scoring: mech+0x354 is VESTIGIAL -- label it so nobody "finishes" it

MECH_DAMAGE_BIAS(m) returned 0.0f under a comment reading "bring-up: factor =
0*bias+1 = 1", which invites a future session to wire it up.  Auditing
Mech::Reset settled what it actually is, and 0.0f turns out to be EXACT:

  * mech+0x354 has exactly ONE writer in the image -- Mech::Reset (@0049fb74,
    part_012.c:14340).  Nothing touches it during play.
  * Reset computes mean(zone + 0x158) across every damage zone, AFTER the zone
    heal has already zeroed those cells.  So it is ~0 the moment it is written,
    stays ~0 for the mech's whole life, and is recomputed as ~0 next respawn.
  * It has exactly ONE reader -- CalcInflictedScore (@004c052c,
    part_013.c:19055) -- as `avg * role.damageBias + 1.0`.

So the factor is 1.0 for the entire game and the stand-in reproduces the
binary exactly.  0x358 and 0x35c are the same computation over subsystem zones
and have NO reader at all.

This also raises confidence in the night-13 scoring work: the 505.88 kill award
was not right DESPITE a missing term -- the term genuinely is 1.0.  Wiring
0x354 to live accumulated damage would silently inflate every inflicted and
kill award, and both chart-verified numbers (+1 a damage point, +500 a kill)
assume 1.0.

Comment rewritten at the macro; combat-damage.md carries the same finding [T1].

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

context/combat-damage.md

@@ -666,6 +666,16 @@ credits cross-node correctly: its value rides `scoreAward`. **Fix shape:** compu
 victim's node (where the damage data is) and ship the RESULT in `scoreAward`, as the kill report
 does — do not ship the basis and recompute where it cannot be seen.
 
+**The damage-bias term is VESTIGIAL — do not "finish" it** [T1, audit 2026-08-08]. The kill/inflicted
+formula's `(victimAvgZoneDamage@0x354 × damageBias + 1.0)` factor is **always 1.0** in the shipped
+binary. `mech+0x354` has exactly one writer — `Mech::Reset` (@0049fb74, part_012.c:14340), which
+computes `mean(zone+0x158)` across every damage zone *after* the zone heal has zeroed those cells —
+and exactly one reader, `CalcInflictedScore` (@004c052c). Nothing recomputes it during play, so it
+holds ~0 for the mech's whole life. `0x358`/`0x35c` are the same computation over subsystem zones
+and have **no reader at all**. The port's `MECH_DAMAGE_BIAS(m) → 0.0f` therefore reproduces the
+binary exactly; wiring it to live damage would look like completing a stub and would silently
+inflate every award (the chart-verified +1/point and +500/kill both assume 1.0).
+
 ⚠ **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

game/reconstructed/btplayer.cpp

@@ -305,7 +305,29 @@ static const Scalar	TicksPerSecond		= 1.0f;				// (see note in PlayerSimulation)
 // tonnage ratio stubbed 1.0 + damage bias stubbed 0.0 for bring-up (SCORE == raw
 // damage, un-tonnage-scaled; the real per-mech tonnage/bias accessors are a follow-up).
 #define MECH_TONNAGE(m)			(1.0f)											// bring-up: ratio == 1
-#define MECH_DAMAGE_BIAS(m)		(0.0f)											// bring-up: factor = 0*bias+1 = 1
+// mech+0x354 -- the score formula's per-target damage-bias factor.
+//
+// ⚠ DO NOT "FINISH" THIS.  0.0f is not a stand-in; it is the value the shipped
+// binary always has, established by audit 2026-08-08:
+//
+//   * mech+0x354 has exactly ONE writer in the whole image -- Mech::Reset
+//     (@0049fb74, part_012.c:14340).  Nothing touches it during play.
+//   * Reset computes it as mean(zone + 0x158) across every damage zone, and it
+//     does that AFTER the zone heal has already zeroed those cells.  So it is
+//     ~0 the instant it is written, stays ~0 for the mech's entire life, and is
+//     recomputed as ~0 on the next respawn.
+//   * It has exactly ONE reader -- CalcInflictedScore (@004c052c,
+//     part_013.c:19055) -- where it appears as `avg * role.damageBias + 1.0`.
+//
+// So the factor is 1.0 for the whole game, and returning 0.0f here reproduces
+// the binary EXACTLY.  It is a vestigial aggregate (0x358 and 0x35c are the
+// same computation and have NO reader at all).
+//
+// Wiring this to live accumulated damage would look like completing an unfinished
+// port and would silently inflate every inflicted and kill award -- the numbers
+// verified against the original manual's scoring chart (+1 a damage point, +500
+// a kill) all assume this term is 1.0.
+#define MECH_DAMAGE_BIAS(m)		(0.0f)											// = the binary's value; see above
 #define MECH_OWNING_PLAYER(m)	((BTPlayer *)((Mech *)(m))->GetPlayerLink())	// ENTITY.h:430 (NULL for the dummy)
 
 //#############################################################################