The conviction was empirical, not theoretical: a new write-site trap
(BT_PLANE_AUDIT) in the seven L4VB16 drawing primitives logs any draw whose
color carries bits outside its port's plane mask -- the exact cross-display
corruption condition (Replace ORs an unmasked color; Or/Xor ignore the mask
entirely; And clears foreign planes). A quiet solo session produced 15-30
leaks per minute:
[plane] PORT 'sec' pixmap draw at(0,0) idx 217 entry=0xffffff00 mask=0x3f
[plane] LEAK DrawPixelMap8[table] at(639,0) color=0xffffff00 mask=0x3f leak=0xff00
THE DEFECT: L4GraphicsPort::translationTable[256] is never initialized in the
ctor, and BuildSecondaryTranslation fills only the entries its BitWrangler
reaches -- 2^numberOfBits: 64 for the sec plane (mask 0x3F), 4 for the overlay
(0xC0). Entries above that stay heap garbage. Every draw resolves color
through this table, and the PIXMAP path indexes it with raw pixel values
0..255: the 480x640 radar background carries pixel index 217, whose garbage
entry's high bits (0xFF00 = ALL EIGHT MFD planes) were stamped into the shared
640x480 buffer -- invisible on the culprit page (the in-plane bits happened
dark) and visible as bright fragments at the same coordinates on every OTHER
display. That is the operator's screenshot exactly: the same-position blips
on Mfd1+Mfd2 and the Heat-display block.
FIX (engine, both layers):
* zero translationTable in the L4GraphicsPort ctor (plane-neutral default);
* BuildSecondaryTranslation now cycles the in-plane pattern across entries
[2^bits..255] -- high-index art degrades to its (index mod 2^bits) colour
IN-PLANE and can never leak. The 1995 binary ships the SAME 64-entry fill
and survived on 6-bit art discipline; garbage is not a preservable
behaviour, so the cycle-fill is a guarded PORT deviation (documented).
A/B PROOF: same probe, 60s -- 0 leaks after the fix (15-30/min before).
sim3 3-pod regression: zero crashes.
SECOND real defect found + fixed en route: sessions configure the CAMERA seat
first ("cameraInit" -- which includes the MISSION-REVIEW context:
configure(0, sec, 0, 0x00FF, native, rgb, mrpal.pcc), a DirectColor context
whose translation tables legitimately hold full RGB565 values spanning all 16
plane bits), and the viewpoint swap to the mech re-configured WITHOUT tearing
that tree down (btl4app's s_gaugeTreeBuilt latch treats the mech build as the
first). The orphaned review gauges kept executing through stale DirectColor
ports. BTL4GaugeRenderer::ConfigureForModel now overrides (ConfigureForModel
made virtual in L4GREND.h) and tears the prior entity-bound tree down before
every rebuild -- safe on first build, and the review screen rebuilds the same
way when the seat returns to the camera.
Also logged (open-questions): the review-screen PlayerStatus panels read the
compiled player at RAW BINARY OFFSETS (+0x1FC vehicle / +0x1C8 score /
+0x1C4 alive-dead box) -- the databinding trap, dormant until the review
screen runs; bridge before enabling the review.
Ruled out along the way (with evidence): the pilot-list label/erase geometry
(erase box 128x32 covers the 64x16 name rasters), the radar name labels
(view-level ClipImage clips them), PlayerStatus in-game execution ([ps] probe:
never runs in-game), and the PNAME bitmap dimensions (egg generator emits
64x16 exactly).
Why it "started with the comms feature" (#43): that wave registered the new
gauge classes with the config interpreter, letting more of the authored page
furniture parse and draw than before -- the leaking high-index pixmaps rode in
with it. [T3 correlation detail; the leak + fix are T2 live-verified.]
Diagnostics kept (env-gated): BT_PLANE_AUDIT (the leak trap, now a permanent
regression tripwire), BT_PS_LOG, the port-level pixmap identity trap.
KB: gauges-hud.md (#48 section), decomp-reference.md (BT_PLANE_AUDIT),
open-questions.md (PlayerStatus databinding entry). checkctx CLEAN.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The pod behaviour Cyd described -- "on a jam or bay fire the display eng button
for the system flashes" -- is authored data + a five-stage chain, now running:
MechTech::TechnicalAssistance (@004ad33c, per frame)
edge-scans every monitored subsystem's GetStatusFlags() 7-bit condition
mask (TechStatusType: Destroyed 0, Damaged 1, CoolantLeaking 2,
Overheating 3, AmmoBurning 4, Jammed 5, BadPower 6)
-> Start/StopEntityAlarmMessage (@00436688 id 7 size 0x20 / @004366b8 id 8
size 0x1C; broadcast @004364e4; port shape: direct
Start/StopEntityAlarmImplementation calls on the gauge renderer)
-> GaugeAlarmManager::Activate(alarmModel) -- alarmModel = MechTech+0x100 =
the 'mechalrm' ModelList (id 83) -> SearchList(83, type 31) -> the baked
GaugeAlarmStream (id 331, 11 items {condition, lampCode}), decoded:
Destroyed -> gotoEngineering + engCooling + engBusMode
CoolantLeaking -> gotoEngineering + engCooling
AmmoBurning -> gotoEngineering + engEject
Jammed -> gotoEngineering + engEject
BadPower -> gotoEngineering + engBusMode
-> BTL4GaugeAlarmManager::ReadGaugeAlarmStreamItem -- THE REAL BODY, from
@004cc2fc + helpers @004cc108/148/1a0/264/27c + tables @0051cf1c..0x51d084
(gotoEngineering 0x80 = the subsystem's QUAD-SELECT bezel button via
lamp[aux]/mode[aux] tables; 0x81+ descend the eng-page bank; Condenser /
Generator specials on CoolantLeaking; <0x80 = the heat-bank fixed map).
btl4galm.cpp's old bodies were admitted fabrications and its provenance
note ("no override body exists in the image") was wrong -- corrected.
-> LampManager::FindLamp (@00444c80) -> Lamp::SetAlertState (@00444e64, a
COUNTER so stacked alarms hold the flash) -> L4Lamp::NotifyOfStateChange
emits RIO flashFast states 0x37/0x13 (== T0 L4LAMP.cpp:234-239) -> the
pod's physical lamps AND the glass panels (PadRIO IS rioPointer there).
FOUR load-bearing defects found and fixed en route -- each independently fatal
to the feature:
1. HeatableSubsystem's Derivation chained Subsystem directly, SKIPPING
MechSubsystem (written before the WAVE-1 re-basing) -- so EVERY subsystem
on both family branches failed IsDerivedFrom(MechSubsystem), which is
exactly MechTech's monitor filter: the status scan watched NOTHING.
2. MechSubsystem::GetStatusFlags was non-virtual (binary: vtable slot 12) --
the scan's MechSubsystem* call bound statically to the base tier and the
weapon bits could never surface.
3. ProjectileWeapon::GetStatusFlags sat in a Ghidra export gap -- raw-disasm
@004bbf88: base | 0x20 (weaponAlarm==5 Jammed) | 0x10 (linked bin
cookOffArmed@0x18C AmmoBurning). The port had "defer to base".
4. Mech::Reset's respawn sweep blanket-cast every roster entry to
MechSubsystem and called RespawnRepair -- wrong for the Subsystem-level
entries (MechTech 0xBDC, SubsystemMessageManager 0xBD3). On MechTech the
recon damageZone slot lands on its subsystemMonitors chain head: NULL
while the scan was broken (fix#1's bug MASKED this one), but the moment
the monitors populated, RespawnRepair virtual-called through a
SubsystemMonitor as if it were a DamageZone -> load-time crash in
StateIndicator::SetState (caught with cdb; call [edx+14h] on code bytes).
The sweep now filters IsDerivedFrom(MechSubsystem) before the cast.
Also: GUID identities pinned -- 0x50f4bc = PoweredSubsystem::ClassDerivations
(via @004b1208 = its TestInstance; btl4gau2's two "Generator" comments were
wrong, swept), 0x50fb60 = Generator's. A shadow-field instance documented for
the deferred de-shadow: MechSubsystem::damageZone re-declares the PUBLIC engine
Subsystem::damageZone (SUBSYSTM.h:159) -- mechtech's naive `sub->damageZone`
read the never-written engine member (0 monitors again); now reads the recon
member via GetDamageZoneProxy(). Logged in open-questions.
Wiring: BTL4GaugeRenderer now constructs + assigns the BTL4GaugeAlarmManager
(the base ctor NULLs it and Activate Check()s it); MechTech's Report*/
StatusMessageSink stubs are real; alarmModel confirmed baked (= 83) at runtime.
VERIFIED LIVE (scratchpad/lampflash.py, BT_LAMP_LOG chain trace):
[techstat] MechTech id 32 monitors 29 subsystems, alarmModel 83
[techstat] LRM15_1 condition 4 SET (alarmModel 83) <- bay fire armed
[galarm] condition 4 code 0x80 -> lamp 0xd mode 0x1 FLASH
[lamp] 0xd <- 0x37 (FLASHING) <- the select button
[galarm] condition 4 code 0x85 -> lamp 0xb mode 0x4 FLASH <- engEject
[techstat] LRM15_1 condition 4 CLEARED <- detonation clears
[techstat] AmmoBinLRM15_1 condition 0 SET <- bin Destroyed
Regressions: baytest PASS (bay fire kills), baypurge PASS (purge extinguishes),
sim3 3-pod brawl PASS with ZERO crashes (6 kills, organic heat-route bay fires,
respawns clean through the new sweep filter).
Env: BT_LAMP_LOG ([techstat]/[galarm]/[lamp]). KB: gauges-hud (the flash
section), decomp-reference (the GaugeAlarm closure + tables + GUIDs),
open-questions (built-note + the de-shadow deferred item), btl4gau2 comment
sweep. checkctx CLEAN.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report (night 3): "two ammo bay fires and no death" (Cyd + RajelAran; one
purged, one left burning). Root cause = THREE independent kill-switches stacked
on the same path, all in ammobin.cpp:
1. `GameClock::Now() { return 0; }` -- `cookOffTime < Now()` was `0 < 0`, so
an ARMED bay fire never detonated.
2. `InjectHeat(void*) {}` -- the detonation body was a no-op.
3. The bin's Damage record was never stamped -- 0 damage of type 0 (which the
mech TakeDamage handler drops) even if 1+2 had fired.
THE FUSE (raw disasm, scratchpad/disammo.py): the old "RandomDelay" was a Ghidra
carve artifact -- FUN_004dcd94 is __ftol and the export DROPPED the caller's x87
expression. The real bytes @004bd450: fld 10.0 / fmul [ticksPerSecond] /
fadd 0.5 / __ftol -- a FIXED 10.0-SECOND fuse in clock ticks. New gotcha #19
(reconstruction-gotchas.md) documents the __ftol export blind spot.
THE DAMAGE RECORD: bin+0x1F0..0x21C is a real engine `Damage` (FUN_0041db7c IS
Damage::Damage(), byte-matched to T0 DAMAGE.cpp). The linked ProjectileWeapon's
ctor @004bc3fc stamps it from weapon->damageData @0x3A8 via
owner->roster[0x128][res+0x1C0] -- projweap.cpp's old comment called this "the
bin's HUD display block ... wired in the AmmoBin family"; both halves were wrong
and it was wired nowhere. Now stamped (before MissileLauncher's ctor divides by
missileCount -- a missile bin authentically holds the per-SALVO amount).
THE DETONATION (@004ac274 = MechSubsystem::DistributeCriticalHit -- the old
"HeatableSubsystem::InjectHeat" label was wrong, and the old reconstruction
iterated a stand-in CriticalChain whose First()/Next() returned 0):
statusAlarm pulse Exploding(2)->Destroyed(1) (slot 13 = the printSimulationState
state PRINT @004ac8c0, not an "explosion notify"), own private zone pinned
destroyed, then collect the mech DamageZones whose crit entries plug the bin
(the binary filters plug classID 0x4E = DamageZoneClassID -- VDATA.h idx 78,
cross-checked via idx 28 = AudioStateTrigger), split the amount evenly, and send
the OWNER one full Entity::TakeDamageMessage per zone: inflictingEntity = SELF,
damageZone = the zone index, inflictingSubsystemID = the bin (the message-
manager explosion-bundling key, ENTITY3.h's own NOTE), printing the binary's
exact "ammo explosion damaging <zoneName>" @0050df61.
Port shape: Mech::AmmoExplosionFanOut (mechdmg.cpp) behind a databinding bridge;
guarded deviation: zoneCount==0 warns instead of the binary's unguarded divide.
CriticalChain/CriticalEntry stand-ins DELETED from mechrecon.hpp.
VERIFIED LIVE (BT_BAYTEST hook = message 1, the crit-induced arm channel):
scratchpad/baytest.py : arm -> 10s -> "20 rounds x 35 = 700 (type 2)" ->
"ammo explosion damaging dz_ltorso" -> zone cascade -> mech DESTROYED
(authentic death list).
scratchpad/baypurge.py: arm -> eject-hold purge -> "bay fire EXTINGUISHED
(bin empty)", no detonation.
scratchpad/sim3.py : the HEAT route arms organically in combat (overheated
AFC100), detonates "11 x 25 = 275 (type 1)" split across dz_larm + dz_lgun.
BAYBOOM matchlog record added for MP field forensics.
FIX-OF-THE-FIX (caught by the sim3 regression, would have shipped a crash):
MechSubsystem's ReconDamageZone proxy puts structureLevel at OFFSET 0 -- which
ALIASES THE REAL DamageZone's VTABLE POINTER (the private zone is `new
DamageZone`, mechsub.cpp:154; mechsub.hpp:260 documents the alias). My first
DistributeCriticalHit kept the old body's `damageZone->structureLevel = 1.0f`
and OVERWROTE THE ZONE'S VPTR with 0x3F800000; the respawn sweep's virtual
SetGraphicState (vtable+0xC) then called through it -> AV at 0x3f80000c in
RespawnRepair, one frame after a bay-fire death. ALL EIGHT proxy-view sites in
mechsub.cpp swept to the engine view (((DamageZone*)damageZone)->damageLevel
@0x158) -- including two silently-wrong LIVE readers: GetStatusFlags (vptr as
float -> always "intact") and ApplyDamageAndMeasure (the crit cascade's
measure). Ruled out first by evidence: the weapon->bin stamps were all clean
(six stamps, all classID 0xbcb, logged).
#47 (half 1 -- the FIRE ICON): BallisticWeaponCluster::Execute @004c9a38 reads
bin+0x18C = cookOffArmed into the btefire.pcc TwoState, and while armed computes
(Now - cookOffTime)/ticksPerSecond -- the COOK-OFF COUNTDOWN -- into the numeric
beside it. The old reconstruction misread 0x18C as "the reload state" and
bridged the icon to BTAmmoBinFeeding, so it blinked on every feed and never lit
on a bay fire (RajelAran: "it doesn't"). Now driven by the
BTAmmoBinCookOffArmed/CookOffTime complete-type bridges. [T2 -- the data path
is rig-verified; the pixels await the next live session.]
#47 (half 2 -- the ENG-BUTTON FLASH): fully mapped, deliberately NOT built this
session. The authored data SHIPS (BTL4.RES carries exactly one type-31
GaugeAlarmStream); the chain is alarm SetLevel -> gauge-watcher socket ->
Renderer msg 7 -> GaugeAlarmManager::Activate @00448d00 (T0) -> the BTL4
override @004cc148..@004cc2fc (btl4galm.cpp's provenance note claiming "no
override body exists" is WRONG -- corrected in-file) -> LampManager::FindLamp
@00444c80 -> Lamp::SetAlertState @00444e64 (flash counter) -> the L4 flush
@00474e94 emitting flashFast states 0x37/0x13 (== T0 L4LAMP.cpp:234-239).
Missing: the override bodies, the gauge-watcher sender, the aux-button lamps.
3-piece plan in context/open-questions.md.
Also logged: HandleMessage is vtable slot 8/9 in the binary but NON-virtual
across 10 reconstruction classes (bit the BT_BAYTEST hook; typed call used, gap
documented in open-questions).
KB: combat-damage.md (the full cook-off section), decomp-reference.md (the
cluster addresses + the GaugeAlarm/lamp map + BT_BAYTEST env), gauges-hud.md
(the fire-icon correction), reconstruction-gotchas.md #19 (__ftol),
open-questions.md (2 entries), btl4galm.cpp provenance correction.
checkctx CLEAN. 40 LNK2019 unchanged (the two pre-existing families).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
SAURON's "coolant flush sound glitched and perma" is one instance of a systemic
defect. SetupPatch (L4AUDLVL.cpp) decided looping from the SAMPLE flag alone:
AL_LOOPING = (info.loop != ForceStatic)
That armed every non-ForceStatic sample -- 224 of the 603 authored zones,
including unmistakable one-shots -- as an OpenAL source that never ends on its
own. Any such sound whose note-off never arrives plays forever. Measured 1946
LoopAtWill x Transient arming events in one short session.
The sample flag expresses PERMISSION; the SOURCE decides. Three facts [T1]:
* the enum's own comments (L4AUDLVL.h:14-19) -- LoopAtWill = "will play once
OR LOOP AS DESIRED", ForceStatic = "plays only once EVEN IF LOOPED" (a
veto), LoopAlways = "ramp up and then down";
* LoopAtWill is enum value 0, i.e. the DEFAULT an unauthored sample receives
(WTPresets.cpp:37) -- it cannot mean "loop forever";
* LoopAlways, the real always-loop, is used by ZERO shipped samples.
"As desired" is the source's authored AudioRenderType (Transient=one-shot vs
Sustained=held), streamed from AUDIO*.RES (AUDLVL.cpp:28) and already consulted
by the renderer (L4AUDRND.cpp:567, AUDREND.cpp:184). SetupPatch now takes it,
threaded from all three L4AudioSource call sites (Direct/Dynamic3D/Static3D).
New rule: LoopAlways->1, ForceStatic->0, LoopAtWill->the source's render type.
MEASURED before changing behaviour (BT_LOOP_AUDIT=1, scratchpad/loopaudit.py):
LoopAtWill x Transient -> loop=0 (was 1) 1946 events
LoopAtWill x Sustained -> loop=1 unchanged 65 events
ForceStatic x Transient -> loop=0 unchanged 292 events
The engine loops (EngineAccel07_z0..z2, EngineMotor01, EnginePower01) are all
LoopAtWill/Sustained and PRESERVED -- no regression there. All 24 reclassified
samples are genuine one-shots: laser charge/fire/explosion/loaded, missile
loading, engine shift, coolant pressure inc/dec.
A/B PROOF (scratchpad/loopab.py, same session both arms, only BT_LOOP_LEGACY
differs), asking the engine's own BT_AUDIO_DUMP what is still playing with
loop=1 long after every release:
[legacy] EnginePower01, CoolantPresInc03_z2, CoolantPresDcr03_z2
[fixed] EnginePower01
The two stuck coolant sources are the reported symptom. They were eventually
reclaimed when a later trigger reused the source, which is why the bug was
intermittent -- the "perma" case is when nothing else retriggers it. The fix
removes the mechanism.
BT_LOOP_LEGACY=1 restores the old rule for a field A/B without a rebuild. The
layers to listen to are the beam sustains: LaserA/CSustain* are authored
LoopAtWill on a TRANSIENT source, so they now end with the sample instead of
looping until note-off. The render type is T1 authored data; the interpretation
that LoopAtWill defers to it is a strong reading of the enum + defaults rather
than a disassembled statement, and is flagged as such in the KB.
Plausibly bears on #32 (audio cutting in/out late in a match): a stuck looping
source holds its pool slot for the rest of the round.
Rigs: scratchpad/flushsnd.py (flush start/stop pairing), flushsnd2.py (stuck-
source hunt), loopaudit.py (the classification matrix), loopab.py (the A/B).
KB: context/wintesla-port.md audio section, context/decomp-reference.md env
table (BT_LOOP_AUDIT / BT_LOOP_LEGACY / BT_AUDIO_DUMP / BT_AUD_TAIL),
docs/AUDIO_FIDELITY.md F38. checkctx.py CLEAN.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Both classes' Receiver::MessageHandlerSet were default-constructed blackholes
(input-path audit systemic cause #1): entryCount 0, no parent chain, Find()
returns NullHandler for every id, Receive drops silently. The new unhandled-
message trace printed it on the first press:
[btntest] PRESS 0x14 at poll 400
[msg] UNHANDLED: Searchlight has no handler for message id 3
Each class now has a GetMessageHandlers() function-local static chained to
PowerWatcher's (which name-resolves through HeatWatcher/MechSubsystem to
Receiver's empty ROOT set, so id 3 does NOT collide with HeatSink's
ToggleCooling), plus a correctly-typed forwarder -- Receiver::Handler is
void(const Message*) while the decomp shape is Logical(Message&), so a cast
would be UB that merely happens to work on x86 __thiscall. DefaultData
re-pointed off the dead empty sets. MessageArg now reads the NAMED
ReceiverDataMessageOf<int>::dataContents with a static_assert locking it to the
binary's message+0xC (was a raw offset read -- databinding rule).
ROOT CAUSE of a long-standing misattribution: @004b860c is **ThermalSight's**
ToggleLamp (table @0x51120C), NOT Searchlight's. The two TUs emit parallel
shared-data blocks with identical stride (msg entry, +0x5C attrs, +0x84
Performance triple); what pins each entry to its TU is that "ToggleLamp" is NOT
pooled across them -- two copies exist, each emitted immediately before its own
class-name string ("Searchlight"@0x51144B, "ThermalSight"@0x511475).
[T1: reference/decomp/section_dump.txt:69661-69711]
Searchlight's own handler is @004b838c, which sits in a Ghidra EXPORT GAP (#60).
RECOVERED by raw disassembly of content/BTL4OPT.EXE (scratchpad/dis838c.py, the
EjectAmmo technique) -- and it corrected two things I had inferred wrong:
* NO ControlsAllowLights/+0x25C novice gate. Searchlight tests the press
alone; that lock is ThermalSight-only. A NOVICE pilot CAN work the lamp.
* `or word ptr [this+0x18],1` sits AT the jle target -> the graphics-dirty bit
(updateModel == ForceUpdate(), per #59) is raised UNCONDITIONALLY.
Consequence: the "ORIGINAL 1995 LATENT BUG -- the searchlight can never light"
claim is RETRACTED. It compared Searchlight's Performance (@004b841c, reads
requestedOn@0x1E0) against ThermalSight's toggle (0x1DC) -- two different
classes -- and so invented a missing 0x1DC->0x1E0 bridge. Every sibling toggles
the field its own Performance reads. The searchlight DID light in the arcade,
the searchlight->fog swap was NOT inert there, and building PullFogRenderable is
FAITHFUL rather than a designer-intent deviation (the 2026-07-13 "left as-is"
decision is void; the sim needs no repair).
Verified live, real click seam (BT_BTNTEST):
0x14 -> [light] requested ON -> reported lightState 0 -> 1 (lamp lights)
0x12 -> [light] thermal sight requested ON -> thermalActive 0 -> 1
UNHANDLED lines for both classes gone; 40 LNK2019 unchanged (the pre-existing
CreateStreamedSubsystem + Entity__SharedData::DefaultData families only).
Swept the misattribution out of searchlight.cpp/.hpp, thermalsight.cpp/.hpp,
hud.cpp:282 (it had claimed @00511180/@004b838c as HUD's), btplayer.cpp's +0x25C
consumer list, context/{decomp-reference,subsystems,rendering,open-questions,
pod-hardware,experience-levels}.md, docs/{GLASS_COCKPIT,INPUT_PATH_AUDIT}.md.
checkctx.py CLEAN.
Still open (documented, not fixed): ThermalSight has no visible IR effect
(ToggleGlobalThermalVision is a marked no-op, pvision unported, IsLocallyViewed
returns False); ThermalSight publishes "LightState"->0x1D8 where the binary has
"LightOn"->0x1D8 and "LightState"->0x1E0; Searchlight's commandedOn@0x1DC has no
identified role and measured 21 live, hinting our SubsystemResource +0x28 differs
from the binary's.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
LALT -> button 0x3F was bound in both binding layers and PadRIO pushed the RIO
ButtonPressed event correctly, but nothing ever set the mapper's ReverseThrust:
- the authentic route is BTL4.RES 'L4' streamed record [2] (Button Throttle1
0x3F -> attr 6 ReverseThrust@0x124), but our streamed BUTTON mappings are
not consumed at all -- MechControlsMapper::AddOrErase is still the
unreconstructed Fail stub, so the event never reaches the attribute;
- the ONLY writer of reverseThrust was the keyboard bridge's
'key_throttle < 0' test, which is bypassed whenever a RIO is operational
(the pad RIO always is, so the bridge is OFF on the desktop) AND is
unreachable regardless, because L4PADRIO clamps the Throttle channel to
[0,1]. Net: Alt did nothing and the flag was re-zeroed every frame.
FIX: publish the 0x3F hold state from PadRIO::EmitButton -- the one chokepoint
every desktop source funnels through (keyboard, gamepad, DirectInput joystick,
glass-panel clicks via SetScreenButton) -- and apply it in InterpretControls
gated on BTPadRIOActive() so real pod hardware is untouched (there the streamed
mapping owns the flag). Marked [T3]; delete once streamed button mappings land.
Reverse is a HOLD (manual: hold the red throttle button, release = forward).
Verified with scratchpad/revtest.py (keybd_event injection, BT_KEY_NOFOCUS):
forward = rev=0 dmd +61.501; LALT held = rev=1 dmd -61.501; release edge logged.
KB: pod-hardware.md now records the streamed-button-mapping gap + this seam.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
Found from the user's live 2-node demo: a Crimson MadCat went GREY in its own
view after a V (inside/outside) toggle, with NO new [paint] or
MakeMechRenderables line in the log -- so no rebuild, just a re-parse.
ROOT CAUSE: the per-pilot colour/badge/patch is applied by rewriting MATERIAL
NAMES while a BGF parses, and only while the substitution callback is installed
(SetupMaterialSubstitutionList .. TearDown, bgfload.cpp:15-18).
BTL4VideoRenderer::ApplyViewSkeleton re-parses every shown segment BGF on each
view toggle AND on respawn (that is what its fresh graphic-state read is for),
but did so OUTSIDE that bracket -> raw %color% placeholders -> unpainted
materials -> grey. Nothing caches the geometry (d3d_OBJECT caches only
textures), so every call re-parses. This is #38's mechanism: 'colors not
preserved on respawn' was never a replication or teardown bug.
FIX: re-install the substitution list around the reload, reusing the serial the
mech was BUILT with -- SetupMaterialSubstitutionList advances the global %serno%
per call, so a naive re-bracket would stamp a different serial and still resolve
the wrong names. MechRenderTree gains paintSerno (captured before Setup at
build); ApplyViewSkeleton installs/restores around the loop and logs it.
Rig-verified: the crimson MadCat stays crimson (yellow patch intact) across
repeated inside/outside toggles; each toggle now logs '[paint] color=red
serno=0' + '(paint serno 0)'.
ALSO -- corrections to yesterday's #44 name plate from the adversarial pass:
- kPlateARGB 0xFF808080 -> 0x80FFFFFF. BMAP.BMF tag 0x0027 is
dpfB_MATERIAL_OPACITY_TAG [T0 libDPL/dsys/PFBIZTAG.H], NOT a diffuse colour:
the materials carry NO colour tag at all, so the plate is the unmodulated
callsign raster at ~50% opacity, not a grey label. (Two independent
workflows converged on this.)
- the plate's K = 1/2.8 is NOT the hotbox's constant (2.8145) -- de-unified.
- the Lock attribute is HUD attr id 10, an int/Logical*, not a Scalar*.
- the PNAME pair split is the V half, not U (our per-player texture is one
128x32 cell, so the port quad samples v 0..1).
- retracted bgf-format's 'tag 0x0027 likely SPECULAR [T4]'.
KB: new reconstruction-gotchas section on the whole bug class (load-time-only
state must be re-installed on every RE-load, incl. the serno trap).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
Reconstructed the last deferred piece of the 1995 reticle, decoded from the
Execute disassembly @004cdcf0 [T1]:
- selection: target_mech+0x190 (owning BTPlayer) -> player+0x1e0
(playerBitmapIndex), 1-based into the mesh table at this+0x2e8
- placement: re-placed every frame the aim moves -- scale 0.12 uniform,
translate (K*retPos.x, K*retPos.y - 0.08, -1.0), K = 1/2.8 (the x87 long
double @0x4cee64) -- so the label TRACKS THE AIM POINT, not screen centre
- visibility: the LOCK attribute (this+0x184, cached +0x188) AND an owning
player; reticle-off / simple-X also hide it
- art: the plate quad UV-addresses a shared 128x64 bitslice texmap whose
texels the pod OVERWROTE each mission with the egg's callsign rasters
(original source commented out at L4VIDEO.cpp:5682-5710) -- the baked
'PLAYER n' art in BMAP.BSL is only the shipped fallback. Material colour
is a neutral (0.5,0.5,0.5): grey-white, not phosphor green.
Port: same geometry in reticle units (0.224 below the aim point, 0.336x0.084)
drawn as the target's egg callsign texture through the reticle's own MapX/MapY
mapping, so it follows the world view in every layout and BT_SHOT captures it.
New: dpl2d_DrawTexturedRect, BTReticleTargetPlate, BTGetPlayerNameTexture.
Also: kRetCaret corrected 0.02f -> 0.025f (_DAT_004cd7f4 read from the binary;
the old value was a T3 guess, 20% small).
KB: gauges-hud + open-questions corrected (the chain was filed as deferred and
mis-attributed to 'the 3D marker'); TWO PNAME consumers now distinguished (this
plate, and CameraShipHUDRenderable's ranking window which shipped 2026-07-18);
new bgf-format section on the plate atlas.
Rig-verified: 2-node relay, BT_GOTO=enemy -> '[hud] name plate: bmp=2 tex=1'
and 'Boreas' rendered under the crosshair on the locked target. Solo clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
1. Roster count used the binary's raw entry+0x29&0x40 read on our compiled
objects (databinding trap) -> garbage latched pilotCount=1. Decoded: the
flag is Player::NonScoringPlayerFlag (bit 14 = Entity::NextBit); both
loops now use IsScoringPlayer(). Also closes the pilotIDs[1] overrun.
2. The build-once latch races async replicant arrival (rig-proven 1-then-2):
rebuild on scoring-census change [T3 accommodation, demand-latch
precedent]; also un-dangles departed peers. Forensic: '[score] pilot
roster built: N'.
3. Name icons were a NULL stub + zeros blank authentically -> rows invisible.
Wired BTPilotNameBitmap (playerBitmapIndex -> Mission small callsign
raster, the radar-label chain); replaces the raw pilot+0x1e0 key.
Rig-verified: Aeolus + Boreas rows with callsigns on both nodes incl. the
staggered-start race; solo unregressed (1 scoring pilot).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
The 1995 engine tolerates late HOST attach but never finished late ENTITY
sync (NotifyOfReplacementEntityCreation = Fail stub, makes broadcast-once).
Routes to docs/REVOLVING_DOOR_PLAN.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
Tester ask: configure non-Xbox controllers. New L4JOY layer (DI8):
enumerates every non-XInput game device (up to 4), DIJOYSTATE2 polling
with range normalization, reacquire-on-loss, 3s hot-plug re-enum.
XInput devices are excluded via the documented RawInput IG_ VID/PID
check (live-verified skipping a real XBOX360 pad -- no double-feed).
bindings.txt grows joydev/joyaxis/joybutton/joyhat rows (device slots
by name substring or ordinal; axes X..RZ/SL0/SL1 with invert/slew/
deadzone; hats as 4-direction buttons with diagonal chords). PadRIO
runs them through the existing channel/event machinery -- per-binding
edge arrays release automatically on detach (the #24 rule), and a
direct throttle axis maps full lever travel onto the 0..1 channel
while the gait detent still snaps a lever parked in the walk/run dead
band.
BT_JOYCONFIG=1 (joyconfig.bat) runs a console capture wizard: move
each control when prompted (stick/twist/throttle/fire), invert derived
from the move direction, hat look cluster auto-added, output written
between markers in bindings.txt with the rest of the file preserved.
Legacy L4DINPUT DIJoystick (L4CONTROLS=DIJOYSTICK) untouched.
Verified: grammar accept/reject per line, XInput-exclusion live,
30s in-mission no-device polling clean. Awaiting a tester with real
stick hardware for axis verification.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Measured A/B/C (Blackhawk, sustained autofire, 150s soaks): SRM6 on
Condenser2 plateaus ~531 and COOLS at share 0.91 (boost 2), climbs to
the jam band at balanced (0.167), and runs at the 2000 failure line
starved (0.018). MoveValve reruns the redistribute every press;
veteran passes the novice guard. The field 'boosted loop 2 still
cooked' therefore means the valve was NOT at the 50 detent during the
fight -- the 1->5->50->0 cycle turns the loop OFF one press past max.
MoveValve presses now log always-on ('[valve] <name> -> detent N' +
a CLOSED warning) so the next field session records the detents.
Also: solo mission clock verified live (60s egg self-ends,
'[mission] solo game clock expired' -> RunMissions returns).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field capture 2026-07-23: right SRM6 tripped FailureHeat and went dark
with no indication -- reported as a suspected bug. Decomp @004c9a38:
the gauge cluster's only weapon-state read is ==5 (jam lamp); state 7
has no presentation anywhere. EJECT tap revives it while rounds
remain. (Same session: first live verification of the #31 eject
wiring -- jammed left SRM6 cleared by a tap.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Disasm-faithful transcription of the export-gap handler onto
ProjectileWeapon (MESSAGE_ENTRY id 0xb, the #19 pattern). PRESS arms
the ~3s UpdateEject countdown (bin alarm -> Ejecting(3); gate 2 parks
the weapon offline mid-eject -- authentic). HOLD to completion =
DumpAmmo jettisons the bay -> NoAmmo. TAP (release early) cycles ONE
round out via FeedAmmo and returns the weapon to Loading -- clears a
jam at the cost of a round (and recovers a FailureHeat 7 while rounds
remain). Binary structure kept exactly incl. the press-no-bin
fall-through into the release block.
AmmoBin: Ejecting(3)/Ejected(4) alarm levels decoded + named
SetAmmoState accessor (databinding rule). Always-on forensics:
'[weap] EJECT tap' + '[ammo] bay DUMPED overboard (N rounds)'.
Rig-verified live (BT_EJECTTEST=1 / =hold on LRM15): taps eject one
round each and return the weapon to service (15->8 across cycles);
hold dumps all 16 -> NoAmmo. Awaiting a human press of the actual
ENG-page button on a jammed weapon.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Old-timer testimony (tap = eject one round, hold = eject the bay, eject
clears a jam) checked against the binary: raw disasm of the export-gap
handler @004bb9b8 confirms it byte-for-byte. PRESS arms the ~3s
UpdateEject countdown (hold-to-completion = DumpAmmo whole bay ->
NoAmmo); RELEASE before completion (TAP) ejects ONE round (@004bd4f4)
and, with ammo remaining, sets weaponAlarm 3 + restarts the reload --
the weapon returns to service. A tap even recovers a FailureHeat
level-7 launcher while rounds remain (empty-bin gate 2 re-pins 7 only
when the bay is dry).
The earlier 'jams are mission-permanent / no unjam exists' claim read
only the HOLD path -- corrected + swept: projweap.cpp case-5/jam-log/
CheckForJam comments, players/README.txt, decomp-reference.md
(message-tables entry), open-questions.md (state-7 recovery note).
Gitea #31 updated; wiring the handler now restores the pod's actual
jam-recovery mechanic.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report: audio cutting in and out toward the end of the match.
Three structural defects in the port's source-pool lifecycle:
1. SourceSet.sources[] was uninitialized heap garbage until first
acquisition -- AL names are small ints, so a recycled-heap slot could
alias a LIVE source owned by another sound; alIsSource() skipped
generation, two sounds shared one source, and whichever released
first deleted the other's mid-play. SourceSet ctor now zero-inits.
2. ReleaseSourceSet's bulk alDeleteSources(count, sources) is ATOMIC on
invalid names (AL spec) -- one empty/-1 slot and NOTHING deleted;
after the first pool exhaustion every partial release leaked and the
pool never recovered. Now per-slot guarded delete, slots parked at 0.
3. Failed acquisitions stranded partial sets forever (dropped transients
are never released by anything). ReleaseChannels() handback at both
failure sites (StartRequest + dormant-resume) + a dtor backstop.
Verified: 2-node MP smoke (mission + lobby-loop relaunch clean, census
live/acquireFails 0/0) + 100s solo combat smoke (52 audio triggers,
zero AL errors). Awaiting live playtest confirmation at scale.
KB: context/wintesla-port.md audio-dropout section.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Field report (playtest night, voice channel): everyone's HUD showed
them in 1st place. Root cause: the engine's score-replication
machinery was complete -- Player::WriteUpdateRecord ships currentScore,
the replicant ReadUpdateRecord applies it, CalcRanking sums every
scoring player -- but nothing marked the player's update record dirty
on a score change (the engine only ForceUpdates at mission end for the
fade sync). Every peer's replicant player therefore stayed at score 0
and each machine ranked its own (only-nonzero) player first.
Fix: ForceUpdate() after every score application in the BTPlayer
handlers (main, inflicted, and the severed-vehicle branch) -- the
existing update-record path does the rest.
Verified 2-node (force-damage kill scoring): the victim's machine ranks
the killer's REPLICANT at its replicated score (24) above its own
master (0); standings consistent on both nodes. BT_RANK_LOG=1 kept as
the 1 Hz per-player ranking dump.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Systematic actor-death x lifecycle-phase sweep (operator request after
the WaitingForEgg zombie). New handling, all live-verified:
1. PRE-EGG console-pad loss (the real zombie phase): before the egg the
pod's only link is the console pad -- the game socket doesn't exist,
so the earlier RelayGameDown hook could never fire (the verification
run itself caught this). Detection now lives in
HostDisconnectedMessageHandler ConsoleHostType (relayMode +
pre-scene -> BTRelayRejoinNow); mesh keeps 1995 behavior.
2. MID-MISSION relay loss: the STOP is relay-sent (1995: the console
owned the clock), so a pod losing its relay mid-match played a
peer-less FOREVER-mission. RelayGameDown (scene presented) now
posts StopMissionMessage at +15s -> normal end -> lobby relaunch.
3. POST-RELEASE pod death stalled the round (survivors wait forever on
the dead peer's connection gate): relay _abort_round -> route -11
REJOIN to survivors -> everyone re-seats in seconds (reset-first
ordering makes the drop cascade re-trigger-proof).
4. BTRelayRejoinNow carries BT_SEAT_CLAIM (mirrored tag): without it
the rejoiner's own reclaim-hold blocked assignment -> ROSTER FULL
loop for the 90s window (found by verification round 2).
5. Beacon NAT keepalive (SIO_KEEPALIVE_VALS 60s/10s) so long
between-rounds waits can't be silently unseated.
6. BT_LOG_APPEND=1 preserves the log across lobby-loop generations
(truncation erased round-1 verification evidence).
Verified non-issues: relay pods never bind the -net listener (no
double-launch collision on the internet path); mesh bind-fail exits
cleanly. Full matrix + evidence: context/multiplayer.md;
scratchpad/audit_verify.sh is the repeatable rig.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The operator challenged the "inevitable ~minute" load (Task Manager
showed idle CPU) and was right. Measured chain:
- A/B same box/egg: dev 7s, +glass 30s, +BT_DEV_GAUGES 72s+.
- Drain census: identical ~560-event make streams; 190 events/s in dev
vs a metronomic 7/s in the console shape -- the loop, not the events.
- Stack sampling: 4/6 samples inside ExecuteIdle's wait-screen paint --
GDI GetDC/FillRect on the D3DPOOL_DEFAULT offscreen surface forces a
full GPU pipeline sync (~140ms/frame at glass window size). The
2026-07-22 flicker fix traded a cosmetic bug for a 25x load throttle,
worst on the operator box (bigger window + gauge-window GPU work),
with idle CPU because a GPU-sync stall isn't compute.
Fix (ExecuteIdle): the staging surface is D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM (GetDC is
pure CPU; survives Reset for free) uploaded via UpdateSurface, and a
change gate skips the whole idle frame unless the spinner phase
(12.5Hz) or state text changed -- between paints the loop runs free.
Result: console-shape load 72s+ -> 4.1s (BEGIN -> READY), drain at 345
events/s; every pod benefits (same code), and the all-ready launch gate
now waits on a seconds-scale slowest loader. Permanent pre-run
diagnostics kept: the drain census + >50ms slow-event lines (EVENT.cpp,
stand down at scene-live; slow-event identity captured BEFORE Process
-- Receiver::Receive(Event*) deletes the event).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Playtest matchlog forensics: across 2,591 applied-damage events in two
rounds, Ballistic (type 1) damage NEVER appeared -- Collision/Explosive/
Laser/Energy only -- despite 136 projectile impacts and autocannon/Gauss
mechs. The weapon parses its authentic damageData.damageType correctly
(mechweap.cpp:316 maps "BallisticDamage" -> 1), but BTPushProjectile
never carried the type and every projectile-impact site in mech4.cpp
hardcoded ExplosiveDamageType. So autocannon/Gauss rounds were scaled
against armor by damageScale[Explosive] instead of damageScale[Ballistic]
(the model indexes a distinct scale cell per damage type) -- every
ballistic weapon did the wrong damage all night.
Lasers/PPCs were unaffected (their SendDamageMessage path carries the
weapon's own damageData); missiles happen to BE Explosive so only
autocannon & Gauss were mis-scaled.
BTProjectile gains a damageType field, threaded from the firing weapon
(damageData.damageType) at launch through to the impact dispatch;
missiles resolve Explosive from their own streamed type, autocannon/
Gauss now resolve Ballistic. The missile-splash template stays
Explosive. Enum is anonymous so the field casts to Enumeration.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
XInput button emission is edge-based against previousPadButtons; the
disconnect path zeroed that memory WITHOUT emitting release edges, so
any button held when a controller (wrapper) died stayed pressed
game-side forever -- and the zeroing also erased what a reconnect would
have released. Field signature (playtest night): a PS3-pad-in-xbox-
mode wrapper died mid-hat-hold -> the look-view machine (hold-based,
mppr) latched a side view with the authored look pitch ("stuck side
view + pitch at ground, no recovery"); the keyboard-only run was clean.
On the connected->disconnected transition PadRIO now emits
EmitButton(address, 0) for every binding whose mask was held, then
forgets. Not reproducible headless (needs a real hardware unplug
mid-hold) -- awaiting the reporter's controller for live verification.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
ROOT CAUSE [T1]: Mech::Reset's subsystem sweep (@0049fb74 loop-2) calls
vtable slot +0x28, which the DATA-section vtables prove is
ResetToInitialState (0050f9d8/00511d2c/00512078/0051242c all carry the
class RTIS at +0x28) -- our reconstruction mislabeled it DeathReset,
the EMPTY engine base virtual, so the whole per-subsystem reset was a
silent no-op ("ammo and weapons do not reset on respawn", playtest
night; matchlogs: 3 of 7 players fired zero projectiles after their
first death).
SECOND LAYER: the binary never refilled ammo at all -- its respawn
severed the vehicle and DropZoneReply built a NEW mech (fresh ctor =
full bins, pristine subsystems: the pod behavior testers remember).
Our port deliberately reuses the entity (the new-mech path was the
two-mech/camera-glitch family), so Reset now EMULATES ctor-freshness:
- the sweep starts at i=2 (binary-faithful: skips mapper + voltage
bus) and dispatches the engine DeathReset virtual as the vehicle;
per-class overrides chain each class's own authentic slot-10 RTIS
body (the recon RTIS namesakes are statically bound -- no common
virtual): MechWeapon @004b96ec, Emitter @004ba4d0 (charge cycle
restarts from Loading), ProjectileWeapon @004bbaf8 (unjams).
- MechSubsystem::RespawnRepair (PORT): heals the subsystem's PRIVATE
crit damage zone + status alarm -- the mech-zone heal never touched
those, which kept destroyed weapons dead across respawns.
- AmmoBin::DeathReset (PORT): refills to initialAmmoCount (@0x220, the
ctor value) + Loaded alarm + idle feed + cook-off disarmed;
ResetToInitialState stays authentically EMPTY per AMMOBIN.TCP.
Verified (2-node force-damage kill/respawn rig, BT_DEATH_LOG): every
respawn logs [respawn] ammo bin refills for both bins to streamed
capacity across 4 death cycles; mission un-regressed. KB corrected +
swept (multiplayer.md task #52 notes). Awaiting live tester
verification of depleted-bin refill + revived weapons.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The between-rounds arcade flow (first-playtest-night field request): at
mission end every pod exited, seats dropped, and every round required
everyone to re-run join.bat with no way to adjust the mission.
1. AUTO-REJOIN: StopMission (operator END / mission clock -- NOT a
window close) sets gBTMissionStoppedByConsole; after the matchlog
upload btl4main relaunches the pod into the join wait with the same
cmdline (BT_CALLSIGN/BT_MECH ride the inherited environment).
2. SEAT RECLAIM: the assigned tag is mirrored file-scope
(BTRelaySelfTag) and re-presented as the 3rd SEAT_REQUEST payload
field (BT_SEAT_CLAIM); the relay holds a dropped seat for its tag
for 90s and a returning player gets their EXACT seat back -- static
ordering across rounds, the real-pod model. Non-claim joiners skip
reclaim-held seats.
3. LIVE MISSION EDITS: the console gains "Apply mission settings"
(enabled while a session runs) writing arena/time/weather/length
into the session egg; the relay re-reads the file at round reset and
egg release (roster shape locked mid-session).
Verified 2-pod 3-round: pods self-relaunched after each clock end; the
SECOND-to-rejoin still reclaimed its original seat (ordering held); the
between-rounds edit landed ("mission length now 75s"). Known edge
noted in the KB: a stale ready flag from a not-yet-exited old conn can
satisfy the launch gate mid-rejoin -- operators launch on green dots.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Measured (loadphase markers + queue blocker dump): renderer LoadMission
31ms, model loads 0.2s -- the teal->green minute is the LoadingMission
ready-gate (IsPriorityEmpty counts timed events too) waiting out the
THREE renderers' entity-make streams: every entity/subsystem creation
posts message 3 to each Renderer receiver (classIDs 8/30/36 =
video/audio/gauge), hundreds deep per queue, draining across the whole
window (the audio renderer's share is why sound starts mid-load).
Instrumentation kept: [loadphase] markers (renderer span + busy-pass
counter) always on; GeneralEventQueue::DumpBlockers + the class-named
DumpData fallback behind BT_LOAD_DIAG=1 (hundreds of lines per load).
Optimizing the drain (batching/budget) is an open perf item --
deliberately untouched before the 8-player night.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The roster showed "registered" for a still-loading pod and a ready one
alike -- with multi-minute contended loads the operator couldn't tell
who they'd be waiting on. When the app ladder reaches WaitingForLaunch
the pod sends one empty route -10 frame on its live relay game socket
(BTRelayNotifyReady; socket mirrored at HELLO); the relay announces
SEAT n READY (k/m loaded) and the console GUI lights the seat
bright-green with a "N pod(s) LOADED+READY" banner.
Verified LIVE by the operator: blue (seated) -> teal (registered) ->
green (ready) in order, twice. Also resolved the load-speed mystery:
loads are ~30s uncontended; the 1-2+ minute cases were assistant
background test runs competing with the user's interactive sessions on
the same machine (memory note added -- no game-spawning tests while the
user is testing).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The take-1 deferral (re-post at +1s, capped at 120) turned a SLOW load
into a crash: loads on a busy operator box measure 1-2+ minutes, the
cap expired, and the original "Not ready to run" Fail/abort fired
(field report: sound after ~1 min, crash ~2 min later; the log shows
exactly 120 deferrals all in LoadingMission).
A mid-load RunMission now just bumps gBTRunMissionPendCount -- nothing
enters the event queue and there is NO timeout to outlive -- and
CheckLoadMessageHandler drains the counter immediately after advancing
LoadingMission -> WaitingForLaunch, re-posting that many stack
RunMissionMessages (the engine's own no-console launch pattern at the
same site, which also demonstrates Post spools stack messages safely).
Verified (two-round rig, round 1): both relay launches pended through
the load, fired at load completion, the requested mech spawned and the
scene went live. Round reset + round-2 rejoin remain verified from the
prior run; why loads take 1-2+ min on a busy box is left as an open
perf question.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
1. ROUND RESET (the "picked Hellbringer, got a Blackhawk" field bug):
trim/prefs finalize the session egg for ONE round, and that was
permanent for the relay's lifetime -- a rejoin after a mission or
crash got the stale finalized egg and its new callsign/mech request
was recorded but never applied. _maybe_reset_round() (both drop
paths) restores the original egg/roster/launch state once every pod
is gone; live beacons re-key by tag position (conn.seat_tag).
Verified two-round e2e: blkhawk mission -> exit -> RESET -> lok1
request -> egg rewritten -> the Hellbringer spawned.
2. DEVICE-CREATION RETRY: CreateDevice(HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING) fails
transiently when a just-exited instance still holds the adapter
(caught live; also the parked "exit 139" join crash). The old
double-failure path called PostQuitMessage(1) -- which does NOT stop
execution -- and the NULL mDevice deref right after was the real
crash. Now: HW->SW retry with 500ms backoff and a 20s deadline,
then a clean error box + ExitProcess.
3. LOAD-TIME PUMP: mission load is thousands of back-to-back
synchronous model loads; the starved message pump ghosted the window
"Not Responding" mid-load. BTLoadPump() (hooked from
d3d_OBJECT::LoadObject) pumps + repaints the wait screen at most
every 150ms pre-run; no-op once the scene is live.
Also: round-reset originals captured after the roster parse (the first
cut crashed the relay constructor -- caught by the two-round test).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The relay fires the RunMission pair a fixed 20s after the egg ACK -- but
the ACK happens at egg RECEIPT, and a long mission load (glass + dev
gauges on a busy box measured ~50s) is still in LoadingMission when the
launch lands. L4Application::RunMissionMessageHandler's default case
Fail()ed on that state -- an abort() the 1995 code could afford because
the real console launched operator-paced -- which presented as a SILENT
crash at mission start (c0000409, no WER record; cdb stack:
ucrtbase!abort <- RunMissionMessageHandler <- RoutePacket; 3/3
reproducible; matches the field report's 464 crash that died
mid-LOD-load).
The default case now DEFERS: re-post the message to ourselves at +1s
(the VehicleDead re-post pattern) until the ladder reaches
WaitingForLaunch, bounded at 120 deferrals so a truly wedged load still
surfaces the original Fail. Verified: the crashing console-shaped run
deferred 104x through its ~50s load, then launched, rendered (scene
LIVE) and ran clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The pre-mission overlay painted the window DC AFTER ExecuteIdle's
Present -- every cycle flashed the black D3D frame before the GDI
redraw, visible as flicker while the game loads (user report). The
overlay now lands IN the presented frame: the backbuffer refuses GetDC
on this driver (D3DERR_INVALIDCALL without LOCKABLE_BACKBUFFER, not
worth forcing game-wide), so the text+spinner GDI-paint goes into a
cached offscreen plain surface (GetDC always legal there) and
StretchRects onto the backbuffer before Present. D3DPOOL_DEFAULT cache
released at every device-Reset site; window-DC path remains for the
pre-device seat wait and as the fallback; one-shot [waitscreen] boot log
says which path is live.
Verified: 14 rapid PrintWindow captures of the waiting state all carry
the text (pre-fix runs alternated black frames).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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>
Distributed test zips go stale and stray. BT_EXPIRE (CMake option,
DEFAULT ON so a zip can never accidentally ship without it) makes the
exe refuse to start BT_EXPIRE_DAYS (default 14) after its build day:
boot logs the remaining window, an expired build logs + shows a
"test build expired -- ask the operator for the current build" box and
exits. btversion.h now stamps BT_BUILD_UNIX (UTC-midnight-rounded so
the only-on-change header churns once per day, not every build) +
BT_BUILD_DATE. Dev is unaffected: every build re-stamps the day.
-DBT_EXPIRE=OFF builds a non-expiring exe; mkdist reads the cache and
marks such a zip "-noexpire" + prints a warning, and the tester README
expiry note is {EXPIRE}-marker-gated like the steam lines. Second
compile-gate exception after BT_STEAM (convention updated in
glass-cockpit.md). Quality gate, not DRM -- a clock rollback defeats it.
Verified live: default build logs "test build window: 14 day(s) left";
a -DBT_EXPIRE_DAYS=0 build logs TEST BUILD EXPIRED and parks on the
explanation box (window title checked) without starting the game;
restored to 14 and rebuilt clean.
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>
Root cause of the keymap whack-a-mole: three input layers exist (PadRIO/
bindings.txt under glass; btinput/CONTROLS.MAP under DEV; the bring-up
drive bridge also under DEV, which clobbers e.g. Alt-reverse every frame),
and DEV was the DEFAULT -- so every launcher that forgot BT_PLATFORM=glass
booted the old stack: the play bats, then play_steam, then the operator
console's local instances, each fixed with the same one line.
Omission can't resurrect it now: with no BT_PLATFORM, desktop boots GLASS
(and the menu on a zero-arg launch -- bare double-click of btl4.exe opens
the mission menu). BT_PLATFORM=dev explicitly opts into the legacy DEV
profile for debugging. BT_PLATFORM=pod is the cabinet profile; the real
pod's SETENV.BAT must set it (contract recorded in glass-cockpit.md --
the old "bare boot == cabinet shape" menu-guard assumption is retired).
Verified: no-env mission launch boots GLASS; bare no-env launch opens the
MENU; BT_PLATFORM=dev boots DEV.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Source archaeology (the per-file modification tables in the surviving
headers) surfaced six programmer initials: JM, ECH, CPB, GDU, JMA, GAH.
Read to VWE veterans on the project Discord (2026-07-21), VGL Lynx --
who watched the first multiplayer Thor walk terrain on a Red Planet map --
identified them: Jim Albertson, Eric Nichols (uncertain), Chris Brewer,
Gabe Underwood, Joanna Mason (mapping inferred), Garth Hermanson; hardware
initials MC = Marek Ciolek (AC unresolved), via Cyd.
Team size per Lynx: dev ~8, art ~6, MUNGA by a smaller parallel internal
team with crossovers, no outsourcing. Identifications marked T3 (oral
history, as-typed spellings) against the T0 initials; a corrections
invitation is included. Linked from context/project-overview.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The tester's ER small laser died permanently (recharge arc + ready dot dark,
no fire) after idle seek-gear clicking. Root cause, byte-verified + headless-
reproduced -- a latent bug in the SHIPPED ARCADE BINARY:
- The charge integrates toward the GENERATOR voltage (@004ba838), not the
gear target; "full" is only detected inside the +-1% snap window around
seekVoltage[idx] (@004ba738), and overcharge reads ZERO (the byte-verified
_DAT_004ba830 = 0.0 clamp).
- Toggle seek while a charge is in flight and the level can land ABOVE the
new gear's window: rechargeLevel pins to 0, the ==1.0 Loaded test can
never fire, and charging continues to the generator ceiling where EVERY
gear reads overcharged. Permanent brick; generator reselect cannot help.
- The arcade dodged it by circumstance (locked 60 fps, rare seek use); the
port's clickable seek button hits it in seconds of casual clicking.
Fix (marked divergence in the Loading tick): overcharge counts as fully
charged -> Loaded. The arcade's own discharge algebra says full == the
gear's seek voltage, so an overcharged weapon IS full.
Verified: the same 2.5-min BT_SEEKTEST abuse that bricked the laser pre-fix
now fires 38 overcharge rescues and ends Loaded/pct=1. [seek] log now also
prints the per-gear voltage table + gen voltages (diagnosis instrumentation).
Ruled out on the way (documented in #21): overheat fuse (no firing occurred;
a 4-min autofire+coolant-abuse run wouldn't fuse), generator detach (gen
cycling + healthy siblings), seek-table corruption (table {6000,7000,8000,
9900} healthy).
KB: decomp-reference.md records the arcade-latent-bug analysis.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Third instance of the silent-swallow pattern (unregistered handler id ->
Receiver NullHandler). The Mech handler table @0x50BDF8 binds
{0x16, "BalanceCoolant" -> @0049f728}; the reconstruction never registered it.
Disasm-verified body (@0049f728): press-only guard (msg+0xc > 0; the binary
has NO novice lockout on this one), set EVERY condenser's valveState@0x1D0
to 1 (equal weights), then the shared redistribute @0049f788 -- which the
port ALREADY had faithfully as BTRecomputeCondenserValves (flow =
valve/total + condenserAlarm pulse; MoveValve calls it). So the fix is:
- mech.hpp/mech.cpp: BalanceCoolantMessageID=0x16 + handler + MESSAGE_ENTRY
- heatfamily_reslice.cpp: BTBalanceCondenserValves bridge (Condenser is a
complete type there; sets valves to 1 + redistributes)
- mech4.cpp: BT_BALTEST scripted harness (MoveValve press alternating with
a Balance press)
VERIFIED headless (BT_BALTEST=1 BT_VALVE_LOG=1):
boot -> all valves 1, flows 0.1667 each
MoveValve-> condenser#1 valve 5, flows 0.5 / 0.1x5 (the priority boost)
BALANCE -> all valves 1, flows 0.1667 each (equalized)
Awaiting the tester's live ADV-mode confirmation.
KB: decomp-reference.md Mech-table row marked wired.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Root cause -- NOT issue #2 (the experience mis-seed pins everyone to VETERAN,
which PASSES the novice lockout; the gates were never the blocker). Two
unwired handlers, the same silent-swallow pattern ToggleCooling had
(Receiver::Receive -> NullHandler for an unregistered id):
- Myomers (handler table @0x51158C {9,"ToggleSeekVoltage"@004b8a48}): the
reconstruction had an EMPTY stub (the address falls in the untagged decomp
gap 0x4b8837..0x4b8a8c) and never registered the id. Body reconstructed
faithfully from the raw disassembly (tools/disas2.py 0x4b8a48): novice
lockout (@4ac9c8) -> heat-model gate (@4ad7d4) -> press-only (msg+0xc>0) ->
currentSeekVoltageIndex@0x320 = (idx+1) % (maxSeekVoltageIndex@0x32C + 1).
Modulo from zero, min index not consulted, no ResetFiringState.
- Emitter (energy-weapon table @0x511DB8 {0xb,"ToggleSeekVoltage"@004ba478}):
the faithful body already existed as the orphaned "AdvanceSeekVoltage"
(ZERO callers) -- converted to the registered message handler (same guards;
cycle + ResetFiringState when not wrapping, disasm re-verified). PPC and
GaussRifle copy-inherit the set; the ammo branch keeps its own id 0xb ==
EjectAmmo (still unwired, tracked separately).
Both registered via MESSAGE_ENTRY on top of the inherited chains. Permanent
diagnostics: [seek] gear log (BT_SEEK_LOG) + BT_SEEKTEST scripted dispatch
harness (mech4.cpp, the cooltoggle pattern).
VERIFIED headless: [seek] Myomers -> 3,0,1,2,3... and [seek] PPC_1 ->
3,0,1,2,3... (modulo-4 wrap, matching the binary's arithmetic). Awaiting
the tester's live ADV-mode confirmation for the real MFD button route (the
routing layer is the same streamed-EventMapping path ToggleCooling verified).
KB: decomp-reference.md message-table rows marked wired.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The unification flattened BT_STEAM into the always-on exe; the user flagged
the constraint that makes it the one legitimate compile gate: the Steamworks
SDK license bars a public release with Steam inside, so a release build must
exclude it entirely.
- CMakeLists: option(BT_STEAM OFF) restored around the Steamworks block --
an OFF configure touches no SDK headers, no steam_api.lib, no DLL copy.
BT_GLASS stays retired (always defined); ONE build dir either way.
Dev checkout: build/ configured once with -DBT_STEAM=ON.
- mkdist: reads BT_STEAM from build/CMakeCache.txt. Steam-OFF zips exclude
play_steam.bat + steam_api.dll (explicitly filtering a STALE DLL left by
an earlier ON build), strip the README steam section ({STEAM} line
markers), and take a -nosteam name suffix so the flavors never clobber
(found live: both stamped 4.11.436 and the release zip overwrote the dev
zip).
Verified both flavors:
ON (dev build): steam smoke degrades to Winsock without the client;
zip carries play_steam.bat + steam_api.dll + README steam lines.
OFF (scratch build-relcheck, deleted after): 0 compile errors; exe dir =
btl4.exe + OpenAL32.dll only; boots + simulates; BT_STEAM_NET=1 inert
(transport not in the binary); end-to-end zip has zero steam bits and
a clean README.
KB: context/glass-cockpit.md unified-build section records the license gate.
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>
context/glass-cockpit.md: record the BT_PLATFORM=glass/PadRIO click gating
(the dead-clicks root cause), the verified live regroup loop, the [cfgmap]/
BT_BTNTEST diagnostics, and the one-keymap settlement (babf5b1).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The weapon panel's btjoy trigger-config display (ConfigMapGauge) never rendered
because the reconstruction labelled @004c6ee0 as "SetColor(int)" and, finding no
caller, concluded the gauge was authentically dormant (task #6), gating it
behind a BT_CONFIGMAP dev env.
The user challenged this (the PROGRAM/TRIGGER CONFIG button implies the display
visualizes your config). Re-verification found the old analysis failed twice:
the "no caller" search looked for direct calls to a VIRTUAL, and its slot math
used the wrong vtable copy. The real ConfigMapGauge vtable @0051a1b8, matched
against the T0 GaugeBase virtual roster (GAUGE.h), pins @004c6ee0 at slot 9
(+0x24) == GaugeBase::LinkToEntity, and @0x94 is the linkedEntity -- the
Execute gate is "not yet linked", not "disabled". The engine broadcasts
LinkToEntity(viewpointEntity) to every gauge at viewpoint bind (APP.cpp:1277 ->
GaugeRenderer::LinkToEntity GAUGREND.cpp:3011), arming the gate -- the joystick
DOES render in the shipped game, showing per-trigger mapping state (solid =
mapped, matching the DOSBox reference).
Port fix: SetColor(int color) -> LinkToEntity(Entity*), color -> linkedEntity,
BT_CONFIGMAP dev enable deleted (the authentic path lights it). Render-verified
with no env override: the joystick + mapped-trigger lamp draw on weapon panels.
KB swept per the correction mandate: gauges-hud.md, decomp-reference.md,
open-questions.md, GAUGE_COMPOSITE.md, VEHICLE_SUBSYSTEMS.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
