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>
8 body types (slim, average, stocky, tall_lean, short_stout, athletic,
heavyset, petite) × male/female. Style-anchored concept images fed
through Trellis and Blender postprocess.
Adds body_showcase scene with grid display, highlight controls (1-8),
and toon shader with cull_disabled for Trellis mesh normals.
Finding: Trellis works well for props but produces rough character
meshes — characters will likely need composite body parts approach.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Proves the full asset pipeline: concept image → Trellis 3D → Blender
post-process → Godot render with toon shader and recolor masks.
Key findings:
- gltf/embedded_image_handling=3 required (extract mode silently fails)
- Luminance-preserving recolor shader keeps texture detail
- Trellis output quality is sufficient for isometric game assets
- Camera uses pivot-based system with screen-aligned WASD pan
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6