Diod v0.1.0.4 — Third-person graphics pass
Stage: Pre-alpha

Third-person shoulder camera with wheel zoom, obstruction handling, camera-relative movement and a visible animated character. Riding shows the seated rider. Camera distance is saved and older saves receive the default. Interaction, tool and construction targeting account for character reach; camera distance does not grant extra reach.

Horse and deer visuals now use skeletal models through a shared configurable asset adapter. The horse has new coat, mane/tail/eye details and grounded walk/trot clips. Deer retain existing gameplay and use the adapted doe model. Distant mountains use denser nearby horizon sampling within the previous vertex budget, slope-aware rock exposure and coherent shading. Terrain heights, excavation and normal saves are preserved. Physics-body capacity was raised after populated traversal hit the previous engine limit.

This is an initial graphics improvement, not final animal art or a claim of Bellwright-level fidelity. Species-specific deer art, richer gaits/hoof placement, bespoke riding animation, global navigation and further landscape work remain. Existing river-generation warnings remain. Normal player data was not reset or packaged.

Validation: actual Linux export passed save/content/Earth identity, 10 third-person camera checks, grounded movement/legacy-save migration, 42 horse rules, projectile collision/persistence, bow hand IK and 50 settlement rule checks. Prior source checks also covered foundation, construction, farming and production. Rendered asset/rider and third-person world views were inspected on Linux software rendering; these are not desktop performance benchmarks. Windows icon sizes/groups and numeric metadata passed. Mac bundle identity/version and both x86_64/arm64 executable slices were checked before Apple submission. The Mac app is freshly Developer ID signed, Apple notarized and stapled (accepted submission e360b5a4-e668-49db-9ace-ed842eb3621d); publication is guarded by the matching approval receipt.

Local testing: native Mac/Windows gameplay, Mac Gatekeeper assessment and the full visual/gameplay acceptance pass are pending the owner's download test. Bow input and finite ammunition were exercised with a window backend and projectile physics checks passed, but the scripted moving-deer hunt did not obtain a hit; moving-target aim and the complete hunt-to-meal route remain local-QA items. Headless input cannot establish mouse-captured bow acceptance. Horse mounting/movement/dismount and one fresh mounted/cargo restore were observed; repeated restart-fixture runs after dismount are not new mount-restore evidence. The live worker is provided by the settlement manager, not the older static Mara display. No interrupted or failed full-route fixture is reported as a complete pass.