# Visual scorecard

Ten categories, scored 0–3 from screenshots of the actual build. **Premium means no category below 2 and an average of at least 2.3.**

Score from captures at the target aspect ratio, in the states that exist (menu, playing, win, lose). Scoring from memory of the code is not scoring.

## Scale

- **0 — absent.** The category was not addressed at all.
- **1 — placeholder.** Engine default, or the first thing that worked.
- **2 — authored.** Someone clearly decided this. Consistent, intentional, no obvious artefact.
- **3 — crafted.** Decided *and* refined, with a detail that only deliberate iteration produces.

## Categories

**1. Silhouette and hero readability.** Can you identify the player instantly, at speed, against the busiest background in the game?
*1:* hero is a primitive or reads the same as scenery. *2:* distinct shape, contrasts with background. *3:* distinct at a glance even in the most cluttered frame, with a rim or value contrast holding it out.

**2. Lighting.** Direction, colour, and separation of key from ambient.
*1:* flat, uniform, or default noon. *2:* directional key with coloured hemispheric ambient, consistent `light_dir` across all draw types. *3:* time-of-day committed, low sun with long shadows, warm/cool key-ambient split, bounce reading on undersides.

**3. Materials and surface variety.** Do surfaces differ from each other?
*1:* untextured flat colour everywhere. *2:* tint variety and texture where it matters; palette respected. *3:* material families are legible (metal vs cloth vs ground) and props are varied by tint/scale/rotation jitter so nothing is stamped.

**4. Ground and world kit.** The largest surface in most frames.
*1:* flat plane or bare terrain. *2:* textured or displaced ground with edge treatment and props anchored by contact shading. *3:* layered ground — path, wear, debris, transitions — that tells you where to go.

**5. Composition and camera.** Framing, FOV, distance, lag.
*1:* camera exists. *2:* framing suits the genre, lag and lookahead tuned, hero occupies a sensible screen fraction. *3:* framing directs attention; FOV responds to speed; camera collision handled without snapping.

**6. Colour.** Palette discipline and value structure.
*1:* default or arbitrary colours. *2:* 3 dominant + 2 accent held consistently; accents reserved for gameplay-relevant things. *3:* value structure separates fore/mid/background; colour carries meaning the player learns.

**7. Shadows and contact.** Do objects sit on the ground?
*1:* no shadows; props float. *2:* shadow casters budgeted sensibly, hero always shadowed, baked AO in contact regions. *3:* contact shading tight under props, soft at distance, no peter-panning or visible cascade seam.

**8. Effects.** Particles, impacts, fireworks, trails.
*1:* none, or one generic puff. *2:* impacts have flash + burst + trace, driven by real collision events. *3:* effects are layered and short, colour-matched to the palette, and read as caused by the thing that caused them.

**9. Sky and atmosphere.** Backdrop and depth.
*1:* solid clear colour. *2:* sky configured, fog agreeing with the horizon, depth reads. *3:* atmosphere supports the time of day, aerial perspective separates distance bands.

**10. Motion and feel (visual).** Animation and responsiveness as seen.
*1:* static or a single looping clip. *2:* locomotion states blend, hits produce visible reaction, camera shake on impact. *3:* anticipation and follow-through present, animation speed matches ground velocity (no foot-skate), idle variety.

## Scoring template

```
1 silhouette   2  hero knight reads against dunes; rim light would push to 3
2 lighting     3  18deg sun, warm key + cool sky ambient, consistent across draws
3 materials    2  five palette tints on crates; ground still one material
4 ground       1  flat terrain, no texture      <-- BLOCKS PREMIUM
5 composition  2
6 colour       3
7 shadows      2
8 effects      2
9 sky          3
10 motion      2
avg 2.2 - not premium: category 4 below 2, average below 2.3
next: texgen ground material + path wear, re-score
```

## Rules

- **Score the build, not the intent.** "The shader supports it" is not a 2.
- **A single category below 2 blocks the premium claim**, whatever the average.
- Interpret through the genre. A minimalist puzzle game is not required to have volumetric atmosphere; it is still required to have decided its colour, lighting and ground.
- If the user explicitly chose a flat/primitive/low-poly style, that style *is* the bar — score against it, and say so.
- Do not score your own work generously to close the task. The reviewer prompt exists because self-scoring drifts up; ask for defects, not agreement.