diff --git a/game/scenes/Levels/location_level.gd b/game/scenes/Levels/location_level.gd
index 38858af..992c8bb 100644
--- a/game/scenes/Levels/location_level.gd
+++ b/game/scenes/Levels/location_level.gd
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ func _load_existing_locations() -> void:
 		_locations_loaded = true
 		return
 
+	var loaded_count := 0
 	for item in parsed:
 		if typeof(item) != TYPE_DICTIONARY:
 			continue
@@ -254,5 +255,10 @@ func _load_existing_locations() -> void:
 		if location_name.is_empty():
 			location_name = "Location %d,%d" % [coord.x, coord.y]
 		_known_locations[coord] = location_name
+		loaded_count += 1
+
+	print("LocationLevel loaded %d visible locations for character %s." % [loaded_count, character_id])
+	if loaded_count == 0:
+		push_warning("Visible locations request succeeded but returned 0 locations for character %s." % character_id)
 
 	_locations_loaded = true
diff --git a/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs b/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
index bea7bf2..bc04546 100644
--- a/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
+++ b/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
@@ -8,14 +8,16 @@ namespace CharacterApi.Controllers;
 
 [ApiController]
 [Route("api/[controller]")]
-public class CharactersController : ControllerBase
-{
-    private readonly CharacterStore _characters;
-
-    public CharactersController(CharacterStore characters)
-    {
-        _characters = characters;
-    }
+public class CharactersController : ControllerBase
+{
+    private readonly CharacterStore _characters;
+    private readonly ILogger<CharactersController> _logger;
+
+    public CharactersController(CharacterStore characters, ILogger<CharactersController> logger)
+    {
+        _characters = characters;
+        _logger = logger;
+    }
 
     [HttpPost]
     [Authorize(Roles = "USER,SUPER")]
@@ -66,7 +68,25 @@ public class CharactersController : ControllerBase
         if (character is null)
             return NotFound();
 
-        var locations = await _characters.GetOrCreateVisibleLocationsAsync(character);
+        _logger.LogInformation(
+            "Visible locations requested for character {CharacterId} at ({X},{Y}) radius {VisionRadius} by user {UserId}",
+            character.Id,
+            character.Coord.X,
+            character.Coord.Y,
+            character.VisionRadius,
+            userId
+        );
+
+        var generation = await _characters.GetOrCreateVisibleLocationsAsync(character);
+        var locations = generation.Locations;
+
+        _logger.LogInformation(
+            "Visible locations resolved for character {CharacterId}: generated {GeneratedCount}, returned {ReturnedCount}",
+            character.Id,
+            generation.GeneratedCount,
+            locations.Count
+        );
+
         return Ok(locations);
     }
 
diff --git a/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs b/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
index aa220e2..f5cfd1a 100644
--- a/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
+++ b/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ public class CharacterStore
     private readonly IMongoCollection<Character> _col;
     private readonly IMongoCollection<VisibleLocation> _locations;
 
+    public sealed record VisibleLocationResult(List<VisibleLocation> Locations, int GeneratedCount);
+
     public CharacterStore(IConfiguration cfg)
     {
         var cs = cfg["MongoDB:ConnectionString"] ?? "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017";
@@ -46,10 +48,11 @@ public class CharacterStore
         return GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(character, ensureGenerated: false);
     }
 
-    public async Task<List<VisibleLocation>> GetOrCreateVisibleLocationsAsync(Character character)
+    public async Task<VisibleLocationResult> GetOrCreateVisibleLocationsAsync(Character character)
     {
-        await EnsureVisibleLocationsExistAsync(character);
-        return await GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(character, ensureGenerated: true);
+        var generatedCount = await EnsureVisibleLocationsExistAsync(character);
+        var locations = await GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(character, ensureGenerated: true);
+        return new VisibleLocationResult(locations, generatedCount);
     }
 
     private Task<List<VisibleLocation>> GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(Character character, bool ensureGenerated)
@@ -70,9 +73,10 @@ public class CharacterStore
         return _locations.Find(filter).ToListAsync();
     }
 
-    private async Task EnsureVisibleLocationsExistAsync(Character character)
+    private async Task<int> EnsureVisibleLocationsExistAsync(Character character)
     {
         var radius = character.VisionRadius > 0 ? character.VisionRadius : 3;
+        var generatedCount = 0;
 
         for (var x = character.Coord.X - radius; x <= character.Coord.X + radius; x++)
         {
@@ -91,7 +95,9 @@ public class CharacterStore
 
                 try
                 {
-                    await _locations.UpdateOneAsync(filter, update, new UpdateOptions { IsUpsert = true });
+                    var result = await _locations.UpdateOneAsync(filter, update, new UpdateOptions { IsUpsert = true });
+                    if (result.UpsertedId is not null)
+                        generatedCount += 1;
                 }
                 catch (MongoWriteException ex) when (ex.WriteError.Category == ServerErrorCategory.DuplicateKey)
                 {
@@ -99,6 +105,8 @@ public class CharacterStore
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        return generatedCount;
     }
 
     private static string DefaultLocationName(int x, int y)