---
id: project-overview
title: "Project Overview — what this is, people, goals"
status: established
source_sections: "PROGRESS_LOG.md §1-3; README.md"
related_topics: [pod-hardware, wintesla-port, source-completeness, build-and-run]
key_terms: [BT, RP, MUNGA, Tesla-platform, WinTesla, pod]
---

# Project Overview

Port VWE's arcade **pod** games (Tesla platform, release 4.10, ~1995-96) to modern Windows and,
ultimately, the actual arcade pod hardware. Primary target: **BattleTech (BT)**; **Red Planet
(RP)** shares the engine. Full detail: `docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md §1-3`.

## The stack
- Two games, one engine: BT + RP. Engine = **MUNGA**; HAL = **L4** (`MUNGA_L4`). Game logic =
  `CODE/BT`, `CODE/RP`. [T1]
- Original platform: **32-bit DOS** under a **DPMI32** extender, Borland C++ 5 + TASM32, on Novell
  DOS pods. 3D by a proprietary Division **IG image-generator board** (dual EISA), driven by the
  closed **`libDPL.lib`** (binary + VREND microcode). [T1]
- **The port replaces the IG board/libDPL** with a `dpl_*` → Direct3D9 shim (done in WinTesla as
  L4D3D). Pods now run Windows 10 + a Voodoo/Glide wrapper. BT was abandoned (MechWarrior 4 runs on
  the current pods); this project revives BT. [T1]

## People / goals
- **arcattack** (user): doing the port. NVIDIA 3060 + A6000 dev GPUs.
- **Nick:** owns the pods + the software license (porting is authorized). Runs the pod hardware. The
  gating dependency — the missing BT source likely lives on his backup drives (see [[source-completeness]]).
- **Goal:** run on (a) a modern dev box and (b) the fixed pod hardware. Multiplayer (pod-to-pod) wanted.

## Repo orientation (bt411)
This is the **clean standalone bt411 repo**. `README.md` + the top-level `CMakeLists.txt` are the
build of record. Tree: `engine/ game/ content/ docs/ reference/ tools/ context/`. Historical
sections in `docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md` cite old `C:/git/nick-games/...` paths — treat as provenance;
they map into this repo (reconstructed BT → `game/reconstructed/`, engine → `engine/MUNGA{,_L4}/`,
content → `content/`, raw decomp → `reference/decomp/`). [T2]

## Current state (2026-07)
`btl4.exe` boots, renders the world + a skinned mech, and runs a full **drive → animate → target →
fire → damage → destroy → respawn** single-player loop (task #52). **2-node MP is verified
end-to-end** — replication, cross-pod targeting/damage/kill, beam visuals, replicant gait (tasks
#46-#51, [[multiplayer]]). All 8 cockpit canopies are authentic + the horizontal-FOV fix (task #55,
[[cockpit-view]]); the Gyroscope is live byte-exact with hit-bounce (task #56); the **gauge system
is complete** ([[gauges-hud]]). The engine/renderer/HAL/audio are done (WinTesla); the active work
is reconstructing each BT subsystem's authentic behavior from the binary. Remaining: pod-LAN
config, Mech-level update records, per-subsystem waves. [T2]

## Key Relationships
- Full detail: `docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md`.
- Enables: everything — see [[wintesla-port]] (the base), [[source-completeness]] (the gap),
  [[build-and-run]] (how to build).
