Stabilize taxi/state sync and creature spawn handling

src/rendering/camera_controller.cpp

@@ -735,9 +735,45 @@ void CameraController::update(float deltaTime) {
         }
 
         // ===== WoW-style orbit camera =====
-        // Pivot point at upper chest/neck
+        // Pivot point at upper chest/neck.
         float mountedOffset = mounted_ ? mountHeightOffset_ : 0.0f;
-        glm::vec3 pivot = targetPos + glm::vec3(0.0f, 0.0f, PIVOT_HEIGHT + mountedOffset);
+        float pivotLift = 0.0f;
+        if (terrainManager && !externalFollow_) {
+            float moved = glm::length(glm::vec2(targetPos.x - lastPivotLiftQueryPos_.x,
+                                                targetPos.y - lastPivotLiftQueryPos_.y));
+            float distDelta = std::abs(currentDistance - lastPivotLiftDistance_);
+            bool queryLift = (++pivotLiftQueryCounter_ >= PIVOT_LIFT_QUERY_INTERVAL) ||
+                             (moved >= PIVOT_LIFT_POS_THRESHOLD) ||
+                             (distDelta >= PIVOT_LIFT_DIST_THRESHOLD);
+            if (queryLift) {
+                pivotLiftQueryCounter_ = 0;
+                lastPivotLiftQueryPos_ = targetPos;
+                lastPivotLiftDistance_ = currentDistance;
+
+                // Estimate where camera sits horizontally and ensure enough terrain clearance.
+                glm::vec3 probeCam = targetPos + (-forward3D) * currentDistance;
+                auto terrainAtCam = terrainManager->getHeightAt(probeCam.x, probeCam.y);
+                auto terrainAtPivot = terrainManager->getHeightAt(targetPos.x, targetPos.y);
+
+                float desiredLift = 0.0f;
+                if (terrainAtCam) {
+                    // Keep pivot high enough so near-hill camera rays don't cut through terrain.
+                    constexpr float kMinRayClearance = 2.0f;
+                    float basePivotZ = targetPos.z + PIVOT_HEIGHT + mountedOffset;
+                    float rayClearance = basePivotZ - *terrainAtCam;
+                    if (rayClearance < kMinRayClearance) {
+                        desiredLift = std::clamp(kMinRayClearance - rayClearance, 0.0f, 1.4f);
+                    }
+                }
+                // If character is already below local terrain sample, avoid lifting aggressively.
+                if (terrainAtPivot && targetPos.z < *terrainAtPivot - 0.2f) {
+                    desiredLift = 0.0f;
+                }
+                cachedPivotLift_ = desiredLift;
+            }
+            pivotLift = cachedPivotLift_;
+        }
+        glm::vec3 pivot = targetPos + glm::vec3(0.0f, 0.0f, PIVOT_HEIGHT + mountedOffset + pivotLift);
 
         // Camera direction from yaw/pitch (already computed as forward3D)
         glm::vec3 camDir = -forward3D;  // Camera looks at pivot, so it's behind

src/rendering/celestial.cpp

@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ void Celestial::renderSun(const Camera& camera, float timeOfDay,
     // Create model matrix
     glm::mat4 model = glm::mat4(1.0f);
     model = glm::translate(model, sunPos);
-    model = glm::scale(model, glm::vec3(500.0f, 500.0f, 1.0f));  // Large and visible
+    model = glm::scale(model, glm::vec3(95.0f, 95.0f, 1.0f));  // Match WotLK-like apparent size
 
     // Set uniforms
     glm::mat4 view = camera.getViewMatrix();

src/rendering/character_renderer.cpp

@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ void CharacterRenderer::update(float deltaTime, const glm::vec3& cameraPos) {
 
     static int logCounter = 0;
     if (++logCounter >= 300) {  // Log every 10 seconds at 30fps
-        LOG_INFO("CharacterRenderer: ", updatedCount, "/", instances.size(), " instances updated (",
+        LOG_DEBUG("CharacterRenderer: ", updatedCount, "/", instances.size(), " instances updated (",
                  instances.size() - updatedCount, " culled)");
         logCounter = 0;
     }
@@ -1584,7 +1584,17 @@ void CharacterRenderer::setInstanceVisible(uint32_t instanceId, bool visible) {
 }
 
 void CharacterRenderer::removeInstance(uint32_t instanceId) {
-    instances.erase(instanceId);
+    auto it = instances.find(instanceId);
+    if (it == instances.end()) return;
+
+    // Remove child attachments first (helmets/weapons), otherwise they leak as
+    // orphan render instances when the parent creature despawns.
+    auto attachments = it->second.weaponAttachments;
+    for (const auto& wa : attachments) {
+        removeInstance(wa.weaponInstanceId);
+    }
+
+    instances.erase(it);
 }
 
 bool CharacterRenderer::getAnimationState(uint32_t instanceId, uint32_t& animationId,

src/rendering/m2_renderer.cpp

@@ -2053,7 +2053,7 @@ void M2Renderer::render(const Camera& camera, const glm::mat4& view, const glm::
     static int frameCounter = 0;
     if (++frameCounter >= 120) {
         frameCounter = 0;
-        LOG_INFO("M2 Render: ", totalMs, " ms (culling/sort: ", cullingSortMs,
+        LOG_DEBUG("M2 Render: ", totalMs, " ms (culling/sort: ", cullingSortMs,
                  " ms, draw: ", drawLoopMs, " ms) | ", sortedVisible_.size(), " visible | ",
                  totalBatchesDrawn, " batches | ", boneMatrixUploads, " bone uploads");
     }

src/rendering/renderer.cpp

@@ -2143,7 +2143,7 @@ void Renderer::update(float deltaTime) {
 
     // Log renderer profiling every 60 frames
     if (++rendProfileCounter >= 60) {
-        LOG_INFO("RENDERER UPDATE PROFILE (60 frames): camera=", camTime / 60.0f,
+        LOG_DEBUG("RENDERER UPDATE PROFILE (60 frames): camera=", camTime / 60.0f,
                  "ms light=", lightTime / 60.0f, "ms charAnim=", charAnimTime / 60.0f,
                  "ms terrain=", terrainTime / 60.0f, "ms sky=", skyTime / 60.0f,
                  "ms charRend=", charRendTime / 60.0f, "ms audio=", audioTime / 60.0f,