The operator no longer has to match the roster row count to the exact
player count (or watch the "empty seats will STALL" warning). Two
mechanisms:
1. PRESENCE BEACONS: the pod keeps its seat-request TCP connection open
for the process lifetime; the relay reads a live beacon as "seated"
and a pre-claim FIN frees the seat (no ghost seats -- a ghost stalls
every pod at the connection gate). Reservation expiry spares
beaconed seats.
2. TRIM-ON-LAUNCH (manual/GUI mode): operator LAUNCH before the roster
fills shrinks the session to the seats present -- egg [pilots]/pages
trimmed, seat ids REMAPPED by position (pods re-derive their host id
from their tag's roster position, so walk-up prefs and beacons re-key
consistently), roster/expected_ids shrink, eggs release, the launch
pair fires as ACKs land.
GUI: roster rows now update LIVE from the walk-up requests (SEAT n
PRESENT/FREED lines -> callsign/mech cells + a blue "seated" status
light), and LAUNCH MISSION enables from the first seated player with a
"starts with whoever is here" banner.
Verified 2-node: 2-of-4 trim ran the mission with the requested mechs;
and the mid-roster GAP case -- three joined, the middle player quit
pre-launch (beacon FIN freed the seat), trim remapped seat 4->3 with the
survivor's callsign/mech following, both survivors registered under the
remapped ids and ran the mission. Also: stdin reader guarded against
sys.stdin=None spawn shapes (the GUI QProcess pipe is the supported
operator channel).
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>
For the 8-player playtest. Damage authority is VICTIM-side, so no single
peer sees the whole match: every -net instance now writes a compact
machine-parseable matchlog_<date>_<time>_<pid>.txt (auto-armed by -net;
BT_MATCHLOG=1/0 overrides; solo silent), and at mission end a relay-mode
pod dials the relay game port (the seat-request throwaway-dial pattern,
envelope route -9) and streams the file back -- the relay saves every
peer's copy under matchlogs/ on the operator's machine, so testers send
nothing by hand. tools/matchcheck.py <dir> reconciles all of them:
damage claimed (FIRE/PROJ/SPLASH/RAM, shooter-side) vs applied (DMG,
victim-side authoritative), kill/death replication across observers,
PLAYER_DEAD counts, scores, version skew, replicant-application and
unattributed-damage anomalies, mid-mission disconnects.
Hooks at the authoritative sites: Mech::TakeDamageMessageHandler (DMG,
post-base, zone + post-application damageLevel), MechWeapon::
SendDamageMessage (FIRE), projectile impact/splash/collision dispatch
(PROJ/SPLASH/RAM), wreck entry (DEATH -- a ONE-SHOT latch at
MovementMode 9, NOT the transition: a replicant arrives at 9 straight
from the type-6 record header and never runs the transition branch),
BTPlayer vehicle/death/score handlers (VEHICLE/PLAYER_DEAD/SCORE), zone
crit cascade (CRIT), APP.cpp RunningMission (MISSION), L4NET host
handlers (PEER_UP/PEER_DOWN). Every line t=/w=/st=-stamped + fflushed.
Verified 2-node: mesh run pairs A's 22 FIRE 1:1 with B's 22 DMG (same
amounts, cylinder-resolved zones, ~200ms latency); force-damage kill run
logs 103 DMG + 3 DEATH inst=M + 3 PLAYER_DEAD across three respawn
cycles victim-side and the kill SCOREs shooter-side; relay-mode run
auto-uploaded BOTH peers' files at the mission-clock stop and matchcheck
produced the full report with exactly one (correct) anomaly -- the force
hook's claim-less damage, the unattributed-damage detector working.
Relay gained a route-specific 8MB cap for the upload frame (game frames
stay capped at 1600).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Two follow-ups to the waiting-screen work, both user-reported:
1. "Animation frozen after connecting": once the console seats the player
and sends the egg, the state advances LoadingMission -> WaitingForLaunch
-- where NOTHING presents until the operator's RunMission, so the last
idle frame froze on screen with the mission audio already running.
ExecuteForeground now keeps the idle clear + overlay alive through
LoadingMission/WaitingForLaunch/LaunchingMission (no early return -- the
load/replication work continues), and ExecuteIdle picks per-state text:
WaitingForEgg "WAITING FOR MISSION ASSIGNMENT"
Loading/Launching "LOADING MISSION / stand by"
WaitingForLaunch "MISSION READY / waiting for the operator to launch"
2. The roster-full retry pause was a raw Sleep(3000) -- with the relay up
and answering SEAT_FULL instantly, the process spent ~95% of its time
unpumped (IsHungAppWindow TRUE, spinner frozen). Now 30 pumped 100ms
slices with the reason on screen ("session is FULL -- waiting for a
seat to free up").
Verified live against the running operator relay: roster-full wait shows
the reason text, spinner advances across 500ms captures, IsHungAppWindow
false on every sample.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
User-reported after the waiting-screen fix: "the animation keeps hanging."
Cause: RelayDialTcp used a BLOCKING connect() -- against a down/unreachable
operator each attempt froze the window thread for the OS SYN-retry window
(seconds), so the spinner ran only during the 2s sleep between attempts.
RelayDialTcp now connects NON-blocking and select()s in 100ms slices,
pumping the message loop + repainting the waiting screen every slice (both
in-flight and between retry attempts). The success path already returned a
non-blocking socket (FIONBIO), so caller semantics are unchanged; the other
dial sites (console dial, game-socket dial) inherit the smooth behavior.
Verified: 4 window captures at 400ms intervals during a dead-host dial all
differ in the spinner region (uniform diff energy == continuous animation)
and IsHungAppWindow reads false on every sample.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The relay seat-wait loop (RelayRequestSeat -- the join/join_lan "patient
walk-up") blocked the window thread's message pump for its whole 30-minute
patience window: dial (2s timeout) -> Sleep(2000) -> repeat, with status
going only to the parent bat console. Windows flagged the frozen game
window "Not Responding" until the operator started the session
(user-reported).
- BTWaitScreenPaint (L4VIDEO.cpp): a GDI waiting screen on the main window
-- headline + detail line in the console green + a 12-segment marching
spinner phased on the tick clock. Pure GDI: flicker-free during the
seat wait (no D3D presenting yet), and re-painted after each
ExecuteIdle Present so the WaitingForEgg phase (previously a bare black
frame) shows "WAITING FOR MISSION ASSIGNMENT" too.
- RelayWaitTick (L4NET.CPP): PeekMessage pump + paint. The outer dial
loop's Sleep(2000) becomes 20 pumped 100ms slices ("WAITING FOR THE
OPERATOR'S SESSION" / "session at <ip:port> -- close this window to
cancel"); the inner seat-reply wait pumps per 200ms select slice.
Verified live against a dead relay address: window-only PrintWindow capture
shows the animated screen, and user32 IsHungAppWindow (the API behind "Not
Responding") reports FALSE throughout the wait.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
33 master commits in (relay TCP/UDP + PySide6 operator console, CONTROLS.MAP
+XInput binding engine, camera seats, torso pitch aim, sign fixes, the 1995
manual, version stamping, 18-mech certification). Conflicts: .gitignore +
CLAUDE.md router rows (combined).
SEMANTIC RECONCILIATION (the one real overlap): masters btinput binding
engine (ungated, CONTROLS.MAP) and the glass PadRIO (gated, bindings.txt)
would both read the keyboard/pad in a glass+PAD session. btinput now joins
the stand-down convention: BTInputPoll yields (and BTInputSuppressKey claims
NOTHING, so authentic hotkeys flow) when an operational cockpit device owns
the input path -- BTRIODevicePresent, BT_KEY_BRIDGE force-override honored,
forced harness exempt. One input system per mode: btinput on pod/dev
desktops, PadRIO on glass. The mechmppr/mech4 bridge merges composed clean
(masters negate-once sign fix inside our device-gated bridge). The D1 relay
keeps its own raw sockets by design (an alternative LAN wire; Steam and
relay are separate modes).
Verified post-merge: all 3 configs build; glass boots with [input] binding
engine standing down + PadRIO owning input (30 ticks); pod forced-walk
speedDemand=61.501 with btinput ACTIVE; 2-node loopback MP full 31/31
mission, 76/76 ticks.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User request after the first internet join attempt: 'should we modify
the program so it sits and retries with a waiting-for-session?' The
arcade model is a pod that waits for the operator, not one that
aborts.
- RelayRequestSeat: retry loop (2s dials, 30 min cap) with live status
into the join.bat console window (BTRelayWaitStatus: AttachConsole to
the parent cmd; silent without one) -- banner + progress dots, a
distinct 'game is FULL, waiting for a free seat' state, and 'seat
assigned -- joining!' on success. The unreachable MessageBox now
only fires at the 30-minute give-up.
- BT_RELAY=auto discovery: same patient loop ('searching for a game on
this network...'), LAN-only guidance in the give-up box.
Verified live: pod launched against a dead relay, waited 20+s, relay
started, pod seat-requested/registered/UDP-up automatically with no
user action.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report (first internet-join attempt): both join bats 'hard
crash' on the remote machine. Root cause was procedural -- the host
session was not running -- but the failure PRESENTATION was the bug:
Release Fail() is a bare abort(), so a dead relay = silent process
death + instantly-closing console window.
- L4NET: the two player-facing dead-ends (LAN discovery no-answer,
seat request unreachable/full) now show a MessageBox saying what
happened and what to do before exiting (verified live against a
dead relay: 'BattleTech -- can't join the game' appears).
- join bats: echo + pause after exit so the window stays readable;
join_lan.bat header now says it is LAN-only (the remote user ran
both -- join_lan can never work over the internet).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A pod launched with no BT_SELF asks the relay for a seat before joining:
new control frames SEAT_REQUEST (-6) -> relay reserves the lowest roster
seat not claimed or reserved (60s reservation so simultaneous joiners
can't race onto one seat) -> SEAT_ASSIGN (-7, int32 hostID + NUL tag)
becomes relaySelf; everything downstream (egg self-match, HELLO) runs
exactly as if BT_SELF had been set. Roster full -> SEAT_FULL (-8) ->
clean Fail(). A real HELLO pops the reservation; a pod drop frees the
seat. Explicit BT_SELF still claims a specific seat (the operator's
local launches use it).
Client: L4NetworkManager::RelayRequestSeat (throwaway TCP dial to the
relay game port, 10s reply window). Relay: SEAT_REQUEST branch in
_handle_game_frame. Operator exporter collapsed from per-seat
join_as_playerN.bat to ONE universal join.bat (+ join_lan.bat with
BT_RELAY=auto) -- every player gets the same file, first come first
served, the arcade walk-up-to-a-pod model. players/ regenerated.
Verified: 8/8 seat stub tests (distinct seats in roster order, FULL on
exhaustion, claimed+reserved stays FULL, HELLO claim accepted, duplicate
HELLO refused); 2-node localhost e2e with NO BT_SELF on either pod ->
both seated, full ladder, RunMission pair, UDP flowing post-launch;
regression smoke: explicit-BT_SELF relay session clean with zero seat
requests, classic mesh (no BT_RELAY) un-regressed.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
LAN players now find the game with zero configuration -- the 90s arcade
model (cabinets locate the operator station) restored:
- Client (L4NET RelayDiscover): BT_RELAY=auto broadcasts 'BTR1DISC' on
udp/15999 (255.255.255.255 AND 127.0.0.1 -- broadcast doesn't reliably
loop back on Windows; covers same-box sessions), 5 x 1s attempts; the
answering relay's SOURCE IP + its advertised console port become the
relay address. Explicit <host>:<port> path unchanged; mesh untouched.
- Relay (btconsole.py): best-effort discovery responder on udp/15999
answers 'BTR1HERE' + <u16 consolePort>; degrades gracefully (logged) if
the port is taken.
- Operator app: Export player scripts now writes a join_as_playerN_lan.bat
pair (BT_RELAY=auto) next to each internet script -- LAN guests
double-click and are found; internet guests use the public-host script.
Verified 2-node: both pods BT_RELAY=auto -> probe answered through a real
interface (not just loopback) -> discovered 172.19.x.x:1500 -> full session
to RunningMission. KB: multiplayer.md D1 section updated (+ the operator
console entry).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The ~60Hz entity update records now ride UDP in relay mode, so a lost/late
datagram is dropped (dead reckoning absorbs the gap) instead of head-of-line-
blocking the reliable TCP stream -- the fix for internet rubber-banding.
Reliable traffic (make/damage/death/control/egg/launch) stays on TCP.
This RESTORES the authentic 1995 NETNUB split, it doesn't invent one:
Receiver::Message defaults messageFlags=ReliableFlag; the update path clears
it (flags=0, ENTITY.cpp:590); Mode(UnreliableMode) fires at LoadingMission
(APP.cpp:704 -- the 2007 port's Mode() was a no-op, now it STORES the mode).
Routing gate = (mode==UnreliableMode && !(flags & ReliableFlag)) -- flag AND
mode, so the map-stream creation messages (also flags=0 but flowing during the
still-Reliable CreatingMission window) ride TCP for free.
Client (L4NET):
- Mode() stores currentNetworkMode (was ignored).
- ConnectRelayUdp: UDP socket connect()ed to the relay game port; HELLO
(outbound punch-through, relay learns our endpoint); udpUp on HELLO-ACK.
BT_RELAY_TCP_ONLY=1 disables the channel (UDP-blocked nets degrade to the
pure-TCP checkpoint automatically -- no ACK => everything stays on TCP).
- RelayUdpSendFrame: {route, fromHost, seq} envelope + frame, best-effort.
- RelayUdpKeepalive: ~15s NAT-hold + ~1s HELLO retry until acked.
- CheckRelayUdp: HELLO-ACK sets udpUp; per-sender seq gate drops stale/
out-of-order datagrams; frames handed up envelope-stripped like TCP.
- Send / ExclusiveBroadcast: route unreliable-window traffic to UDP, else TCP.
- CheckBuffers polls the UDP channel first, then TCP; keepalive tick.
(The relay-side UDP forwarder + endpoint learning + --udp-drop hook landed in
phase 1.)
Verified 2-node localhost relay: during a drive the update stream flows on UDP
(relay udp tx 2->190+, TCP frozen at 53) and the peer's replicant tracks the
master to sub-2u; 15% forced drop (--udp-drop 15) stays coherent (tracked to
0.1u); TCP-only fallback confirmed (udp-known drops the TCP-only pod); no
crashes; mesh mode un-regressed. KB: context/multiplayer.md gains the D1
RELAY MODE section.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The pod can now run entirely over the relay: one outbound TCP connection
carries both the console protocol (egg/launch) and all game traffic
(envelope-multiplexed), so internet play works behind NAT with no port
forwarding. All new code is behind 'if (relayMode)' (BT_RELAY unset => mesh
mode byte-for-byte untouched; verified un-regressed).
Env gates (parsed once in the ctor, after WSAStartup so gethostbyname works):
- BT_RELAY=<host>:<consolePort> (host may be a DNS name; game port = +1)
- BT_SELF=<exact [pilots] entry> (NIC matching can't identify us across NAT)
L4NET changes:
- CreateConsoleHost: relay branch dials OUT to the relay console port
(bounded retry; console-less continue on a re-dial) instead of listening.
- StartConnecting: relay self-match by BT_SELF string; peers become VIRTUAL
hosts (INVALID_SOCKET, NoNetworkConnectionStatus) flipped online by the
relay's PEER_UP; then ConnectRelayGame dials the game port + HELLOs. HostID
assignment / remoteHostCount / the connection gate / app ladder unchanged.
- CheckRelay (new): the receive seam -- drains {route,length} envelopes,
synthesizes HostConnected/Disconnected from PEER_UP/DOWN (same messages the
mesh accept path routes), returns game frames envelope-stripped (they
self-identify via NetworkPacketHeader.fromHost; consumers route by payload).
- Send: game-host traffic -> relay unicast envelope (console host excluded --
its legacy protocol is relay-TERMINATED, not routed).
- ExclusiveBroadcast: build ONCE, send ONCE with the broadcast route -- the
relay fans out, killing the mesh's (N-1)x upload duplication.
- RelaySendAll (new): partial-send-safe transmit (required on the multiplexed
socket -- a partial write would desync framing for all peers).
- CheckBuffers: polls CheckRelay first; skips recv on virtual game hosts.
- RelayGameDown: relay-loss synthesizes all-peers-disconnected (match
continues peer-less; pod never exits mid-match).
- Mode(): now STORES the reliable/unreliable mode (was ignored) for the UDP
phase's authentic mode+flag routing.
Verified 2-node localhost relay (MP_RELAY.EGG, tagged [pilots]):
- both pods reach 'All connections completed!' via PEER_UP, then
RunningMission; both mechs' MakeMessages cross the relay (paint x2 each) and
bidirectional 148-byte update records flow (net-tx/net-rx traces; relay
stats tcp rx==tx, registered [2,3]); cockpit/HUD render; no crashes.
- driving one node transmits pose/damage/death frames through the relay.
- mesh smoke (no BT_RELAY): 2-node session still forms + simulates unchanged.
Plan: ~/.claude/plans/partitioned-snuggling-piglet.md. Next: UDP channel.
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 (BT_STEAM) TU L4STEAMNET: ISteamNetworkingSockets with FakeIP --
pseudo-SOCKET handles (0x5EA0xxxx) behind the L4NET BTNet* seam; the engine
TCP byte stream rides reliable-NoNagle Steam messages re-assembled into
per-connection rings (nonblocking recv semantics preserved: empty ->
WSAEWOULDBLOCK, peer-closed -> 0); two FakeIP ports mirror the arcade
console/game channel convention; listen sockets + accept queues via the
global status-changed callback; graceful degrade to Winsock at every step.
Seam completions in L4NET.CPP: CheckSocket reports a pseudo-socket peer as
its FAKE ipv4:port (the lobby egg roster matches unchanged); OpenConnection
TCP_OPEN delegates FakeIP targets to BTSteamNet_Connect. WinMain installs
on BT_STEAM_NET=1 (lobby launch path / by hand). CMake: gated SDK include/
lib/dll-copy. Both pumps (SteamAPI_RunCallbacks + sockets RunCallbacks)
drive it -- the FakeIP result rides the GENERAL dispatch (first attempt with
only the sockets pump timed out).
Verified live (ON/ON build, Steam client running): SteamAPI_Init OK,
steam_appid.txt(480) auto-written, FakeIP allocated
(169.254.36.58, console 54464 / game 54465); without BT_STEAM_NET or
without Steam the game stays pure Winsock.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
BTNetSend/Recv/Accept/Close wrap the 9 raw wire sites in L4NET.CPP (send
@x3, recv, accept @x2, closesocket @x2). OFF builds are PURE CODE MOTION
(bodies are the original calls; the statics inline back); under BT_STEAM
each wrapper first offers the op to the Steam transport (BTSteamNet_*,
lands next) -- handles stay SOCKET-typed so L4Host and every call site
above the seam are identical on both wires. Connection-ESTABLISHMENT
delegates (OpenConnection/listener arms) land with the transport. The 3
BT_NET_TRACE blocks stay at call-site level, untouched.
Regression (pod build, 2-node loopback MP + btconsole relay): mesh forms
through BTNetAccept (console + peer accepts logged), both nodes reach the
full 31/31-subsystem running mission, 71/76 ticks -- byte-identical wire
behavior.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Investigated the "console death froze peer replication" open question (2026-07-14)
with a direct 2-node repro (BT_REPL_LOG on a circling peer, affinity-pinned):
- Clean relay kill -> replicant kept circling smoothly through the kill, NO
disconnect logged, node survived. Replication did NOT freeze.
- Deliberately STUCK console (scratchpad/btconsole_stuck.py: connect, start
mission, then stop recv() while holding the socket OPEN = the exact
"receive pad full -> close never seen" mode hypothesized) -> replicant kept
moving the whole run. Replication did NOT freeze.
Conclusion: peer replication is INDEPENDENT of the console (pods replicate
peer-to-peer over the GAME socket; the console is a separate egg/mission/status
channel). The original freeze was a transient -- plausibly the same single-box
packet-jitter/CPU-contention artifact root-caused in 49d73dc -- or was fixed by
later MP work.
FIX (the one real bug found): L4NetworkManager::HostDisconnectedMessageHandler's
ConsoleHostType branch closed gameListenerSocket (the GAME listener) on a CONSOLE
disconnect -- a naming bug (the comment + commented-out OpenConnection intended a
CONSOLE re-listen, which CreateConsoleHost already does). Removed. Harmless to
established peer sockets (why a live match survives console loss) but it would
have blocked a NEW peer from joining after a console cycle. Verified: 2-node
still connects (All connections completed!) + the peer circles.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Session-in-progress peer-motion work, checkpointed before bisecting the
07-13/07-14 gait regression. Contains: TCP_NODELAY on game sockets (L4NET),
every-frame dense position send while moving + came-to-rest/REST send +
per-frame BT_JIT/BT_ANIM smoothness probes (mech4). bodyTargetSpeed feed
reverted to derived-velocity default. MOVER.cpp spline experiment already
reverted. NOT a fix -- a checkpoint.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The prior commit (c78662a) filed cross-pod damage failure under a
"cross-TU Entity/EntityID layout divergence" (and the P5 base-region
audit). A compile-time offsetof probe injected into BOTH translation
units disproves that: game/reconstructed AND engine/MUNGA compute an
IDENTICAL Entity layout --
sizeof(Entity)=444 offsetof(entityID)=380 (0x17C)
offsetof(ownerID)=388 offsetof(simulationFlags)=32
offsetof(Mech,entityID)=380 (Entity subobject at 0)
So Entity::Dispatch reads this->entityID at the SAME offset mech4's
GetEntityID() does -- there is no per-TU read difference, and the
logged 3:22 (mech4 candidate) vs 3:19 (engine Dispatch) cannot be one
object read two ways. Those lines were different objects/messages,
mis-correlated. The distinct, REAL P5 "base-region layout divergence"
(HARD_PROBLEMS.md) is about raw-offset stomps at this+0x2d4..0x2f0 --
far above entityID -- and is unrelated to #47.
Changes:
- Revert the committed BT_MP_NET engine diagnostics (ENTITY/EVENT/
NTTMGR/RECEIVER/L4NET) to the clean a9c3e96 baseline -- those are
the very instruments that produced the mis-correlated data.
- mech4 BT_MP_FORCE_DMG hook: dispatch via the real m->Dispatch(&td)
path (no false id stamping); comment records the offsetof finding.
- context/multiplayer.md: layout-divergence RULED OUT; 3:22/3:19 marked
unconfirmed; leading hypotheses reframed as H2 (wire host-relative
(de)serialization) vs H3 (replicant id != master's registered key),
to be distinguished by a 2-node run with per-message correlation.
Solo un-regressed (mech walks + targets, 0 faults). Cross-pod delivery
remains open, but the investigation is redirected off the wrong (large,
structural) layout-audit path onto the EntityID wire/id-assignment path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Traced the dispatched-message delivery end to end with BT_MP_NET /
BT_MP_FORCE_DMG. Everything works except one wire step:
- A's Entity::Dispatch reroutes the replicant's TakeDamage
(application->SendMessage(ownerID=3, EntityManager, msg)); POST-Dispatch
the message carries entityID=3:22 (host:local) -- the replicant's own
ID, matching B's master (GetEntityID()==3:22). VERIFIED sent.
- On B the message ARRIVES, GetEntityPointer finds an entity, Posts it,
the event drains (ProcessEventTask = ProcessOneEvent(0)), Event::Process
runs, Receive finds+calls a handler. VERIFIED the full deliver chain.
- BUG: B receives entityID=3:19, NOT 3:22 -- the localID dropped by
exactly the hostID (3) between A's send and B's receive. So
GetEntityPointer(3:19) returns the WRONG entity (classID 48, not the
mech 0xBB9), whose base handler ignores the unaimed hit -> 0 damage.
Auto-replicated UPDATE records (msgID 18) arrive with the correct 3:22
and find the mech, so the corruption is specific to the dispatched-
message wire path/direction.
Next: the host-relative EntityID (de)serialization on the dispatched-msg
path (RoutePacket / packet EntityID encoding) -- diff vs the update path
which translates correctly. Diagnostics retained (all BT_MP_NET-gated,
off in solo -- verified: solo 22 hits, 0 probe noise).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Clean, self-contained extraction of the BattleTech-specific work from the
reverse-engineering workspace -- engine + game + content + build, with nothing
from Red Planet or the raw archive dumps. Builds green (Win32) and runs the
single-player drive->animate->target->fire->damage->destroy loop out of the box.
Layout:
engine/ MUNGA + MUNGA_L4 shared 2007 engine, carrying our BT render/loader
work (bgfload/L4D3D/L4VIDEO: BSL bit-slice decode, LOD/ground/shadow
models) + image codec; the minimal rp/ headers the audio HAL needs
game/ reconstructed BT logic + surviving-original BT source + fwd shims
+ WinMain launcher
content/ full runtime tree (BTL4.RES, VIDEO/, GAUGE/, AUDIO/, eggs, BTDPL.INI)
docs/ format specs + reconstruction ledgers
reference/ raw Ghidra pseudocode (recon source-of-truth) + decomp exporter
tools/ MP console emulator + map/resource scanners
One top-level CMake builds munga_engine lib + bt410_l4 game lib + btl4.exe.
All paths relativized (186 fwd shims + ~437 CMake abs paths -> repo-relative);
DXSDK is the one external, overridable via -DDXSDK. Verified: builds to a
byte-identical 2.27MB exe and runs combat (TARGET DESTROYED, 0 crashes) against
the bundled content.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Fable 5