---
id: subsystems
title: "Subsystems — the factory + the reconstruction waves"
status: established
source_sections: "PROGRESS_LOG.md §10d; docs/SUBSYS_PLAN.md; docs/VEHICLE_SUBSYSTEMS.md; docs/RESOURCE_AUDIT.md"
related_topics: [decomp-reference, reconstruction-gotchas, combat-damage, gauges-hud]
key_terms: [subsystem, factory, ClassID, subsystem-roster, PoweredSubsystem, bridge]
open_questions:
  - "Myomers coupling (gates on owning-player @mech+0x190); factory capability-roster loops 2-4 still dead (SubProxy stub)"
---

# Subsystems

The mech's components (heat/power/weapons/sensor/gyro/torso/myomers/…), built by the Mech-ctor
factory. Full per-family plan: `docs/SUBSYS_PLAN.md`; the engineering-cluster panels:
`docs/VEHICLE_SUBSYSTEMS.md`; the layout audit: `docs/RESOURCE_AUDIT.md`. ClassID map:
[[decomp-reference]] §2.

## The factory
The Mech ctor switches on the resource ClassID to build each subsystem into the [[subsystem-roster]]
(`subsystemArray@0x128`). **The `case <Name>ClassID` LABELS are systematically MISLABELED** — the
real class is the `// FUN_004xxxxx` ctor-address comment reconciled via `CLASSMAP.md`, not the case
name (e.g. 0xBBE case="Sensor" is actually AggregateHeatSink). Each real class is wired via a
`Create<Class>Subsystem(Mech*,int,void*)` **bridge** in the class's own `.cpp` (do NOT `#include` the
real subsystem headers into mech.cpp — the local stubs collide). Keep the alloc SIZE + special-cache.
[T2]

## Class hierarchy (two branches, shared only at MechSubsystem)
- **Heat leaf:** `PoweredSubsystem : HeatSink : HeatableSubsystem : MechSubsystem`. Emitter/PPC/
  Sensor/Myomers/ProjectileWeapon/MissileLauncher/GaussRifle chain here. Uses 0xC `SubsystemConnection`
  + 0x54 `GaugeAlarm54` (alarm level at +0x14). [T1]
- **Watcher branch:** `Torso/Gyroscope/Searchlight/ThermalSight/HUD : PowerWatcher : HeatWatcher :
  MechSubsystem`; `AmmoBin : HeatWatcher`. Uses a 0xC `WatchedConnection` + 0x54 `WatcherGaugeAlarm`. [T1]
Making a base byte-exact GROWS every subclass — they must be re-based TOGETHER in one build, each
`static_assert`-locked (the P7 alarm-unification: HeatSink 0x1D0 → PoweredSubsystem 0x31C → MechWeapon
0x3F0 → Emitter 0x478). [T2]

## Reconstruction waves (state: ALL 20 factory cases wired to real classes — 0xBD3 = the real SubsystemMessageManager since task #7, 2026-07-11; the mapper lives in roster slot 0)
- **WAVE 1** — HeatableSubsystem re-based onto MechSubsystem (de-shadow cascade).
- **WAVE 2** — heat family (Condenser/AggregateHeatSink/Reservoir) + HUD + MechTech (un-swap).
- **WAVE 3** — power bus (Generator/PoweredSubsystem) + Emitter/PPC fire-path (end-to-end fire; heat
  conducts to the central sink via the linked-sink roster).
- **WAVE 4** — standalone readouts: Sensor/Searchlight/ThermalSight/AmmoBin (de-shim, gate fixes).
  - ⚠ **Searchlight has an ORIGINAL latent bug [T1, task #63]:** `SearchlightSimulation` (@004b841c)
    reads `requestedOn`@0x1E0 (never written) while `ToggleLamp` (@004b860c) toggles `commandedOn`@0x1DC
    — no bridge, so `lightState`@0x1D8 is perpetually 0 (lamp never lights). Present in the 1995 binary
    (sibling ThermalSight reads the field it toggles, 0x1DC); the port reproduces it faithfully. Left
    as-is by decision; it makes the searchlight→fog swap inert. See [[open-questions]] + [[rendering]] fog.
- **WAVE 5** — Torso (aim twist/elevation; joint-I/O reconstructed; the BLH record disables torso →
  faithfully no visible twist).
- **WAVE 6** — Myomers (mover-coupled; structural un-stub is INERT — no live mover/heat coupling).
- **WAVE 7** — projectile/missile weapons (byte-exact; flying projectiles are a PORT reconstruction —
  the 2007 Entity is 0x1BC vs the binary's 0x300, so raw base-offset reads fail).
- **TASK #56 (2026-07-11)** — Gyroscope LIVE byte-exact (ctor @004b3778, sizeof 0x3D0 locked;
  integrators + `FUN_004b2980` damage fan-out; joint dispatch from the Mech performance tail
  @0x4aaf74/83; `BT_GYRO_LOG`/`BT_GYRO_TRACE`) — see [[cockpit-view]].
- **✅ DONE (task #7, `afefaee`)** — SubsystemMessageManager 0xBD3 (a
  **damage/explosion consolidation hub** cached to `Mech[0x10d]`=0x434; the factory builds the REAL
  class and `mech.hpp` names the slot `messageManager` — the old `controlsMapper` mislabel is swept,
  the real mapper is roster slot 0. NOT the valve/advanced-damage gate — that's the owning **BTPlayer**
  @mech+0x190, see [[combat-damage]]/[[open-questions]]). [T2]

## The watcher electrical chain (task #57, 2026-07-13 — the torso power gate)
The Watcher branch is POWERED indirectly: a watcher WATCHES another roster subsystem and mirrors
its electrical state. The full chain, byte-verified [T1]:
- **Data:** the model entry `WatchedSubsystem=<name>` → segment index **+2** at resource+0xE4
  (`HeatWatcher::CreateStreamedSubsystem` @004aec54); the ctor @004aeb40 stores it at
  watcher+0x128 (`watchedSubsystem`).
- **Bind (factory post-roster loop 1):** vtable slot 14 (+0x38) — `@004aee2c` (HeatWatcher) /
  `@004b1a40` (PowerWatcher/Torso override, byte-identical); **Ghidra missed both function
  starts** (recovered from raw bytes; the vtables.tsv rows have GAPS where the exporter skipped
  slots — dump the exe bytes at vtable+slot*4 when a slot looks missing). Master-gated
  (`(owner->simulationFlags & 0xC)==0 && (flags & 0x100)`); binds `watchedLink(+0x114).Add(
  owner->roster[+0x128][watchedSubsystem])`. Port: `BTWatcherWatchedIndex`/`BTWatcherBindTarget`
  bridges (heatfamily_reslice.cpp) called from the mech.cpp factory loop.
- **Tick:** `@004b181c` = the REAL `PowerWatcher` Performance (PTR @0050f5fc → 004b181c) =
  `UpdateWatch()`: heat mirror (FUN_004aeac4) + `watchdogAlarm.SetLevel(watched->electrical
  level @+0x278)` + brownout downgrade to 1 when `gen->outputVoltage(+0x1DC) <= minVoltage(+0x180)
  × gen->ratedVoltage(+0x1D8)`. The Torso sims (@004b5cf0/@004b65f8) call it first-line.
  (`@004b1804` is slot-10 **ResetToInitialState**, NOT the Simulation — old recon mislabel, fixed.)
- **MinVoltageScale = 0.01** — a 10-byte x87 literal at 0x4b1924 (`0a d7 a3 70 3d 0a d7 a3 f8 3f`);
  the port had 1.0f, making minVoltage 100× too big → the brownout latched every watchdog at 1.
- **PowerWatcher::GetClassDerivations chains HeatWatcher** (real base) — the old HeatableSubsystem
  stand-in broke `IsDerivedFrom(HeatWatcher)` for Torso/Searchlight/ThermalSight and silently
  skipped them in the connect pass.
- **Effect:** `Torso::ElectricalStateLevel()==Ready(4)` un-gates `effectiveTwistRate` — the MadCat
  torso twists at its authored 50°/s (±140° limits, roster 17 watching 15 → generator @10000V);
  the BLH is authentically fixed (`horizontalEnabled=0`, limits ±0.01°). [T2 live-verified]
- **STILL DEAD:** factory loops 2-4 (heatable/weapon/damageable capability rosters) go through the
  `SubProxy` stub whose `IsDerivedFrom` returns 0 — they add NOTHING. See [[open-questions]].

## The four systemic checks (every subsystem)
See [[reconstruction-gotchas]]: (1) shadowing (re-declared engine-base fields), (2) the `Wword` trap,
(3) message-handler chaining, (4) entity validity. Plus resource-struct layout (must mirror the class
hierarchy, byte-exact — the RESOURCE_AUDIT found 8 bugs) and object-layout (alias/phantom/interior
fields). A `+0x128`-style owner offset is the ROSTER, not the segment table (the heat-link type
confusion that caused a heap-corruption via OOB `ConductHeat` writes). [T2]

## Engineering cluster panels (`vehicleSubSystems`)
Not a widget — a per-subsystem FACTORY (`FUN_004cbaf0`) building a status CLUSTER onto one of 12 aux
MFD positions, dispatching on classID → HeatSinkCluster/MyomerCluster/EnergyWeaponCluster/
BallisticWeaponCluster. Reads `PoweredSubsystem::auxScreenNumber/Placement/Label` (res +0x104/8/C) via
the `BTGetSubsystemAuxScreen` bridge. See `docs/VEHICLE_SUBSYSTEMS.md` + [[gauges-hud]]. [T2]

## Key Relationships
- Data: [[decomp-reference]] (ClassIDs/hierarchy). Bugs: [[reconstruction-gotchas]].
- Feeds: [[combat-damage]] (weapons/damage), [[gauges-hud]] (attribute state).
- Plan: `docs/SUBSYS_PLAN.md`.