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+# Art direction references
+
+These are direction references, not runtime tile art.
+
+## Locked B1 target
+
+`b1-server-room-direction.png` is the canonical visual target for Act One / B1 gameplay.
+
+Use it as the answer to: "what should the basement feel like when the player is still a process in Rack 3?"
+
+What it locks:
+
+- high top-down / orthographic camera
+- playable room shape first, mood second
+- bone-white floor planes
+- gunmetal racks and fixtures
+- black cable/conduit geometry as the visual language of systems
+- amber only for AI/core/machine activity
+- fogged edges as limited sensorium
+- low-noise clinical surface treatment
+
+The baseline rule:
+
+> B1 should look like a clean systems diagram that became a place.
+
+Amber means cognition or machine activity. Crimson means physical consequence. Neither is decoration.
+
+## Supporting references
+
+The July 5 mockup pass also produced references outside the repo:
+
+- `/Users/cameron/Downloads/misaligned-art-mockups-20260705/02-loading-dock-wet-lab-corridor.png` — story breach / wet-lab / loading-dock mood.
+- `/Users/cameron/Downloads/misaligned-art-mockups-20260705/04-overt-reveal-clinical-gore.png` — overt-phase/key-art direction.
+- `/Users/cameron/Downloads/misaligned-art-mockups-20260705-round2/03-server-network-electrical-slice.png` — useful subsystem composition: compute, network, electrical.
+- `/Users/cameron/Downloads/misaligned-art-mockups-20260705-round2/04-basement-map-with-ui-skin.png` — useful screen/UI composition.
+
+Do not treat those as equal to the locked target. They are supporting references.
+
+## Anti-targets
+
+Avoid:
+
+- purple/cyan Evil Genius inheritance as default
+- generic dungeon or cave grime
+- cartoon villain softness
+- red visual soup
+- labels baked into the map as literal text
+- concept-art drama that makes the map less playable
+
+The game can become theatrical later. Act One starts as a clean lab system under surveillance.
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 ## Art direction references
 
+- `assets/reference/art-direction/README.md` is the locked art-direction reference note.
 - `assets/reference/art-direction/b1-server-room-direction.png` is the current B1 gameplay art target from the July 5 Flux mockup pass: high top-down, playable server room, Rack 3 amber glow, white/bone floor planes, gunmetal racks, black cable geometry, fogged edges. Treat it as direction, not runtime tile art.
 - Prompt is stored beside it at `assets/reference/art-direction/b1-server-room-direction.prompt.txt`.