Fix MSAA 8x crash and eliminate redundant GPU stalls

- Add error handling: revert to 1x if recreateSwapchain fails
- Clamp requested MSAA to device maximum before applying
- Retry MSAA color image allocation without TRANSIENT on failure
- Remove redundant vkDeviceWaitIdle from WMO/M2/Character recreatePipelines
  (caller already waits once, was causing ~13 stalls instead of 1)

src/rendering/character_renderer.cpp

@@ -2568,7 +2568,6 @@ void CharacterRenderer::dumpAnimations(uint32_t instanceId) const {
 void CharacterRenderer::recreatePipelines() {
     if (!vkCtx_) return;
     VkDevice device = vkCtx_->getDevice();
-    vkDeviceWaitIdle(device);
 
     // Destroy old main-pass pipelines (NOT shadow, NOT pipeline layout)
     if (opaquePipeline_)    { vkDestroyPipeline(device, opaquePipeline_, nullptr); opaquePipeline_ = VK_NULL_HANDLE; }

src/rendering/m2_renderer.cpp

@@ -3683,7 +3683,6 @@ float M2Renderer::raycastBoundingBoxes(const glm::vec3& origin, const glm::vec3&
 void M2Renderer::recreatePipelines() {
     if (!vkCtx_) return;
     VkDevice device = vkCtx_->getDevice();
-    vkDeviceWaitIdle(device);
 
     // Destroy old main-pass pipelines (NOT shadow, NOT pipeline layouts)
     if (opaquePipeline_)            { vkDestroyPipeline(device, opaquePipeline_, nullptr); opaquePipeline_ = VK_NULL_HANDLE; }

src/rendering/renderer.cpp

@@ -726,16 +726,25 @@ void Renderer::shutdown() {
 void Renderer::setMsaaSamples(VkSampleCountFlagBits samples) {
     if (!vkCtx) return;
 
+    // Clamp to device maximum
+    VkSampleCountFlagBits maxSamples = vkCtx->getMaxUsableSampleCount();
+    if (samples > maxSamples) samples = maxSamples;
+
     VkSampleCountFlagBits current = vkCtx->getMsaaSamples();
     if (samples == current) return;
 
     LOG_INFO("Changing MSAA from ", static_cast<int>(current), "x to ", static_cast<int>(samples), "x");
 
+    // Single GPU wait — all subsequent operations are CPU-side object creation
     vkDeviceWaitIdle(vkCtx->getDevice());
 
     // Set new MSAA and recreate swapchain (render pass, depth, MSAA image, framebuffers)
     vkCtx->setMsaaSamples(samples);
-    vkCtx->recreateSwapchain(window->getWidth(), window->getHeight());
+    if (!vkCtx->recreateSwapchain(window->getWidth(), window->getHeight())) {
+        LOG_ERROR("MSAA change failed — reverting to 1x");
+        vkCtx->setMsaaSamples(VK_SAMPLE_COUNT_1_BIT);
+        vkCtx->recreateSwapchain(window->getWidth(), window->getHeight());
+    }
 
     // Recreate all sub-renderer pipelines (they embed sample count from render pass)
     if (terrainRenderer) terrainRenderer->recreatePipelines();
@@ -758,7 +767,6 @@ void Renderer::setMsaaSamples(VkSampleCountFlagBits samples) {
         if (auto* lf = skySystem->getLensFlare()) lf->recreatePipelines();
     }
 
-    // Lightning is standalone (not instantiated in Renderer, no action needed)
     // Selection circle + overlay use lazy init, just destroy them
     VkDevice device = vkCtx->getDevice();
     if (selCirclePipeline) { vkDestroyPipeline(device, selCirclePipeline, nullptr); selCirclePipeline = VK_NULL_HANDLE; }

src/rendering/vk_context.cpp

@@ -384,8 +384,13 @@ bool VkContext::createMsaaColorImage() {
     allocInfo.preferredFlags = VK_MEMORY_PROPERTY_LAZILY_ALLOCATED_BIT;
 
     if (vmaCreateImage(allocator, &imgInfo, &allocInfo, &msaaColorImage_, &msaaColorAllocation_, nullptr) != VK_SUCCESS) {
-        LOG_ERROR("Failed to create MSAA color image");
-        return false;
+        // Retry without TRANSIENT (some drivers reject it at high sample counts)
+        imgInfo.usage = VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT;
+        allocInfo.preferredFlags = 0;
+        if (vmaCreateImage(allocator, &imgInfo, &allocInfo, &msaaColorImage_, &msaaColorAllocation_, nullptr) != VK_SUCCESS) {
+            LOG_ERROR("Failed to create MSAA color image");
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
     VkImageViewCreateInfo viewInfo{};

src/rendering/wmo_renderer.cpp

@@ -2884,7 +2884,6 @@ float WMORenderer::raycastBoundingBoxes(const glm::vec3& origin, const glm::vec3
 void WMORenderer::recreatePipelines() {
     if (!vkCtx_) return;
     VkDevice device = vkCtx_->getDevice();
-    vkDeviceWaitIdle(device);
 
     // Destroy old main-pass pipelines (NOT shadow, NOT pipeline layout)
     if (opaquePipeline_)      { vkDestroyPipeline(device, opaquePipeline_, nullptr); opaquePipeline_ = VK_NULL_HANDLE; }