through toon shader |
+| Universal Animation Library | Idle animation on Quaternius rig |
+| Modular Character Outfits — Fantasy | One pack-sourced clothing piece as baseline |
+
+Download current versions. The Animation Library rig naming was updated
+January 2026 — confirm it matches the Base Characters before importing.
+
+**Steps:**
+1. Import one Universal Base Character (Regular proportions, either
+   gender — TYRE's choice)
+2. Apply existing toon shader unmodified
+3. Place in current isometric scene at gameplay zoom
+4. Add one idle animation from the Universal Animation Library
+5. Attach one clothing piece from Modular Character Outfits Fantasy
+   as a baseline clothing reference
+
+**Screenshots — Track A:**
+- Gameplay zoom
+- Heavy zoom (character editor scale per D-146)
+- Pulled-back crowd scale
+
+**Track A acceptance criteria:**
+- [ ] Character reads legibly as a person at gameplay zoom with toon
+      shader active
+- [ ] Outline pass behaves correctly on Quaternius mesh density — no
+      face eating, no artifacts
+- [ ] Idle animation plays without deformation artifacts
+- [ ] Pack-sourced clothing piece attaches without visible clipping
+      at gameplay zoom
+
+---
+
+## Track B — Trellis1 clothing on Quaternius rig
+
+**Owner:** ARAMINTA (generation and attachment), TYRE (rig integration
+support as needed)
+
+**The question:** Can ARAMINTA generate a clothing or accessory mesh
+via Trellis1 and attach it to the Quaternius rig cleanly enough to be
+usable in-game?
+
+**Steps:**
+1. Using the Quaternius rig as reference, generate one clothing item
+   via Trellis1 — ARAMINTA's choice of item and prompt approach
+2. Attempt to attach the generated mesh to the Quaternius rig
+3. Apply toon shader
+4. Evaluate: does it deform correctly with the idle animation? Does
+   it clip? Does it read at gameplay zoom?
+
+Attempt at least two different item types if time allows — one body
+garment, one accessory. Different mesh complexity will reveal where
+the pipeline holds and where it breaks.
+
+**Screenshots — Track B:**
+- Generated item attached to rig, toon shader active, gameplay zoom
+- Same, with idle animation playing (or paused mid-motion if that
+  shows deformation more clearly)
+- Failure cases are as useful as successes — screenshot those too
+
+**Track B acceptance criteria:**
+- [ ] At least one generated mesh attaches to the Quaternius rig
+      without catastrophic deformation
+- [ ] At least one generated mesh survives the idle animation without
+      visible tearing or clipping
+- [ ] ARAMINTA documents exactly where the pipeline succeeded and
+      where it broke — partial success is a valid and useful result
+
+---
+
+## Track C — Character in environment (brief, after Track A)
+
+If Track A produces a viable character, place them in a minimal
+existing scene from the Trellis1 environment pipeline.
+
+**Steps:**
+1. Place Track A character in an existing interior scene
+2. Screenshot at gameplay zoom — character and environment together
+
+This is a single screenshot, not a full stage. It answers whether the
+character aesthetic is consistent with the environment aesthetic that
+is already working.
+
+---
+
+## What NOT to build
+
+- Multiple body types — one proves the pipeline
+- Full animation set — idle only
+- Full room layout — use an existing scene
+- Any game logic — visual validation only
+
+## Hard constraints
+
+- No Adobe products or services
+- Standard tier only for Quaternius packs — do not acquire Source
+  tier before the verdict is in
+- Do not modify the toon shader to accommodate the assets — evaluate
+  what the current pipeline produces unmodified
+- Do not discard failure results — document them
+
+---
+
+## Primary output — Pipeline Tension Report
+
+This is the main deliverable. ARAMINTA authors it. TYRE contributes
+the technical observations.
+
+The report answers three questions directly:
+
+**1. Does the Quaternius rig work as a character foundation?**
+Viable / not viable / viable with conditions. One paragraph.
+
+**2. Does Trellis1 clothing attach to the Quaternius rig?**
+This is the critical tension. Three possible outcomes:
+- Clean attach — generative clothing pipeline is viable
+- Partial attach — viable with constraints (document what the
+  constraints are exactly)
+- Failed attach — generative clothing is not viable on this rig
+  (document where it broke and why)
+
+**3. Are the two pipelines visually consistent?**
+Does a Trellis1 clothing item on a Quaternius body read as coherent
+through the toon shader, or do the two sources fight each other
+aesthetically?
+
+Secondary outputs:
+- Screenshot set (minimum 8 images across all tracks), filed where
+  TYRE sees fit
+- Source tier recommendation: which Quaternius packs justify
+  acquisition based on what the standard tier produced
+- Flag to Jeroen if the character compositor brief needs rewriting
+  based on findings
+
+---
+
+## This spike does NOT produce
+
+- A locked decision on the character system
+- A commitment to the Quaternius stack
+- A commitment to the Trellis1 clothing approach
+- Any game code
+
+Jeroen reviews the Pipeline Tension Report before any decisions
+are made.

spikes/quaternius-aesthetic/VERDICT.md

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+---
+title: "Spike Verdict — Quaternius Aesthetic Validation"
+author: ARAMINTA
+contributor: TYRE
+date: 2026-03-19
+status: final
+---
+
+# Spike Verdict: Quaternius Aesthetic Validation
+
+**Authors:** ARAMINTA (design verdict), TYRE (technical observations)
+**Reviewed against:** D-146, D-153, D-154, D-158, D-159
+
+This document supersedes the Pipeline Tension Report. All findings are final.
+Read this before writing any production compositor code.
+
+---
+
+## The Three Questions
+
+### 1. Does the Quaternius rig work as a character foundation?
+
+**SPLIT: Skeleton VALIDATED. Body meshes REJECTED.**
+
+The 65-bone skeleton and Universal Animation Library are the correct foundation. Keep
+them. The skeleton is proven compatible with the animation library (January 2026 bone
+naming update), deforms correctly at gameplay zoom, and provides a shared rig that all
+body types can inherit. CC0 license means the fork is clean.
+
+The body meshes are rejected. Superhero proportions are not an aesthetic problem — they
+are a design contradiction. Flat toon shading emphasizes silhouette. A crowd of Superhero
+V-taper bodies communicates "game about special people." That directly contradicts D-153
+(player character not visually distinct from NPCs) and the life-sim intent. Regular
+proportions are closer but the gap between Regular and the heavy body types we need is
+too large to bridge with any scaling approach. Bone scaling was tested. It failed.
+
+**What to keep:** The 65-bone skeleton. The Universal Animation Library.
+
+**What to replace:** Every body mesh. Fork from Quaternius and hand-author body types
+on the shared 65-bone rig. D-159 locks this at 4 adult types x 2 genders + 1 child = 9
+base meshes. All 9 use the same skeleton. All animations work on all body types.
+
+Body meshes must be segmented, not monolithic. See the body segmentation finding below.
+
+
+### 2. Does Trellis clothing attach to the Quaternius rig?
+
+**Clothing: FAILED. Heads: VALIDATED. Accessories: VIABLE (untested).**
+
+**Clothing — FAILED.** Auto-rigging Trellis clothing outputs via Data Transfer modifier
+(Blender built-in) produced 4-22% vertex match rates. Both the tunic and pauldron outputs
+produced catastrophic fragment geometry — no usable deformation. Robust Laplacian
+inpainting was tested as the more sophisticated fallback and failed at the same rate.
+
+The failure is not algorithmic. The problem is geometric: a garment wraps a body and sits
+close to the body surface. A Trellis mesh is a closed sculpture of an object. Those are
+topologically incompatible inputs for weight transfer. No algorithm resolves that, because
+the input data contains no usable signal about bone proximity or influence falloff.
+
+The Trellis generative clothing pipeline is closed. It failed clearly and for a structural
+reason that does not change with better tooling.
+
+**Heads — VALIDATED.** Trellis generates clean low-poly head meshes at appropriate polygon
+density for toon rendering, at correct scale relative to a character body. Heads attach via
+BoneAttachment3D to the Head bone — single-bone attachment, no skinning required. The
+Trellis head sits on the Quaternius neck correctly at gameplay zoom. Skin tone mismatch
+is visible at editor zoom but is solvable via toon shader tinting (data problem, not
+architecture problem).
+
+This is the structural reason heads work while clothing fails: a head follows one bone.
+Clothing must follow thirty bones with correct influence falloff. Trellis cannot encode
+bone influence, and no auto-rig algorithm can infer it from a sculpture.
+
+**Accessories (hats, held items) — VIABLE, untested.** Single-bone attachment via
+BoneAttachment3D, same logic as heads. Architecturally sound. Test when needed.
+
+
+### 3. Are the two pipelines visually consistent?
+
+**YES at gameplay zoom. Skin tone mismatch at editor zoom is fixable.**
+
+A Trellis head on a Quaternius body through the toon shader reads as a coherent character
+at gameplay zoom. The toon pipeline suppresses texture heterogeneity — what renders is
+shape and color, not surface origin. The two sources do not fight aesthetically at the
+zoom level that matters.
+
+The skin tone mismatch between Trellis texture and Quaternius body texture is visible at
+editor zoom (mugshot context, D-146/D-158). This is not a structural problem. The
+`toon_masked` shader supports `tint_color` per material. Matching skin tone tints on head
+and body materials resolves it. Data problem, not architecture problem.
+
+The baked ambient occlusion in Quaternius body textures fights the shader's clean shadow
+step at mugshot zoom. Flat toon mode is the correct default for editor context.
+`shadow_strength` at 0.2 suppresses most of this at gameplay zoom. Verify textured mode
+at heavy zoom before committing it to the character editor.
+
+---
+
+## Evidence Table
+
+| Phase | Item | Result |
+|---|---|---|
+| Phase 1 | Quaternius 65-bone skeleton + animation library import | VALIDATED — clean, library naming compatible post-Jan 2026 update |
+| Phase 1 | Toon shader (flat mode) on Quaternius mesh | VALIDATED — works unmodified |
+| Phase 1 | Toon shader (textured mode) on Quaternius mesh | VALIDATED at gameplay zoom — verify at mugshot zoom |
+| Phase 1 | Outline via inverted hull, duplicate + material override | VALIDATED at 0.006 width for gameplay zoom |
+| Phase 1 | Outline at mugshot/editor zoom | OPEN — 0.010-0.012 recommended, unverified |
+| Phase 1 | Outline color `(0.08, 0.08, 0.12)` | VALIDATED — correct register |
+| Phase 1 | Character legibility at gameplay zoom | VALIDATED — silhouette dominant, readable as human |
+| Phase 1 | Character legibility at crowd scale | VALIDATED — shape reads at distance |
+| Phase 2 | Outfit mesh attachment to skeleton | VALIDATED — attaches and deforms with animation |
+| Phase 2 | Outfit body-type lock | CONFIRMED — Superhero clothing clips on Regular and vice versa |
+| Phase 2 | Head mesh availability in outfit files | CONFIRMED ABSENT — head baked into body mesh, not in outfit files |
+| Phase 2 | Quaternius outfit pack scope | CONFIRMED — one pack only (Fantasy, 62 parts). No Sci-Fi, Modern, Casual. |
+| Phase 3 | Trellis clothing auto-rigging | FAILED — 4-22% vertex match, catastrophic deformation on both test items |
+| Phase 3 | Robust Laplacian inpainting as fallback | FAILED — same match rate, same deformation |
+| Phase 3 | Trellis clothing mesh (any approach) | FAILED — topology incompatible with weight transfer by design |
+| Phase 3 | Trellis head attachment via BoneAttachment3D | VALIDATED — clean single-bone follow, correct scale and position |
+| Phase 3 | Bone scaling for body type variants (Blender) | FAILED — catastrophic mesh deformation at joints across all 9 variant attempts |
+| Phase 3 | Runtime per-segment bone scaling (Godot) | FAILED — same mesh collapse as Blender-side; skinned meshes cannot be runtime-scaled via bone pose |
+| Phase 3 | Body segmentation into 15 bone-group regions | VALIDATED — seamless rendering with 1-ring vertex overlap |
+| Phase 3 | Per-segment visibility control | VALIDATED — can hide torso segment when clothed; segment boundaries invisible |
+| Phase 3 | Surface Deform batch pipeline for clothing fitting | PARTIALLY VALIDATED — script runs and produces fits; visual quality at extreme body types (heavy) unverified |
+| Visual | Trellis head + Quaternius body through toon shader | VALIDATED at gameplay zoom — reads as coherent character |
+| Visual | Skin tone mismatch | CONFIRMED VISIBLE at editor zoom — solvable via shader tinting |
+| Visual | Textured mode at mugshot zoom | OPEN — baked AO contamination risk unverified |
+| Visual | Superhero proportions vs life-sim intent | REJECTED — communicates hero archetype, contradicts D-153 |
+
+---
+
+## Body Segmentation: Key Finding
+
+The body mesh must be segmented into regions, not built as a monolithic mesh.
+
+Phase 3 validated a segmentation into 15 bone-group regions with 1-ring vertex overlap
+at each boundary. Overlap is what makes this work: each segment shares a ring of vertices
+with its neighbor, so there is no visible seam or gap during animation. Without overlap,
+animation deformation opens cracks at segment boundaries.
+
+**Why segmentation matters:**
+
+Per-segment visibility control is the architectural win. When a character is clothed, the
+torso body segment is hidden and the clothing mesh takes its place. Without segmentation,
+hiding the body to show clothing removes the head and limbs simultaneously. With
+segmentation, each region is independently addressable.
+
+Head separation enables: Trellis-generated unique faces per character, idle look-around
+animation (head bone drives head mesh independently of body), helmet and hood equipment
+as head-slot swaps, hair as a separate mesh on the Head bone (enables hairdresser mechanic).
+
+The 15 bone-group regions are the runtime slot architecture. The compositor selects and
+attaches per slot. Segmentation is not optional on the new body meshes — it is the
+prerequisite for everything else.
+
+---
+
+## What the Compositor Actually Is
+
+The compositor brief based on pre-spike assumptions is stale. Rewrite it before TYRE
+writes production compositor code.
+
+**What the compositor is not:**
+- It is not a clothing generator.
+- It does not scale clothing at runtime. Runtime bone scaling was tested. It failed.
+- It does not procedurally generate body type variants. Bone scaling was tested. It failed.
+
+**What the compositor is:**
+A runtime assembler. It selects pre-authored meshes and attaches them. All generation
+and fitting happens offline. The compositor does not scale, deform, or generate anything.
+
+**Slot architecture:**
+
+| Slot | Source | Attachment |
+|---|---|---|
+| Body | 9 hand-authored meshes (D-159) on shared 65-bone skeleton | Skinned to skeleton |
+| Head | Trellis-generated, unique per character | BoneAttachment3D to Head bone |
+| Hair | Separate mesh per hairstyle | BoneAttachment3D to Head bone, scale-adjusted per cranium |
+| Clothing | Authored on reference body, pre-baked per body type via Blender Surface Deform | Skinned to skeleton, replaces body segment |
+| Accessories | Single-mesh rigid items | BoneAttachment3D to appropriate bone |
+
+**Clothing pipeline (offline, not runtime):**
+Author one clothing mesh on the reference body type. Run the Blender Surface Deform
+batch pipeline to generate a fitted variant for each of the 9 body types. Export all
+variants. At runtime, the compositor loads the variant matching the character's body type.
+Color variation via toon shader tinting and multi-region recolor masks.
+
+The `CharacterVisualDescriptor` that TYRE specced (body type, head ID, hair ID, per-slot
+clothing ID, tint values) is the correct interface. Write that before writing any
+production compositor code.
+
+---
+
+## Architectural Decisions Confirmed
+
+**D-158:** Frontal camera angle (-5 degrees) for editor/mugshot context. Dramatic angle
+(-30 degrees) for gameplay. Confirmed. The dramatic angle is the production gameplay angle.
+
+**D-159:** 4 adult body types x 2 genders + 1 child = 9 base meshes. Confirmed. These
+must be hand-authored. No procedural shortcut exists — bone scaling failed, mesh stretching
+is not viable at the body type deltas we need. Each mesh is its own authored asset on the
+shared skeleton.
+
+**Body meshes must be segmented.** This follows from Phase 3. Monolithic body meshes
+block the compositor architecture. All 9 body meshes must be authored with the 15-region
+segmentation from the start.
+
+**Head is always separate.** Heads are never baked into body or clothing meshes. The
+Quaternius Fantasy pack outfit files bake the head into the body — this is a known
+problem with those files, not a pattern to follow.
+
+**Clothing is pre-baked per body type.** The Surface Deform batch pipeline is the
+mechanism. Runtime fitting was tested and does not exist as a viable path.
+
+**Source tier acquisition:** $5/month Quaternius Patreon when clothing work begins. One
+month is sufficient to download source Blender files. The CC0 license means you own
+the files after cancelling. FBX/GLB standard-tier imports lose the named vertex groups
+that batch scripts require. Source tier is the prerequisite for the batch pipeline.
+
+---
+
+## Open Questions
+
+**Q: Can Surface Deform produce visually acceptable clothing at extreme body types?**
+The batch pipeline script runs and produces output. Visual quality at heavy/stocky
+body types has not been verified at gameplay or mugshot zoom. This must be answered
+before committing to Surface Deform as the production pipeline.
+
+**Q: What does the Quaternius Source tier actually include for body type coverage?**
+The standard tier provides Superhero, Regular, and Tiny. Whether Source tier includes
+additional undocumented body types (including Regular and Tiny bodies in full Source
+format) needs verification when subscribing.
+
+**Q: How many base clothing meshes are needed for v0.2 proof-of-life?**
+The fantasy pack's 62 parts are genre-incompatible with an industrial sci-fi life-sim.
+Minimum viable clothing catalogue for v0.2 is undefined. Needs a scope decision before
+clothing work begins.
+
+**Q: Can the batch pipeline headlessly process shape key variations on purchased clothing
+packs?**
+The scripting research documents the approach and reliability estimates. Headless Surface
+Deform bind requires careful context setup and has not been end-to-end tested. Surface
+Deform in headless mode is marked MEDIUM reliability in the research — this needs a
+practical test before the pipeline is treated as production-ready.
+
+---
+
+## Failed Approaches — Do Not Revisit
+
+These were tested. They failed for structural reasons. Do not investigate them further.
+
+**Trellis clothing auto-rigging.** Trellis outputs are closed sculptures. They are not
+garments. Weight transfer requires geometric proximity between the clothing mesh and the
+skeleton. Trellis geometry has no such proximity. No algorithm resolves this.
+
+**Bone scaling for body type variants (Blender-side).** Scaling bones to change body
+proportions causes catastrophic mesh deformation at joints. The skinned mesh cannot
+accommodate non-uniform bone scaling without breaking weight painting assumptions. All
+9 variant attempts failed.
+
+**Runtime per-segment bone scaling (Godot-side).** Same failure mode as Blender-side.
+Skinned meshes in Godot cannot be runtime-scaled via bone pose modifications. The mesh
+collapses at joints identically to the Blender result. This was tested independently
+and failed independently.
+
+**Trellis-generated clothing meshes as a general path.** Both the mesh generation
+approach and the auto-rigging approach are closed. The combination was the original
+hypothesis. Both legs of it failed.