scoring: restore the type-0 INTERCEPTOR -- per-hit inflicted credit was live all along

Players reported scoring and K/D going screwy on 4.11.817.  Cause: build 787
(#45/#134) retired the port's per-hit inflicted crediting as an "invention",
on the strength of a KB claim that the type-0 score handler was dead code.
That claim was wrong.

BTPlayer overrides Dispatch -- vtable @00513300 slot 3 = FUN_004bffa0 -- and
splits type 0 off BEFORE base dispatch:

    if (msg->id == 0x16 && msg->type == 0)  FUN_004c0200(...);   // ScoreInflicted
    else                                    base dispatch;

@004c0200 names itself in its own Verify string
("BTPlayer::ScoreInflictedMessageHandler") and computes
CalcInflicted(basis) -> negate if target==self -> x (targetTonnage/ownTonnage)
-> accumulate into +0x278.  ScoreMessageHandler's type-0 arm Verify-rejects
precisely BECAUSE this interceptor guarantees type 0 never reaches it.

The port had the handler, faithfully reconstructed, and no interceptor -- so
Block B's inflicted reports all landed in the rejecting arm and banked 0.
Per-hit damage credit was silently deleted.

Independently corroborated by the ORIGINAL MANUAL'S SCORING CHART (filed as
reference/manual/scoring_chart.webp, from Lynx): "+1 each damage point scored
on opponent's armor" and "-1 each self-inflicted point of armor damage" -- the
negate-if-target-is-self arm exactly.  Without that chart the dead-code note
would probably have stood.

Verified (scratchpad/night13/scoreverify.sh, cross-node kill, 2 nodes):
  type-0 Verify rejections   0   (was firing on every non-lethal hit)
  inflicted score rows      83   awards 0.98..25.00, all positive, tracking damage
  kill path un-regressed    type=2 award=4.88 kills=1, victim respawn x1

KB: combat-damage.md report B and the score-model paragraph rewritten, with
the full chart and THREE unreconciled rows flagged [T4] -- flat +500 kill vs
the benched 4.88, +1000 at game start, and -1000 eject / -500 ammo (which
would live in ScenarioRole::specialCaseDeathPenalty @role+0x20, read by the
port but authored nowhere in shipped content).

KNOWN, NOT FIXED HERE: in MP the running total does not persist -- currentScore
is flushed to the operator console and ZEROED (btplayer.cpp ~1219) because the
binary treats it as a console DELTA.  Restoring the credit makes that very
visible (bench: totals climb to ~35 then reset).  Needs its own decision; the
chart's "+1000 starting the game" implies a persistent total lives somewhere.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NCJQkvq6G2JNrpVbA75tVZ

context/combat-damage.md

@@ -606,10 +606,21 @@ btplayer.hpp, static_assert-locked; `scoreAward`=APPLIED tally in all three):
   the VICTIM role's `killBonus` (role+0x1c). senderMechID = the victim. Suicide (eject charge,
   self-damage) IS dispatched — the handler negates the award (@0x4c03ab `fchs`) and skips
   `killCount++`: **the #134 panic penalty, live** (bench: `type=2 award=-39.00 kills=0`).
-- **B @0x4a05d9, not newly killed && tally≠0** → type 0 to the shooter. The ONLY registered 0x16
+- **B @0x4a05d9, not newly killed && tally≠0** → type 0 to the shooter: the **per-hit INFLICTED
-  receiver Verify-rejects type 0 → 1995 folded an UNINITIALIZED stack float into the shooter's
+  credit**, and it is LIVE. ⚠ **CORRECTED 2026-08-07** — this entry previously read "the ONLY
-  score on every non-lethal hit (real 1995 bug — @0x4c0200, the handler that accepts type 0, is
+  registered 0x16 receiver Verify-rejects type 0 → 1995 folded an UNINITIALIZED stack float into
-  in NO table entry: dead code). Port sends it for wire fidelity, banks award 0.
+  the shooter's score on every non-lethal hit (real 1995 bug — @0x4c0200 … is in NO table entry:
+  dead code)". **That was wrong**, and build 787 retired the port's per-hit crediting on the
+  strength of it (the scoring regression players reported on 4.11.817). `BTPlayer` overrides
+  **`Dispatch` — vtable `@00513300` slot 3 = `FUN_004bffa0`** — and splits type 0 off BEFORE base
+  dispatch: `if (id==0x16 && type==0) FUN_004c0200(...); else base;`. `@004c0200` names itself in
+  its own Verify string (`BTPlayer::ScoreInflictedMessageHandler`) and computes
+  `CalcInflicted(basis) → negate if target==self → × (targetTonnage/ownTonnage) → += +0x278`.
+  `ScoreMessageHandler`'s type-0 arm Verify-rejects precisely BECAUSE the interceptor guarantees
+  type 0 never reaches it. Independently corroborated by the original manual's SCORING CHART
+  (`reference/manual/scoring_chart.webp`, via Lynx): "+1 each damage point scored on opponent's armor" and "-1 each
+  self-inflicted point of armor damage" — the negate-if-self arm exactly. Interceptor restored;
+  benched 83 inflicted rows, awards 0.98–25.00, zero type-0 Verify rejections. [T1]
 - **C @0x4a06c0, tally>0 (kills included)** → type 1 DamageReceivedScore to the VICTIM's player.
   Basis = INTENDED damage (burstCount×amount). senderMechID = the INFLICTOR. Feeds the received
   penalty (`CalcDamageReceivedScore` returns the NEGATIVE) + the operator-console VTVDamaged line
@@ -617,9 +628,31 @@ btplayer.hpp, static_assert-locked; `scoreAward`=APPLIED tally in all three):
 Reports carry the LOOP-ENTRY zone (msg+0x24, never rewritten mid-loop), the vital-wreck flag, and
 `inflictingSubsystemID` (msg+0x5c, engine T0 name).
 
-**Score model consequence** [T1]: 1995 pod scoring = **kill awards + received-damage penalties +
+**Score model consequence** [T1, ⚠ REWRITTEN 2026-08-07]: 1995 pod scoring = **per-hit inflicted
-death costs. No per-hit inflicted credit** (the port's old per-hit crediting — and the #95 salvo
+credit + kill awards + received-damage penalties + death costs**. The previous text here claimed
-fix on top of it — were inventions riding the dead @0x4c0200 channel; both retired).
+"No per-hit inflicted credit … inventions riding the dead @0x4c0200 channel; both retired" — that
+followed from the dead-code misreading corrected in report B above, and retiring the credit IS the
+scoring regression reported on 4.11.817. The **original manual's SCORING CHART** (`reference/manual/scoring_chart.webp`)
+is the cross-check for every row and should be consulted before touching this path again:
+
+| Points | Event |
+|---|---|
+| +1000 | Starting the game |
+| +1 | Each damage point scored on opponent's armor |
+| +10..+30 | Destroying an opponent's internal system |
+| +500 | Destroying an opponent's 'Mech |
+| −1 | Each self-inflicted point of armor damage |
+| −10..−30 | Knocking out one of your own internal systems |
+| −500 | Destroying your own 'Mech by an ammo explosion |
+| −1000 | Destroying your own 'Mech by ejecting |
+
+⚠ **Three chart rows are NOT yet reconciled with the reconstruction** — treat as open [T4]:
+(a) a kill benches at `award=4.88`, two orders off the chart's flat **+500**; (b) **+1000 at
+game start** has no known implementation; (c) **−1000 eject / −500 ammo** would live in
+`ScenarioRole::specialCaseDeathPenalty` (role+0x20), which the port reads
+(`GetSpecialCaseDeathPenalty`, the death-cost block) but which **shipped content authors
+nowhere**, so it is 0 in the field — the #134 symptom by another route. Do not "fix" these by
+hard-coding chart numbers; find where the binary sources them.
 Kill award = `(victimKillBonus + tally) × killerRole.damageInflictedModifier ×
 (victimAvgZoneDamage@0x354 × damageBias + 1.0) × (victimTonnage/killerTonnage)`; same-team kill in
 a non-FFA game = `-friendlyFirePenalty` basis (inline strcmp of `teamName@0x20c`, gate

game/reconstructed/btplayer.cpp

@@ -731,6 +731,47 @@ void
 	suppressConsole = 0;						// this+0x258
 }
 
+//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+//					Dispatch  (@004bffa0, vtable @00513300 slot 3)
+//
+// THE TYPE-0 INTERCEPTOR.  Restored 2026-08-07 -- it was missing, and its
+// absence silently deleted per-hit inflicted scoring:
+//
+//   * the binary carries all three score reports under ONE id (0x16) and
+//     splits type 0 off here, BEFORE base dispatch, straight into
+//     ScoreInflictedMessageHandler (@004c0200 -- which names itself in its own
+//     Verify string, "BTPlayer::ScoreInflictedMessageHandler");
+//   * ScoreMessageHandler's type-0 arm Verify-rejects ON PURPOSE, because this
+//     interceptor guarantees type 0 never gets that far;
+//   * the port had the handler, faithfully reconstructed, and NO interceptor.
+//     Block B sends its inflicted report under Player::ScoreMessageID, so every
+//     one of them landed in the rejecting arm and banked 0.
+//
+// The KB previously recorded @004c0200 as "in NO table entry: dead code" and
+// concluded 1995 folded an uninitialised stack float into the shooter's score
+// on every non-lethal hit -- and the port's per-hit crediting was retired as an
+// "invention" on that basis (#45/#134, build 787, the build players report
+// scoring regressed in).  That reading was wrong: the handler is live through
+// THIS vtable slot, and the original manual's SCORING CHART independently
+// corroborates what it computes -- "+1 each damage point scored on opponent's
+// armor" and "-1 each self-inflicted point of armor damage", which is exactly
+// this handler's negate-if-target-is-self arm.  combat-damage.md is corrected.
+//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+void
+	BTPlayer::Dispatch(Receiver::Message *what)
+{
+	if (what != 0
+		&& what->messageID == Player::ScoreMessageID
+		&& ((BTPlayer::ScoreMessage *)what)->scoreType
+			== BTPlayer::ScoreMessage::DamageInflictedScore)
+	{
+		ScoreInflictedMessageHandler((BTPlayer::ScoreMessage *)what);
+		return;
+	}
+	Player::Dispatch(what);
+}
+
+
 //~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 //					ScoreInflictedMessageHandler
 //
@@ -2351,9 +2392,14 @@ void BTMechPostCombatReports(
 	else if (damage_tally != 0.0f && shooter_player != 0)
 	{
 		//
-		// Block B: the plain inflicted report.  Wire fidelity only -- the 0x16
+		// Block B: the inflicted report -- "+1 each damage point scored on
-		// handler Verify-rejects type 0 and banks award 0 (1995 banked an
+		// opponent's armor" (original manual scoring chart).  Goes out under
-		// uninitialized stack float; see the handler's type-0 arm note).
+		// Player::ScoreMessageID with type 0, exactly as the binary does; the
+		// Dispatch override (@004bffa0) intercepts it into
+		// ScoreInflictedMessageHandler.  It is NOT wire-fidelity-only -- the
+		// old note here claimed the handler banks 0 because @004c0200 was
+		// "dead code", which was a misreading of the vtable; corrected
+		// 2026-08-07 and the interceptor restored.
 		//
 		BTPlayer::ScoreMessage inflicted(
 			Player::ScoreMessageID,

game/reconstructed/btplayer.hpp

@@ -288,6 +288,23 @@ class DropZone__ReplyMessage;
 	private:
 		static const HandlerEntry MessageHandlerEntries[];
 
+	public:
+		//
+		// @004bffa0 -- the DISPATCH OVERRIDE (vtable @00513300 slot 3).  The
+		// binary uses ONE message id (0x16) for all three score reports and
+		// splits type 0 off HERE, before base dispatch:
+		//
+		//     if (msg->id == 0x16 && msg->type == 0)  ScoreInflicted(msg);
+		//     else                                    base dispatch;
+		//
+		// which is why ScoreMessageHandler's own type-0 arm can Verify-reject:
+		// the interceptor guarantees type 0 never reaches it.  Without this
+		// override every inflicted report lands in the rejecting arm and scores
+		// nothing -- see the note in btplayer.cpp.
+		//
+		virtual void
+			Dispatch(Receiver::Message *what);						// @004bffa0
+
 	protected:
 		static MessageHandlerSet& GetMessageHandlers();
 

scratchpad/night13/ghost108.py

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+"""Night 13: post the ghost/eject findings to #108 and settle #144.  ASCII only."""
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(0, r"C:\git\bt411\scratchpad\night7")
+import gitea
+
+gitea.comment(108, """Night 13 (2026-08-06, build **4.11.817**) -- eject-ghosts, and why the logs barely saw them.
+
+## Field finding
+
+Testers reported MANY ghost mechs, all from panic-button self-destructs, none respawning
+properly -- and the operator has seen eject-respawn work every time before this night, so this is a
+REGRESSION, not a gap (night 12 = build 774).
+
+The logs show it happening, on three independent witnesses. Dave punch-ejected; on HIS machine the
+whole death path ran (`DeathWithoutHonor`, `PUNCH-OUT`, death transition, wreck, explosion), he
+respawned, took a drop-zone slot, and drove another 193 logged frames **in the same round**, which
+then ended normally -- no crash, no disconnect. On BOTH peers his mech's history ends at the wreck
+and never resumes; host 2 vanishes from santo's world for the remaining ~4300 lines of that round.
+
+The discriminator is clean: the SAME mech's NORMAL deaths replicated their respawns 4-6 times in
+that same session. Only the eject failed.
+
+## Why the ghost detector said almost nothing
+
+One `[ghost]` line all night, for an unrelated live mech. The gate is
+
+    && !owner->WreckBuried()      // "buried wrecks are expected-silent"
+    WreckBuried() { return collisionVolumeCount == 0; }
+
+An eject-ghost IS a wreck that stopped receiving records, so the detector files it under
+expected-silent. It can only ever catch a LIVE replicant going quiet -- structurally blind to this
+failure.
+
+## Why the census said "one" when testers saw many
+
+Counting ghosts meant pairing the un-wreck receipt against
+`[BTrender] wreck: 'thrdbr.bgf' missing -> gendbr.bgf fallback` -- a MISSING-ASSET warning, not a
+death, which only prints for chassis whose wreck model is absent. Fixed in `4642129`: every
+replicant entering the wreck state now emits an ungated
+
+    [wreck] replicant H:E entered wreck state (mode X->9) at (x,z)
+
+symmetric with the existing un-wreck line, so the count is exactly (enters - un-wrecks) per entity.
+Verified 2-node: 5 enters / 5 exits, exactly paired -- **while the old marker printed ZERO times in
+the same run**. Five real deaths, invisible to what the census was reading. Treat the "one ghost on
+night 13" number as a floor, not a count.
+
+Census tooling: `scratchpad/night13/ghostcensus.py` (NB: filter the log owner's OWN mech -- an
+owner's own wreck can never pair, since `un-wrecked` only logs for replicants; not doing so
+manufactures false positives in every log).
+
+## NOT reproduced by bench -- five rigs failed to trigger a punch-out at all
+
+`BT_BTNTEST` never reached the mapper for the panic button (0x3D) or the searchlight (0x14): no
+`[eject]`, no `PUNCH-OUT`, not even a lamp change -- so it is the SEAM, not the address.
+`BT_EJECT_AT` (mech4.cpp:3310, the purpose-built hook) did not fire either. Benches are staged
+(`ejectghost.sh`, `ejectlight.sh`, `ejectat.sh`) with their failure modes in the headers.
+
+What the benches DID establish: **normal death replication is healthy on 817** -- 9 force-kill
+deaths, 8 peer un-wrecks, 0 ghost lines. So an eject-only shortfall is the defect, not a broken rig.
+
+## Open lead
+
+The operator observed that the ghost mechs all had their SEARCHLIGHTS ON. Untested -- there is
+currently no key or env that toggles the searchlight headlessly, so it needs a small bench hook.
+Mechanically plausible: the searchlight is the only thing that attaches extra geometry into a peer's
+mech render tree (btl4vid.cpp builds a `spot.bgf` cone as a `DPLStaticChildRenderable` parented to
+the lamp's mount-segment renderable), and the death path does a wreck swap while respawn does
+"rebuilt intact model (N segs restored, hulk dropped)" -- a child renderable held across those two
+rebuilds is a lifetime hazard, and it would only bite mechs whose lamp was ON.
+
+## Regression window
+
+Commits 775-817. Two touch the death path: `91bd286` (787) rewrote the VehicleDead dispatch --
+the message that drives the respawn cycle -- including the `killer == victim` eject case and the
+filter that had blocked the panic-eject path; and `297127d` (784, death blast). Unverified.""")
+
+gitea.close(144, """**NOT A BUG -- authentic. Closing.**
+
+The eject sets `suppressConsole` (+0x258, `BTPlayerEjectBookkeeping`), and the #89 death-blast gate
+reads it:
+
+    gates : owning player's advancedDamageOn (+0x264) AND
+            NOT suppressConsole (+0x258 -- eject sets it: punch-outs never blast)
+            [T1 @0x4a0aa8-0x4a0ad6]
+
+So a mech that punches out does not splash its neighbourhood, by design, in the 1995 binary. SAURON's
+observation ("splash worked on mechs that died close, but no splash on a panic / eject / suicide
+death") is a correct reading of authentic behaviour.
+
+Closing so nobody "fixes" it. Found while investigating the night-13 eject ghosts (#108).""")

scratchpad/night13/scoreverify.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =========================================================================
+# SCORING verify -- the type-0 interceptor (@004bffa0) restored.
+#
+# Composition lifted from night12/scorekill.sh, which is known to produce a
+# clean cross-node kill: A (madcat, shooter) zone-walk-hammers B (loki,
+# spinner) at 90u until B dies.
+#
+# THE A/B IS READABLE IN ONE RUN, because the old behaviour left a receipt:
+#   BEFORE  every inflicted report hit ScoreMessageHandler's type-0 arm and
+#           tripped Verify "ScoreMessageHandler should not be given
+#           DamageInflictedScoreMessages!"  -- night12's bench listed those
+#           Verify prints as an expected PASS signal.
+#   AFTER   the interceptor routes type 0 to ScoreInflictedMessageHandler, so
+#           those Verify prints must be GONE and matchlog SCORE type=0 rows
+#           with non-zero awards must appear instead.
+#
+# Chart cross-check (original manual, via Lynx): "+1 each damage point scored
+# on opponent's armor".  The handler scales by tonnage ratio and the role's
+# damageInflictedModifier, so award != damage exactly -- but it must TRACK
+# damage, not sit at zero, and must be NEGATIVE for self-damage.
+# =========================================================================
+set -x
+. /c/git/bt411/scratchpad/night6/bench_common.sh
+cd /c/git/bt411/content || exit 1
+bt_assert_player_env
+taskkill //F //IM btl4.exe > /dev/null 2>&1
+sleep 2
+rm -f sv_a.log sv_b.log sv_relay.log matchlog_*.txt
+bt_expert_egg MP.EGG SV.EGG
+sed -i "s/^map=.*/map=grass/; s/^time=.*/time=day/" SV.EGG
+python - << 'EOF'
+lines = open('SV.EGG').read().splitlines(True)
+n = 0
+for i, l in enumerate(lines):
+    if l.startswith('vehicle='):
+        n += 1
+        lines[i] = 'vehicle=madcat\n' if n == 1 else 'vehicle=loki\n'
+open('SV.EGG', 'w').writelines(lines)
+print('vehicles set:', n)
+EOF
+
+( export BT_DMG_LOG=1 BT_DEATH_LOG=1 BT_MP_LOG=1 BT_MATCHLOG=1 BT_SCORE_LOG=1
+  bt_launch sv_b.log SV.EGG 0x0C -net 1601 )
+sleep 2
+( export BT_ZONE_WALK=8 BT_WALK_ZONES=dz_ldleg
+  export BT_GOTO=enemy BT_GOTO_STOP=90 BT_KEY_NOFOCUS=1
+  export BT_DMG_LOG=1 BT_DEATH_LOG=1 BT_MP_LOG=1 BT_MATCHLOG=1 BT_SCORE_LOG=1
+  bt_launch sv_a.log SV.EGG 0x03 -net 1501 )
+sleep 5
+python ../tools/btconsole.py SV.EGG 127.0.0.1:1501 127.0.0.1:1601 > sv_relay.log 2>&1 &
+RELAY=$!
+sleep 260
+kill $RELAY 2>/dev/null
+sleep 3
+bt_kill_ours
+sleep 2
+taskkill //F //IM btl4.exe > /dev/null 2>&1
+sleep 3
+
+echo "=================== SCORING VERIFY ==================="
+echo "--- 0. did combat happen at all?  (if 0 hits the run is VOID) ---"
+echo -n "damage rows on victim B : "; grep -ac "dmghit\|DMG" sv_b.log
+echo
+echo "--- 1. THE OLD SYMPTOM: type-0 rejections (must be ZERO now) ---"
+echo -n "'should not be given DamageInflictedScore' Verify prints: "
+cat sv_a.log sv_b.log | grep -ac "should not be given DamageInflictedScore"
+echo
+echo "--- 2. THE FIX: inflicted score rows (matchlog SCORE type=0) ---"
+echo -n "type=0 rows: "; cat matchlog_*.txt 2>/dev/null | grep -ac "type=0"
+cat matchlog_*.txt 2>/dev/null | grep -a "type=0" | head -8
+echo
+echo "--- 3. award vs damage: does the credit TRACK damage? ---"
+python - << 'EOF'
+import glob, re
+aw = []
+for fn in glob.glob('matchlog_*.txt'):
+    for line in open(fn, errors='replace'):
+        m = re.search(r'type=0 award=(-?[\d.]+) total=(-?[\d.]+)', line)
+        if m:
+            aw.append((float(m.group(1)), float(m.group(2))))
+if not aw:
+    print('   NO type=0 rows -- interceptor did not fire')
+else:
+    pos = [a for a, t in aw if a > 0]
+    neg = [a for a, t in aw if a < 0]
+    print('   rows=%d  positive=%d  negative(self)=%d' % (len(aw), len(pos), len(neg)))
+    print('   award range: %.2f .. %.2f   running total ends at %.2f'
+          % (min(a for a, t in aw), max(a for a, t in aw), aw[-1][1]))
+EOF
+echo
+echo "--- 4. kill path un-regressed (type=2) + respawn ---"
+echo -n "type=2 kill rows: "; cat matchlog_*.txt 2>/dev/null | grep -ac "type=2"
+cat matchlog_*.txt 2>/dev/null | grep -a "type=2" | head -3
+echo -n "victim death cycles: "; grep -ac "death cycle START" sv_b.log