Improve first-time Looks menu face framing

Replace ineffective third-person zoom with FOV narrowing (40°) to magnify the character's face for easier facial-feature editing. Center the player on the fixed LooksMenu camera's optical axis for the first few polls to prevent off-center framing caused by the camera not being perfectly aimed at the player. Capture and restore FOV and player transforms on menu open/close. Add diagnostic logging to track camera position, player position, and menu camera behavior.

docs/dev-log.md

@@ -6274,3 +6274,71 @@ Fixed the first-time character customization close path so the third-person came
 
 ### Next Steps
 - Run first-time join through Vault 109, close LooksMenu, then confirm camera offset and movement controls before and after SPECIAL closes.
+
+---
+
+## 2026-06-28 - Looks menu face close-up via FOV
+
+### Summary
+Replaced the ineffective third-person zoom approach for first-time LooksMenu face framing with a narrow camera FOV that magnifies the face, then restores the original FOV when LooksMenu closes.
+
+### Files Changed
+- `plugin/src/F4TSessionLaunch.cpp`
+- `changelog.md`
+- `docs/dev-log.md`
+
+### Details
+- Discovery: the Fallout 4 LooksMenu uses its own fixed camera, not the third-person camera. Writing `ThirdPersonState` zoom/shoulder/height offsets has no visual effect because that state is not active during LooksMenu and the game re-updates the camera every frame. Confirmed against the `LooksmenuPlayerRotation` mod, which never moves the camera and instead repositions the actor in front of a fixed, frozen camera.
+- Reverted the no-op zoom/height tweak (`kLooksMenuFaceCameraZoomOffset` back to `-90.0`, removed the height adjust) since it cannot change the LooksMenu view.
+- Added FOV-based zoom: on first LooksMenu-open detection, capture current world/first-person FOV, then issue console `fov 40` to narrow the field of view and enlarge the face.
+- Re-assert the narrow FOV during the existing camera-nudge polls so the menu cannot revert it.
+- On LooksMenu close (and on reset/retry paths), restore the captured FOV via `fov <firstPerson> <world>`.
+
+### Testing
+- Not run in this session (Fallout 4/F4SE runtime not available in this environment).
+- Expected manual check: start a first-time server join from the main menu, wait for LooksMenu to open in Vault 109, and confirm the face now fills much more of the screen (visible zoom-in) compared to before.
+- Confirm that after closing LooksMenu the FOV returns to normal before SPECIAL opens, and that movement/gameplay FOV is unchanged afterwards.
+- Check `CommonwealthOnline.log` for `Captured FOV before face-edit zoom` and `Restored FOV after face-edit zoom`.
+
+### Known Issues
+- The close-up amount is a fixed FOV (`kLooksMenuFaceCameraFOV = 40`); it is a telephoto zoom rather than a physical dolly-in, so perspective is slightly flattened.
+- FOV is applied via the console `fov` command (affects both first- and third-person FOV while open); it is restored on close, but an abnormal exit before restore would leave a narrowed FOV until the next launch flow restores it.
+
+### Next Steps
+- If a stronger/weaker close-up is wanted, tune `kLooksMenuFaceCameraFOV`.
+- If a true physical dolly-in is preferred, implement the actor-reposition approach used by `LooksmenuPlayerRotation` (capture fixed camera pos/angle, move the player closer in front of it, snapshot/restore player position).
+
+---
+
+## 2026-06-28 - Center player in LooksMenu
+
+### Summary
+The FOV zoom worked but magnified the LooksMenu camera's existing horizontal offset, leaving the face pushed to one side of the screen. Added player-centering so the character sits on the camera's optical axis.
+
+### Files Changed
+- `plugin/src/F4TSessionLaunch.cpp`
+- `changelog.md`
+- `docs/dev-log.md`
+
+### Details
+- Because the LooksMenu camera is fixed and not aimed exactly at the player, narrowing the FOV amplified the off-center framing.
+- Adopted the actor-reposition technique from `LooksmenuPlayerRotation`: capture the fixed camera world position (`PlayerCamera::GetCameraPosition`) and yaw (`PlayerCamera::heading`) once, then place the player on the camera's forward axis.
+- Centering preserves the player's straight-line distance to the camera (so the existing zoom level is unchanged) and faces the player back toward the camera for a front-on view.
+- Centering runs only for the first `kLooksMenuCenterMaxPolls` (6) polls after LooksMenu opens (handles camera settle), then stops so the menu's own model rotation/controls work normally.
+- Snapshots the player's pre-LooksMenu position and angle and restores them when the menu closes (and on reset/retry paths), so post-customization gameplay starts at the original spawn marker.
+- Used `Actor::SetPosition`, `TESObjectREFR::SetAngleOnReference`, and `Update3DPosition` for the move; vertical (Z) position is left unchanged.
+
+### Testing
+- Not run in this session (Fallout 4/F4SE runtime not available in this environment).
+- Expected manual check: start a first-time server join, wait for LooksMenu in Vault 109, and confirm the face is now centered (not pushed to the right) and facing the camera, with the same zoom level.
+- Confirm the player can still rotate the model via the menu after the first ~1.5s of auto-centering.
+- Confirm the player returns to the original spawn position after LooksMenu closes and before SPECIAL opens.
+- Check `CommonwealthOnline.log` for `Captured player transform before LooksMenu centering` and `Restored player transform after LooksMenu centering`.
+
+### Known Issues
+- Centering relies on `GetCameraPosition(..., true)` returning the camera's world position and on `PlayerCamera::heading` being the camera yaw; if framing is wrong in-game, the yaw source/sign or distance may need adjustment.
+- Vertical framing is not adjusted; if the face sits too high/low, a Z offset can be added.
+- If the camera is still settling when captured on the first poll, centering may be slightly off; increasing `kLooksMenuCenterMaxPolls` or delaying the first capture would help.
+
+### Next Steps
+- Verify in-game and tune `kLooksMenuCenterMaxPolls` / add a vertical offset if needed.