fix: backstory generation reliability and admin LLM stats loading

- Fix LLM stats panel stuck on "Loading stats..." by requesting stats
  immediately after admin authentication succeeds
- Add retry mechanism for backstory generation (up to 3 attempts with
  increasing delays) so transient failures don't permanently skip NPCs
- Fix stale model bug: queued LLM requests now use the current model at
  dequeue time instead of capturing it at enqueue time, so fallback
  model switches take effect for pending requests
- Add per-template maxTokens (backstory: 350, invention: 300, desire:
  250) to prevent "length" finish truncation on structured JSON responses
- Remove unused "reasoning" field from backstory prompt to reduce token usage
- Add failure logging throughout LLM pipeline (backstory null results,
  queue errors) for better diagnostics

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

client/src/scenes/GameScene.ts

@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ export class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene {
     this.client.onAdminAuthResult = (data) => {
       if (data.success && data.constants) {
         this.adminPanel.setAuthenticated(data.constants);
+        this.adminPanel.requestStatsRefresh();
       } else {
         this.adminPanel.showAuthError();
       }

server/src/game/GameLoop.ts

@@ -231,7 +231,25 @@ export class GameLoop {
   }
 
   generateNpcBackstory(entityId: number): void {
-    generateBackstoryAndDesires(this.world, entityId, this.llmService, this.tick, this.logService);
+    this.generateBackstoryWithRetry(entityId, 0);
+  }
+
+  private generateBackstoryWithRetry(entityId: number, attempt: number): void {
+    const MAX_RETRIES = 2;
+    generateBackstoryAndDesires(this.world, entityId, this.llmService, this.tick, this.logService)
+      .then(() => {
+        const backstory = this.world.getComponent<string>(entityId, 'backstory');
+        if (!backstory && attempt < MAX_RETRIES) {
+          const name = this.world.getComponent<string>(entityId, 'name') ?? `entity ${entityId}`;
+          const delay = 5000 * (attempt + 1);
+          this.logService.log('warning', 'LLM', `Retrying backstory for ${name} (attempt ${attempt + 2}/${MAX_RETRIES + 1}) in ${delay / 1000}s`);
+          setTimeout(() => this.generateBackstoryWithRetry(entityId, attempt + 1), delay);
+        }
+      })
+      .catch((err) => {
+        const name = this.world.getComponent<string>(entityId, 'name') ?? `entity ${entityId}`;
+        this.logService.log('error', 'LLM', `Backstory generation error for ${name}: ${err?.message ?? err}`);
+      });
   }
 
   private spawnInitialNPCs(count: number): void {

server/src/llm/backstoryGenerator.ts

@@ -104,7 +104,10 @@ export async function generateBackstoryAndDesires(
     structureList: context.structureList,
   });
 
-  if (!result) return;
+  if (!result) {
+    logService?.log('warning', 'LLM', `Backstory generation returned null for ${name} (entity ${entityId})`);
+    return;
+  }
 
   let parsed: { backstory?: string; desires?: unknown[] } | null = null;
   try {

server/src/llm/generationQueue.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export interface GenerationQueue {
 
 export function createGenerationQueue(
   client: OpenRouterClient,
-  options: { requestsPerMinute: number },
+  options: { requestsPerMinute: number; getModel?: () => string },
 ): GenerationQueue {
   const queue: QueueItem[] = [];
   const intervalMs = Math.ceil(60000 / options.requestsPerMinute);
@@ -25,9 +25,14 @@ export function createGenerationQueue(
     processing = true;
 
     const item = queue.shift()!;
+    // Apply current model at dequeue time, not enqueue time
+    if (options.getModel) {
+      item.request = { ...item.request, model: options.getModel() };
+    }
     client.complete(item.request).then(result => {
       item.resolve(result);
-    }).catch(() => {
+    }).catch((err) => {
+      console.warn('[LLM Queue] Request failed:', err?.message ?? err);
       item.resolve(null);
     }).finally(() => {
       processing = false;

server/src/llm/llmService.ts

@@ -36,13 +36,16 @@ export function createLlmService(logService?: LogService, statsService?: LlmStat
   }
 
   const client = createOpenRouterClient(config, logService);
+
+  let currentModel = config.model;
+
   const queue = createGenerationQueue(client, {
     requestsPerMinute: config.requestsPerMinute,
+    getModel: () => currentModel,
   });
   const counters = createUsageCounters();
   const tokenTracker = createTokenTracker(100);
 
-  let currentModel = config.model;
   let switchBackTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
 
   function getNextMidnightUTC(): number {
@@ -83,7 +86,10 @@ export function createLlmService(logService?: LogService, statsService?: LlmStat
         return null;
       }
       const rendered = renderTemplate(template, variables);
-      const result = await queue.enqueue({ ...rendered, model: currentModel });
+      const request = template.maxTokens
+        ? { ...rendered, maxTokens: template.maxTokens }
+        : rendered;
+      const result = await queue.enqueue(request);
 
       if (isRateLimited(result)) {
         logService?.log('warning', 'LLM', 'Rate limited, switching to fallback');

server/src/llm/promptTemplate.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export interface PromptTemplate {
   name: string;
   systemPrompt: string;
   userPrompt: string;
+  maxTokens?: number;
 }
 
 export interface RenderedPrompt {

server/src/llm/templates.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export const templates: Record<string, PromptTemplate> = {
 
   invention: {
     name: 'invention',
+    maxTokens: 300,
     systemPrompt:
       'Given available materials and a settler\'s stats, consider 3 possible inventions, ' +
       'then select the one that best fits the settler\'s personality. ' +
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ export const templates: Record<string, PromptTemplate> = {
 
   backstoryAndDesires: {
     name: 'backstoryAndDesires',
+    maxTokens: 350,
     systemPrompt:
       'Write a brief backstory (1-2 sentences) and 1-2 initial desires for this settler. ' +
       'The backstory should reflect their personality without referencing professions or institutions that do not exist. ' +
@@ -85,12 +87,12 @@ export const templates: Record<string, PromptTemplate> = {
       '{"description": "human-readable desire", ' +
       '"category": "material|social|shelter|comfort|community|creative", ' +
       '"fulfillment": {"type": "own_item|structure_exists|building_exists|relationship_tier|recipe_exists|custom", ...criteria}, ' +
-      '"priority": 0.0-1.0, ' +
-      '"reasoning": "why this fits the settler"}]}',
+      '"priority": 0.0-1.0}]}',
   },
 
   desireGeneration: {
     name: 'desireGeneration',
+    maxTokens: 250,
     systemPrompt:
       'Generate a new personal desire for this settler based on their personality and recent experiences.\n\n' +
       'Respond ONLY with a valid JSON object. No explanation, no markdown, just JSON.',