# STELLAR PASSAGE — build log

A No Man's Sky-flavored exploration slice. Fly from orbit, descend through the
atmosphere, walk an alien surface, scan flora, mine crystals, repair the drive,
hop to a second, totally different world. Everything procedural & seed-driven.

## Rubric (score 1-10 each on fresh screenshots)
1. Space view (planet + atmosphere rim)
2. Landing / atmospheric-entry moment
3. Surface vista depth
4. Flora alienness + variety
5. Cross-planet contrast

Stop when all five are 8+ on fresh shots, build green, 60fps budget — or turn cap.

---

### Iteration 1 — first end-to-end build
All modules wired, build green, 5 vantages capture without runtime errors.
Honest scores (harsh — "would a stranger say whoa?"):

| # | item | score | notes |
|---|------|-------|-------|
| 1 | space view        | 4 | planet+rim read, but washed grey, **lit side backwards** (view-space lighting), no visible stars, no ship in frame |
| 2 | landing moment    | 5 | radial speed-lines + sun read well, but overlay too white/washed, low drama |
| 3 | surface vista     | 2 | white-out — fog too dense + sky/sun glare blow out the frame |
| 4 | flora variety     | 3 | a few crystal clusters peek through; rest lost in haze |
| 5 | cross-planet      | 4 | strong *contrast* (pale-pink vs near-black ember) but both broken — one over-bright, one near-black |

**Root causes (high leverage):** fog density + sky/sun brightness blow out surfaces;
exposure not tuned per-mode; planet surface lighting in view-space (inverted);
stars use size-attenuation at 6000u (sub-pixel); palettes read desaturated; volcanic
planet ambient too low. Banner + names + HUD + scan/mine plumbing all working.

Fix order: rendering fundamentals (fog/exposure/sky) → planet lighting → stars →
saturation → composition (frame ship + flora) → entry drama.

---

### Iteration 2 — rendering fundamentals + composition
Fixed: world-space planet lighting; crisp 2-layer starfield; per-mode exposure;
tightened sun glow (no more sky white-out); saturated/lowered fog with dedicated
fog colors; lifted volcanic palette out of near-black; soft round particles/sparks
(were hard white squares); reworked space planet shading (visible pink/teal bands);
side-sun + horizon-descent reframe for entry; denser scannables + cluster-aimed scan
cam (now 5 plates); lower dramatic surface sun; bigger parked ship.

| # | item | score | notes |
|---|------|-------|-------|
| 1 | space view        | 7   | vivid banded planet + teal rim + starfield; terminator still weak |
| 2 | landing moment    | 7.5 | reads as a real atmospheric horizon-dive now; want engine glow + a touch more heat |
| 3 | surface vista     | 7.5 | deep coral dunes, alien teal flora foreground, ship visible; horizon sun-blob a bit hot |
| 4 | flora variety     | 8   | coral fans / crystals / tube-trees / frond-fans reading as distinct & alien |
| 5 | cross-planet      | 8.5 | pale-coral/teal world vs crimson-ember world — clearly different planets |

Next: space terminator (sun side-angle + shader contrast); diving-ship engine glow;
tame surface horizon sun-blob; add a visible scan wavefront; verify fps budget.

