Commit Graph
3 Commits
Author SHA1 Message Date
arcattackandClaude Opus 5 373889760c #66: joyconfig.bat no longer hangs the game -- clear BT_JOYCONFIG once the wizard is done
Found while sweeping the shipped launchers for the PATH-shadowing bug class.
Previously recorded ONLY as row 10 of docs/INPUT_PATH_AUDIT.md and never
filed, so it was invisible on the tracker.

joyconfig.bat sets BOTH `BT_JOYCONFIG=1` and `BT_FE_SOLO=1`, so after the
wizard writes bindings.txt the boot continues into the FRONT END, which hands
off by CreateProcessW()ing the next generation with the CURRENT environment.
That clear-list (btl4console.cpp) covers only BT_FE_EGG/PODS/SECS/LOOP --
BT_JOYCONFIG is never cleared -- so the handed-off generation re-entered
BTJoyConfigWizard() and blocked on _getch() BEHIND the 3D window: an
unrecoverable hang, hitting exactly the players most likely to run that bat
(flight stick / HOTAS / pedals).

Fix: SetEnvironmentVariableA("BT_JOYCONFIG", NULL) immediately after the
wizard returns.  Cleared in the WIN32 environment (what CreateProcess
inherits, matching the console's own pattern) rather than the CRT copy, so
exactly one generation ever runs it.  Chosen over extending the console's
clear-list because it also covers any future relaunch path.

NOT YET REBUILT: the exe was locked by a live play session when this landed.
Must be rebuilt + verified (run joyconfig.bat, finish the wizard, confirm no
second "=== BattleTech joystick setup ===" banner and that the game proceeds
into the menu) before the next zip is cut.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-25 18:49:49 -05:00
arcattackandClaude Opus 5 f3bdb3b85a Searchlight + ThermalSight ToggleLamp WIRED (#61) -- and a swapped table attribution ROOT-CAUSED, retracting a false "1995 latent bug"
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>
2026-07-25 10:46:59 -05:00
arcattackandClaude Opus 5 b517c4cb30 Input-path audit: 206 paths traced, 22 dead -- plan doc only, no code changes
13-agent read-only audit (6 tracers -> adversarial verifiers -> triage), validated
against 2,294 streamed control-mapping records decoded from all 18 mechs in
BTL4.RES plus the live 121-record install dump.  Verdict: 22 dead dispatch
routes, 11 player-visible, 8 documentation defects, 2 entirely dormant input
layers (CONTROLS.MAP and the whole DirectInput grammar).

RETRACTS MY OWN DIAGNOSIS from the reverse-thrust fix earlier today: streamed
BUTTON mappings ARE consumed (L4CTRL.cpp:2254-2262 / :2327-2336, and
ctrlmap.log:32 shows reverse's record resolving to +0xec).  The AddOrErase Fail
bodies are the config-session base traps, overridden by MechRIOMapper.  So
'reconstruct AddOrErase' would clear 0 of 2,294 records.  The false claim is in
pod-hardware.md:121-135 AND in mechmppr.cpp:894-919 -- both owed a sweep, and
reverseThrust now has two writers (unknown #2 decides which to keep).  The
'how did it break' question is therefore reopened; leading candidate is the
unhandled WM_SYSKEYDOWN/SC_KEYMENU menu-modal loop on a held ALT.

Biggest new finding: a default-constructed Receiver::MessageHandlerSet is a
silent blackhole -- Sensor/Avionics alone kills 108 records (6 cockpit buttons +
F5-F9).  One accessor in sensor.cpp is the best findings-cleared/risk ratio.
Worse-than-dead: target designation writes raw +0x284 on a modern-layout object,
possibly out of bounds, reachable by pressing 't' -- flagged as a playtest
safety note.

Also lands scratchpad/keysweep.py: the empirical counterpart (presses every
bound key, records what actually moves).  Not yet run -- needs the machine idle.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0166KTsC7ADm7VXEi1HF1jNg
2026-07-24 20:48:31 -05:00