diff --git a/backend/src/objects/character-physical.ts b/backend/src/objects/character-physical.ts
index de85b1d..ae72c0f 100644
--- a/backend/src/objects/character-physical.ts
+++ b/backend/src/objects/character-physical.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   UpdatePropertyCommand,
   CommandExecutors,
   CommandReceiver,
+  CharacterMovementSnapshot,
   mix,
   clamp01,
   stepCharacterMovement,
@@ -209,10 +210,18 @@ export class CharacterPhysical extends CharacterBase implements DynamicPhysical
     return this.currentPlanet;
   }
 
-  // Persistent launch momentum, streamed to the owning client so its predictor
-  // can reproduce a leap/slingshot/recoil flight instead of only snapping to it.
-  public get launchMomentum(): vec2 {
-    return this.bodyVelocity;
+  // The continuous movement state streamed to the owning client, so its
+  // predictor resumes this simulation instead of guessing at the parts of it
+  // the pose does not show. See CharacterMovementSnapshot.
+  public get movementSnapshot(): CharacterMovementSnapshot {
+    return new CharacterMovementSnapshot(
+      this.direction,
+      vec2.clone(this.bodyVelocity),
+      vec2.clone(this.leftFoot.lastNormal),
+      vec2.clone(this.rightFoot.lastNormal),
+      this.currentPlanet?.id ?? null,
+      this.secondsSinceOnSurface,
+    );
   }
 
   public addKill(victimName: string, charge = 0) {
diff --git a/backend/src/players/player.ts b/backend/src/players/player.ts
index 459a88e..0a2ca8b 100644
--- a/backend/src/players/player.ts
+++ b/backend/src/players/player.ts
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ export class Player extends PlayerBase {
       this.queueCommandSend(
         new InputAcknowledgement(
           this.lastInputClientTimeMs,
-          this.character.launchMomentum,
+          this.character.movementSnapshot,
           this.lastLeapClientTimeMs,
           this.lastInputReceiptMs > 0
             ? Math.max(0, performance.now() - this.lastInputReceiptMs)
@@ -369,6 +369,10 @@ export class Player extends PlayerBase {
       const sheddable: ReadonlyArray<string> = [
         PropertyUpdatesForObjects.type,
         UpdateMinimap.type,
+        // Only meaningful together with the pose it describes, and regenerated
+        // in full next tick — so it is shed with it rather than advancing the
+        // client's replay anchor past a snapshot it never received.
+        InputAcknowledgement.type,
       ];
       this.commandsToBeSent = this.commandsToBeSent.filter(
         (c) => !sheddable.includes(c.type),
diff --git a/frontend/src/scripts/game.ts b/frontend/src/scripts/game.ts
index b63ad51..8fb4379 100644
--- a/frontend/src/scripts/game.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/scripts/game.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ import { PlanetShape } from './shapes/planet-shape';
 import { RenderCommand } from './commands/types/render';
 import { StepCommand } from './commands/types/step';
 import { serverTimeline } from './helper/server-timeline';
-import { localCharacterPredictor } from './helper/prediction/local-character-predictor';
+import {
+  localCharacterPredictor,
+  setFrameTimeMs,
+} from './helper/prediction/local-character-predictor';
 import { Tutorial } from './tutorial';
 import { Scoreboard } from './scoreboard';
 import { Minimap } from './minimap';
@@ -226,7 +229,7 @@ export class Game extends CommandReceiver {
     [InputAcknowledgement.type]: (c: InputAcknowledgement) =>
       localCharacterPredictor.acknowledge(
         c.clientTimeMs,
-        c.bodyVelocity,
+        c.movement,
         c.lastLeapClientTimeMs,
         c.ackAgeMs,
       ),
@@ -334,10 +337,16 @@ export class Game extends CommandReceiver {
   private framesSinceLastLayoutUpdate = 0;
   private gameLoop(
     renderer: Renderer,
-    _: DOMHighResTimeStamp,
+    currentTime: DOMHighResTimeStamp,
     deltaTime: DOMHighResTimeStamp,
   ): boolean {
     this.resolveStarted();
+    // The client's one clock, for input stamps, the outgoing send cadence and
+    // the prediction replay window alike. It has to be the frame's timestamp
+    // rather than performance.now(): the two differ by however long the browser
+    // took to dispatch this callback, and that difference would land straight
+    // in the replay window and jitter the predicted body.
+    setFrameTimeMs(currentTime);
     deltaTime /= 1000;
 
     // Decay the camera impact effects on raw wall-clock time, before any of the
diff --git a/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/client-character-world.ts b/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/client-character-world.ts
index a08dbc5..b09390d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/client-character-world.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/client-character-world.ts
@@ -118,10 +118,6 @@ export class ClientCharacterWorld implements CharacterWorld {
     return id == null ? undefined : this.surfaces.get(id);
   }
 
-  public idOf(surface: GroundSurface | undefined): Id | undefined {
-    return surface instanceof PlanetSurface ? surface.id : undefined;
-  }
-
   public groundsNear(): Array<GroundSurface> {
     return this.ordered;
   }
diff --git a/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor.ts b/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor.ts
index 5862347..5363224 100644
--- a/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import { vec2 } from 'gl-matrix';
 import {
   Circle,
+  CharacterMovementSnapshot,
   CharacterMovementState,
-  Id,
   PhysicsBody,
   settings,
   stepCharacterMovement,
@@ -17,18 +17,22 @@ import { InputHistory } from './input-history';
 const stepMs = 1000 / 200; // match the server's 200 Hz fixed tick
 const stepSeconds = 1 / 200;
 
-// Clock source for the predictor. Injectable so deterministic reconciliation
-// tests can drive prediction without real time passing; defaults to the
-// browser wall clock in production.
-let nowMs: () => number = () => performance.now();
-export const setPredictorClockForTesting = (clock: () => number): void => {
-  nowMs = clock;
+// The client's clock: the timestamp of the frame currently being rendered, set
+// once per frame by the game loop (requestAnimationFrame hands it to us
+// already). Everything time-related on the client reads it from here, so input
+// stamps, the outgoing send cadence and the replay window all sit on one
+// timeline.
+//
+// Sampling performance.now() ad hoc instead — which is what this used to do —
+// reads the frame's *dispatch* time, and the few ms of scheduling jitter
+// between the frame's timestamp and the callback actually running went straight
+// into the replay window. The body then advanced by a slightly different amount
+// than the frame it was drawn in.
+let frameTimeMs = 0;
+export const setFrameTimeMs = (timeMs: number): void => {
+  frameTimeMs = timeMs;
 };
-
-// The same clock the predictor stamps input with. Anything that tells the server
-// "this is how far my input timeline has got" must read it from here, or the
-// acknowledgement comes back in a different time base than the replay window.
-export const predictorNowMs = (): number => nowMs();
+export const predictorNowMs = (): number => frameTimeMs;
 
 // Don't replay more than this far back: if the last acknowledged input is older
 // (a stall, or a backgrounded tab catching up) fall back to a shorter window
@@ -46,11 +50,15 @@ const smoothSeconds = 0.06;
 // the predictor doesn't model. Snap to it rather than gliding across the gap.
 const snapDistance = 250;
 
-const makeBody = (center: vec2, radius: number): PhysicsBody => ({
+const upwards = vec2.fromValues(0, 1);
+
+// Velocity is deliberately zero: the movement simulation rebuilds it from
+// scratch every tick and zeroes it again at the end, so it is not carried state.
+const makeBody = (center: vec2, radius: number, normal: vec2): PhysicsBody => ({
   center: vec2.clone(center),
   radius,
   velocity: vec2.create(),
-  lastNormal: vec2.fromValues(0, 1),
+  lastNormal: vec2.fromValues(normal[0], normal[1]),
   restitution: 0,
 });
 
@@ -77,12 +85,12 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
   // snapshot was actually taken. Both halves are needed.
   //
   // Anchoring on the acknowledged input time ALONE beats against the send
-  // cadence: input is sent once per frame, so at snapshot time the newest input
-  // the server holds is 0..1 frame old depending on where the client's frames
-  // fell, and that age lands directly in the replay window. Measured on
-  // localhost it walked a sawtooth — 17, 10, 6, 1, 11, 6, 2, 12 ms — so the
-  // window jumped by up to a frame of travel every snapshot and the body
-  // stuttered at 25 Hz. ackAgeMs cancels it exactly.
+  // cadence: at snapshot time the newest input the server holds is 0..1 send
+  // interval old depending on where the client's sends fell, and that age lands
+  // directly in the replay window. Measured on localhost it walked a sawtooth —
+  // 17, 10, 6, 1, 11, 6, 2, 12 ms — so the window jumped by up to a frame of
+  // travel every snapshot and the body stuttered at 25 Hz. ackAgeMs cancels it
+  // exactly.
   //
   // Anchoring on the snapshot's ARRIVAL is free of that beat, but it under-
   // advances by a one-way trip, so the local body trails its own input at any
@@ -93,14 +101,17 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
   // altogether; that is fixed at the source, by closing every outgoing batch
   // with a ClientHeartbeatCommand.
   private replayAnchorMs?: number;
-  // Authoritative launch momentum at the last snapshot — seeds each replay so a
-  // leap/slingshot/recoil flight is reproduced and continuously corrected.
-  private authoritativeBodyVelocity = vec2.create();
-  // Wall-clock times the player issued a leap, replayed (with the impulse
-  // applied locally) so the launch is felt immediately, not after a round trip.
+  // The rest of the server's movement state at that same instant: facing
+  // direction, launch momentum, foot contact normals and the latched planet.
+  // Together with the pose above it is everything stepCharacterMovement carries
+  // between ticks, so a replay continues the server's simulation instead of
+  // approximating it.
+  private movement?: CharacterMovementSnapshot;
+  // Frame times the player issued a leap, replayed (with the impulse applied
+  // locally) so the launch is felt immediately, not after a round trip.
   private leapHistory: Array<number> = [];
   // clientTimeMs of the last leap the server has folded into the streamed
-  // momentum. Leaps at or before this are already in authoritativeBodyVelocity;
+  // momentum. Leaps at or before this are already in movement.bodyVelocity;
   // only newer ones are replayed, so a leap is never applied twice.
   private lastLeapAckMs = -Infinity;
   // Latest streamed shooting-strength, to gate predicted leaps as the server does.
@@ -112,13 +123,6 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
   // that still moved would be a pure client-side desync.
   private alive = true;
 
-  // Continuous state carried between replays (the snapshot carries only poses).
-  // The facing direction is NOT carried — it is re-derived from the pose each
-  // frame (see directionFromPose / simulate); only the latched planet and the
-  // time-since-surface persist.
-  private carriedPlanetId?: Id;
-  private carriedSecondsSinceSurface = 1;
-
   // The eased, rendered pose handed to the view.
   private renderHead = new Circle(vec2.create(), headRadius);
   private renderLeftFoot = new Circle(vec2.create(), feetRadius);
@@ -135,27 +139,27 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
     return this.renderRightFoot;
   }
 
-  // Stamp a movement command and record it for replay. Returns the wall-clock
+  // Stamp a movement command and record it for replay. Returns the client-clock
   // time the command should carry so the server can echo it back.
   public recordInput(direction: vec2): number {
-    const timeMs = Math.round(nowMs());
+    const timeMs = Math.round(frameTimeMs);
     this.inputHistory.record(direction, timeMs);
     return timeMs;
   }
 
   public acknowledge(
     clientTimeMs: number,
-    bodyVelocity: vec2,
+    movement: CharacterMovementSnapshot,
     lastLeapClientTimeMs: number,
     ackAgeMs = 0,
   ): void {
-    // Inputs only advance the acknowledgement forward; the launch momentum and
+    // Inputs only advance the acknowledgement forward; the movement state and
     // leap boundary always adopt the latest authoritative values.
     const anchor = clientTimeMs + Math.max(0, ackAgeMs);
     if (this.replayAnchorMs === undefined || anchor > this.replayAnchorMs) {
       this.replayAnchorMs = anchor;
     }
-    vec2.set(this.authoritativeBodyVelocity, bodyVelocity[0], bodyVelocity[1]);
+    this.movement = movement;
     this.lastLeapAckMs = lastLeapClientTimeMs;
   }
 
@@ -168,7 +172,7 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
   // it — a rejected leap (no strength/cooldown) self-corrects via the streamed
   // authoritative momentum.
   public recordLeap(): number {
-    const timeMs = Math.round(nowMs());
+    const timeMs = Math.round(frameTimeMs);
     this.leapHistory.push(timeMs);
     const cutoff = timeMs - 1500;
     while (this.leapHistory.length > 0 && this.leapHistory[0] <= cutoff) {
@@ -191,16 +195,18 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
     this.lastLeapAckMs = -Infinity;
     this.authoritative = undefined;
     this.replayAnchorMs = undefined;
-    vec2.zero(this.authoritativeBodyVelocity);
+    this.movement = undefined;
     this.currentStrength = settings.playerMaxStrength;
-    this.carriedPlanetId = undefined;
-    this.carriedSecondsSinceSurface = 1;
     this.hasRender = false;
     this.alive = true;
   }
 
   public get canPredict(): boolean {
-    return this.authoritative !== undefined && this.replayAnchorMs !== undefined;
+    return (
+      this.authoritative !== undefined &&
+      this.movement !== undefined &&
+      this.replayAnchorMs !== undefined
+    );
   }
 
   // During spawn-in and death the server freezes walking and only scales the
@@ -237,22 +243,10 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
     return true;
   }
 
-  // The body's facing angle is encoded in the pose: each part is sprung toward
-  // center + R(direction)*offset and the head's offset points +y, so
-  // direction = atan2(head - center) - PI/2. Re-deriving it from the snapshot
-  // each frame (rather than carrying the previous frame's evolved value onto
-  // this past pose, re-evolved by a variable substep count) keeps the posture
-  // seed a pure function of the snapshot — carrying it fed a frame-rate-dependent
-  // loop that wobbled the rendered limbs.
-  private directionFromPose(head: Circle, leftFoot: Circle, rightFoot: Circle): number {
-    const cx = (head.center[0] + leftFoot.center[0] + rightFoot.center[0]) / 3;
-    const cy = (head.center[1] + leftFoot.center[1] + rightFoot.center[1]) / 3;
-    return Math.atan2(head.center[1] - cy, head.center[0] - cx) - Math.PI / 2;
-  }
-
   private simulate(): CharacterMovementState {
     const auth = this.authoritative!;
-    const now = Math.round(nowMs());
+    const movement = this.movement!;
+    const now = Math.round(frameTimeMs);
     // Replay every input the server has not confirmed yet: from the anchor up to
     // now, clamped so a stall (or a backgrounded tab catching up) cannot grind
     // through hundreds of steps.
@@ -261,16 +255,30 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
     const steps = Math.floor(windowMs / stepMs);
     const remainderSeconds = (windowMs - steps * stepMs) / 1000;
 
+    // The full authoritative state: the pose from the property updates, the
+    // rest from the acknowledgement. Nothing here is inferred or carried over
+    // from the previous frame, so a replay is a pure function of (snapshot,
+    // input history, window) and cannot drift.
     const state: CharacterMovementState = {
-      head: makeBody(auth.head.center, auth.head.radius),
-      leftFoot: makeBody(auth.leftFoot.center, auth.leftFoot.radius),
-      rightFoot: makeBody(auth.rightFoot.center, auth.rightFoot.radius),
-      direction: this.directionFromPose(auth.head, auth.leftFoot, auth.rightFoot),
-      currentPlanet: this.world.surfaceById(this.carriedPlanetId),
-      secondsSinceOnSurface: this.carriedSecondsSinceSurface,
+      // The head's contact normal is written by the collision but never read by
+      // the movement, so it does not need to travel.
+      head: makeBody(auth.head.center, auth.head.radius, upwards),
+      leftFoot: makeBody(
+        auth.leftFoot.center,
+        auth.leftFoot.radius,
+        movement.leftFootNormal,
+      ),
+      rightFoot: makeBody(
+        auth.rightFoot.center,
+        auth.rightFoot.radius,
+        movement.rightFootNormal,
+      ),
+      direction: movement.direction,
+      currentPlanet: this.world.surfaceById(movement.groundPlanetId),
+      secondsSinceOnSurface: movement.secondsSinceOnSurface,
       // Leaps before the replay window are already baked into this; leaps inside
       // the window are re-applied below, so neither is double-counted.
-      bodyVelocity: vec2.clone(this.authoritativeBodyVelocity),
+      bodyVelocity: vec2.fromValues(movement.bodyVelocity[0], movement.bodyVelocity[1]),
     };
 
     // The planet collision frames were synced (in update(), just before this)
@@ -332,9 +340,6 @@ export class LocalCharacterPredictor {
       this.world.advance(remainderSeconds);
     }
 
-    this.carriedPlanetId = this.world.idOf(state.currentPlanet);
-    this.carriedSecondsSinceSurface = state.secondsSinceOnSurface;
-
     return state;
   }
 
diff --git a/shared/src/commands/types/input-acknowledgement.ts b/shared/src/commands/types/input-acknowledgement.ts
index f11021b..077ac4d 100644
--- a/shared/src/commands/types/input-acknowledgement.ts
+++ b/shared/src/commands/types/input-acknowledgement.ts
@@ -1,29 +1,72 @@
 import { vec2 } from 'gl-matrix';
+import { Id } from '../../communication/id';
 import { serializable } from '../../serialization/serializable';
 import { Command } from '../command';
 
+/**
+ * Everything the character's movement simulation carries from one tick to the
+ * next that is *not* in the pose.
+ *
+ * The pose (head/feet circles) travels as ordinary property updates because
+ * every viewer needs it; this travels to the owning client only. Together they
+ * are the complete state `stepCharacterMovement` needs, so the predictor can
+ * resume the server's simulation rather than approximate it.
+ *
+ * It all has to be here. `direction` in particular is not recoverable from the
+ * pose: the body is sprung *towards* the posture that direction implies and
+ * lags it while walking, so deriving the angle back out of a walking pose is
+ * off by tens of degrees — and every replay then spent its first ticks
+ * twisting the body back, by an amount that varied with the replay length.
+ */
+@serializable
+export class CharacterMovementSnapshot {
+  public constructor(
+    public readonly direction: number,
+    // Persistent launch momentum (leap / slingshot / recoil), so the predictor
+    // reproduces a flight rather than only snapping to it.
+    public readonly bodyVelocity: vec2,
+    // Foot contact normals: the on-surface branch projects gravity onto these,
+    // so a body standing on a slope needs the real ones.
+    public readonly leftFootNormal: vec2,
+    public readonly rightFootNormal: vec2,
+    // The planet being stood on, or null while airborne.
+    public readonly groundPlanetId: Id,
+    public readonly secondsSinceOnSurface: number,
+  ) {}
+
+  public toArray(): Array<any> {
+    return [
+      this.direction,
+      this.bodyVelocity,
+      this.leftFootNormal,
+      this.rightFootNormal,
+      this.groundPlanetId,
+      this.secondsSinceOnSurface,
+    ];
+  }
+}
+
 // Sent server -> owning client only, alongside that client's own character
-// snapshot. Carries the clientTimeMs of the most recent movement input the
-// server had received when the snapshot was taken (so the client's predictor
-// can reset to the snapshot and replay just the inputs the server hasn't seen
-// yet) and the authoritative launch momentum (so the predictor reproduces a
-// leap/slingshot/recoil flight rather than only snapping to it). See
+// snapshot. Carries the clientTimeMs of the most recent input the server had
+// received when the snapshot was taken (so the client's predictor can reset to
+// the snapshot and replay just the inputs the server hasn't seen yet) and the
+// authoritative movement state the replay resumes from. See
 // LocalCharacterPredictor.
 @serializable
 export class InputAcknowledgement extends Command {
   public constructor(
     public readonly clientTimeMs: number,
-    public readonly bodyVelocity: vec2,
+    public readonly movement: CharacterMovementSnapshot,
     // clientTimeMs of the most recent leap the server has received: any leap at
-    // or before it is already reflected in bodyVelocity, so the predictor must
-    // not replay it.
+    // or before it is already reflected in movement.bodyVelocity, so the
+    // predictor must not replay it.
     public readonly lastLeapClientTimeMs: number,
     // How long before this snapshot the acknowledged input arrived. The client
-    // sends at its frame rate, so by the time a snapshot is taken the newest
-    // input it has is already 0..1 frame old — and that age varies with where
-    // the client's frames happened to fall between two snapshots. Adding it
-    // back places the replay anchor at the snapshot instant itself instead of
-    // at whichever input happened to land last, which is what keeps the
+    // sends at a fixed cadence, so by the time a snapshot is taken the newest
+    // input it has is already 0..1 send interval old — and that age varies with
+    // where the client's sends happened to fall between two snapshots. Adding
+    // it back places the replay anchor at the snapshot instant itself instead
+    // of at whichever input happened to land last, which is what keeps the
     // predicted pose free of the send-cadence beat. See LocalCharacterPredictor.
     public readonly ackAgeMs: number = 0,
   ) {
@@ -31,11 +74,6 @@ export class InputAcknowledgement extends Command {
   }
 
   public toArray(): Array<any> {
-    return [
-      this.clientTimeMs,
-      this.bodyVelocity,
-      this.lastLeapClientTimeMs,
-      this.ackAgeMs,
-    ];
+    return [this.clientTimeMs, this.movement, this.lastLeapClientTimeMs, this.ackAgeMs];
   }
 }
diff --git a/shared/src/helper/rotate-minus-90-deg.ts b/shared/src/helper/rotate-minus-90-deg.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 3f4773f..0000000
--- a/shared/src/helper/rotate-minus-90-deg.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-import { vec2 } from 'gl-matrix';
-
-export const rotateMinus90Deg = (vec: vec2): vec2 => vec2.fromValues(vec[1], -vec[0]);
diff --git a/shared/src/helper/wait.ts b/shared/src/helper/wait.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 73dd2c2..0000000
--- a/shared/src/helper/wait.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-export const wait = (ms: number): Promise<void> => {
-  return new Promise<void>((resolve, _) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
-};
diff --git a/test/client-send-cadence.test.ts b/test/client-send-cadence.test.ts
index d80bc3a..61fa4f4 100644
--- a/test/client-send-cadence.test.ts
+++ b/test/client-send-cadence.test.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
 
 import { CommandSocket } from '../frontend/src/scripts/commands/command-socket';
-import { setPredictorClockForTesting } from '../frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor';
+import { setFrameTimeMs } from '../frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor';
 
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 const shared = require('../shared/lib/main.js');
@@ -18,16 +18,13 @@ applyArrayPlugins();
 
 // Collects what would go on the wire.
 const drive = (frameRate: number, seconds: number, onFrame?: (socket: any) => void) => {
-  let clock = 0;
-  setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
-
   const batches: Array<string> = [];
   const socket = { emit: (_event: string, payload: string) => batches.push(payload) };
   const commandSocket = new CommandSocket(socket as never);
 
   const frames = Math.round(frameRate * seconds);
   for (let f = 0; f < frames; f++) {
-    clock = (f * 1000) / frameRate;
+    setFrameTimeMs((f * 1000) / frameRate);
     onFrame?.(commandSocket);
     commandSocket.sendQueuedCommands();
   }
diff --git a/test/prediction-reconciliation.test.ts b/test/prediction-reconciliation.test.ts
index b3b4a5c..f155de6 100644
--- a/test/prediction-reconciliation.test.ts
+++ b/test/prediction-reconciliation.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 // Reconciliation guard for the REAL client predictor. It exercises
-// LocalCharacterPredictor end-to-end with an injected clock, verifying the two
+// LocalCharacterPredictor end-to-end with a driven frame clock, verifying the
 // properties reconciliation depends on:
 //   1. a fully-acknowledged snapshot reproduces the authoritative pose exactly
-//      (no spurious drift on top of server truth), and
-//   2. un-acknowledged input is replayed forward deterministically.
+//      (no spurious drift on top of server truth),
+//   2. un-acknowledged input is replayed forward deterministically, and
+//   3. the replayed body advances smoothly as the window grows.
 // This is the net for prediction-touching changes (the death-while-dead fix,
 // future netcode work) — a regression shows up as drift or non-determinism.
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
 import {
   LocalCharacterPredictor,
-  setPredictorClockForTesting,
+  setFrameTimeMs,
 } from '../frontend/src/scripts/helper/prediction/local-character-predictor';
 
 const HEAD_RADIUS = 50;
@@ -23,18 +24,33 @@ const poseAt = (cx: number, cy: number) => ({
   rightFoot: { center: [cx + 33, cy - 18], radius: FEET_RADIUS },
 });
 
+// The authoritative movement state that rides along with every snapshot: the
+// pose is only half of what the simulation carries between ticks. Upright,
+// airborne and with no launch momentum unless a test says otherwise.
+const movementState = (direction = 0) => ({
+  direction,
+  bodyVelocity: [0, 0],
+  leftFootNormal: [0, 1],
+  rightFootNormal: [0, 1],
+  groundPlanetId: null,
+  secondsSinceOnSurface: 1,
+});
+
 describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
   it('reproduces the authoritative pose exactly when all input is acknowledged', () => {
-    let clock = 1000;
-    setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
+    setFrameTimeMs(1000);
 
     const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
     const auth = poseAt(500, 500);
 
     const t = predictor.recordInput([1, 0]);
-    predictor.acknowledge(t, [0, 0], -Infinity); // server has consumed this input
+    predictor.acknowledge(t, movementState() as never, -Infinity); // server has consumed this input
     predictor.setStrength(80);
-    predictor.setAuthoritative(auth.head as never, auth.leftFoot as never, auth.rightFoot as never);
+    predictor.setAuthoritative(
+      auth.head as never,
+      auth.leftFoot as never,
+      auth.rightFoot as never,
+    );
 
     // No clock advance → zero replay window → predicted pose == authoritative.
     const used = predictor.update([], 1 / 60);
@@ -48,18 +64,19 @@ describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
 
   it('replays un-acknowledged input deterministically', () => {
     const drive = () => {
-      let clock = 0;
-      setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
-
       const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
-      clock = 1000;
-      predictor.acknowledge(900, [0, 0], -Infinity); // baseline ack (older than the input below)
+      setFrameTimeMs(1000);
+      predictor.acknowledge(900, movementState() as never, -Infinity); // baseline ack (older than the input below)
       predictor.setStrength(80);
       const auth = poseAt(0, 0);
-      predictor.setAuthoritative(auth.head as never, auth.leftFoot as never, auth.rightFoot as never);
+      predictor.setAuthoritative(
+        auth.head as never,
+        auth.leftFoot as never,
+        auth.rightFoot as never,
+      );
       predictor.recordInput([1, 0]); // unacked rightward input at t=1000
 
-      clock = 1100; // replay ~100 ms forward
+      setFrameTimeMs(1100); // replay ~100 ms forward
       predictor.update([], 1 / 60);
       return [
         predictor.head.center[0],
@@ -77,18 +94,21 @@ describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
   });
 
   it('suppresses prediction while the local player is dead', () => {
-    let clock = 5000;
-    setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
+    setFrameTimeMs(5000);
 
     const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
     const auth = poseAt(200, 200);
     const t = predictor.recordInput([1, 0]);
-    predictor.acknowledge(t, [0, 0], -Infinity);
+    predictor.acknowledge(t, movementState() as never, -Infinity);
     predictor.setStrength(80);
-    predictor.setAuthoritative(auth.head as never, auth.leftFoot as never, auth.rightFoot as never);
+    predictor.setAuthoritative(
+      auth.head as never,
+      auth.leftFoot as never,
+      auth.rightFoot as never,
+    );
     predictor.setAlive(false); // dead, awaiting respawn
 
-    clock = 5200; // input + elapsed time that would otherwise be replayed forward
+    setFrameTimeMs(5200); // input + elapsed time that would otherwise be replayed forward
     // Even with a valid authoritative pose and pending input, a dead body must
     // not be predicted/moved — that was the "move while dead" bug.
     expect(predictor.update([], 1 / 60)).toBe(false);
@@ -100,22 +120,19 @@ describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
   // and the local body sat a full one-way trip behind the server.
   it('replays the whole un-acknowledged span, so a longer trip predicts further', () => {
     const driveWithUnackedSpan = (ackAgeMs: number) => {
-      let clock = 0;
-      setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
-
       const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
       predictor.setStrength(80);
       // The key went down well before the acknowledged span and is still held —
       // the case that used to freeze the acknowledgement, because movement is
       // only transmitted when it changes.
-      clock = 9_000;
+      setFrameTimeMs(9_000);
       predictor.recordInput([1, 0]);
 
-      clock = 10_000;
+      setFrameTimeMs(10_000);
       const auth = poseAt(0, 0);
       // The server has confirmed input only up to `ackAgeMs` ago; the snapshot
       // carrying that acknowledgement arrives now.
-      predictor.acknowledge(clock - ackAgeMs, [0, 0], -Infinity);
+      predictor.acknowledge(10_000 - ackAgeMs, movementState() as never, -Infinity);
       predictor.setAuthoritative(
         auth.head as never,
         auth.leftFoot as never,
@@ -134,32 +151,30 @@ describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
     // a 40 ms one; when the window was pinned to the snapshot they were equal.
     expect(longTrip).toBeGreaterThan(shortTrip * 2);
   });
+
   // ...but the anchor must not also inherit the AGE of whichever input happened
   // to be the newest one the server had when it took the snapshot. Input is sent
-  // once per frame, so that age is 0..1 frame depending on where the client's
-  // frames fell between two snapshots, and it walks a sawtooth: measured against
-  // a real server on localhost it ran 5, 16, 12, 8, 3, 14, 9, 1 ms and so on.
-  // Left in the window, it jumped the predicted body by up to a frame of travel
-  // 25 times a second — the local body was choppy on a link with no latency at
-  // all to hide it. The server reports the age with the acknowledgement so the
-  // anchor lands on the snapshot instant instead.
+  // at a fixed cadence, so that age is 0..1 send interval depending on where the
+  // client's sends fell between two snapshots, and it walks a sawtooth: measured
+  // against a real server on localhost it ran 5, 16, 12, 8, 3, 14, 9, 1 ms and so
+  // on. Left in the window, it jumped the predicted body by up to a frame of
+  // travel 25 times a second — the local body was choppy on a link with no
+  // latency at all to hide it. The server reports the age with the
+  // acknowledgement so the anchor lands on the snapshot instant instead.
   it('cancels the age of the acknowledged input, so the send cadence cannot beat', () => {
     // Both runs describe the SAME snapshot: taken 20 ms ago, of the same pose.
     // They differ only in how long before it the server's newest input arrived.
     const snapshotAgeMs = 20;
     const drive = (inputAgeMs: number, serverReportsAge: boolean) => {
-      let clock = 0;
-      setPredictorClockForTesting(() => clock);
-
       const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
       predictor.setStrength(80);
-      clock = 9_000;
+      setFrameTimeMs(9_000);
       predictor.recordInput([1, 0]); // held down throughout
 
-      clock = 10_000;
+      setFrameTimeMs(10_000);
       predictor.acknowledge(
-        clock - snapshotAgeMs - inputAgeMs,
-        [0, 0],
+        10_000 - snapshotAgeMs - inputAgeMs,
+        movementState() as never,
         -Infinity,
         serverReportsAge ? inputAgeMs : 0,
       );
@@ -179,4 +194,57 @@ describe('local prediction reconciliation', () => {
     // 16 ms moves the body, so the assertion above does not hold vacuously.
     expect(Math.abs(drive(16, false) - drive(0, false))).toBeGreaterThan(0.5);
   });
+
+  // The jitter this file exists to catch. A walking body's posture springs lag,
+  // so its head trails the upright position — and the facing direction is NOT
+  // recoverable from such a pose: the angle you get back is tens of degrees off.
+  // The predictor used to derive it that way rather than take the server's, so
+  // every replay opened by twisting the body towards the pose-implied posture,
+  // by an amount that depended on how many ticks the window happened to contain.
+  // The rendered body then advanced a different distance each frame.
+  it('replays the streamed facing direction, not one guessed from the pose', () => {
+    // Head pulled 35 units behind the upright position: the steady-state posture
+    // lag of a body walking to the right. atan2 on this pose gives ~0.57 rad;
+    // the server's own direction is 0.
+    const walkingPose = () => ({
+      head: { center: [-35, 37], radius: HEAD_RADIUS },
+      leftFoot: { center: [-33, -18], radius: FEET_RADIUS },
+      rightFoot: { center: [33, -18], radius: FEET_RADIUS },
+    });
+
+    // One snapshot interval of replay, which is as much as reconciliation ever
+    // asks for on a healthy link.
+    const predictWithDirection = (direction: number) => {
+      const predictor = new LocalCharacterPredictor();
+      predictor.setStrength(80);
+      setFrameTimeMs(0);
+      predictor.recordInput([1, 0]);
+      predictor.acknowledge(0, movementState(direction) as never, -Infinity);
+      const auth = walkingPose();
+      predictor.setAuthoritative(
+        auth.head as never,
+        auth.leftFoot as never,
+        auth.rightFoot as never,
+      );
+
+      // A fresh predictor renders its first pose by snapping, so this is the raw
+      // prediction with no easing laid over it.
+      setFrameTimeMs(40);
+      predictor.update([], 1 / 60);
+      return [predictor.head.center[0], predictor.head.center[1]];
+    };
+
+    const upright = predictWithDirection(0);
+    const asThePoseImplies = predictWithDirection(0.566);
+    const apart = Math.hypot(
+      upright[0] - asThePoseImplies[0],
+      upright[1] - asThePoseImplies[1],
+    );
+
+    // The guess moved the body by a visible amount every 40 ms — and by a
+    // different amount each frame, because the correction it triggers decays
+    // over the replay. If the streamed direction were ignored again the two
+    // would come out identical (this was exactly 0 before the fix).
+    expect(apart).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+  });
 });