diff --git a/scripts/NPC.cs b/scripts/NPC.cs
index 0bb5b1c..887a6e3 100644
--- a/scripts/NPC.cs
+++ b/scripts/NPC.cs
@@ -98,13 +98,37 @@ public class Npc
     {
         Activity = "exploring for new ground";
         Vector2 anchor = gm.TownAnchor(HomeTown);
-        Vector2 outward = (Position - anchor);
-        if (outward.LengthSquared() < 1f)
-            outward = new Vector2(PersonalityModifier, 1f - Mathf.Abs(PersonalityModifier));
-        outward = outward.Normalized();
-        // A little personality-driven veer so explorers fan out, not conga-line.
-        outward = outward.Rotated(PersonalityModifier * 1.2f);
-        Position += outward * MoveSpeed;
+        Vector2 fromHome = Position - anchor;
+        float distHome = fromHome.Length();
+
+        // Stay in the home range. A person forages OUT from their village and
+        // back, they don't march to the horizon — so past a search radius they
+        // turn homeward. This keeps a strip-happy town (the East) from slowly
+        // migrating into its neighbors instead of settling its own ground.
+        const float SearchRadius = 140f;
+        Vector2 dir;
+        if (distHome > SearchRadius)
+        {
+            dir = (-fromHome).Normalized();                 // head back toward home
+            dir = dir.Rotated(PersonalityModifier * 0.6f);  // slight veer, still homeward
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // Outward from home in a per-soul direction. When right at the
+            // anchor there's no outward vector, so pick an angle from the
+            // soul's identity — NOT a fixed vector (the old default leaned
+            // hard +Y, i.e. south, quietly funnelling every town's explorers
+            // into the southern corner).
+            if (distHome > 1f)
+                dir = fromHome.Normalized();
+            else
+            {
+                float ang = (Name.GetHashCode() & 0xFFFF) / 65535f * Mathf.Tau;
+                dir = new Vector2(Mathf.Cos(ang), Mathf.Sin(ang));
+            }
+            dir = dir.Rotated(PersonalityModifier * 1.4f + 0.6f);   // circle the home range
+        }
+        Position += dir * MoveSpeed;
         SenseNodes(gm.World);
     }
 
@@ -721,7 +745,14 @@ public class Npc
                 Enter(NpcState.Gathering);   // no stone yet — go get it
                 return;
             }
+            // Homestead on your OWN town's land — selfish souls sprawl (a
+            // wide range, no clustering to the shared center) but they build
+            // in the east if they're an East soul, not wherever they drifted
+            // into a neighbor's territory.
+            Vector2 anchor = gm.TownAnchor(HomeTown);
             Vector2 spot = _hasHomeSpot ? _homeSpot : Position;
+            Vector2 off = spot - anchor;
+            if (off.Length() > 120f) spot = anchor + off.Normalized() * 120f;
             mine = Building.NewShelter(spot);
             mine.Town = HomeTown;
             gm.Buildings.Add(mine);
@@ -729,7 +760,8 @@ public class Npc
             // Don't clear the homeless drive yet — a foundation isn't a home.
             // It resets only once the roof is on (below), so the builder keeps
             // supplying walls and roof instead of stalling at the foundation.
-            Godot.GD.Print($"[Homestead] day {gm.Day}: {Name} ({HomeTown}) breaks ground on a private home.");
+            Godot.GD.Print($"[Homestead] day {gm.Day}: {Name} ({HomeTown}) breaks ground at " +
+                           $"({mine.Site.X:0},{mine.Site.Y:0}) — {(mine.Site - gm.TownAnchor(HomeTown)).Length():0} from home.");
         }
 
         Activity = "building my own home";
diff --git a/scripts/Visualization.cs b/scripts/Visualization.cs
index c11f805..83ff439 100644
--- a/scripts/Visualization.cs
+++ b/scripts/Visualization.cs
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ public partial class Visualization : Node2D
 
     // Layout: 1600×900 window — map fills the left square, panel the right.
     private const float MapOffset = 10f;
-    private const float MapPixels = 880f;
-    private const float CellPixels = MapPixels / World.GridSize;   // ~3.44
-    private const float PanelX = 910f;
-    private const float PanelWidth = 680f;
+    private const float MapPixels = 1060f;   // fills most of the 1600px window
+    private const float CellPixels = MapPixels / World.GridSize;
+    private const float PanelX = 1085f;
+    private const float PanelWidth = 505f;
 
     private static readonly Color PanelBg   = new(0.10f, 0.10f, 0.12f);
     private static readonly Color MapBg     = new(0.13f, 0.13f, 0.15f);