--- id: glass-cockpit title: "Glass Cockpit — the desktop developer layer (BT_GLASS / BT_STEAM)" status: living source_sections: "plan 2026-07-17; CMakeLists.txt gates; BT412 prior art (reference only)" related_topics: [pod-hardware, build-and-run, multiplayer, gauges-hud] key_terms: [PadRIO, miniconsole, glass-cockpit] open_questions: [] --- # Glass Cockpit — the desktop developer layer **Purpose:** developer tooling so game developers can test their work WITHOUT booting a Tesla II pod — and stay far enough out of the game that nothing a real pod requires can break. NOT a consumer product (GDI-grade UI is the ceiling). Pod fidelity outranks desktop convenience in every trade-off. ## ONE unified build (2026-07-21; the compile-gate split is RETIRED) The pod/glass/steam **compile** split (three build dirs, three exes) is gone — it caused version skew (a stale steam exe shipped 2 days behind), tripled build time, and the "clicks silently dead in the wrong build" incident. Now **everything compiles into the one `build/` exe** and behavior is selected at RUNTIME: | Runtime gate | Arms | |---|---| | `BT_PLATFORM=glass` | the desktop-cockpit profile: `L4CONTROLS=PAD` → PadRIO (clickable cockpit buttons, bindings.txt keymap), plasma window, and the miniconsole menu on a zero-arg launch | | `BT_STEAM_NET=1` | the Steam transport (FakeIP/SDR; degrades to Winsock without the Steam client). `steam_api.dll` is **DELAY-LOADED** (`/DELAYLOAD` + delayimp) — machines without the DLL run everything else | | (nothing) | **GLASS is the desktop DEFAULT (2026-07-22)** — a bare boot gets PadRIO/bindings.txt (and the menu on zero args). The old accidental-DEV trap ("the old keymap again") is closed: every launcher that forgot the env used to boot DEV (play bats, steam bat, the operator console — each needed the same one-line fix). | | `BT_PLATFORM=dev` | the legacy DEV profile (keyboard-only, the bring-up drive bridge) — explicit opt-in for debugging | | `BT_PLATFORM=pod` | the cabinet profile. **CONTRACT: the real pod's SETENV.BAT must set this** — the old "bare boot == cabinet shape" assumption no longer holds. | - The `BT_GLASS` macro is now ALWAYS defined (a seam marker only — the `#ifdef` sites remain as documentation of the layer boundary). Every gated code path was audited: all are instance-guarded (`PadRIO::activeInstance`, `steamActive`) or env-gated at runtime. - **`BT_STEAM` stays a COMPILE gate (the LICENSE gate, default OFF, restored 2026-07-21):** the Steamworks SDK terms bar a public release with Steam inside, so a release configure must be able to exclude it entirely — no SDK headers, no `steam_api.lib`, no DLL. The dev checkout configures `build/` once with `-DBT_STEAM=ON`. `mkdist.py` reads the answer from `build/CMakeCache.txt`: steam-OFF zips carry no `play_steam.bat`, no `steam_api.dll` (including a STALE one from an earlier ON build), a README with the steam section stripped, and a `-nosteam` name suffix so the two flavors never clobber. Verified both flavors: OFF exe has no steam bits + `BT_STEAM_NET=1` is inert; ON exe degrades to Winsock. - **Menu gate (amended 2026-07-22):** the miniconsole menu runs on a zero-arg GLASS boot — and glass is now the desktop default, so a bare double-click of btl4.exe opens the menu (the desired desktop UX). Cabinet protection moved from "bare boot never menus" to the **SETENV.BAT contract**: the real pod sets `BT_PLATFORM=pod` (no menu, wait-for-egg); `BT_PLATFORM=dev` also keeps the old bare-boot shape. - Verified matrix (2026-07-21): bare boot ≡ old pod exe (same DEV profile, same egg-load path); glass + scripted click → ConfigureMappables end-to-end; exe runs WITHOUT steam_api.dll present; glass zero-arg → menu; 2-node loopback MP (145 ticks each); `BT_STEAM_NET=1` without Steam → "staying on Winsock" + game runs. - **Convention:** every `BT_*` name is a RUNTIME env gate (`BTEnvOn`) — with TWO exceptions, both compile gates: `BT_STEAM` (the license gate above) and **`BT_EXPIRE` (2026-07-22, the tester-build expiry tripwire)** — default ON, the exe refuses to start `BT_EXPIRE_DAYS` (default 14) after its build DAY (`btversion.h BT_BUILD_UNIX`, UTC-midnight-rounded so the only-on-change header churns once per day, not per build). Boot logs `[boot] test build window: N day(s) left`; expired = log + MessageBox + exit. Disable: `-DBT_EXPIRE=OFF` (mkdist marks such a zip `-noexpire` + warns; README expiry note is `{EXPIRE}`-marker-gated). Quality gate, not DRM — a clock rollback defeats it. Verified both paths live (`-DBT_EXPIRE_DAYS=0` force-expire run). Do not add another compile gate without updating this file. - No weak-linkage/optional symbols — `/FORCE` turns unresolved externals into runtime AVs ([[reconstruction-gotchas]]); everything links always, so this class of trap no longer varies by build flavor. ## Plan of record (2026-07-17) Working branch `glass-cockpit` (from master `e2c21c4`). Steps: (1) gates+scaffolding [THIS], (2) PadRIO glass cockpit, (3) miniconsole self-launch, (4) Steam transport+lobby. Full plan: the approved plan file; running detail: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md`. The retired BT412 trees (`C:\VWE\BT412`; local branch `local-abandoned-20260717`) are read-only reference — no code is copied from them. ## Status - **Step 1 (gates + scaffolding): DONE 2026-07-17.** CMake options + defines; 3-config configure matrix + negative test + defaults build verified. - **Step 2a (.CTL id audit): DONE 2026-07-17 [T2].** The streamed `.CTL` positional ids landed every `MechControlsMapper` record ONE MEMBER LATE (our chain starts at 2, the binary's at 3) — a latent REAL-POD bug (RIO throttle would drive pedalsPosition), masked on dev boxes by the keyboard bridge. Fixed ungated: ids pinned to binary numbering + id-2 pad + static_assert locks (`mechmppr.hpp/.cpp`); torso/weapon chains were already aligned. Permanent env-gated diagnostic: `BT_CTRLMAP_LOG=1` dumps every streamed record's resolved member offset (`L4CTRL.cpp CreateStreamedMappings`). Full evidence: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md` §2a. - **Step 2 (PadRIO glass cockpit): DONE 2026-07-17 [T2].** `RIOBase` seam (`L4RIO.h`, unconditional) + gated `L4CONTROLS=PAD` → `PadRIO` (`L4PADRIO.*` XInput+keyboard, `L4PADBINDINGS.*` `content\bindings.txt`); bridge stand-downs auto-yield to a live device (`BTRIODevicePresent`, `BT_KEY_BRIDGE` unset=auto/0=off/1=on); on-screen panel `L4PADPANEL.*` follows **vRIO** (`C:\VWE\vrio` CockpitLayout/PanelCanvas — 104 controls incl. the two hex keypads → real KeyEvents; right-click latch); desktop plasma `L4PLASMAWIN.*` (`L4PLASMA=SCREEN`, buffer is top-down); `-platform glass` preset + run.cmd token. Secondary displays reuse the EXISTING dev-gauge modes (dock / `BT_DEV_GAUGES_WINDOW=1` window / `_DOCK=1` overlay — [[gauges-hud]]); no new MFD code, no `L4VB16.cpp` exposure. **Button-trap guard:** base `ConfigureMappableMessageHandler` no longer `abort()`s by default (`BT_BUTTON_TRAP=1` restores) — each `[FAIL]` log = a missing L4 override to reconstruct. Verified: authentic-path input (engine push → streamed `.CTL` → mapper), panel-click survival, 2-node loopback MP un-regressed on the pod build. Detail: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md`. - **Trigger-config + one-keymap (2026-07-21, HUMAN-VERIFIED live).** The cockpit-surround clicks only work when a `PadRIO` exists, and PadRIO only exists under the **GLASS platform profile** (`BT_PLATFORM=glass` → `L4CONTROLS=PAD`); a plain launch falls to the DEV profile (KEYBOARD) and `PadRIO::SetScreenButton` no-ops — every cockpit click silently discarded (the "held PROGRAM, nothing happened" incident: `[cockpit] CLICK addr=0x8` logged but ConfigureMappables id 9 never dispatched). `play_solo.bat` now sets `BT_PLATFORM=glass` with the glass exe. The full regroup loop (hold PROGRAM → Mapping-mode flip suppresses fire → fire-key taps toggle the binding → joystick-display dot moves → release commits) is verified live. Diagnostics: `[cfgmap]` ENTER/EXIT (BT_FIRE_LOG, mechweap.cpp) + `BT_BTNTEST="addr,on,off"` scripted screen-button harness (L4PADRIO.cpp Poll). **Keymap:** which binding engine runs follows the same profile split — GLASS = PadRIO/`bindings.txt`, DEV/pod = btinput/`CONTROLS.MAP` — which made the felt keymap flip with the boot flavor. Settled 2026-07-21 (commit babf5b1): CONTROLS.MAP + the compiled-in default now mirror the bindings.txt layout (numpad aim cluster, arrows=throttle/pedals, **Alt=reverse 0x3F**, NumPad5=AllStop, Shift=throttle) so every boot flavor feels identical. - **Step 3 (miniconsole): DONE 2026-07-17 [T2].** `game/glass/btl4fe.*` (menu + console-shape egg writer, golden-tested vs MP.EGG) + `btl4console.*` (the marshal: a worker-thread console CLIENT speaking the btconsole.py wire verbatim; `content\marshal.log`). ZERO engine hooks — the engine runs the stock console ladder. Per-mission process relaunch; `BT_FE_*` env arms the marshal (menu relaunches clear it). Verified: solo cycle (menu→mission→60s clock→stop→menu) and menu-hosted 2-node LAN. - **Step 4 (Steam): CODE COMPLETE 2026-07-18 [T2 single-machine].** See [[steam-networking]] — the wire seam + `L4STEAMNET` identity-token transport + `btl4lobby`. Live 2-account cross-machine session pending (`docs/STEAM_TEST.md`). - **Input-coverage audit + keyboard reconciliation: DONE 2026-07-20 [T2].** Root cause of the dead panel: `MechRIOMapper`'s message ids were chained one enum too high (0x19-0x2a) — the binary RIO table @0051dd30 re-registers the BASE aux/zoom ids 3..0x13 (Hotbox 0x1a); fixed ungated + static_assert-locked (`btl4mppr.hpp`) → all 24 MFD-bank + 2 zoom buttons live (52/72 panel buttons now work; 8 dead await handler reconstruction — Gitea backlog issue; 12 have no streamed mapping authored, authentically inert). **Keyboard = the ~20 core gameplay actions on the CONTROLS.MAP keys; the PANEL covers every pod address by click** (right-click = hold latch) — the merged default profile lives in `L4PADBINDINGS.cpp` (auto-writes `content\bindings.txt`; W/S/A/D/Q/E/R/F/X drive, 1-4/Space/Ctrl fire, M/N/H/C = pod buttons 0x18/0x15/0x2C/0x2F, `/V view toggle + J/K/L preset cycles hardcoded in PadRIO). Bound keys are SUPPRESSED from the typed 1995 channel (`PadRIO::SuppressKey`, the btinput pattern — ended the glass double-dispatch: 'w'=pilot-select, numpad/F-key key-up aliases); unbound keys keep their authentic meanings (5/z presets, t-o pilot select, +/- zoom). In BAS control mode the pod turns with the STICK (Q/E) and pedals are inactive — authentic; A/D turn in MID/ADV. Arrow keys mirror the drive cluster (UP/DOWN = the W/S throttle lever, LEFT/RIGHT = the A/D pedals). Full audit + census: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md` §2026-07-20. - **2026-07-20 live "keymap regression" report: STALE EXE [T2].** The human-reported glass regressions (arrows/lever/detent dead, V/J/K/L/N inert, ground-fire) were a `build-glass/Release/btl4.exe` built BEFORE 5dd3536 landed — relaunched without rebuilding. No input-code change was needed; a clean rebuild + full SendInput re-verification (lever holds + zero stop, MID turns, V toggle shot-pair, level boresight, pod smoke) closed every symptom, and V's edge is now [T2]. `BT_MPPR_TRACE` now prints mode/pedals/stick/turn/elev. Procedural rule: rebuild every live build dir after landing an input/engine commit. Detail: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md` §2026-07-20 (later). - **2026-07-20 human re-test: GAIT DETENT ported to the PadRIO lever [T2].** The remaining "our detent is missing" (mixed walk/run mode + repeated accel sample) was the gait DEAD BAND ([[locomotion]]): the pod-build keyboard lever snaps out of the walk/run hysteresis band at key-rest (mech4.cpp GAIT DETENT), and the PadRIO throttle slew lacked it. Ported faithfully: mech4.cpp publishes the band in lever units (`gBTGaitDetentLo/Hi` seam, +0.002 engage margin), `L4PADRIO.cpp` applies the identical nearer-edge snap when no throttle slew key/pad axis is active. Verified: parks at 0.414/0.465 snap to 0.358/0.504 (band = demand 22.02-30.87), no at-rest sample in-band, exactly ONE up-shift + ONE down-shift clip across a full graduated sweep, zero-stop + pod build unaffected. Detail: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md` §2026-07-20 (later still). A/D turn in MID/ADV. Full audit + census: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md` §2026-07-20. - **Per-display cockpit windows (`BT_GLASS_PANELS`): DONE 2026-07-20 [T2 startup-verified].** The `-platform glass` preset now breaks the secondary displays out of the single combined panel/strip into ONE desktop window PER pod display, each carrying that display's surface WITH its RIO button bank placed around it, arranged pod-faithfully around the main view (`engine/MUNGA_L4/L4GLASSWIN.*`, new TU). Windows: **Heat (UL) / Mfd2 (UC) / Comm (UR) / Mfd1 (LL) / Mfd3 (LR)** each with 8 RED MFD buttons split 4 above / 4 below the surface; **Secondary/Radar** (portrait `sec`) with the 12 YELLOW Secondary buttons split left/right; a **Flight Controls** window for the no-display banks (throttle 0x38-3F, joystick/fire 0x40-47, panic). Each window is a GDI window (like [[gauges-hud]]'s pad panel + the plasma window) — the surface is CPU-expanded from the shared gauge buffer (`SVGA16::ExpandPlaneToBGRA`, no D3D) and `StretchDIBits`'d in, so the **whole D3D dev-composite path (dock / separate window / overlay) stands down** while these are up (`BTDrawGaugeInset`/`BTGaugeWindowRenderAndPresent` early-return; no `gBTGaugeDockBottom` strip). Runtime gate **`BT_GLASS_PANELS`** (default ON under `-platform glass`, `=0` falls back to the single pad panel + docked gauges) — read by `L4PADRIO` (which panel to create), `L4VB16` (suppress compositing), and `btl4main` (skip the world-window dock strip). The display↔bank map (spine of the feature): Heat 0x28-2F, Mfd2 0x20-27, Comm 0x30-37, Mfd1 0x08-0F, Mfd3 0x00-07, sec 0x10-1B ([[pod-hardware]] §Bank→MFD). Verified: build + bounded glass launch — `[glasswin] per-display cockpit up (7 windows…)`, no crash, full mission loop un-regressed; surfaces carry LIVE gauge content (`BT_GLASS_LOG` = per-surface resolve/pixel diagnostic). Layout constants (surface sizes, exact button sub-positions, yellow left/right split) are marked tunable in `L4GLASSWIN.cpp`. Detail: `docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md`. ⚠ **Bug found + fixed during bring-up:** surfaces were blank because `application`/`ghWnd` are duplicate-defined globals that bind non-deterministically under `/FORCE` — the fresh `L4GLASSWIN` TU read `application == NULL` → gauge renderer NULL. Fix: reach the renderer/window via `BTResolveGaugeRenderer()`/`BTResolveMainWindow()`, DEFINED in `game/btl4main.cpp` off its real `btl4App`/`hWnd` pointers (never the globals directly). See [[reconstruction-gotchas]] §6 duplicate-GLOBAL corollary. - **Glass per-display panel button click-crash (Gitea #18): FIXED 2026-07-20 [T2].** Clicking a per-display Engineering panel button (0x21 reported) on an **Eng page** hard-crashed — cdb: a wild call through an uninitialised pointer (`eip=cdcdcdcd` debug / `0x01048748` release) with **zero btl4 frames above `Receiver::Receive`**. Root cause was NOT a `/FORCE` unresolved external (the glass link log carried only the known-benign `mech3.obj` `CreateStreamedSubsystem` set) but a **dense message-handler-table GAP slot** ([[reconstruction-gotchas]] §11): the streamed Eng-page `.CTL` dispatches subsystem msg **id 3 / 0xb** to whatever subsystem is shown, and a **weapon (Emitter)** registers only PoweredSubsystem 4-8 + MechWeapon 9-10 — so id 3 is a gap below `entryCount`, and `Receiver::MessageHandlerSet::Build`'s `new HandlerEntry[]` left it as heap garbage → `(this->*garbage)(msg)`. The 1995 binary has the identical non-zeroing `new[]` and survived only on fresh-heap-zero luck (id 3 on a weapon was always meant to be IGNORED — it's a Condenser/Reservoir action in a different subsystem branch; the uniform Eng-page button template makes buttons for unimplemented actions authentically inert). The new per-display windows just made the id reachable live. **Fix (engine, class-wide, faithful):** `Build` null-inits every slot (`entryID=0/entryName=""/entryHandler=NullHandler`) before copying inherited / placing supplied, so a gap is deterministically NullHandler → `Receive` drops it — the authentic "Receiver ignores unhandled messages", not a glass-path guard. Fixes the entire dead-button class (#14) at once. Verified: click-soaked every MFD bank (Engineering/L+R Weapons/Heat/Comm, ~130 clicks through Quad↔Eng page cycles) under cdb — ZERO AVs, and the reconstructed mapper preset selects still fire (`[mode] preset (1,1)/(2,1)…`); pod build + solo un-regressed. The `[glasswin] CLICK` forensics log (names the button before dispatch) landed with this. Detail: `engine/MUNGA/RECEIVER.cpp` Build. ## Key Relationships - Extends: [[pod-hardware]] (RIO input path) · Uses: [[gauges-hud]] dev-gauge modes · Feeds: [[multiplayer]] (miniconsole hosting, Steam transport) · Build: [[build-and-run]]