c23. Custom OBJ Models

Build a qmap experiment that replaces one or more primitive actor meshes with imported custom .obj models from inbox/vox-exports-2/. The goal is not just to load the assets, but to validate the full diagram workflow: normalize scale/origin/orientation, preserve label and state behavior, and compare a few material and lighting strategies in the same scene.

These files are MagicaVoxel exports with .obj + .mtl + 256x1 palette PNG companions. Preserve that authored path as part of the experiment: load the .mtl, resolve the palette texture, and keep palette rendering crisp. Start with Manager.obj and Bob Wire (Sheriff).obj as the baseline import pair, then use Receptionist.obj and Robot.obj as the hero lighting/material study pair. Keep the canonical manifest on the same 12 stable asset IDs even though the folder also contains newer variant exports.

Use an experiment-first approach. Make the round-trip workflow easy so revised exports can be dropped into the same folder and reloaded repeatedly. Compare at least three material approaches (source, override, hybrid tint) and a small set of lighting presets that are intentionally different, then recommend the most readable setup for qmap's isometric view. Also test one grouped multi-asset scene using the monster family or other related exports to judge scene coherence.

As a follow-on inside c23, create a second page that duplicates the c22 runtime-session-map experiment and uses it as the integration sandbox for model-backed actors. Start conservatively: keep c22 behavior intact, then substitute only the root process first (Manager.obj as the shipped default, with Robot.obj left as a follow-on hero candidate), then selected child processes (Puzzle.obj, Helpers.obj), and only later evaluate external-host substitutions from the monster family. Keep file actors primitive until readability is proven elsewhere.

Keep scope tight. Do not generalize to every file format or replace all actor types. End with a recommendation on whether this should stay experiment-local or graduate into a narrow reusable src/ abstraction.