David's failures leave a 0-byte (or absent) join.log -- the exe can't
testify about a death before WinMain. The bats now bracket it from
OUTSIDE: launch_report.txt records the launch timestamp, the exe's
EXIT CODE (fingerprints the failure class: 0xC0000135 DLL-not-found,
0xC0000005 AV, AV-kill signatures, our clean exits), whether join.log
was ever created (never-created = blocked before our first
instruction), and its size. Verified with a synthetic -1073741819
exit. The 'exited' message now asks players to send BOTH files.
With this + the 507 first-breath line + the crash self-report, every
failure mode now leaves evidence somewhere: bat report (pre-WinMain),
first-breath (WinMain reached), [crash] stack (anything after).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field 2026-07-23 (second night): a player's join.bat failed 3x in a row
with a 0-byte join.log -- indistinguishable from 'never ran'. Two
causes of evidence loss fixed:
1. The first flushed log line now happens the INSTANT the log opens
(version, pid, args, first-process vs relaunched-generation). An
empty log after this build means the exe was killed before WinMain
-- an external cause (antivirus/loader), not ours.
2. The menu->game relaunch chain truncated join.log each generation
(BT_LOG_APPEND was unset in the player bats): the crashed
generation's evidence was erased by the next attempt. The bats now
delete the log once per bat run and append across generations.
Also explains the confusing 'The game has exited' bat message on
SUCCESSFUL launches (the menu process exits after relaunching the game
detached) -- the log now records the whole chain.
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>
play_solo hardcoded -egg ARENA1.EGG, bypassing the miniconsole front end
that already carries the full pickers: SOLO/RAW-SOLO/HOST-LAN/JOIN-LAN
modes, 8 maps, all 18 mechs, 4 experience levels, colours/badges/patches,
drop zones, advanced damage, time-of-day, weather and mission length.
The bat now launches zero-arg (BT_PLATFORM=glass -> the menu); the menu
relaunches the exe with the generated egg and the cockpit/gauge env
(BT_START_INSIDE/BT_DEV_GAUGES) inherits into the mission child. Menu-boot
verified with the bat's exact env; the solo menu->mission->menu cycle was
verified at FE landing. README + the btoperator generated-bat template
updated to match.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The three build dirs (build\ pod, build-glass\, build-steam\) were compile-
time splits of the same game; the tax was real: a stale steam exe shipped 2
days behind, the felt keymap flipped with the boot flavor, and cockpit
clicks were silently dead in the pod build (the trigger-config incident).
Now everything compiles into the single build\ exe:
- CMakeLists: BT_GLASS/BT_STEAM options removed; the glass TUs (PadRIO,
bindings, panel, glass windows, plasma) + FE/console + Steam transport
compile unconditionally; both macros always defined (seam markers).
- Steam: steam_api.lib linked with /DELAYLOAD:steam_api.dll + delayimp --
the DLL maps only when SteamAPI is first called, and every call site
gates on BT_STEAM_NET=1 (BTSteamNet_* short-circuit on steamActive), so
machines without the DLL run everything but Steam sessions.
- CABINET GUARD (btl4main): the miniconsole menu previously claimed any
zero-arg launch -- unified, that would hijack the pod cabinet's boot
shape. The menu now requires BT_PLATFORM=glass (or BT_FE_MENU=1);
platform parse moved above the fe_menu_mode computation. A bare boot
behaves exactly like the old pod build (DEV profile, wait for egg).
- Bats (play_solo/join/join_lan/play_steam) + the btoperator.py template:
single build\ path + BT_PLATFORM=glass. mkdist: one exe (+DLL scan
picks up OpenAL32 + steam_api). build-glass\/build-steam\/build-glass2\
(a stale Jul-20 cache) deleted.
Verified matrix on the unified exe:
bare zero-arg boot == old pod exe (same DEV profile + egg-load path;
the segfault on a missing egg is pre-existing, baselined vs the zip exe)
glass + BT_BTNTEST scripted click -> [cfgmap] ENTER/EXIT (trigger config)
runs with steam_api.dll ABSENT (delay-load proven)
glass zero-arg -> miniconsole menu
2-node loopback MP: 145 ticks each, cross-connected
BT_STEAM_NET=1 without Steam client -> "staying on Winsock", game runs
KB: context/glass-cockpit.md compile-gates section rewritten for the
unified model.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The user held the MFD PROGRAM button and nothing happened (weapons kept
firing). Diagnosis, verified end-to-end:
- The cockpit mouse handler DID register the click ([cockpit] CLICK addr=0x8
press) and 0x8 IS a streamed PROGRAM element (EVENT msg 0x9 -> weapon,
Mfd1 quad page mask).
- But every launch ran the DEV platform profile (no BT_PLATFORM) ->
L4CONTROLS=KEYBOARD -> no PadRIO instance -> PadRIO::SetScreenButton
no-ops (activeInstance NULL) -> the press never entered the RIO queue ->
ConfigureMappables (id 9) never dispatched -> the mode never flipped ->
fire keys kept firing. The config machinery itself was never broken.
- With BT_PLATFORM=glass (the GLASS profile: L4CONTROLS=PAD -> PadRIO), the
full chain now proves out headlessly:
[btntest] PRESS 0x8 -> [cfgmap] ENTER session on ERMLaser_1
mode 0x450421 -> 0x448421 (NonMapping 0x10000 -> Mapping 0x8000)
[btntest] RELEASE 0x8 -> [cfgmap] EXIT (mode restored)
Landed:
- mechweap.cpp: [cfgmap] BT_FIRE_LOG diagnostics in the real
ConfigureMappables/ChooseButton handlers (they were silent -- the G-key
harness had logs but the authentic button path had none).
- L4PADRIO.cpp: BT_BTNTEST="addr,pressPoll,releasePoll" scripted screen-
button harness through the REAL click seam (EmitButton -> RIO queue ->
manager drain -> buttonGroup mapping) for headless verification.
- play_solo.bat: prefer the glass build when present AND set
BT_PLATFORM=glass so PadRIO exists and cockpit clicks work.
Side finding (the user's keymap "flip-flop"): CONTROLS.MAP (btinput, DEV/pod
profile) and bindings.txt (PadRIO, GLASS profile) are two parallel binding
engines; which one runs depends on the platform profile, so the felt keymap
changes with the boot flavor. Unification pending (user decision).
Awaiting live verification of the full hold-PROGRAM + tap-fire regroup flow.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Solo practice already started in-cockpit (BT_START_INSIDE) but didn't
open the MFD gauges window -- inconsistent with the join bats. Add
BT_DEV_GAUGES=1 so single-player practice mirrors the pod experience.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report: a remote player ran join.bat from the wrong place (inside
the zip, or the .bat separated from content\/build\) and got 'The system
cannot find the path specified' + dumps -- the relative 'cd %~dp0content'
failed cryptically.
Now each bat: cd to its own dir, verify build\Release\btl4.exe +
content\<egg> exist, else jump to :badpath and print a clear message
('this file must sit in the extracted folder next to content and build;
right-click the zip - Extract All and run it from there'). Verified: run
from a dir with no content/build -> the guidance prints, no dump.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A zip recipient can dork around offline -- no -net argument means the
game self-launches a solo mission (all maps ship in content/). Solo
gets its own exit message (btl4.log pointer, no server language).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
