From fcd1a0ca8dad8cbc115c8048a51bb6477009d08d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joe DiPrima <epilectrik@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2026 16:39:05 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] #142 crouch: refuse-and-snap, not queue -- and honour the
 must-be-stopped rule

Fixes a regression I introduced in 59f53da.  That revision retried the request
when the posture gate was not ready, which is worse than the drop it replaced:
benched, a crouch tapped at a walk QUEUED for 41 seconds (41 [duck] WAITING
lines) and would fire the instant the pilot stopped -- while duckState stayed
1, so the cockpit symbol read "crouched" for the whole time a STANDING mech
walked around.  duckState is what the gauge strip draws; it has to tell the
truth.

Now: if the gate refuses, snap desired back to actual (duckState = duckActual)
and say so once, throttled.

This also confirms the authentic rule rather than assuming it.  Benched, a
crouch pressed while driving gives posture=0 and no squat -- exactly Lynx:
"When a mech STOPS, crouch button lowers its stance."  Immobilization while
crouched looks EMERGENT rather than gated: the leg channel parked in 'sqd'
produces no root motion to travel on, and the operator's read ("i think you
cant walk when you crouch") matches.  No [skate] in the driving case either.

Also guards re-issue: while 'sqd'/'squ' is playing (legAnimationState 2 or 3)
the transition owns the channel, so want != actual no longer re-fires
SetLegAnimation every frame.

Benched both cases:
  stopped  duckState -> 1 (crouch) -> SQUAT -> holds -> -> 0 (rise) -> RISE
  moving   REFUSED (not stopped): posture=0 ... duckState 1 -> 0
           0 squats, 0 queued waits

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NCJQkvq6G2JNrpVbA75tVZ
---
 game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp | 47 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp b/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
index 63fda7a..17fdb7c 100644
--- a/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
+++ b/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
@@ -4450,9 +4450,13 @@ void
 			// where mapPosture is not ready RETRIES next frame instead of
 			// silently dropping the request, which also retires the old
 			// "request consumed, posture=N" miss.
-			const int duckWant   = (duckState != 0);
-			const int duckActual = ((int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel() == 1);	// parked in 'sqd'
-			if (squatCapable != 0 && duckWant != duckActual)
+			const int duckWant    = (duckState != 0);
+			const int duckActual  = ((int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel() == 1);	// parked in 'sqd'
+			// Already playing 'sqd'/'squ': the transition owns the channel, so
+			// do not re-issue it every frame while want != actual.
+			const int duckInTransit =
+				(legAnimationState == 2 || legAnimationState == 3);
+			if (squatCapable != 0 && duckWant != duckActual && !duckInTransit)
 			{
 				if (duckWant && mapPosture == 1)
 				{
@@ -4474,18 +4478,31 @@ void
 				}
 				else
 				{
-					// Gates not ready THIS frame (posture selector still
-					// settling).  Retry next frame -- do NOT clear duckState:
-					// it is the gauge's posture source now, and dropping it
-					// here is what made the request vanish silently.
-					static int s_duckWait = 0;
-					if ((s_duckWait++ % 60) == 0)
-						DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] WAITING: want=" << duckWant
-							<< " actual=" << duckActual
-							<< " posture=" << mapPosture
-							<< " mode=" << MovementMode()
-							<< " myo=" << myomerEffectiveness
-							<< "\n" << std::flush;
+					// GATE NOT READY -- and the posture selector reads 0 for a
+					// MOVING mech, which is the authentic rule: Lynx, "when a
+					// mech STOPS, crouch button lowers its stance".  Benched:
+					// pressing crouch at a walk gives posture=0 and no squat.
+					//
+					// So snap the desired posture back to the actual one.  An
+					// earlier revision retried instead, and that was worse than
+					// what it replaced: a crouch tapped while running QUEUED for
+					// 41 seconds and would fire the moment the pilot stopped,
+					// while the cockpit symbol read "crouched" the whole time a
+					// standing mech walked around.  duckState is what the gauge
+					// strip draws -- it has to tell the truth, and the truth is
+					// that this mech did not crouch.
+					if (duckState != duckActual)
+					{
+						static int s_duckRefuse = 0;
+						if ((s_duckRefuse++ % 30) == 0)
+							DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] REFUSED (not stopped): posture="
+								<< mapPosture << " mode=" << MovementMode()
+								<< " legLvl=" << (int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel()
+								<< " myo=" << myomerEffectiveness
+								<< " -- duckState " << duckState << " -> "
+								<< duckActual << "\n" << std::flush;
+						duckState = duckActual;
+					}
 				}
 			}