ghost multiplayer: full skater skeleton pose + character-model ghosts

Phase 2: replace the placeholder-cube ghost rendering with real character
models driven by the remote player's skeleton.

- Wire: POSE now carries the sender's skater skeleton (up to 64 bones, 3
  float4 rows each, index-ordered exactly like DrawItem::bones), padded with
  identity rows so every mesh's referenced bones stay in range. The relay
  forwards POSE payloads verbatim (re-stamping only the sender session id),
  so the protocol can grow without a relay update.
- Capture: OnFrameSceneBuilt (called from BuildFrameScene pre-publish)
  snapshots the local player's body item bone palette (highest-bone-count
  skinned non-ropa non-LivingWorld char item near the camera) as the
  broadcast pose; defaults the broadcast rate to 15 Hz.
- Render: in RenderScene, each remote ghost is drawn by cloning this
  player's own character pieces (body + nearby skinned char items) and
  substituting the remote skeleton into the bone ring - same meshes,
  textures and cached GPU decodes, no mesh transfer. Ghosts without a pose
  (older peers / capture not ready) fall back to the solid-color cube, which
  skate3_ghost_draw_local still uses for the self-check.

Known Phase-2 limitations (documented in code): ghosts render with this
player's own character model/outfit, cloth (ropa) garments are skipped (no
remote cloth sim), and hair/alpha pieces render opaque. All confined to
src/native and the hand-written scene hooks.

src/native/skate3_native_ghost.cpp

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #include "skate3_native_guest_read.h"
 #include "skate3_native_palette.h"
 
+#include "skate3_native_scene.h"
+
 #include "generated/skate3_init.h"
 
 #include <rex/cvar.h>
@@ -48,8 +50,9 @@ REXCVAR_DEFINE_STRING(skate3_ghost_room, "", "Skate 3",
                       "assigns one and it is shown in the multiplayer menu. "
                       "Players sharing a code see each other's ghosts.")
     .lifecycle(rex::cvar::Lifecycle::kHotReload);
-REXCVAR_DEFINE_DOUBLE(skate3_ghost_rate, 20.0, "Skate 3",
+REXCVAR_DEFINE_DOUBLE(skate3_ghost_rate, 15.0, "Skate 3",
-                      "Ghost pose broadcast rate in Hz.")
+                      "Ghost pose broadcast rate in Hz (a full skeleton pose "
+                      "is a few KB; 15 Hz is the LAN/internet sweet spot).")
     .range(1.0, 60.0)
     .lifecycle(rex::cvar::Lifecycle::kHotReload);
 REXCVAR_DEFINE_BOOL(skate3_ghost_lan, true, "Skate 3",
@@ -169,10 +172,20 @@ bool g_local_valid = false;
 float g_local_world[16] = {};
 double g_local_time = 0.0;
 
+// Local player's skater skeleton (captured per built frame from the body
+// item), identity-padded to kGhostMaxBones rows so the wire pose always has
+// a full, index-ordered palette. g_local_pose_count = live rows.
+bool g_local_pose_valid = false;
+uint16_t g_local_pose_count = 0;
+float g_local_pose[kGhostMaxBones * 12] = {};
+double g_local_pose_time = 0.0;
+
 // Remote ghosts, keyed by the sender's session id.
 struct Ghost {
   uint32_t session_id = 0;
   float world[16] = {};
+  uint16_t bone_count = 0;  // live skeleton rows (0 = no pose)
+  float bones[kGhostMaxBones * 12] = {};
   double last_seen = 0.0;
 };
 std::vector<Ghost> g_ghosts;
@@ -254,12 +267,14 @@ void SendJoin(GhostSock sock, const GhostAddr& to, bool ping) {
 
 void SendPose(GhostSock sock, const GhostAddr& to, uint32_t& seq) {
   float world[16];
+  uint16_t pose_rows = 0;
   {
     std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
     if (!g_local_valid) {
       return;
     }
     std::memcpy(world, g_local_world, sizeof(world));
+    pose_rows = g_local_pose_count;
   }
   PosePayload pp = {};
   pp.session_id = 0;  // filled by the relay
@@ -267,6 +282,12 @@ void SendPose(GhostSock sock, const GhostAddr& to, uint32_t& seq) {
   pp.timestamp = NowSec();
   std::memcpy(pp.rot, world, 9 * sizeof(float));
   std::memcpy(pp.pos, world + 12, 3 * sizeof(float));
+  if (pose_rows != 0) {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
+    std::memcpy(pp.bones, g_local_pose, size_t(pose_rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
+  }
+  pp.bone_count = pose_rows;
+  pp.flags = pose_rows != 0 ? kPoseFlagsBones : 0;
   PacketBuf p;
   BuildPacket(p, kTypePose, &pp, sizeof(pp));
   GhostSockSendTo(sock, to, &p, PacketSize(p));
@@ -298,19 +319,31 @@ void HandlePacket(const GhostAddr& from, const PacketBuf& p, double now) {
       if (!finite) {
         return;
       }
+      const uint16_t rows =
+          (pp.flags & kPoseFlagsBones) != 0
+              ? std::min<uint16_t>(pp.bone_count, kGhostMaxBones)
+              : 0;
       auto it = g_ghost_index.find(pp.session_id);
       if (it != g_ghost_index.end() && it->second < g_ghosts.size()) {
         Ghost& gh = g_ghosts[it->second];
         std::memcpy(gh.world, pp.rot, 9 * sizeof(float));
         std::memcpy(gh.world + 12, pp.pos, 3 * sizeof(float));
         gh.world[15] = 1.0f;
+        gh.bone_count = rows;
+        if (rows != 0) {
+          std::memcpy(gh.bones, pp.bones, size_t(rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
+        }
         gh.last_seen = now;
-      } else if (g_ghosts.size() < 32) {
+      } else if (g_ghosts.size() < 16) {
         Ghost gh;
         gh.session_id = pp.session_id;
         std::memcpy(gh.world, pp.rot, 9 * sizeof(float));
         std::memcpy(gh.world + 12, pp.pos, 3 * sizeof(float));
         gh.world[15] = 1.0f;
+        gh.bone_count = rows;
+        if (rows != 0) {
+          std::memcpy(gh.bones, pp.bones, size_t(rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
+        }
         gh.last_seen = now;
         g_ghost_index[pp.session_id] = g_ghosts.size();
         g_ghosts.push_back(gh);
@@ -415,6 +448,8 @@ void ResetSession() {
   g_session_lan = 0;
   g_peer_public = Peer{};
   g_peer_lan = Peer{};
+  g_local_pose_valid = false;
+  g_local_pose_count = 0;
   if (g_relay) {
     g_relay->Stop();
     g_relay.reset();
@@ -623,6 +658,76 @@ void OnLocalSkaterTick(uint8_t* base) {
   g_local_time = NowSec();
 }
 
+namespace {
+// Identity rows for a bone (column-vector affine [R|t]): the safe padding
+// for skeleton rows the sender did not capture (unreferenced or
+// off-skeleton bones render at bind/identity rather than garbage).
+void IdentityBoneRows(float* out) {
+  const float kI[12] = {1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0};
+  std::memcpy(out, kI, sizeof(kI));
+}
+
+// Stable, bright, per-session marker color.
+void GhostColor(uint32_t session_id, float color[3]) {
+  const uint32_t h = session_id * 2654435761u;
+  color[0] = float((h >> 8) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+  color[1] = float((h >> 16) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+  color[2] = float((h >> 24) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+  const float lum = color[0] * 0.3f + color[1] * 0.59f + color[2] * 0.11f;
+  if (lum < 0.45f) {
+    const float boost = 0.6f / (lum + 1e-4f);
+    color[0] = std::min(1.0f, color[0] * boost);
+    color[1] = std::min(1.0f, color[1] * boost);
+    color[2] = std::min(1.0f, color[2] * boost);
+  }
+}
+}  // namespace
+
+void OnFrameSceneBuilt(uint8_t* base,
+                       const skate3::native_scene::FrameScene& scene) {
+  (void)base;
+  if (!Enabled()) {
+    return;
+  }
+  // Identify the local player's body item: the highest-bone-count skinned
+  // non-ropa, non-LivingWorld character item near the camera (the same
+  // heuristic the renderer's char_track uses). Its bone palette is the
+  // index-ordered skater skeleton this client broadcasts.
+  const skate3::native_scene::DrawItem* body = nullptr;
+  uint32_t best_bones = 0;
+  for (const skate3::native_scene::DrawItem& it : scene.items) {
+    if (!(it.skinned && it.bones.size() >= 12) || it.ropa || it.lw_entity != 0) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (it.char_family < 1 || it.char_family > 5) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const float px = it.bones[3], py = it.bones[7], pz = it.bones[11];
+    const float dx = px - scene.cam_pos[0], dy = py - scene.cam_pos[1],
+                dz = pz - scene.cam_pos[2];
+    if (dx * dx + dy * dy + dz * dz > 25.0f) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const uint32_t nb = uint32_t(it.bones.size() / 12);
+    if (nb > best_bones) {
+      best_bones = nb;
+      body = &it;
+    }
+  }
+  if (body == nullptr || best_bones == 0) {
+    return;
+  }
+  const uint16_t rows = uint16_t(std::min<uint32_t>(best_bones, kGhostMaxBones));
+  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
+  std::memcpy(g_local_pose, body->bones.data(), size_t(rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
+  for (uint16_t r = rows; r < kGhostMaxBones; ++r) {
+    IdentityBoneRows(g_local_pose + size_t(r) * 12);
+  }
+  g_local_pose_count = rows;
+  g_local_pose_valid = true;
+  g_local_pose_time = NowSec();
+}
+
 void EnsureNetworkThread() {
   if (g_started.exchange(true)) {
     return;
@@ -666,17 +771,23 @@ bool GetGhost(uint32_t index, float world[16], float color[3]) {
   }
   const Ghost& gh = g_ghosts[index];
   std::memcpy(world, gh.world, sizeof(float) * 16);
-  // Stable color from the session id.
+  GhostColor(gh.session_id, color);
-  const uint32_t h = gh.session_id * 2654435761u;
+  return true;
-  color[0] = float((h >> 8) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+}
-  color[1] = float((h >> 16) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+
-  color[2] = float((h >> 24) & 0xFF) / 255.0f;
+bool GetGhostPose(uint32_t index, float world[16], float color[3],
-  const float lum = color[0] * 0.3f + color[1] * 0.59f + color[2] * 0.11f;
+                  uint16_t max_bones, float* bones, uint16_t* bone_count) {
-  if (lum < 0.45f) {
+  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
-    const float boost = 0.6f / (lum + 1e-4f);
+  if (index >= g_ghosts.size()) {
-    color[0] = std::min(1.0f, color[0] * boost);
+    return false;
-    color[1] = std::min(1.0f, color[1] * boost);
+  }
-    color[2] = std::min(1.0f, color[2] * boost);
+  const Ghost& gh = g_ghosts[index];
+  std::memcpy(world, gh.world, sizeof(float) * 16);
+  GhostColor(gh.session_id, color);
+  const uint16_t rows = std::min<uint16_t>(gh.bone_count, max_bones);
+  *bone_count = rows;
+  if (rows != 0) {
+    std::memcpy(bones, gh.bones, size_t(rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
   }
   return true;
 }

src/native/skate3_native_ghost.h

@@ -24,11 +24,21 @@
 
 #include "skate3_native_ghost_proto.h"
 
+namespace skate3::native_scene {
+struct FrameScene;
+}  // namespace skate3::native_scene
+
 namespace skate3::native_ghost {
 
 // ---- host-side capture (called from skate3_native_render.cpp) -------------
 void OnLocalSkaterTick(uint8_t* base);
 
+// ---- host-side pose capture (called from BuildFrameScene pre-publish) -----
+// Snapshot the local player's skater skeleton (the highest-bone-count
+// skinned non-ropa character item near the camera) as the pose this client
+// broadcasts. Called every built frame; gated internally on the enable cvar.
+void OnFrameSceneBuilt(uint8_t* base, const skate3::native_scene::FrameScene& scene);
+
 // ---- network thread lifecycle -------------------------------------------------
 void EnsureNetworkThread();
 void Shutdown();
@@ -51,6 +61,12 @@ bool GetStatus(Status* out);
 size_t GhostCount();
 // Row-vector world matrix (translation in row 3) + a stable color per ghost.
 bool GetGhost(uint32_t index, float world[16], float color[3]);
+// Full-pose variant: additionally copies up to max_bones 12-float skeleton
+// rows (the exact layout DrawItem::bones uses) so the renderer can drive a
+// real character mesh. bone_count receives the copied row count (0 = the
+// sender had no pose available; the caller should use the cube fallback).
+bool GetGhostPose(uint32_t index, float world[16], float color[3],
+                  uint16_t max_bones, float* bones, uint16_t* bone_count);
 // Self-check cube at the local captured pose (skate3_ghost_draw_local).
 bool GetLocalWorld(float world[16]);
 

src/native/skate3_native_ghost_proto.h

@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ constexpr uint8_t kGhostVersion = 1;
 constexpr uint16_t kGhostDefaultPort = 40001;
 constexpr uint32_t kGhostMaxRoomLen = 8;
 constexpr uint32_t kGhostMaxRoster = 32;
+// Max skeleton rows carried in a POSE (3 float4s per bone). The Skate 3
+// skater skeleton fits comfortably under this; rows beyond the sender's
+// captured count are identity-padded so every mesh's referenced bones stay
+// in range on the receiving side.
+constexpr uint32_t kGhostMaxBones = 64;
 // Placeholder default public relay: replace in ONE place (skate3_native_ghost.cpp).
 constexpr const char* kGhostDefaultServer = "ghost.skate3.example";
 constexpr uint16_t kGhostDefaultServerPort = 40001;
@@ -61,16 +66,27 @@ struct alignas(1) HelloPayload {
   uint32_t roster[kGhostMaxRoster];
 };
 
+// Full-pose packet (the Phase 2 character-model path): the sender's skater
+// skeleton, 3 float4 rows per bone (column-vector affine [R | t], model ->
+// world, row k = bone k exactly as the scene renderer's bone ring expects).
+// Flags bit 0 = bones[] valid. pos/rot are kept from the entity world for
+// the cube fallback / diagnostics.
 struct alignas(1) PosePayload {
   uint32_t session_id;  // set by the relay on forward (the sender's id)
   uint32_t seq;         // sender monotonic sequence
   double timestamp;     // sender monotonic seconds (informational)
-  float pos[3];         // world translation
+  float pos[3];         // world translation (entity world, row 3)
   float rot[9];         // world rotation, row-vector 3x3 (matches entity+416)
+  uint16_t bone_count;  // rows in bones[] (0 = pose unavailable)
+  uint8_t flags;        // bit0 = bones[] valid
+  uint8_t reserved;
+  float bones[kGhostMaxBones * 12];
 };
 
-// Largest payload: HelloPayload (4 + 1 + 8 + 1 + 128 = 142 bytes).
+constexpr uint8_t kPoseFlagsBones = 1;
-constexpr uint16_t kGhostMaxPayload = 256;
+
+// Largest payload: PosePayload (32 + 3072 = 3104 bytes).
+constexpr uint16_t kGhostMaxPayload = 3200;
 
 struct alignas(1) PacketBuf {
   PacketHeader h;

src/native/skate3_native_ghost_relay.cpp

@@ -184,9 +184,15 @@ void GhostRelay::HandlePacket(const GhostAddr& from, const PacketBuf& p,
         RoomSet(me->room, me->room_len, kGhostLobbyRoom);
       }
       me->last_seen = now;
-      PosePayload pose = {};
+      // Forward the payload VERBATIM to the other room members, re-stamping
-      std::memcpy(&pose, p.payload, sizeof(pose));
+      // only the sender session id at payload offset 0 (little-endian). The
-      pose.session_id = me->session_id;
+      // relay never parses the pose body, so the protocol can grow (e.g. the
+      // full skeleton palette) without a relay update.
+      PacketBuf out = p;
+      out.h.magic = kGhostMagic;
+      out.h.type = kTypePose;
+      std::memcpy(out.payload, &me->session_id, sizeof(me->session_id));
+      const uint16_t size = PacketSize(out);
       for (const Client& c : clients_) {
         if (&c == me) {
           continue;
@@ -195,8 +201,7 @@ void GhostRelay::HandlePacket(const GhostAddr& from, const PacketBuf& p,
             !RoomEquals(c.room, c.room_len, me->room, me->room_len)) {
           continue;
         }
-        BuildPacket(out, kTypePose, &pose, static_cast<uint16_t>(sizeof(pose)));
+        GhostSockSendTo(sock_, c.addr, &out, size);
-        GhostSockSendTo(sock_, c.addr, &out, PacketSize(out));
       }
       break;
     }

src/skate3_native_scene.cpp

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 
 #include "native/skate3_native_diag.h"
 #include "native/skate3_native_entity.h"
+#include "native/skate3_native_ghost.h"
 #include "native/skate3_native_guest_read.h"
 #include "native/skate3_native_lw.h"
 #include "native/skate3_native_palette.h"
@@ -10446,6 +10447,9 @@ void BuildFrameScene(uint8_t* base, const SubmitRecord* records, size_t count) {
                               std::chrono::steady_clock::now().time_since_epoch())
                               .count(),
                           std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  // Ghost multiplayer: snapshot the local player's skeleton from the final
+  // item list (the pose this client broadcasts to the relay).
+  skate3::native_ghost::OnFrameSceneBuilt(base, scene);
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_scene_mutex);
   scene.generation = ++g_generation;
   g_scene = std::make_shared<const FrameScene>(std::move(scene));

src/skate3_native_scene_gpu.cpp

@@ -10342,11 +10342,12 @@ bool RenderScene(const NativeGuestOutputRenderContext& context, void* /*user_dat
       uint32_t(frame_number % RendererState::kUiRegions) * RendererState::kUiRegionSize;
   uint32_t ui_offset = 0;
 
-  // ---- Ghost multiplayer placeholder cubes (native/skate3_native_ghost) ----
+  // ---- Ghost multiplayer (native/skate3_native_ghost) ---------------------
-  // Solid-color unit cubes at the remote players' captured world positions,
+  // Full-character ghosts: each remote player's skater skeleton (broadcast
-  // drawn inside the scene pass (depth-tested against the world like the
+  // in the POSE packets) drives a CLONE of this player's own character
-  // spline pass). Reuses the existing main-pass PSO and the scene.hlsl
+  // pieces - same meshes, same textures, same cached GPU decodes, remote
-  // tint.a > 0 solid-color branch: no new shader, no SPIR-V regeneration.
+  // pose in the bone ring. Ghosts with no pose data (older peer, capture
+  // not ready) fall back to a solid-color cube.
   if (REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_enable) && g_r.pso != nullptr &&
       g_r.ui_ring_cpu != nullptr && debug_mode == 0) {
     const uint32_t n_ghosts = skate3::native_ghost::GhostCount();
@@ -10355,55 +10356,160 @@ bool RenderScene(const NativeGuestOutputRenderContext& context, void* /*user_dat
         REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_draw_local) &&
         skate3::native_ghost::GetLocalWorld(local_world);
     if (n_ghosts != 0 || draw_local) {
+      // The mesh source: the local player's character pieces (body + nearby
+      // skinned non-ropa, non-LivingWorld items), found the same way the
+      // ghost capture on the game thread finds the body.
+      std::vector<const DrawItem*> player_pieces;
+      {
+        const DrawItem* body = nullptr;
+        uint32_t best_bones = 0;
+        float body_p[3] = {};
+        for (const DrawItem& it : scene.items) {
+          if (!(it.skinned && it.bones.size() >= 12) || it.ropa ||
+              it.lw_entity != 0) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          if (it.char_family < 1 || it.char_family > 5) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          const float px = it.bones[3], py = it.bones[7], pz = it.bones[11];
+          const float dx = px - scene.cam_pos[0], dy = py - scene.cam_pos[1],
+                      dz = pz - scene.cam_pos[2];
+          if (dx * dx + dy * dy + dz * dz > 25.0f) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          const uint32_t nb = uint32_t(it.bones.size() / 12);
+          if (nb > best_bones) {
+            best_bones = nb;
+            body = &it;
+            body_p[0] = px;
+            body_p[1] = py;
+            body_p[2] = pz;
+          }
+        }
+        if (body != nullptr) {
+          player_pieces.push_back(body);
+          for (const DrawItem& it : scene.items) {
+            if (&it == body) {
+              continue;
+            }
+            if (!(it.skinned && it.bones.size() >= 12) || it.ropa ||
+                it.lw_entity != 0) {
+              continue;
+            }
+            const float px = it.bones[3], py = it.bones[7], pz = it.bones[11];
+            const float dx = px - body_p[0], dy = py - body_p[1],
+                        dz = pz - body_p[2];
+            if (dx * dx + dy * dy + dz * dz <= 4.0f) {
+              player_pieces.push_back(&it);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      // Cube fallback geometry (also used by skate3_ghost_draw_local).
       constexpr uint32_t kCubeVerts = 36;
       const uint32_t kVertBytes =
           uint32_t(sizeof(skate3::native_ghost::GhostCubeVertex));
       const uint32_t kCubeBytes = kCubeVerts * kVertBytes;
-      if (ui_offset + kCubeBytes <= RendererState::kUiRegionSize) {
+      const bool cube_uploaded = ui_offset + kCubeBytes <= RendererState::kUiRegionSize;
+      if (cube_uploaded) {
         std::memcpy(g_r.ui_ring_cpu + ui_region + ui_offset,
                     skate3::native_ghost::CubeVertices(), kCubeBytes);
-        const uint32_t cube_offset = ui_offset;
+      }
+      const uint32_t cube_offset = ui_offset;
+      if (cube_uploaded) {
         ui_offset += kCubeBytes;
-        cmd->SetPipeline(g_r.pso);
+      }
-        cmd->SetVertexBuffer(g_r.ui_ring, ui_region + cube_offset, kCubeBytes,
+      cmd->SetPipeline(g_r.pso);
-                             kVertBytes);
+      cmd->SetVertexBuffer(g_r.ui_ring, ui_region + cube_offset, kCubeBytes,
-        cmd->SetPrimitiveTopology(nrhi::PrimitiveTopology::kTriangleList);
+                           kVertBytes);
-        cmd->SetTexture(1, g_r.white.srv);
+      cmd->SetPrimitiveTopology(nrhi::PrimitiveTopology::kTriangleList);
-        const auto draw_ghost = [&](const float world[16], const float color[3]) {
+      cmd->SetTexture(1, g_r.white.srv);
-          float constants[52] = {};
+
-          std::memcpy(constants, world, sizeof(float) * 16);
+      const auto draw_cube = [&](const float world[16], const float color[3]) {
-          float* mvp = constants + 16;
+        if (!cube_uploaded) {
-          for (int r = 0; r < 4; ++r) {
+          return;
-            for (int c = 0; c < 4; ++c) {
+        }
-              float sum = 0.0f;
+        float constants[52] = {};
-              for (int k = 0; k < 4; ++k) {
+        std::memcpy(constants, world, sizeof(float) * 16);
-                sum += constants[r * 4 + k] * scene.view_proj[k * 4 + c];
+        float* mvp = constants + 16;
-              }
+        for (int r = 0; r < 4; ++r) {
-              mvp[r * 4 + c] = sum;
+          for (int c = 0; c < 4; ++c) {
+            float sum = 0.0f;
+            for (int k = 0; k < 4; ++k) {
+              sum += constants[r * 4 + k] * scene.view_proj[k * 4 + c];
             }
-          }
+            mvp[r * 4 + c] = sum;
-          constants[32] = color[0];
-          constants[33] = color[1];
-          constants[34] = color[2];
-          constants[35] = 1.0f;  // tint.a > 0 -> solid color in ShadePixel
-          constants[36] = scene.cam_pos[0];
-          constants[37] = scene.cam_pos[1];
-          constants[38] = scene.cam_pos[2];
-          constants[39] = 0.0f;
-          cmd->SetRootConstants(0, 52, constants, 0);
-          cmd->Draw(kCubeVerts, 0);
-        };
-        for (uint32_t i = 0; i < n_ghosts; ++i) {
-          float world[16];
-          float color[3];
-          if (skate3::native_ghost::GetGhost(i, world, color)) {
-            draw_ghost(world, color);
           }
         }
-        if (draw_local) {
+        constants[32] = color[0];
-          const float local_color[3] = {0.2f, 1.0f, 0.2f};
+        constants[33] = color[1];
-          draw_ghost(local_world, local_color);
+        constants[34] = color[2];
+        constants[35] = 1.0f;  // tint.a > 0 -> solid color in ShadePixel
+        constants[36] = scene.cam_pos[0];
+        constants[37] = scene.cam_pos[1];
+        constants[38] = scene.cam_pos[2];
+        constants[39] = 0.0f;
+        cmd->SetRootConstants(0, 52, constants, 0);
+        cmd->Draw(kCubeVerts, 0);
+      };
+
+      const auto draw_model = [&](const float* pose_rows, uint16_t pose_count) {
+        if (player_pieces.empty()) {
+          return;
         }
+        // Identity world: the remote skeleton's bone 0 translation already
+        // places the ghost; mvp becomes view*proj, exactly like the real
+        // skinned items (whose bones carry the world).
+        static const float kIdent[16] = {1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0,
+                                         0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1};
+        for (const DrawItem* piece : player_pieces) {
+          DrawItem g = *piece;  // clone: same mesh/textures, remote pose
+          const uint32_t need = uint32_t(g.bones.size() / 12);
+          const uint32_t copy_rows = std::min<uint32_t>(pose_count, need);
+          g.bones.resize(size_t(need) * 12);
+          std::memcpy(g.bones.data(), pose_rows,
+                      size_t(copy_rows) * 12 * sizeof(float));
+          for (uint32_t r = copy_rows; r < need; ++r) {
+            float* row = g.bones.data() + size_t(r) * 12;
+            row[0] = 1.0f;
+            row[5] = 1.0f;
+            row[10] = 1.0f;
+          }
+          std::memcpy(g.world, kIdent, sizeof(kIdent));
+          g.ropa = false;
+          g.pending = false;
+          g.selected = false;
+          g.retained = false;
+          g.dyn_entity = false;
+          g.unlit = false;
+          g.transparent = false;
+          g.water = false;
+          g.lw_alpha = -1.0f;
+          timed_draw(g);
+        }
+      };
+
+      float ghost_world[16];
+      float ghost_color[3];
+      for (uint32_t i = 0; i < n_ghosts; ++i) {
+        float pose_scratch[skate3::native_ghost::kGhostMaxBones * 12];
+        uint16_t ghost_rows = 0;
+        if (skate3::native_ghost::GetGhostPose(
+                i, ghost_world, ghost_color,
+                uint16_t(skate3::native_ghost::kGhostMaxBones), pose_scratch,
+                &ghost_rows)) {
+          if (ghost_rows != 0) {
+            draw_model(pose_scratch, ghost_rows);
+            continue;
+          }
+          draw_cube(ghost_world, ghost_color);
+        }
+      }
+      if (draw_local) {
+        const float local_color[3] = {0.2f, 1.0f, 0.2f};
+        draw_cube(local_world, local_color);
       }
     }
   }