Impact-FX FORENSICS wave: the i860 specialfx engine, per-round detonations, the ram economy closed

The "we're off the rails" reinvestigation -- a 5-thread evidence workflow
(logs / PFX data / RES model lists / decomp / port audit) + the i860 firmware
decode, then surgical fixes.  Every claim tiered; the wrong turns are on the
record in the KB alongside the corrections.

THE OLD-STYLE SPECIALFX ENGINE [T1, firmware-decoded from VREND.MNG]:
rebuilt scratchpad/i860dis.py (binutils opcode table); mapped the dispatch
(data+0xdd0c; sfx trigger 0xf040cda0, install 0xf040cdc0, step ~0xf0413698,
instance init 0xf04128d8); decoded the heat model EXACTLY: per 30Hz board
frame h *= cool_a; RGB_ch = h_old*(h_new*cook_ch - 0.25) + 0.25 (K=0.25 =
the ember floor @VA 0xF080; kill at h <= 1e-4 @0xF0A0); alpha fades cool_b
x RAW dt (PER-SECOND -- the x30 scaling made laser hits invisible); 7s cap;
y_off = the kill plane; "variance" is DEAD DATA (binary reads "variance",
INI authors "varience").  The 13 descriptors (PPCHit/LaserHit/MissileHit/
Chunks/Sparks/Fireball...) parse from BTDPL.INI and render via the BTPfx
layer -- heat bursts draw the FIERY sheet (brightness over fire), .PFX keeps
GRAYSCALE (authored colours: DNBOOM orange, DDAM gray).

HIT-PACKAGE CENSUS [T1, RES byte-verified]: ppchit=[8] lzrhit=[9] mghit=[7,11]
canhit=[11] mslhit=[10,12,1023] explode=[6]; all 8 mech death lists identical.
Effect routing corrected in BOTH consumers: <100 = specialfx, >=1000 = psfx.

"SILVER MIST x5" ROOT CAUSE: SHKWAVE.PFX (mslhit's 1023) authors maxIssue=5
relPeriod=0.2 rate=1 -- the ONE file where rate contradicts the window; the
emitter trusted rate -> 5 shells at exactly 1Hz.  Emission rate now always
maxIssue/releasePeriod.

PER-ROUND DETONATIONS [T1 @004bef78]: every missile round spawns its own
ExplosionModelFile at ITS impact (hull + terrain) -- a volley ripples 12
fireballs like the demos; rack-tube launch spread [T3] (GUIDED rounds only --
the slot-0 deflection sent every AFC100 shell 3.4deg left/2.5deg down: the
phantom "4th gold beam"); replicant salvos detonate too (launcher index rides
the visual push).  Missile damage bundles through the shooter's messmgr with
the launcher's subsystemID (mslhit fires at the consolidated point; the
binary's dedup CONFIRMED [T1 @0049b784] -- a workflow agent's per-record
claim REFUTED by direct decomp read).

DAMAGE-BAND SEMANTICS [T1]: MechDeathHandler fires the CURRENT band effect on
any damage rise (the binary's changed-flag coalescing) -- a mauled mech under
fire smokes/burns per hit; bands 3/4 are authored fire plumes.

THE RAM ECONOMY -- CLOSED (3 layers, measured live):
 1. armor = POINTS (every zone: damageScale = 1/armorPoints, armor 50-140;
    the [zone-armor] BT_DMG_LOG dump);
 2. StaticBounce prices rams with authored moverMass ~1.3e6 -> ~59,000 pts
    @10m/s; the binary dispatches it RAW but pod MP dropped it on the local
    replicant (MECH.CPP:986 warns) -- ram damage was NETWORK-INERT; our
    task-#47 replicant forwarding surfaced it as a one-shot.  Port
    normalizes x1e-3 to the point economy [T3];
 3. contact EDGE (ramLastVictim/ramContactLinger): the binary's bounce made
    separation implicit; our gait-derived velocity re-priced full rams at
    60Hz (the respawn explode-loop).  One bump = one hit; pressed = BLOCK.

PLUS: sfx size x0.5 + 1.25m visibility floor + hot-phase occlusion [T3];
particle pool 2048->8192 (missile traffic starved laser bursts -- the
"intermittent effects"); replicant beam aging (a lost beam-END record pinned
a stale beam on forever); UV-variant noise stamps (mask-safe mirror/swap);
no scroll on particle stamps (material-path only); BT_FX_TEST/fxshot.py
self-verification harness ([beam-draw]/[zone-armor]/[collide-tx] telemetry).

KB: rendering.md (specialfx engine + census + closeout), combat-damage.md
(ram economy + band semantics).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

context/combat-damage.md

@@ -104,6 +104,27 @@ per ER-M laser; [[decomp-reference]] §5). Flying projectiles (LRM/autocannon) a
 reconstruction (`BTPushProjectile` — the 2007 Entity is too small for the binary's raw integrator
 offsets). [T2]
 
+## The RAM economy — CLOSED (2026-07-12) [T1 evidence, T3 normalization]
+Three-layer story, measured live + decomp-verified:
+1. **The armor economy is POINTS**: every zone streams `damageScale[5]` EVEN = `1/armorPoints`
+   (armor 50–140; `damageLevel += amount/armor`, 1.0 = destroyed — the `[zone-armor]` dump,
+   BT_DMG_LOG, mechdmg.cpp).  Weapons author point-scale amounts (laser 11.77 ≈ 10 torso hits). ✓
+2. **StaticBounce prices rams with the AUTHORED moverMass ≈ 1.3e6 units** → ~600×v² ≈ 59,000
+   points for a 10 m/s ram (measured: 59221@9.94, 398@0.81; `[collide-tx]` now logs mass/e).
+   The binary DISPATCHES it raw (@part_012:15324-15358) — but in pod MP it landed on the local
+   REPLICANT of the victim (the master never heard it; MECH.CPP:986 warns and proceeds) —
+   **ram damage was network-inert in the pod**.  Our task-#47 replicant forwarding (required
+   for MP weapon damage) surfaced it as a one-shot.  Port: `BTDispatchCollisionDamage`
+   normalizes ×1e-3 to the armor-point economy (bump = points, charge = tens) [T3].
+3. **The contact EDGE**: the binary's bounce reversed the mover's velocity so the frame after
+   a bump read as separating; our gait re-derives velocity per frame (still closing while
+   pressed / respawn-overlapped) → sustained contact re-priced full rams at 60Hz (the respawn
+   explode-loop).  Port: `ramLastVictim`/`ramContactLinger` (mech.hpp) — one bump = one damage
+   event; pressed = BLOCK; re-arms 0.35s after separation; cleared on Reset.
+Band effects: `MechDeathHandler::Tick` fires the CURRENT band descriptor on any damage rise
+(the binary's changed-flag semantics, workflow-verified) — a damaged mech under fire smokes/
+burns per hit; the earlier crossing-only gate was over-tight (the metronome was SHKWAVE).
+
 ## Damage delivery + the real damage model
 `Entity::TakeDamageMessage(id, size, inflictingEntityID, zone, Damage&)` → `target->Dispatch`.
 **Base handler IGNORES zone==−1** (`Entity::TakeDamageMessageHandler`, ENTITY.cpp:878 — returns on