fix(rendering): checkpoint main-character recovery and visual regression work

Handle late main-character data, guarded model construction, bounded retries and map correction. Validate player model sources and add lifecycle and real-asset visual regressions.

Include pending material and character-selection changes, updated A1 screenshot, and the detailed rendering repair plan. Hair occlusion, full UI parity and final macOS package acceptance remain unfinished.

project/main_character_sync_test.gd

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+extends SceneTree
+
+const Scene = preload("res://game_scene.gd")
+const View = preload("res://ui/player_view.gd")
+
+class Client extends Node:
+	var main := 0
+	var rows := {}
+	func get_main_vid() -> int: return main
+	func get_entity(vid: int) -> Dictionary: return rows.get(vid, {})
+
+class StubView extends Node3D:
+	var anim: Node
+	var succeeds := true
+	var during_build := Callable()
+	func build(_assets: String, _race: int, _pump: Callable) -> bool:
+		if during_build.is_valid(): during_build.call()
+		return succeeds
+	func set_audio(_node: Node) -> void: pass
+
+class Harness extends Scene:
+	var builds := 0
+	var succeeds := true
+	var during_build := Callable()
+	func _create_main_view() -> Node3D:
+		builds += 1
+		var view := StubView.new()
+		view.succeeds = succeeds
+		view.during_build = during_build
+		return view
+
+class Controller extends Node:
+	signal anim_state(state: String)
+	var player: Node3D
+
+class Camera extends Camera3D:
+	var target: Node3D
+
+var failures := 0
+func check(value: bool, label: String) -> void:
+	if not value:
+		failures += 1
+		printerr("FAIL: " + label)
+
+func _initialize() -> void:
+	call_deferred("run")
+
+func run() -> void:
+	var client := Client.new()
+	var scene := Harness.new()
+	root.add_child(client)
+	root.add_child(scene)
+	scene.set_process(false)
+	scene.client = client
+	scene._assets = "synthetic-assets"
+	scene.player = Node3D.new()
+	scene.add_child(scene.player)
+	scene.pc = Controller.new()
+	scene.add_child(scene.pc)
+	scene.cam = Camera.new()
+	scene.add_child(scene.cam)
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 0, "setup incomplete does not build")
+	scene._main_sync_ready = true
+	client.main = 10
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 0, "late entity is awaited")
+	client.rows[10] = {"pos": Vector3(20, 0, -30)}
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 0, "missing race does not build")
+	check(scene.player.position == Vector3(20, 0, 30), "late row places placeholder")
+	client.rows[10].race = 0
+	scene.during_build = func(): scene._on_main_set(10)
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 1 and scene._model_built, "reentrant network event creates one view")
+	check(scene.cam.target == scene.player and scene.pc.player == scene.player, "replacement updates consumers")
+	scene.player.position = Vector3(25, 0, 35)
+	for i in 5:
+		scene._sync_main_character()
+		scene._on_main_set(10)
+	check(scene.builds == 1, "duplicate main events are idempotent")
+	check(scene.player.position == Vector3(25, 0, 35), "polling does not undo movement")
+	client.main = 20
+	client.rows[20] = {"race": 1, "pos": Vector3(40, 0, -50)}
+	scene.during_build = Callable()
+	scene.succeeds = false
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 2 and not scene._model_built, "failed replacement is not marked ready")
+	for i in 5: scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 2, "failure does not retry every frame")
+	scene._main_retry_at = 0
+	scene.succeeds = true
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.builds == 3 and scene._model_built, "transient failure recovers")
+	check(scene.pc.anim_state.get_connections().size() == 1, "replacement does not duplicate animation subscriptions")
+	var previous = scene.player
+	client.main = 30
+	client.rows[30] = {"race": 0, "pos": Vector3.ZERO}
+	scene.during_build = func(): client.main = 40
+	scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene.player == previous, "obsolete build is discarded")
+	client.rows[40] = {"race": 0, "pos": Vector3.ZERO}
+	scene.during_build = Callable()
+	scene.succeeds = false
+	for i in 5:
+		scene._main_retry_at = 0
+		scene._sync_main_character()
+	check(scene._main_attempts == 3, "permanent failure has bounded attempts")
+	var view := View.new()
+	check(not view.build("missing-assets", 8), "unsupported race rejected")
+	view.free()
+	scene.queue_free()
+	client.queue_free()
+	await process_frame
+	print("main_character_sync_test: failures=", failures)
+	quit(1 if failures else 0)