1 files changed, 24 insertions, 17 deletions

diff --git a/CONTEXT.md b/CONTEXT.md
index bfb0d8e..5b96c33 100644
--- a/CONTEXT.md
+++ b/CONTEXT.md
@@ -294,31 +294,38 @@ vocabulary / decisions.
   alpha only. The through-wall pass uses `MATERIAL_VAR_IGNOREZ` (1 << 15)
   through `IMaterial::SetMaterialVarFlag` (slot 29); colours use
   `$color`/`$color2` (IMaterialVar slot 11, SetVecValue 3-float slot 11) and
-  `ColorModulate` (slot 28). Alpha uses `$alpha` (IMaterialVar slot 3,
-  SetFloatValue) and `MATERIAL_VAR_TRANSLUCENT` (1 << 21) when alpha < 255.
-  Shared materials are restored after each draw.
+  `ColorModulate` (slot 28). `$alpha` is set through IMaterialVar slot 3
+  (SetFloatValue). Shared materials are restored after each draw.
 - The GUI colour picker (`add_color_alpha`) has an alpha bar, checkerboard
   preview and `#RRGGBBAA` readout; plain `add_color` keeps the old opaque
   three-component behaviour. Chams colours are four ints (r, g, b, a).
-- Styles are built from `debug/debugtranslucentsinglecolor` (UnlitGeneric,
-  `$color`) and material flags:
-  0 Flat (solid + FLAT), 1 Wireframe (`debug/debugwireframe`), 2 Additive
-  (+ ADDITIVE), 3 Solid, 4 White (colour forced white), 5 Fullbright
-  (ADDITIVE|SELFILLUM, colour forced white so it reads as a white-hot glow
-  instead of matching Solid), 6 Glow outline
-  (solid plus a `debug/debugwireframe` contour pass drawn with ZNEARER
-  (1 << 10) and a brightened colour so the base cannot bury it).
+- **Alpha is stored but has no visual effect yet.** The usable model
+  materials are opaque: `debug/debugtranslucentsinglecolor` has no
+  `$translucent`, and toggling `MATERIAL_VAR_TRANSLUCENT` (1 << 21) or
+  rebuilding the state snapshot does not change the static shader combo.
+  `debug/debugtranslucentvertexcolor`/`debug/debughitbox` are translucent but
+  need vertex colours and render nothing on skinned models. A custom VMT with
+  `$model 1` + `$translucent 1` (or a white basetexture) is needed to make the
+  alpha control real.
+- Styles: 0 Flat (`debug/debugtranslucentsinglecolor` + FLAT), 1 Wireframe
+  (`debug/debugwireframe`), 2 Additive
+  (`debug/debugtranslucentmodelhulls`, whose VMT has `$additive 1` + `$color`;
+  the ADDITIVE flag on the solid material did nothing), 3 Solid, 4 White
+  (solid, colour forced white), 5 Fullbright (the additive material, colour
+  forced white, giving a white-hot glow), 6 Glow outline (solid plus a
+  `debug/debugwireframe` contour pass drawn with ZNEARER (1 << 10) and a
+  brightened colour so the base cannot bury it).
   `vgui/white` is vertex-colour based and has no `$model`/`$basetexture`, so it
   is never used for chams; `models/debug/debugwhite` is EP2-only and the old
   VGUI additive material was invisible on NPCs.
 - Style materials are preloaded from `outer_draw` (throttled) and cached; the
   render hook never calls FindMaterial itself. A missing style uses solid.
-- Viewmodels are collated by the engine as `RENDER_GROUP_VIEW_MODEL_OPAQUE`,
-  so an additive forced material can wash out against a bright sky or wall
-  (and the engine may not treat the draw as translucent). Additive styles on
-  the viewmodel therefore draw a faint translucent base (alpha/8) first, then
-  the additive pass, so the model keeps a silhouette on bright backgrounds
-  without becoming an opaque blob.
+  `FindMaterial` can return an unreferenced material, so each cached material
+  is addref'd (`IncrementReferenceCount`, IMaterial slot 12); without this the
+  engine warns "bad reference count 0 when being bound" and the material's
+  `$color`/`ColorModulate` changes are ignored.
+- Additive styles still wash out against a bright sky or wall (inherent to
+  additive blending).
 - Feature is off by default. Config sections: `[chams]` (active/bind),
   `[chams_hostile|neutral|friendly]` (`vis`, `vis_mat`, `vis_r/g/b/a`, `inv`,
   `inv_mat`, `inv_r/g/b/a`) and `[chams_vm]` (`on`, `mat`, `r/g/b/a`). The GUI