Ride: roadside actor figures among the props on some songs

Two seeded slots on ~40% of builds hold figures of the track's own cast, grown on first update like the crew (identity arrives via update), normalized to person-scale with feet planted via measured bounds, palette-recolored per frame, glancing around analytically. Static for the whole video: they stream with their slots and never pop. Verified variance across seeds, pose and planting.

flow-state/src/venues/ride.js

@@ -284,15 +284,28 @@ export const ride = {
         roadside.name = 'roadside';
         // 12 slots spaced 8 over [-84, +4]: house / sign / trees / billboard.
         // Billboard appears at most once, on one side, placed mid-span so it
-        // is on screen for a stretch, not a flash.
+        // is on screen for a stretch, not a flash. On ~40% of builds two
+        // slots instead hold actor figures — the track's own characters
+        // standing among the props (never the billboard slot). Static for
+        // the whole video: figures never pop in mid-shot, they stream past
+        // with their slot like every other prop.
         const billSlot = 3 + Math.floor(rng() * 6);
         const billSide = rng() < 0.5 ? -1 : 1;
+        const roadsideActors = rng() < 0.4;
+        const actorSlots = new Set();
+        if (roadsideActors) {
+            while (actorSlots.size < 2) {
+                const s = Math.floor(rng() * 12);
+                if (s !== billSlot) actorSlots.add(s);
+            }
+        }
         const roadsideMeta = [];
         const roadsidePopulation = 12;
         for (let i = 0; i < roadsidePopulation; i++) {
             const g = new T.Group();
             const side = i % 2 === 0 ? -1 : 1;
             const kind = i === billSlot ? 'billboard'
+                : actorSlots.has(i) ? 'actor'
                 : i % 3 === 0 ? 'house' : i % 3 === 1 ? 'sign' : 'trees';
             // Dressing lives far out (houses ±13-18, signs/trees ±9-13): near
             // items cross the frame in a blink, far items linger and let the
@@ -330,8 +343,7 @@ export const ride = {
                 diamond.rotation.z = Math.PI / 4;
                 diamond.rotation.y = side > 0 ? -0.35 : 0.35;
                 g.add(diamond);
-            } else if (kind === 'billboard') {
+            } else if (kind === 'billboard') {                // Two posts + big panel carrying the viz (bound in
-                // Two posts + big panel carrying the viz (bound in
                 // bindVizTexture alongside the radio). Faces the road.
                 const pGeo = new T.CylinderGeometry(0.12, 0.12, 3.4, 6);
                 for (const px of [-1.4, 1.4]) {
@@ -349,6 +361,13 @@ export const ride = {
                 panel.name = 'billboard';
                 g.add(panel);
                 g.userData.billPanel = panel;
+            } else if (kind === 'actor') {
+                // A figure of the track's own cast, grown on first update
+                // when identity arrives (same pattern as the crew): until
+                // then the slot is an empty group, which never renders.
+                g.userData.actorSlot = true;
+                g.userData.actorBuilt = false;
+                g.userData.phase = rng() * Math.PI * 2;
             } else {
                 // Trees: 2-3 cones on cylinders, dark green glow.
                 const n = 2 + Math.floor(rng() * 2);
@@ -542,9 +561,27 @@ export const ride = {
             // — the chassis above varies per track, this is what makes every
             // reading of it a convertible rather than a tractor. Painted
             // panels join the viz reflection feed (more surface mirroring the
-            // video); dark trim stays matte. All constants: identical on
+            // video); dark trim stays matte.
-            // every track, every run.
+            //
+            // Varied per track, not per run: a private rng fork (the main
+            // stream is untouched, so crew draws don't move) plus the track's
+            // shape and style. Discrete variants only ever swap whole parts
+            // that interpenetrate identically — counts never change mid-video
+            // (arrangement-static, cut-covered like everything structural).
             {
+                const trimRng = mulberry(((instance.seed >>> 0) ^ 0x7e33d21b) >>> 0);
+                const pick = (n) => Math.floor(trimRng() * n);
+                // Rear wing: none, lip, or full blade.
+                const spoilerKind = trimRng() < 0.3 ? 'none' : trimRng() < 0.72 ? 'blade' : 'lip';
+                // Rally stripes in the accent colour, or bare paint.
+                const stripeKind = trimRng() < 0.4 ? 'none' : trimRng() < 0.7 ? 'center' : 'dual';
+                // Hood intake scoop xor the spine (they share the same turf).
+                const scoop = trimRng() < 0.45;
+                // Exhausts: dual or quad.
+                const quad = trimRng() < 0.4;
+                // Chrome slats follow line weight; tilt rakes the long panels.
+                const slatCount = 2 + Math.min(2, Math.floor(styleWeight * 3));
+                const rake = (shapeTilt / Math.PI - 0.5) * 0.06;
                 const paint = cc(0);
                 const paintMat = () => vizEnvMaterial(new T.MeshStandardMaterial({
                     color: new T.Color(paint[0] * 0.85, paint[1] * 0.85, paint[2] * 0.85),
@@ -864,7 +901,7 @@ export const ride = {
                         transparent: opacity < 0.999, opacity,
                     }));
                     m.userData.partIndex = src.userData.partIndex ?? 0;
-                } else {
+            } else {
                     const col = cc(i + 1);
                     m = new T.Mesh(
                         new T.SphereGeometry(0.22, 12, 10),
@@ -1074,6 +1111,70 @@ export const ride = {
                 instance.roadside.children[i].visible = opacity > 0.001 && (i < showUpTo || i === forced);
             }
         }
+        // Roadside actors: figures of the track's cast standing among the
+        // props on some builds (seeded at build; static all video, so they
+        // stream past with their slot and never pop). Grown here, on first
+        // update, because identity only arrives via update — the crew pattern.
+        // They turn slowly to feel alive; analytic f(t), seek-stable.
+        if (instance.roadside && identity && actorSpec && actorSpec.form) {
+            for (const g of instance.roadside.children) {
+                if (!g.userData.actorSlot) continue;
+                if (!g.userData.actorBuilt) {
+                    try {
+                        const built = actorToGeometry(actorSpec, identity, T);
+                        const fig = new T.Group();
+                        fig.name = 'figure';
+                        while (built.children.length) {
+                            const m = built.children[0];
+                            built.remove(m);
+                            const pIdx = m.userData.partIndex ?? 0;
+                            const pPal = actorSpec.paletteMap
+                                ? actorSpec.paletteMap[pIdx % actorSpec.paletteMap.length] : pIdx;
+                            const c = pal[pPal % pal.length] || pal[0];
+                            m.material = new T.MeshStandardMaterial({
+                                color: new T.Color(c[0], c[1], c[2]),
+                                roughness: 0.5, metalness: 0.08,
+                                transparent: opacity < 0.999, opacity,
+                            });
+                            fig.add(m);
+                        }
+                        // Feet on the ground, person-scale: normalize the form
+                        // to ~1.6 units tall (houses run 2-4) and plant the
+                        // lowest point at the roadside level regardless of
+                        // the form's own extent or origin. Local box
+                        // (unparented) over slot scale: exact.
+                        if (fig.children.length) {
+                            const _box = new T.Box3().setFromObject(fig);
+                            const _h = _box.max.y - _box.min.y;
+                            const _s = _h > 1e-6 ? 1.6 / _h : 1;
+                            fig.scale.setScalar(_s);
+                            fig.position.y = -1.15 / g.scale.x - _s * _box.min.y;
+                        }
+                        g.add(fig);
+                        g.userData.actorFig = fig;
+                        instance.needsCompile = true;
+                    } catch { /* figure optional; the slot stays empty */ }
+                    g.userData.actorBuilt = true;
+                }
+                const fig = g.userData.actorFig;
+                if (fig) {
+                    // Glance around rather than spinning: a bystander
+                    // watching the road, not a turntable. Analytic f(t).
+                    fig.rotation.y = (g.userData.phase || 0) + Math.sin(t * 0.12) * 0.55;
+                    for (const m of fig.children) {
+                        if (!m.isMesh) continue;
+                        const pIdx = m.userData.partIndex ?? 0;
+                        const pPal = actorSpec.paletteMap
+                            ? actorSpec.paletteMap[pIdx % actorSpec.paletteMap.length] : pIdx;
+                        const c = pal[pPal % pal.length] || pal[0];
+                        m.material.color.setRGB(c[0], c[1], c[2]);
+                        m.material.opacity = opacity;
+                        m.material.transparent = opacity < 0.999;
+                        m.visible = opacity > 0.01;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
         // Dressing takes the palette tint so houses/trees belong to the song;
         // the billboard glows with the section light (its IMAGE is the viz).
         if (instance.dressMat) {