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diff --git a/doc/ASSET_SYSTEM.md b/doc/ASSET_SYSTEM.md
index 3493936..9cf15ba 100644
--- a/doc/ASSET_SYSTEM.md
+++ b/doc/ASSET_SYSTEM.md
@@ -73,3 +73,216 @@ Shader code (WGSL) can also be managed as assets.
    construct a `std::string` or `std::string_view` using the returned pointer
    and size.
 4. Register them with the `ShaderComposer`.
+
+---
+
+# Current Implementation Status
+
+## What's Working ✅
+- **Build-Time Packer** (`tools/asset_packer.cc`): Parses `demo_assets.txt`, embeds binary files as C++ arrays
+- **Runtime Manager** (`src/util/asset_manager.{h,cc}`): O(1) retrieval with caching, SIOF fix via singleton
+- **Asset Types**: Static binaries (`.spec`, `.wgsl`), procedural textures (`PROC(func, params)`)
+- **Safety Guarantees**: 16-byte alignment, null-terminator for strings, size reporting
+- **Testing**: `test_assets.cc` validates retrieval, caching, procedural generation
+- **Current Manifest**: 33 assets (15 audio samples, 17 WGSL shaders, 1 procedural texture)
+
+## Design Strengths
+- Enum-based type safety (no magic numbers or strings at runtime)
+- Zero runtime cost for static assets (direct pointer return)
+- Clean separation of build-time and runtime concerns
+- Procedural generation support (saves binary size)
+- Thread-safe for immutable assets (cache is write-once)
+
+## Design Weaknesses
+- **No compression**: Only `NONE` supported, critical blocker for 64k goal
+- **STL dependencies**: `std::map`, `std::string` in runtime code (conflicts with CRT replacement)
+- **Hardcoded procedural dimensions**: Assumes 256×256 RGBA8 (lines 85-86 in `asset_manager.cc`)
+- **No integrity checks**: No CRC/hash validation for asset correctness
+- **Limited asset types**: No mesh/scene format yet (needed for Task #18)
+
+---
+
+# Asset System Improvement Tasks
+
+## High Priority (Critical for 64k Goal)
+
+### Task #27: Asset Compression Layer
+**Goal**: Implement runtime decompression to reduce binary size by 30-50%.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **27.1**: Add compression type enum (`NONE`, `ZLIB`, `RLE`, `CUSTOM`)
+- [ ] **27.2**: Update `asset_packer.cc` to compress assets during build
+  - Integrate a lightweight compression library (e.g., miniz for zlib)
+  - Store compressed size + original size in `AssetRecord`
+- [ ] **27.3**: Implement runtime decompressor in `asset_manager.cc`
+  - Allocate decompressed buffer on first `GetAsset()` call
+  - Cache decompressed data, allow `DropAsset()` to free memory
+- [ ] **27.4**: Update `assets.txt` format to specify compression per-asset
+  - Example: `KICK_1, ZLIB, kick1.spec, "Compressed kick sample"`
+- [ ] **27.5**: Add tests for compressed asset retrieval and DropAsset
+
+**Size Impact**: Estimated 30-50% reduction on asset blob (shaders compress well, spectrograms moderately).
+
+**Dependency**: None (standalone improvement).
+
+---
+
+### Task #28: Spectrogram Quantization
+**Goal**: Compress audio assets from `float32` to `uint16_t` with logarithmic frequency binning.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **28.1**: Research optimal frequency bin distribution (logarithmic vs linear)
+- [ ] **28.2**: Update `spectool` to export quantized `.spec` format
+  - Add `--quantize` flag to `spectool analyze`
+  - Map spectral values to `uint16_t` range with configurable dynamic range
+- [ ] **28.3**: Update audio synthesis engine to decode quantized spectrograms
+  - Add dequantization step in `src/audio/synth.cc`
+- [ ] **28.4**: Re-generate all `.spec` assets with quantization enabled
+- [ ] **28.5**: Add tests to verify audio quality degradation is acceptable
+
+**Size Impact**: 2-4× reduction on `.spec` files (currently 15 audio assets in manifest).
+
+**Dependency**: Task #27 (compression) for maximum size savings.
+
+---
+
+### Task #29: WGSL Shader Minification
+**Goal**: Minify WGSL shaders to reduce text asset size.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **29.1**: Implement WGSL minifier in `tools/wgsl_minify.py`
+  - Remove comments, unnecessary whitespace
+  - Rename variables to single-letter identifiers (preserve entry points)
+  - Strip debug labels and unused code
+- [ ] **29.2**: Integrate minifier into build pipeline
+  - Add `MINIFY` compression type to `asset_packer.cc`
+  - Auto-minify all `SHADER_*` assets during build
+- [ ] **29.3**: Validate minified shaders compile correctly
+  - Add shader compilation test to CI/CD
+
+**Size Impact**: 40-60% reduction on shader text (currently 17 WGSL shaders in manifest).
+
+**Dependency**: None (standalone improvement).
+
+---
+
+## Medium Priority (Code Hygiene & Maintainability)
+
+### Task #20.1: Remove STL from Asset Manager (Part of Task #20)
+**Goal**: Eliminate `std::map` and `std::string` to prepare for CRT replacement.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **20.1.1**: Replace `kAssetManagerProcGenFuncMap` (line 21 in `asset_manager.cc`)
+  - Switch to static array lookup or compile-time switch-case
+  - Example:
+    ```cpp
+    static const struct { const char* name; ProcGenFunc func; } kProcGenFuncs[] = {
+      {"gen_noise", procedural::gen_noise},
+      {"gen_grid", procedural::gen_grid},
+      {"make_periodic", procedural::make_periodic},
+    };
+    ```
+- [ ] **20.1.2**: Replace `std::map` in `asset_packer.cc` (build-time tool, lower priority)
+- [ ] **20.1.3**: Verify no STL usage remains in `src/util/asset_manager.cc`
+
+**Size Impact**: Minor (few KB), but critical for future CRT replacement.
+
+**Dependency**: None.
+
+---
+
+### Task #30: Procedural Asset Generalization
+**Goal**: Support variable dimensions and formats for procedural textures.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **30.1**: Update `assets.txt` format to encode dimensions in `proc_params`
+  - Example: `NOISE_TEX, PROC(gen_noise, 256, 256, 4, 1234, 16), _, "Width, Height, Channels, Seed, Freq"`
+- [ ] **30.2**: Update `asset_packer.cc` to parse dimension parameters
+- [ ] **30.3**: Update `GetAsset()` to read dimensions from `proc_params`
+  - Allocate buffer dynamically based on `width * height * channels`
+- [ ] **30.4**: Add support for grayscale (1 channel) and RGB (3 channels) formats
+
+**Size Impact**: Negligible (unlocks new use cases, no binary size change).
+
+**Dependency**: None.
+
+---
+
+### Task #31: Asset Integrity Validation
+**Goal**: Add CRC32/hash checks to detect corrupted or incorrect assets.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **31.1**: Compute CRC32 for each asset during build (`asset_packer.cc`)
+  - Store CRC in `AssetRecord` struct
+- [ ] **31.2**: Add optional validation in `GetAsset()` (debug builds only)
+  - Compare computed CRC against stored value
+  - Log warnings if mismatch detected
+- [ ] **31.3**: Add `--verify-assets` flag to test suite
+  - Run full integrity check on all assets
+
+**Size Impact**: +4 bytes per asset (CRC32), negligible overhead.
+
+**Dependency**: None.
+
+---
+
+## Lower Priority (Future Enhancements)
+
+### Task #18.1: 3D Asset Format Support (Part of Task #18)
+**Goal**: Extend asset system to handle binary mesh/scene data from Blender.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **18.1.1**: Define binary mesh format (vertices, indices, normals, UVs)
+  - Consider alignment requirements for GPU upload
+- [ ] **18.1.2**: Update `asset_packer.cc` to handle `.mesh` files
+  - Add `MESH3D` asset type
+- [ ] **18.1.3**: Implement runtime parser in `src/3d/mesh_loader.cc`
+  - Parse binary blob into `Mesh` struct
+- [ ] **18.1.4**: Create Blender export script (`tools/blender_export.py`)
+
+**Size Impact**: Depends on scene complexity (meshes can be large, consider compression).
+
+**Dependency**: Task #27 (compression) for mesh data.
+
+---
+
+### Task #32: Asset Hot-Reloading (Development Only)
+**Goal**: Enable live asset updates for faster iteration (under `!STRIP_ALL`).
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **32.1**: Add file watcher for `assets/final/` directory
+  - Monitor `.spec`, `.wgsl` files for changes
+- [ ] **32.2**: Trigger rebuild of `assets_data.cc` on file change
+  - Invoke `asset_packer` and recompile
+- [ ] **32.3**: Add API to reload specific assets at runtime
+  - `ReloadAsset(AssetId)` for development use
+
+**Size Impact**: None (stripped from final build).
+
+**Dependency**: None (development-only feature).
+
+---
+
+### Task #33: Asset Usage Tracking & Dead Asset Elimination
+**Goal**: Identify and remove unused assets to reduce binary size.
+
+**Attack Plan**:
+- [ ] **33.1**: Add instrumentation to track `GetAsset()` calls
+  - Log which assets are accessed during a full demo run
+- [ ] **33.2**: Generate report of unused assets
+- [ ] **33.3**: Remove unused entries from `demo_assets.txt`
+
+**Size Impact**: Depends on dead assets (could save 5-15% if unused assets exist).
+
+**Dependency**: None.
+
+---
+
+# Priority Recommendation
+
+For the **64k goal**, prioritize in this order:
+1. **Task #27** (Compression) - Biggest size win
+2. **Task #29** (Shader Minification) - Easy win, low risk
+3. **Task #28** (Spectrogram Quantization) - Medium effort, high impact
+4. **Task #20.1** (Remove STL) - Required for future CRT replacement
+5. **Task #18.1** (3D Assets) - Once size budget allows