gamedev-the-steward/assets/characters

Woodland character kit

Original Blender geometry inspired by the supplied cat-traveler reference: broad cheeks, relaxed almond eyes, whiskers, layered clothing, rolled cuffs, boots, a scarf, and a travel pack with a bedroll. The reference image is not embedded in the assets. Player and NPC visuals use this kit in the main game.

Try and configure

Run tools/CharacterWorkshop.tscn in Godot 4.7 (F6), or:

/Applications/Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot --path "$PWD" tools/CharacterWorkshop.tscn

Choose one of six presets, change the parts and proportions, drag the model to turn it, scroll over the model to zoom, and enable the walking preview. Save profile writes a CharacterAppearanceProfile .tres to the chosen file. Assign that resource to PlayerVisual.appearance or NpcVisual.appearance in the Inspector. The player defaults to profiles/reference_cat.tres. NPCs with no authored override derive their appearance from their stable simulation ID. The workshop is a separate authoring scene; it does not modify a game save.

Control	Available values
Head and tail	Cat, fox, rabbit, badger, otter
Ears	Species default, or any of six ear pairs including lop ears
Height	0.80–1.15 times the base height
Body fullness	0–1 Blender Stout shape key
Head size / leg length / ear length	0.88–1.12 / 0.85–1.15 / 0.65–1.20
Clothing	Open vest, long coat, work tunic with apron
Arms	Relaxed or holding pack straps
Accessories	Scarf, spectacles, beret, brimmed hat, satchel, travel pack
Palette	Fur, muzzle, outfit, shirt, scarf, trousers, leather

The workshop exposes the four main palette colors. All seven channels are editable on the profile resource. Profession tint remains a separate, subtle overlay driven by the actual NPC profession.

Blender source and rebuilding

Open art/characters/woodland_character_kit.blend. The visible collection is an assembled traveler; the hidden library meshes contain the editable building blocks. Unhide a library object to edit it. Torso and wearable meshes have Basis and Stout shape keys. Preview objects are copies of library objects.

/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS/Blender --background \
  --python tools/art/build_character_kit.py
/Applications/Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot --headless --editor --path "$PWD" --import

The reproducible Blender 5.1 generator rebuilds the source, GLB, and triangle manifest. Regenerating replaces manual edits to those generated files. Commit changes to the generator when they should survive a rebuild. Godot only imports the portable GLB; .gdignore excludes the Blender authoring directory.

Mesh and animation contract

woodland_parts.glb contains 31 named parts, each with one opaque surface. The reference cat uses 10 surfaces and 20,070 base triangles before Godot's generated LODs. The GLB is approximately 4.6 MiB. mesh_budget.json records each part's triangle count, origin and shape-key support. Accessories are optional; only selected meshes enter the live scene.

• AnimalAppearance caches the imported mesh library once. Characters share ArrayMesh resources and have their own shader material and blend-shape weights. No per-frame mesh rebuilding or CPU deformation is performed.
• Godot Y is up, +Z is forward. The existing body, head, arm, leg and tail node paths remain animation sockets. Ear/glasses attachments follow the head; scarf and bag attachments follow the torso. Hair is the optional hat socket.
• Fullness deforms the torso and worn gear together. Shoulder/hip spacing follows it. Leg length raises the upper body while keeping the soles on the ground. Gait uses configured rest heights; the hiker pose has restrained arm swing.
• Animation remains the existing rigid-part procedural gait. The kit does not add a skeletal animation library, facial rig, cloth simulation, or physics bodies. Changes to these appearance controls are cosmetic: collision, navigation, interaction reach, authoritative positions, and saves retain their existing contracts. Very unusual mixed parts may need art adjustment.
• UV2.x stores a discrete palette role (0 fixed vertex paint, 1 fur, 2 muzzle, 3 outfit, 4 linen, 5 scarf, 6 trousers, 7 leather, 8 fur markings, 9 outfit seams). Preserve both UV layers and vertex colors on export. Do not regenerate UV2 lightmap coordinates. character_cel.gdshader supplies soft cel bands with no texture sampling, transparency, outline pass, or screen-space effect.

Verification and review

tests/character_appearance_test.gd checks the real imported geometry, palette roles, independent morph weights, shared meshes, attachment reuse, all six presets, extreme proportions, stable IDs/RNG isolation, gait rest heights, and NPC cue clearance. Existing lifecycle scenarios cover profession, inventory, death, and save/load behavior. Run the full repository quality gate before a commit.

./tools/quality.sh
/Applications/Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot --path "$PWD" \
  --rendering-driver metal --script tools/capture_character_kit.gd
/Applications/Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot --path "$PWD" \
  --rendering-method gl_compatibility --script tools/capture_character_kit.gd
/Applications/Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot --path "$PWD" \
  --rendering-driver metal --script tools/capture_character_kit.gd -- --world

The docs/baselines/character_*.png images are actual Godot renders. They show the traveler, rear pack detail, preset lineup, workshop and main-world placement. These local Apple M1 Max checks do not establish a frame-time budget for a large crowd or a weaker GPU.

The workshop uses filmic tonemapping with a separately calibrated Compatibility exposure to preserve cream-fabric highlights. This only stages the authoring preview; the main world retains its existing day/night environment. Metal and Compatibility images are separate visual reviews, not a pixel-parity claim. The full Godot 4.7 gate passes 61 scenario runs (including 111 character checks) and 182 GUT tests / 2,279 assertions. The native workshop controls and profile export were also exercised directly.