The bare-launch crash was a symptom; the cause is that BT411 hands players a
developer tree. mkdist zips tracked repo paths verbatim, so the dist inherited
build\Release\btl4.exe + content\ -- while the 1995 pod (BTL4OPT.EXE sits
beside BTL4.RES to this day, in content\) and RP411/RP412 all ship ONE folder,
where cwd is right by construction and a double-click just works.
docs/DIST_LAYOUT_PLAN.md sets out the proposed tree, the file-by-file change
(~50 lines total, no game code), what it buys, and the part that actually needs
a decision: the upgrade story. Four migration options with a recommendation,
plus the wrinkle that decides between them -- the zip root is VERSIONED, so
every version may already land in its own folder, in which case the documented
extract-over-top has never worked and the migration cost is near zero.
Four open questions listed for the other author, including whether the .bat
launchers still earn their keep and whether the pod cabinet's own install shape
should be confirmed against Nick's notes before we call one folder authentic
for the cabinet too.
Not implemented pending that discussion. The 4.11.560 cwd guard stands either
way and makes both layouts work.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The 1995 pod and RP411/RP412 ship ONE folder (BTL4OPT.EXE sits beside BTL4.RES
to this day, in content\); BT411's build\Release + content\ split is an artifact
of mkdist zipping tracked repo paths, not a decision -- and it is the reason
this class of bug exists here and nowhere else.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The egg generator's known-good list was just bhk1+madcat (the only two
ever exercised as egg vehicles); the operator roster therefore leaned on
those. Swept every ModelList candidate as a solo egg vehicle: 18/18
boot a mission, spawn, and animate with no crash -- avatar, blkhawk,
loki, owens, sunder, thor, vulture and all short variants (ava1, lok1/2,
mad1/2, own1, snd1, thr1, vul1) join bhk1/madcat as first-class picks.
eggmodel now lists the canonical 8 first for the operator dropdown.
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>
Interim pod-like grouping ahead of the authentic ConfigureMappables/
ChooseButton mapper channels (decomp-anchored in open-questions):
- Three fire channels like three pod buttons: gBTWeaponTrigger (lasers,
key 1 or SPACE), gBTPPCTrigger (PPCs, key 2), gBTMissileTrigger
(missiles, key 3 or CTRL). Keyboard only per user (mouse buttons
removed).
- EmitterSimulation picks its channel by classID (PPC 3028 vs Emitter
3016); BT_AUTOFIRE holds all three.
- The BT_BEAM_LOG sampler modulus 30 aliased to ONE weapon under the
new synchronized 5-beam volleys (5 | 30) -> 31 (coprime).
Verified: all 5 energy weapons fire (31 samples each), aimed hits land,
kill completes.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Opus 5