Generation Quality Pass

The generation stack was tuned for better output quality. The sampler moved away from euler_ancestral at 25 steps and over to DPM++ 2M Karras at roughly 30 to 35 steps. Prompt quality tokens were also strengthened for character, weapon, and prop paths so the base generation came in with better structure before any downstream processing.

Negative prompts were expanded too. Oversaturation, flat shading, and low-detail failures were all pushed harder in the negative side because those issues were showing up enough to justify handling them systematically instead of trying to work around them manually later.

The other important change in this session was architectural rather than visual. Background removal via rembg was pulled out of Prospecting entirely and moved into Smelting where it belongs. That removed the long delay after generation that had been blocking the done event and making the earlier stage feel slower than it needed to be.

Why This Pass Matters

The quality improvements matter because they hit the first visible output in the pipeline. Better sampler behavior, more deliberate prompt tuning, and stronger negative prompts all improve the material the later stages inherit.

Moving rembg out of Prospecting was just as important as the visual tuning. It gives each stage cleaner ownership: Prospecting generates, Smelting prepares. That separation makes timing and completion states more honest, which is a big part of why the later frontend and SSE cleanup work was necessary.

Diff Log: Quality and Stage Ownership

The quality pass fixed two things at once: underperforming generation settings and the wrong stage owning background removal.

Bug / Fix

- sampler: euler_ancestral, steps: 25
+ sampler: DPM++ 2M Karras, steps: 30-35

- rembg runs during Prospecting and delays completion
+ rembg runs during Smelting only