Verified the claim in the binary myself with capstone before changing behaviour:
0x4c0155: or word ptr [ebx + 0x18], 1
+0x18 is Simulation::updateModel, a **Word** -- and the 16-bit 'or word ptr'
settles it, since simulationFlags is an LWord at +0x28 and would assemble as
'or dword ptr'. So the authentic op is updateModel |= DefaultUpdateModelFlag,
which is exactly Simulation::ForceUpdate() (SIMULATE.h:146-147).
The old transcription wrote simulationFlags |= 0x1 instead. Bit 0 there is
DelayWatchersFlag (SIMULATE.h:170); Simulation::Simulate then skips
ExecuteWatchers() forever (SIMULATE.cpp:461), and NOTHING clears it -- the only
ClearWatcherDelay() in the tree is in the encore path (UPDATE.cpp:215), which a
Player never takes. So every pilot's first death permanently disabled watcher
execution on their simulation, and the replication mark the binary intended was
never set at all. context/reconstruction-gotchas.md had flagged this exact line
as the un-audited sibling of the #12 dirty-bit class, asking for the disasm
first; that is now on the record.
LIVE VERIFICATION (scratchpad/sim3.py, 3 mechs + BT_MP_FORCE_DMG, 180s):
4 consecutive death/respawn cycles on pod3, every one completing --
death cycle START (death #N) -> RESET at drop zone [COMPLETE]
with 'player watchersDelayed=0' after every death, and no crash. Also
re-confirms the #57 latch fix under repeated deaths (the interleaved SWALLOWED
lines are the authentic dedup of a second notification, each followed by a
completed RESET).
Leaves a silent regression guard: the death path now logs only if it ever finds
the watcher-delay flag set again.
Rigs: sim3.py (3-mech combat + force damage), destest.py (2-node designation
proof: 18 designations, deathPending clean on all of them).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
