CRASH SELF-REPORT (the #35/#41 heisenbug hunt): every unhandled
exception now logs its code, address, and an EBP-walked stack as
module-relative offsets (btl4+0xNNNN) into BT_LOG before dying --
any field crash on any machine hands us a resolvable stack. The
walker is per-dereference guarded (a corrupt chain truncates).
BT_CRASHTEST=1 exercises the path end-to-end (verified: forced AV
logs code/addr/5-frame stack). mkdist archives each build's PDB
next to its zip so offsets resolve per distributed version.
Context: a flaky release-only crash in the mech build path surfaced
during #38 rigs -- it moves with build layout, spares neither peer,
and masks under a debugger heap (13 clean cdb runs vs 2/3 crashes
without). A real latent memory bug; the self-report will catch it
wherever it strikes next.
ROUND-COMPLETED LATCH (issue #38, awaiting verification): relay-mode
clients refuse RunMission after a round has ended -- the lobby-loop
relaunch owns the next round (in-process round 2 rebuilt every
player/mech entity on stale globals; matchlog caught player=3:1->3:36
in one generation). Latch sets ONLY when the stop ends a RUNNING
mission (a stray pre-mission StopMission must not poison round 1 --
the first cut ate a legit launch, caught + fixed in rig). Regression
verification pending (contaminated by the heisenbug above).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Night-2 capture: one flapping pod cascaded 3 ROUND ABORTs in 8s; every
client relaunch-churned (~1 gen/s) until the D3D device-creation 20s
deadline fired on every machine ('could not connect direct 3d'), and
claim-less restarts minted duplicate roster seats.
Console (relay):
- Round abort clears stale console-conn ACK flags and HOLDS the next
egg release for an 8s settle window (_tick_settle re-releases when
quiet) -- the abort->instant-re-release->drop->abort cycle is broken.
- HELLO from a stale identity gets a REJOIN reply (identity resync via
the seat-request path, 5s/IP rate limit) instead of a bare drop.
- STATIC SEATS: seats remember (IP + callsign); a claim-less restart
from the same machine+name RECLAIMS its own seat (displacing its
zombie beacon) instead of minting a duplicate -- the pod contract:
same box, same seat, always.
- Operator local instances log with BT_LOG_APPEND (the night-2 crash
loop left a 2-line file; generations now leave a full trail).
Client:
- Relaunch storm damper: a generation that lived <15s sleeps 5s before
respawning (storm decays to a gentle cadence; normal multi-minute
round relaunches untouched; menu clicks explicitly never delayed).
Rig-verified: normal round + mid-MISSION drop = no abort (correct);
mid-LOAD kill = exactly ONE abort + 8s hold + seat reclaimed + no
cascade. The night-2 'host 7' identity-derivation subtlety remains
under forensics (append logs + first-breath line will capture it).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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.
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>
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 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>
The Launch-local-instances path pinned BT_SELF, which claims a seat
directly and SKIPS the seat request -- the join menu (and the callsign/
mech choice it carries) never ran, so a local test instance couldn't
exercise the walk-up flow. Relay-mode local instances now launch
zero-arg with BT_FE_JOIN=1: the JOIN-GAME menu opens, the relay assigns
the seat, and the choice lands in the egg like any join.bat player.
Each instance gets a distinct relaunch port via BT_FE_JOINPORT
(btl4main JoinRelay case; default 1501) -- two -net listeners can't
share a port on one box. Mesh-mode locals keep the direct path.
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>
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>
Under BT_DEV_GAUGES the DEFAULT is now the pod-faithful cockpit surround: the 3D
world CENTERED with the six gauge surfaces composited AROUND it in the single main
window at 1/2 native scale, plus clickable RIO button lamps. Iterated as a visual
reference with the user, then landed in the engine.
- L4VB16.cpp/.h: BTCockpitLayout + BTCockpitComputeLayout (layout single source of
truth, computed from the backbuffer canvas); BTDrawCockpitPanels (band fill ->
button lamp quads -> 9-entry surface loop, phosphor-green mono / amber palette
sec, Eng-sibling slot map -> GDI-atlas flight labels; D3DSBT_ALL state-block
isolation = the floating-rocks trap); BTCockpitMouseDown/Up (client->bb hit-test
+ glass press/release/right-latch contract); BTApplyWorldViewport + DevGaugeDocked
cockpit branches; shared BTLampBrightnessOf inline. Hooked at the top of
BTDrawGaugeInset (before BT_SHOT, so shots include it).
- btl4main.cpp: glass preset (cockpit default, per-display panels opt-in); mode
resolution -> gBTGaugeCockpit with work-area-clamped window sizing (-res = view
size); WndProc WM_L/RBUTTON routing.
- L4VIDEO.cpp: BTWorldAspectOf cockpit branch (view rect on-screen aspect).
- L4VIDRND.cpp: CameraShipHUDRenderable::Render made viewport-relative.
Buttons = the L4GLASSWIN address banks x0.5 (Heat 0x2F, Mfd2 0x27, Comm 0x37, Mfd1
0x0F, Mfd3 0x07 red; radar rails 0x10-0x1B yellow; flight 0x38-0x47 blue, labeled).
Full rect is the hit target; the surface draws over it so only the lamp edge shows.
Precedence: BT_GLASS_PANELS=1 stands cockpit down > BT_COCKPIT=1 > _WINDOW/_DOCK
opt-out > cockpit default; BT_COCKPIT=0 = dock-bottom. Green tunable via
BT_COCKPIT_TINT. Renders in ALL builds; only the PadRIO click/lamp seam is
BT_GLASS-gated.
Verified (awaiting playtest): both build/ + build-glass/ compile (0 error C);
glass BT_SHOT matches the mockup; 500-click storm during a live mission survived
(Gitea #18 Receiver-gap fix holds); BT_COCKPIT=0 dock-bottom unregressed;
BT_GLASS_PANELS=1 stands cockpit down; pod build renders the panels.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Break the desktop glass cockpit's secondary displays out of the single
combined pad panel + D3D gauge strip into ONE window per pod display, each
carrying that display's surface with its RIO button bank, arranged
pod-faithfully around the main view. New TU engine/MUNGA_L4/L4GLASSWIN.*
(BT_GLASS-only), selected by the -platform glass preset via the new runtime
gate BT_GLASS_PANELS (=0 falls back to the legacy single panel + dock).
- Surfaces are CPU-expanded from the shared gauge buffer
(SVGA16::ExpandPlaneToBGRA, no D3D) and StretchDIBits'd in -- the D3D
dev-composite path (dock / window / overlay) stands down while active.
- Buttons sit UNDER the imagery: big hidden click targets that reach into
the display, with only a small protruding edge showing as a lamp light.
Red MFD banks tile the top/bottom; radar rails run the sides + a bottom
row; a Flight Controls window hosts the no-display banks.
- Windows: Heat / Engineering / Comm / Left Weapons / Right Weapons / radar
+ Flight Controls; edge-to-edge (no in-client margin/title; OS caption
labels each).
- Fix blank surfaces: application/ghWnd are duplicate-defined and bind
non-deterministically under /FORCE, so the fresh L4GLASSWIN TU read NULL.
Reach the renderer/window via BTResolveGaugeRenderer/BTResolveMainWindow
defined in btl4main.cpp off the real btl4App/hWnd pointers. New gotcha:
reconstruction-gotchas.md S6 duplicate-GLOBAL corollary.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Steam-host report ('no glass panel, plasma yes'): a direct btl4.exe start ran
the MENU under the DEV profile, whose putenv(L4CONTROLS=KEYBOARD) leaked into
the relaunched mission child -- the child's glass preset (sets-when-unset)
could then never select PAD: no PadRIO, no panel; the plasma appeared only
because DEV never touches L4PLASMA. Menu-mode is now detected FIRST and the
front-end process skips the profile putenvs entirely (profiles belong to game
processes); boot line reads 'MENU (front end -- no profile applied)'.
Verified: zero-arg start -> menu -> launch -> child boots GLASS, PadRIO up,
72-control panel present, plasma present.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <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>
4.10 = the 1995 arcade release; 4.11 = the win32 reconstruction; the
build number is the git commit count -- monotonic, zero-maintenance,
and every exe pins to exact source via the short hash ('+' = built
from an uncommitted tree). tools/btversion.cmake regenerates
build/btversion.h on every build (write-if-changed, no rebuild churn);
the stamp shows in the boot banner (btl4.log head, replacing the stale
'v4.10' line) and the window title (incl. the MP node tag).
Verified: build stamps 4.11.311 (980c9cd+), banner + title correct on
a live boot.
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>
NEW gated dir game/glass/: btl4fe (green-on-black GDI catalog menu -- map/
time/weather/length/mech/color/pilot/mode/port/peers; egg writer emitting the
FULL console egg shape, golden-tested vs MP.EGG: identical section sequence
at identical line offsets, the 4 static ordinal pages verbatim, GDI-rendered
128x32/64x16 pilot-name plasma bitmaps in MP.EGG framing) and btl4console
(the marshal: a worker-thread console CLIENT speaking the btconsole.py wire
protocol verbatim -- 1040-byte chunked egg, 20s settle, RunMission x2,
STAY CONNECTED, own the clock, StopMission at expiry; logs marshal.log).
The engine sees a real connected console and runs the 100% stock ladder --
NO engine hooks (less invasive than planned: the L4APP.H setters proved
unnecessary; launches go through real argv on relaunch).
WinMain (one gated block): zero-mission-arg glass launch -> menu -> relaunch
self with the mission argv (per-mission process relaunch; BT_FE_* env arms
the marshal); post-RunMissions BT_FE_LOOP tail returns to the menu. Menu
relaunches CLEAR the BT_FE_* handoff (found live: the inherited env re-armed
a marshal instead of showing the menu).
Verified end-to-end (synthetic menu drive): menu -> frontend.egg -> relaunch
-> marshal feeds self over loopback -> stock console ladder -> mission RUNS
(58+ ticks) -> 60s clock -> StopMission -> clean menu return, no env leak.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
NEW gated TUs: L4PADPANEL (GDI top-level window, all-W APIs: the pod button
banks -- upper/lower aux, 12 secondary, specials/hat/handle, 63 buttons --
clickable via PadRIO::SetScreenButton with lamp-lit faces from GetLampState,
10 Hz repaint; created by the PadRIO ctor on BT_PAD_PANEL=1) and L4PLASMAWIN
(PlasmaWindow : Video8BitBuffered -- the gauge renderer draws the 128x32
plasma into its pixelBuffer through the SAME code path as the serial device;
Update() blits orange-on-black at L4PLASMASCALE, default x4). Gated seams:
L4GREND.cpp L4PLASMA=SCREEN branch; btl4main.cpp -platform glass preset
(PAD,KEYBOARD + BT_DEV_GAUGES + SCREEN plasma + panel; env always overrides;
non-glass builds log+fall back to DEV); run.cmd glass token. MFD surfaces
need NO new code: the existing dock-bottom / BT_DEV_GAUGES_WINDOW=1 /
BT_DEV_GAUGES_DOCK=1 modes are the display story.
Verified live: -platform glass boots GLASS profile, panel + plasma windows
up, pad detected, dev gauges awake, mission loop clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The "fireballs like the demo vids" arc, decomp/content-grounded end to end,
plus the live-play UX batch verified over the same sessions:
FIRESMOKE SHEET (the PFX fireball fix): every firesmokeN_scr_tex in BTFX.VMF
maps the SAME 64x64 tileable noise image bintA (variants differ only in SCROLL
rate) and firesmoke1_mtl colours it through the "fiery" ramp (0.3,0.1,0.1)->
(0.9,0.7,0.3). The particle layer now bakes ramp(lum(bintA)) as its sprite
colour (noise detail in alpha) and SCROLLS it at firesmoke1's authored rate
via a texture-transform; the port's radial soft-edge mask moved to a second
CLAMPed stage so the WRAPPED scroll rolls flame through the sprite without
scrolling the edge away. Old grit x radial bake kept as the no-BINTA fallback.
Impact hits, damage-band smoke and death booms all ride this layer.
AUTHORED TEXTURE SCROLL in the model path: the BMF TEXTURE records carry
SPECIAL " SCROLL u0 v0 du dv" (tag 0x2037); the draw path always supported
per-op scrolling (SetTextureScrolling) but the BGF loader never parsed it, so
every scrolling material rendered frozen. Wired TexRef -> MatInfo -> batch ->
L4TEXOP.doScroll: the flame cards (flamebig/fire5) now roll fire noise.
VERTEX-ALPHA EFFECT CARDS (the "twisted drill bit of fire" fix): FLAMEBIG's
verts carry authored float RGBA -- white-hot base (1.0,0.99,0.97) -> dark-red
tip fading to alpha -0.2 (the DPL clamp convention). The loader kept a flat
batch colour and drew it OPAQUE = a solid orange spike. Corpus sweep: exactly
14 shipped BGFs carry vertex alpha, ALL effect cards (flames, MUZFLASH,
EXDISK_A/B/C, TMST_A/B/C, beam models, DECLOUDS). Such batches now keep the
authored per-vertex gradient and route to the alpha-blend pass, unlit,
colour = texture x gradient, alpha = the vertex fade; sky objects excluded
(drawAsSky + alphaTest passes NEITHER pass filter -- DECLOUDS stays in the
sky pass). MUZFLASH/EXDISK render correctly for free when the muzzle-model
work lands.
WRECK DRESSING (the 1996 ExplosionScripts case-4 transcription): pieces spawn
HIDDEN and reveal 0.25s after the boom (the InstanceSwitch delay, behind the
dnboom flash); flamebig hangs over the pile, Y-BILLBOARDED at the camera
(SetOffsetYaw + a camera-pos getter -- the dpl_SetDCSReorientAxes analog);
the MakeDCSFall settle arms at the reveal with the two authored rates (hulk/
debris -0.025 t^2, fires -0.01 t^2 -- the flames ride above the sinking pile
and die with it at burial). EMPTY-PLACEHOLDER hulk guard: THRDBR.BGF is a
153-byte zero-geometry stub that "loads fine" -- vertex-count check now routes
it to the gendbr fallback (a Thor wreck was invisible). Hulk content census
recorded: AVADBR==MADDBR==VULDBR geometry (palette-only prefix diffs),
RAPDBR==SNDDBR==STIDBR byte-identical -- wreck variety is materials + the
dressing, not unique piles.
LIVE-PLAY BATCH: muzzle resolve uses the named segmentIndex (raw +0xdc read
was layout garbage); forward launch frame (authored MuzzleVelocity +Z vs the
mech's -Z facing); dock-bottom single window (gauge strip appended below the
world viewport, 1100x600 default, BT_DEV_GAUGES_WINDOW=1 restores the separate
window); portrait sec surface unrotated CW; ammo counters live via typed
bridges (BTAmmoBinCountPtr/BTAmmoBinFeeding/BTWeaponAmmoBin -- raw bin+0x180
and a hand-rolled link walk were garbage); fourth fire key ('4' = Pinky);
panel/arc probes de-aliased (%61 prime).
KB: rendering.md (vertex-alpha card family + scroll), combat-damage.md (hulk
census + THRDBR stub), gauges-hud.md (ammo bridges).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The interactive 2-node playtest wave -- every fix decomp-grounded and live-verified:
COLLISION ECONOMY (the ram one-shot): StaticBounce mutates worldLinearVelocity
per contact and ProcessCollisionList walks EVERY touched solid per frame; with
2007 terrain-as-solids the reflections compounded x4-x40 within one frame and a
walking bump one-shot a pristine mech for 112,375 pts (62-pt authentic economy).
Fix: frameEntryWorldVelocity restore per contact (damage always priced at the
real approach speed -- all the binary's physics ever saw); Mech::Reset zeroes
the mover motion (respawn = teleport); [collide-tx]/[mp-hdlr] telemetry.
Gotcha #16 (engine-facility drift class).
MISSILES: peer-visible salvos (the launcher record extension carries a salvo
counter + aim point; ForceUpdate actually enqueues it -- the dirty flag alone
never serialized), the authentic arc (authored MuzzleVelocity vector + the
Seeker's 200m/0.1/300 loft + gain-4 steering, decoded from @004beae4/@004bef78),
world-impact bursts (rounds detonate on cave geometry instead of phasing
through), contact-only damage (flight-cap expiry = fizzle, no more teleport
damage), live re-lead, and ballistic (unguided) shells for autocannons.
projweap's stale BTPushProjectile extern (the /FORCE signature trap, gotcha #6
corollary) crashed the Avatar's first AFC100 shot -- fixed + sweep rule recorded.
RADAR: two transcription bugs made the scope permanently empty -- FUN_0040b244
is the affine INVERSE (not a copy) and FUN_0040adec writes ONLY the 3x3 rotation
(never the translation); worldToView now Invert(view) built rotation-first.
CulturalIcons sorted out of the moving grid (the phantom red pips were map
props), visible-radius culls on all three draw passes, live pip verified at
|delta| x ppm px. Gotcha #17 (verify the FUN_ body, not its call shape).
WEAPON PANELS (the frozen-dial hunt): the binary's *(subsystem+0x40) means
FAILED -- the recon's 'operating' name was backwards, inverting the destroyed-X
lamps, the panel look, the children enable and the ready-lamp gate (which had
NEVER executed). Polarity chain corrected end-to-end (failedState, fed by real
damage saturation). Root cause of the freezes: MFD page-mode gating -- the dev
composite shows ALL pages at once, so off-page dials legitimately stopped; under
BT_DEV_GAUGES the 15 page-plane bits stay active (the exclusive secondary trio
untouched). The SEH gauge guard now names its kills; repaint-heal resets the
incremental arc after panel repaints; [panel]/[arc] probes added.
COMM/SCORE: MessageBoard LIVE (the engine already shipped the whole
Player__StatusMessage queue; wired the binary's one producer -- the kill branch,
victim's name, 6s -- plus the consumer bridge and a lazy source bind); MP DEATHS
counted via the observed-death tally (each node scores every pilot from locally
observed events, the same model as the KILLS credit) and the -2/-1 engine seed
clamped for display.
DEV UX: node-tagged window titles (-net port), gauge panel reworked (1320x480,
true 4:3 MFD cells, the portrait secondary UNROTATED upright, linear filtering,
BT_GAUGE_SCALE), fixed close spawns via BT_SPAWN_XZ, Boreas flies an Avatar
(first second-chassis live outing).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
PLATFORM PROFILE (-platform pod|dev / BT_PLATFORM / run.cmd pod; default dev):
an env-preset selector, NOT a code fork -- it picks which environment the
existing video/gauge/input code reads. dev = single 800x600 window + keyboard
(the working build); pod = RIO input + (on real hardware) the multi-surface
gauges/MFDs, mirroring content/SETENV.BAT (the pod path -- FindBestAdapterIndices
/ SVGA16 -- is left untouched). The multi-surface needs the pod's 2 video cards,
so -platform pod does NOT auto-enable L4GAUGE on a dev box (stays bootable,
single-window). Also fixes a real engine bug: SVGA16::BuildWindows
PostQuitMessage'd on a CreateDevice failure but fell through to a null-device
deref (segfault) -- now breaks (inert on the pod).
GAUGE DEV-COMPOSITE, Milestone A (option B; opt-in BT_DEV_GAUGES, default OFF):
wake the (dormant) gauge renderer so its CPU-rastered pixelBuffer can later be
composited into the dev window, WITHOUT touching the pod SVGA16 output path.
SVGA16 does no per-surface D3D in this mode (a DevGaugeComposite() gate forces
the no-surface path + short-circuits Update/Refresh). Waking the never-exercised
gauge subsystem exposed 4 latent reconstruction bugs, each guarded:
SVGA16::Update / Refresh (empty mSurfaces[]), LBE4ControlsManager::MakeLinkedLamp
(NULL lamp manager), L4GaugeRenderer::NotifyOfNewInterestingEntity (garbage
warehouse chain). It now boots STABLY; the gauge reconstruction is incomplete
(shadowed lamp-manager + warehouse members) -- Milestone B (the composite pass)
will reveal whether the content is real. See docs/GAUGE_COMPOSITE.md.
Verified: default DEV un-regressed (combat DESTROYED, 0 crashes); pod path
untouched; BT_DEV_GAUGES boots stable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <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 Opus 4.8