Prioritize investor visual credibility

AGRARIAN_DEVELOPMENT_ROADMAP.md

@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ Roadmap headings now use release-style milestone numbers. Subsections use letter
 labels such as `0.1.A`, `0.1.B`, and `0.1.C` so they do not look like
 separate versions.
 
-## Active Milestone - Version 0.2.A Land And Claiming
+## Active Milestone - Version 0.2.0 Investor Visual Credibility Baseline
 
 Status: not started.
 
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ Current reset baseline as of 2026-05-21:
 - [x] Git LFS fsck passes.
 - [x] Generated Unreal folders remain ignored.
 - [x] Version 0.1 implementation track is complete through `0.1.S`.
-- [ ] Start the next milestone with only `0.2.A Land And Claiming`.
+- [ ] Start the next milestone with only `0.2.0 Investor Visual Credibility Baseline`.
+- [ ] After `0.2.0` is complete and verified, move to `0.2.A Land And Claiming`.
 - [ ] After `0.2.A` is complete and verified, choose the next milestone deliberately rather than letting the roadmap sprawl drive work out of order.
 
 Coding rule for the next phase:
@@ -933,7 +934,29 @@ Target deliverable: A small group can join a server, spawn into one biome, gathe
 
 # Version 0.2 - Persistent Homesteading
 
-Goal: Transition from temporary survival into lasting settlement and land stewardship.
+Goal: first make the version 0.1 systems foundation visually credible enough
+for investor review, then transition from temporary survival into lasting
+settlement and land stewardship.
+
+## 0.2.0 Investor Visual Credibility Baseline
+
+Purpose: replace the most visible MVP placeholders before adding deeper
+homesteading systems, so every new 0.2 feature is built on a world that already
+looks intentional, grounded, and investor-readable.
+
+Required order:
+
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade the terrain material first so Ground Zero no longer reads as flat tan placeholder ground.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade grasses, shrubs, and trees with believable coastal-scrub vegetation assets, density, color variation, scale variation, and LOD/performance limits.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade freshwater visuals with readable water surface, edge treatment, bank dressing, reflection/roughness tuning, and collectability cues.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade character bodies and clothing so selected characters read as realistic near-future post-collapse frontier people rather than template mannequins or proxy stacks.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade resource objects so wood, stone, fiber, edible plants, pickups, and gathered items look like world objects rather than debug primitives.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade fire and smoke so campfires have believable flame, ember, smoke, heat, and fuel-state visuals without requiring ray tracing.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade shelter pieces so primitive structures read as plausible built objects with material identity, not composed placeholder geometry.
+- [ ] Replace or upgrade wildlife visuals so the first animal prototype reads as a living creature with appropriate silhouette, scale, material, and animation target.
+- [ ] Verify the non-ray-traced default still looks credible; ray tracing remains optional/cinematic only.
+- [ ] Capture fresh investor screenshots after the pass: startup/credits, character selection, first spawn, terrain, vegetation, water, campfire, shelter, pause/save flow, and one gameplay interaction.
+- [ ] Do not start `0.2.A Land And Claiming` until this visual baseline is good enough to show without explaining that the world is still placeholder-heavy.
 
 ## 0.2.A Land And Claiming
 

Docs/CodebaseReadinessReview.md

@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ VM.
   `NullRHI` mode with `0 error(s)`.
 - The old roadmap project-location block was stale and has been reset to the
   Ubuntu Unreal VM plus Gitea workflow.
-- The next coding phase should begin with exactly `0.2.A Land And Claiming`,
-  not scattered open items from later design sections.
+- The next coding phase should begin with exactly
+  `0.2.0 Investor Visual Credibility Baseline`, then move to
+  `0.2.A Land And Claiming` after the investor-facing world no longer reads as
+  placeholder-heavy.
 
 ## 0.1 Completion Check
 
@@ -91,7 +93,10 @@ statements, not incomplete `0.1` implementation tasks.
 
 ## 0.2 Engineering Priorities
 
-- Start with `0.2.A Land And Claiming` and finish it before moving to farming,
+- Start with `0.2.0 Investor Visual Credibility Baseline`: terrain material,
+  grasses/shrubs/trees, water, character bodies/clothing, resource objects,
+  fire/smoke, shelter pieces, and wildlife, in that order.
+- Then finish `0.2.A Land And Claiming` before moving to farming,
   domestication, storage, or economy work.
 - Keep land claims, farming, storage, household tasks, and future economy state
   server-authoritative from the first implementation pass.