The pod's controls reach the game through the RIO serial board; on a
desktop that hardware is a keyboard shim of hardcoded GetAsyncKeyState
reads. New binding engine (game/reconstructed/btinput.cpp) maps PC keys
and an XInput pad onto the authentic channels through a user-editable
file (content/CONTROLS.MAP, community-suggested grammar, corrected):
key/pad -> button <addr> real buttonGroup emissions, mirroring the
RIO convention exactly (press a+1 w/ mode
mask saved, release -a-1 w/ saved mask;
L4CTRL.cpp:2470-2520) -- aux/preset banks,
hotbox, panic, reverse thrust all reachable
key/pad -> axis Throttle rate (lever), pedals/JoystickX
deflect (turn/twist) into the existing
virtual-controls integrators (feel, gait
detent, spring-centering all unchanged)
keypad pilot|external <n> keyboardGroup key values ('0'-'F')
pckey <char> any authentic 1995 typed hotkey
action <name> port dev controls (view, all-stop, ...)
Keys claimed by a binding are SUPPRESSED from the legacy WM_CHAR/KEYUP
feed -- ends the historic double-dispatch ('w' drove AND selected pilot
0; F5's key-up value 0x74 aliased to the 't' hotkey; letter key-ups fed
the developer fake-event dispatcher). Unbound keys keep their authentic
meaning. The dual-use 'V' is split: V = view toggle, B = look behind.
Default profile = WASD classic (compiled-in twin; delete the file to
restore). CONTROLS_NUMPAD.MAP ships the corrected community layout
(keypads are NOT buttons 0x50-0x6F -- that space doesn't exist; no
clickable cockpit exists so everything needs a binding; keyboard fire
buttons added; 0x36/0x37 are hotbox not 'config'; missiles moved off
Ctrl). XInput loads dynamically (1_4 -> 9_1_0), disconnected-pad
probing rate-limited; pad sticks write the axes as absolute positions
(the spring is physical), triggers/buttons per the file.
Verified live: bindings load (43), W and NumPad8 drive (speedDemand 0 ->
61.5), X all-stop (spd -> 0), aux-bank emission (D1 -> [input] 0x2f
PRESS/release under the numpad profile), suppression both directions
(posted 'r' reaches [keych], posted 'w' swallowed), full-keyspace
WM_CHAR+WM_KEYUP fuzz x3 survived with sim advancing, XInput graceful
with no pad, 2-node relay session un-regressed (full ladder + UDP).
Pad-in-hand testing still needs a physical controller.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Byte-decoded finding [T1]: the gait SM has no stable state for a demand in
(walkStrideLength@0x534, reverseSpeedMax@0x538). Cap semantics settled from
LoadLocomotionClips @0x4a80d4: 0x538 is the walk->run TRANSITION CLIP's exit
speed (the run ENGAGE threshold -- not a reverse max) and 0x34c (run-cycle avg
root speed) is the mapper's continuous demand multiplier (FUN_004afd10). The
finished-callbacks up-shift when tgt > 0x534 but enter/sustain run only when
tgt >= 0x538, so a demand parked between them (Blackhawk: 22.02-30.87 =
throttle 36-50%) hunts walk -> shift-up -> shift-down forever, firing the
authored EngineShiftFwd/Rev sounds each swing -- the user's repro, faithfully
reproduced by all-authentic logic + data. Likely masked on the pod by
MECHANICAL throttle-quadrant detents ("5 speeds" lore; the software path is
notch-free) [T4] -- added to get-from-Nick.
Accommodation (keyboard = our stand-in lever): at key REST, snap the lever to
the nearer dead-band edge (walk cap, or run engage + margin since the cont
check is >=). Sweeping THROUGH the band while held stays continuous -- an
authentic moving lever; the single shift it fires is the authentic shift.
BT_GAIT_TRACE logs [gaitdetent] snaps.
KB: locomotion.md gait-dead-band section, pod-hardware.md mechanical-notch
hypothesis, open-questions.md Nick item.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Uncommitted work from the speed-model + peer-motion investigation:
- btl4mppr.cpp: the L4MechControlsMapper full-throttle detent used the
unparenthesized Abs() macro (STYLE.H:118) on an expression -- Abs(throttlePos
- 1.0f) mis-expands to -(throttlePos + 1.0f), always <= 0.05, so the detent
snapped throttle to full EVERY frame. Diff into a temp first (same class as
the 7615ecd angular-resync Abs fix).
- context/pod-hardware.md: document the decomp-verified analog-continuous pod
throttle path (RIO Ranger 0-800 counts, 0.05 deadband, no notching; '5 speeds'
is false) from workflow w0odszxro.
- mech4.cpp: BT_SLIDE/[mslide] per-frame slide diagnostics (peer position moving
while legs in stand; master decel profile) -- used to prove the stop-slide is a
peer leg-SM-winds-down-early desync, not master momentum. Env-gated.
The 'pretty good' coupled-motion gameplay state is already shipped (a9ab3db).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
