diff --git a/game/btl4main.cpp b/game/btl4main.cpp
index 7ac9db9..e4fbff2 100644
--- a/game/btl4main.cpp
+++ b/game/btl4main.cpp
@@ -605,6 +605,35 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine
 			SYSTEMTIME lt;
 			GetLocalTime(&lt);			// NOT cmd's %DATE%: locale-ordered, and
 										// on en-US it contains '/' (path chars).
+
+			// THE LOG DAY STARTS AT 06:00 LOCAL, NOT MIDNIGHT.  Playtests run
+			// late, and a midnight boundary splits one evening across two files
+			// exactly when the session is most worth reading whole -- the 01:30
+			// crash lands in a different file from the 23:00 run that set it up.
+			// (A 02:00 session is also "last night" to everyone who was in it,
+			// so a file named for the new calendar date reads wrong anyway.)
+			// Shift the clock back 6h before taking the date: the log day then
+			// runs 06:00 -> 06:00 and one night is one file.  Only the FILENAME
+			// is shifted -- every line inside still carries real local time, and
+			// the session header still records the true date.
+			{
+				const ULONGLONG LogDayStartHour = 6;
+				FILETIME ft;
+				if (SystemTimeToFileTime(&lt, &ft))		// pure arithmetic; no TZ
+				{										// conversion either way
+					ULARGE_INTEGER u;
+					u.LowPart  = ft.dwLowDateTime;
+					u.HighPart = ft.dwHighDateTime;
+					u.QuadPart -= LogDayStartHour * 3600ULL * 10000000ULL;	// 100ns
+					ft.dwLowDateTime  = u.LowPart;
+					ft.dwHighDateTime = u.HighPart;
+					SYSTEMTIME shifted;
+					// FileTimeToSystemTime carries month/year boundaries for us,
+					// so 01:00 on the 1st correctly names the previous month.
+					if (FileTimeToSystemTime(&ft, &shifted))
+						lt = shifted;
+				}
+			}
 			// SIZE ROLL-OVER -- never deletes anything, but keeps each FILE small
 			// enough to actually send.  A playtest evening concatenates into one
 			// file (4.3 MB from a single session in scratchpad/night5/), and the
diff --git a/players/README.txt b/players/README.txt
index e4caee4..eb276f7 100644
--- a/players/README.txt
+++ b/players/README.txt
@@ -41,9 +41,13 @@ a crash loses it) or if you were playing SOLO or over STEAM (no relay
 to upload through).
 IF ANYTHING CRASHED OR MISBEHAVED, send BOTH of these -- neither is ever
 uploaded, they only exist on your machine:
-  content\join_YYYYMMDD.log   today's date; the NEWEST one.  There is now
-                              ONE log per day holding every session, so a
-                              crash is no longer erased when you relaunch.
+  content\join_YYYYMMDD.log   just take the NEWEST one; do not go by the
+                              date in the name.  A log DAY runs 6am to 6am,
+                              so whatever you played after midnight is still
+                              filed under the evening you started -- one
+                              night stays in one file.  There is ONE log per
+                              day holding every session, so a crash is no
+                              longer erased when you relaunch.
                               Each session inside it starts with a line
                               "===== BT411 SESSION ... =====" naming your
                               build and PC, so it still identifies itself
diff --git a/players/play_solo.bat b/players/play_solo.bat
index fc7bc3a..6e2eda9 100644
--- a/players/play_solo.bat
+++ b/players/play_solo.bat
@@ -95,13 +95,16 @@ if defined BT_STILL_RUNNING (
 echo.
 echo The game has exited.  If it closed unexpectedly, send the operator
 echo BOTH of these from the content folder:
-echo    content\lastrun_solo.txt          (tiny -- send it EVEN IF there is no
-echo                                  log dated today: that combination is
-echo                                  how we spot a blocked launch)
+echo    content\lastrun_solo.txt          (tiny -- send it EVEN IF there is
+echo                                  no solo_*.log at all: that combination
+echo                                  is how we spot a blocked launch)
 echo    content\solo_YYYYMMDD.log
-echo (the newest solo_*.log -- it holds every session from today, and each
-echo  one starts with a "===== BT411 SESSION" line naming your build and PC,
-echo  so it identifies itself even if the filename gets changed in transit.)
+echo (just take the NEWEST solo_*.log -- do not go by the date in the name.
+echo  A log day runs 6am to 6am, so anything you played after midnight is
+echo  still filed under the evening you started, which keeps one night in
+echo  one file.  Each session inside starts with a "===== BT411 SESSION"
+echo  line naming your build and PC, so it identifies itself even if the
+echo  filename gets changed in transit.)
 pause
 exit /b
 :badpath
diff --git a/players/play_steam.bat b/players/play_steam.bat
index b17f0ce..edb4fd4 100644
--- a/players/play_steam.bat
+++ b/players/play_steam.bat
@@ -88,10 +88,13 @@ if defined BT_STILL_RUNNING (
 )
 echo.
 echo The game has exited.  If it closed unexpectedly, send the operator BOTH
-echo    content\lastrun_steam.txt          (tiny -- send it EVEN IF there is no log
-echo                                  dated today: that is how we spot a
-echo                                  launch that was blocked before it ran)
-echo    content\steam_YYYYMMDD.log   (today's, newest)
+echo    content\lastrun_steam.txt          (tiny -- send it EVEN IF there is no
+echo                                  steam_*.log at all: that is how we spot
+echo                                  a launch blocked before it ran)
+echo    content\steam_YYYYMMDD.log   (just the NEWEST one -- ignore the date.
+echo                                  A log day runs 6am to 6am, so a session
+echo                                  after midnight stays filed under the
+echo                                  evening you started.)
 echo Steam not running = the menu still works but lobbies will not appear.
 pause
 exit /b