Operator report (00:30): "my local instance auto-relaunches whenever I stop and
start a session, even if I close my window." Root cause is the pod's AUTHENTIC
immortality: an arcade cabinet's join loop never exits, so every RunMissions
return relaunches into the join wait -- and a human closing the window was
indistinguishable from a round ending. On a desktop that made the client
unkillable outside Task Manager, and explains every orphaned-plasma zombie
hunted this week (my own test teardowns included), plus tonight's "eventually
all I could find was my plasma display".
FIX, one flag + one gate:
* btl4main WndProc WM_CLOSE stamps gBTUserRequestedExit before DestroyWindow
(covers X, Alt-F4, taskbar close, Task Manager's polite phase).
* BTFE_RelaunchSelfAndExit -- the single choke point every relaunch path
funnels through (round end, console-pad lost, round abort, FE loop) --
exits for real when the flag is set, logging 'window closed by the user
-- exiting for real (no relaunch)' to the marshal log.
Round-end auto-rejoin is UNTOUCHED: the flag only sets on WM_CLOSE.
VERIFIED both directions on the built exe (4.11.591):
* WM_CLOSE posted to a live solo instance -> the whole process tree is GONE
8s later: no relaunched generation, no plasma orphan. [was: immortal]
* Offset-port rig, full launch -> StopMission -> both pods AUTO-REJOINED and
re-ACKed for the next round (2/2 ready, WAITING FOR OPERATOR); zero
exiting-for-real lines fired (nobody closed a window).
Requires the next zip for players; the operator's running instance keeps the
old behavior until restarted onto this build.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report: `.\btl4.exe -fit` from build\Release opens the mission console,
then the mission crashes on Launch.
ROOT CAUSE (pre-existing landmine, newly reachable). The engine resolves
BTL4.RES, VIDEO\, BTDPL.INI, the eggs AND both player config files
(bindings.txt, environ.ini) RELATIVE TO CWD. Every launcher .bat does
`cd content` first, so this never showed. A bare launch of the exe therefore
found no resources ("Resource file btl4.res v1.0.0.0 is obsolete!"), wrote a
stray bindings.txt / environ.ini / btl4.log NEXT TO THE EXE -- so the player's
real ones in content\ looked like they had never been created -- and killed the
mission generation the menu launched (the child inherits the parent's cwd).
Recent work made that path inviting rather than obscure: glass is the desktop
default, a zero-arg launch opens the menu, and -fit is documented as something
you pass on the command line.
FIX: BTEnsureContentDirectory() runs before anything resolves a relative path
(the log file included, so a bare launch logs where the launchers log). If cwd
has no BTL4.RES, probe from the exe's own directory -- ..\..\content for the
shipped layout, plus the flattened and in-content cases -- and
SetCurrentDirectory there. Says so in the boot line when it had to go looking.
Belt and braces: the environ.ini writer refuses to write unless BTL4.RES is
beside it, so a failed probe cannot scatter a settings file either.
ALSO: -fit was silently dropped when the menu relaunched into a mission. The
front end rebuilds the child's command line from scratch, and the flag was
parsed at window creation -- code the menu process exits long before reaching.
Parsed early into gBTFitDisplay now, and appended to the relaunch.
Verified: bare `btl4.exe -fit` from build\Release leaves ZERO files next to the
exe, writes environ.ini + btl4.log into content\, and the mission child's exact
command line (-net 1501 -platform glass) from that same wrong cwd now logs
"cwd: found the content directory from the exe path", loads resources and
enters RunMissions instead of dying.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Night-2 capture: one flapping pod cascaded 3 ROUND ABORTs in 8s; every
client relaunch-churned (~1 gen/s) until the D3D device-creation 20s
deadline fired on every machine ('could not connect direct 3d'), and
claim-less restarts minted duplicate roster seats.
Console (relay):
- Round abort clears stale console-conn ACK flags and HOLDS the next
egg release for an 8s settle window (_tick_settle re-releases when
quiet) -- the abort->instant-re-release->drop->abort cycle is broken.
- HELLO from a stale identity gets a REJOIN reply (identity resync via
the seat-request path, 5s/IP rate limit) instead of a bare drop.
- STATIC SEATS: seats remember (IP + callsign); a claim-less restart
from the same machine+name RECLAIMS its own seat (displacing its
zombie beacon) instead of minting a duplicate -- the pod contract:
same box, same seat, always.
- Operator local instances log with BT_LOG_APPEND (the night-2 crash
loop left a 2-line file; generations now leave a full trail).
Client:
- Relaunch storm damper: a generation that lived <15s sleeps 5s before
respawning (storm decays to a gentle cadence; normal multi-minute
round relaunches untouched; menu clicks explicitly never delayed).
Rig-verified: normal round + mid-MISSION drop = no abort (correct);
mid-LOAD kill = exactly ONE abort + 8s hold + seat reclaimed + no
cascade. The night-2 'host 7' identity-derivation subtlety remains
under forensics (append logs + first-breath line will capture it).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The 1995 front-desk conversation, over the internet. join.bat/
join_lan.bat now open a JOIN-GAME menu (the FE in BT_FE_JOIN trim:
CALLSIGN edit + the 18-mech list + JOIN); the choice relaunches into the
normal join with BT_CALLSIGN/BT_MECH env, rides the relay SEAT_REQUEST
as {callsign NUL mech NUL} (empty payload = roster defaults, wire-
compatible), and the relay validates the mech tag, HOLDS egg delivery
until every pod's console pad is connected, rewrites the egg via
eggmodel (vehicle= + rasterized callsign bitmaps, graceful no-PySide6
fallback) and streams it to all pads -- so every player's egg copy
carries every player's callsign.
The hold is gated on CONSOLE-PAD count, not game-side registration: a
pod HELLOs only after parsing the egg's roster, so a registration gate
deadlocks (hit live in the first run; pods animate in WAITING FOR
MISSION ASSIGNMENT during the hold).
Verified 2-node e2e (env-injected requests): thor/vulture requested over
roster defaults bhk1/ava1 -> relay held 1/2, released at 2/2, rewrote
both seats (relay log), the delivered egg carries vehicle=thor/vulture +
name=VIPER/MONGOOSE, both pods launched and built [cyl] tables for both
requested mechs. Join-menu layout screenshot-verified; the menu's
click-through relaunch awaits live human verification.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The col-1 stack (MAP 8 + SCENARIO 2 + TIME 4 + WEATHER 3 + LENGTH 4 with
headers/gaps) needs 630px; at 620 the last LENGTH rows collided with the
'click to select' footer band (client.bottom-30) -- user-reported from a
screenshot. 672 fits the stack + footer. The LAUNCH/steam buttons and
frame rect derive from MenuClientH and follow automatically.
Also: 'No Return (one life)' clipped at the column edge -> '(1 life)'.
Verified by screen capture of the live menu: LENGTH fully above the
footer, scenario label unclipped.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The user hit the full session menu from play_solo -- HOST/JOIN LAN modes,
NET PORT and the Steam buttons don't belong in the solo flow (LAN goes
through the join bats + operator; Steam through play_steam.bat).
BT_FE_SOLO=1 (set by play_solo.bat + the btoperator generated bat):
- the MODE cycle keeps only the two solo entries (kModes lists them first:
SOLO MISSION, RAW SOLO) via the GroupSize clamp
- NET PORT row and the HOST/JOIN STEAM buttons are not laid out
- a stale fe_last.ini mode of hostlan/joinlan is rejected by the existing
LoadPersisted GroupSize clamp, so the selection can never land on a
hidden mode
play_steam.bat keeps the full menu.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The mission-control menu was missing player experience + many options. Added
the complete set recovered from the Mac 4.10 operator console's BT:: adventure
tree (TeslaSuite/410console/.../Console.ini) -- the tag= values are the egg
fields; cross-checked vs the port spec + reference/cavern.egg:
NEW groups: SCENARIO (Free For All / No Return respawn role), EXPERIENCE
(novice/standard/veteran/expert), BADGE (7 team emblems), PATCH (8 badge
colours), DROP ZONE (one..five), ADV. DAMAGE (on/off).
CORRECTED: TIME (evening, not 'dusk'); COLOR (full 7: +Brown/Green/Grey/Tan,
Red->Crimson, Gray->Grey); MECH (full 18 with console friendly names ->
tags, was 8).
btl4fe.hpp: BTFePilot gains experience/badge/patch/dropzone/advancedDamage;
BTFeMission gains roleKey/roleModel. The egg writer emits the selected values
(were hardcoded expert/VGL/Yellow/one/advancedDamage=1); No-Return role model
= the game's 8.3 resource 'noretun'. 5-column layout (mission | mech | pilot |
emblem/patch | session+controls); loadout persists across the relaunch
(fe_last.ini, all 14 groups).
Verified: menu drives (click Expert+Davion -> egg experience=expert
badge=Davion, persisted), and the generated egg parses + runs a full mission
(no egg errors, drive 61.501).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Menu (btl4fe, modeled on RP412 RP_L4/RPL4FE.cpp): full catalogs as
always-visible clickable LISTS in three columns with friendly names --
8 maps, the canonical 8 certified mechs, colors, times, weather, lengths,
modes -- bright/dim green with a selection chevron, double-buffered paint,
real EDIT controls for pilot name + LAN peers (green-on-black via
WM_CTLCOLOREDIT), framed LAUNCH / HOST STEAM / JOIN STEAM buttons, and the
loadout persisted across the per-mission relaunch (fe_last.ini, gitignored
implicitly by *.ini? no -- plain file beside the eggs). ENTER/ESC kept.
Lobby room (RP412 RPL4LOBBY look): pilot roster with loadouts (mech, color),
framed L A U N C H M I S S I O N (owner) + LEAVE LOBBY buttons, clickable.
Dist: FLAT layout (the RP412 convention) -- ONE btl4.exe entry point at the
folder root beside the content tree (the shape TeslaConsole manages), DLLs +
launchers at root, content flattened from git-tracked files. Verified: the
staged flat tree boots the Mission Console zero-arg from its own root; the
click-driven menu launches a full marshaled mission (row click -> length=60
in the egg, LAUNCH click -> ladder -> 41+ ticks, fe_last.ini written).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
NEW gated (BT_STEAM) game/glass/btl4lobby: an ISteamMatchmaking room replacing
the arcade Site-Management screen -- host creates (lobby data btl4=1), members
join by filter, pilots publish name/mech/color, the host ENTER mints the
roster and signals GO.
THE FAKEIP LESSON (live-verified, prior-art assumption DISPROVEN): a fresh
process gets a DIFFERENT FakeIP, so menu-time fake addresses go stale by
mission time -- the first cycle timed out connecting to its own stale address.
Redesign: roster addresses are opaque ipv4-shaped TOKENS (169.254.77.N with
ports 1501/1502) minted by the host at GO, mapped to Steam IDENTITIES;
connections ride ConnectP2P(identity, channel) with console=0/game=1 virtual
ports; the map reaches mission processes via env (BT_FE_MYFAKE +
BT_FE_STEAMMAP); the GetMyAddress seam feeds the pod its own token for roster
self-match; CheckSocket reports peers by token. L4STEAMNET reworked (no
FakeIP allocation at all); the marshal gained the Steam-wire branch.
Verified single-machine (ON/ON, live Steam): menu -> HOST STEAM LOBBY ->
room -> GO -> token map minted -> egg roster carries the token -> mission
process up with 1 roster token incl. self -> pod self-matches -> stock
console ladder -> mission RUNS (46 ticks). Remaining: the live 2-account
cross-machine session (docs/STEAM_TEST.md).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
NEW gated dir game/glass/: btl4fe (green-on-black GDI catalog menu -- map/
time/weather/length/mech/color/pilot/mode/port/peers; egg writer emitting the
FULL console egg shape, golden-tested vs MP.EGG: identical section sequence
at identical line offsets, the 4 static ordinal pages verbatim, GDI-rendered
128x32/64x16 pilot-name plasma bitmaps in MP.EGG framing) and btl4console
(the marshal: a worker-thread console CLIENT speaking the btconsole.py wire
protocol verbatim -- 1040-byte chunked egg, 20s settle, RunMission x2,
STAY CONNECTED, own the clock, StopMission at expiry; logs marshal.log).
The engine sees a real connected console and runs the 100% stock ladder --
NO engine hooks (less invasive than planned: the L4APP.H setters proved
unnecessary; launches go through real argv on relaunch).
WinMain (one gated block): zero-mission-arg glass launch -> menu -> relaunch
self with the mission argv (per-mission process relaunch; BT_FE_* env arms
the marshal); post-RunMissions BT_FE_LOOP tail returns to the menu. Menu
relaunches CLEAR the BT_FE_* handoff (found live: the inherited env re-armed
a marshal instead of showing the menu).
Verified end-to-end (synthetic menu drive): menu -> frontend.egg -> relaunch
-> marshal feeds self over loopback -> stock console ladder -> mission RUNS
(58+ ticks) -> 60s clock -> StopMission -> clean menu return, no env leak.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Opus 5