diff --git a/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.test.ts b/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..998a141
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { createIndexBuffer } from './RendererUtils.js';
+import type { WebGlContextWrapper } from '../../../lib/WebGlContextWrapper.js';
+
+// Capture the Uint16Array handed to elementArrayBufferData so we can assert on
+// the generated quad indices without a real GL context.
+function mockGlw(): {
+  glw: WebGlContextWrapper;
+  getIndices: () => Uint16Array;
+} {
+  let captured: Uint16Array | null = null;
+  const glw = {
+    STATIC_DRAW: 0,
+    createBuffer: () => ({}),
+    elementArrayBufferData: (_buffer: unknown, indices: Uint16Array) => {
+      captured = indices;
+    },
+  } as unknown as WebGlContextWrapper;
+  return {
+    glw,
+    getIndices: () => {
+      if (captured === null) {
+        throw new Error('elementArrayBufferData was not called');
+      }
+      return captured;
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+// The expected 6 element indices for quad `q`: two triangles over the quad's
+// four vertices [4q, 4q+1, 4q+2, 4q+3] wound as [0,1,2, 2,1,3].
+const expectedQuad = (q: number): number[] => {
+  const j = q * 4;
+  return [j, j + 1, j + 2, j + 2, j + 1, j + 3];
+};
+
+describe('createIndexBuffer', () => {
+  it('fills indices for EVERY quad, not just the first 1/6', () => {
+    // size / 80 = 800 quads, comfortably under the Uint16 cap.
+    const { glw, getIndices } = mockGlw();
+    createIndexBuffer(glw, 800 * 80);
+    const indices = getIndices();
+    const maxQuads = 800;
+
+    expect(indices.length).toBe(maxQuads * 6);
+
+    // First, middle and — critically — the LAST quad must be populated. The
+    // original bug stopped the loop at `i < maxQuads`, zeroing every quad past
+    // ~maxQuads/6 and collapsing it into a degenerate triangle.
+    for (const q of [0, 1, maxQuads >> 1, maxQuads - 2, maxQuads - 1]) {
+      const slice = Array.from(indices.subarray(q * 6, q * 6 + 6));
+      expect(slice).toEqual(expectedQuad(q));
+    }
+
+    // No trailing zeroed slots (every quad past index 0 references vertices > 0).
+    const lastQuad = Array.from(indices.subarray((maxQuads - 1) * 6));
+    expect(lastQuad.some((v) => v !== 0)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('caps at 16384 quads so Uint16 vertex ids never overflow', () => {
+    // Request far more than Uint16 can address (25000 quads worth of bytes).
+    const { glw, getIndices } = mockGlw();
+    createIndexBuffer(glw, 25000 * 80);
+    const indices = getIndices();
+
+    expect(indices.length).toBe(16384 * 6);
+    // The very last vertex id is 16384*4 - 1 = 65535, the Uint16 maximum.
+    expect(indices[indices.length - 1]).toBe(65535);
+    expect(Array.from(indices.subarray(16383 * 6, 16383 * 6 + 6))).toEqual(
+      expectedQuad(16383),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.ts b/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.ts
index 4d32030..d01ea3d 100644
--- a/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.ts
+++ b/src/core/renderers/webgl/internal/RendererUtils.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,17 @@ export function createIndexBuffer(
   glw: WebGlContextWrapper,
   size: number,
 ): WebGLBuffer | null {
-  const maxQuads = ~~(size / 80);
+  // 4 vertices per quad. Element indices are Uint16, so the largest vertex id
+  // we can address is 65535 — i.e. 16384 quads (16384 * 4 = 65536). Never claim
+  // more than that, regardless of the requested byte budget.
+  const maxQuads = Math.min(~~(size / 80), 16384);
   const indices = new Uint16Array(maxQuads * 6);
 
-  for (let i = 0, j = 0; i < maxQuads; i += 6, j += 4) {
+  // i walks the index slot (6 per quad), j the vertex base (4 per quad). The
+  // bound must be maxQuads * 6 to fill every slot — stopping at maxQuads left
+  // ~5/6 of the buffer zeroed, collapsing every quad past ~maxQuads/6 into a
+  // degenerate triangle (the cause of tail geometry silently disappearing).
+  for (let i = 0, j = 0; i < maxQuads * 6; i += 6, j += 4) {
     indices[i] = j;
     indices[i + 1] = j + 1;
     indices[i + 2] = j + 2;