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BT411/context/pod-hardware.md
arcattackandClaude Opus 4.8 3792a04661 Fix throttle-detent Abs() macro bug + KB analog-throttle + slide diagnostics (task #50)
Uncommitted work from the speed-model + peer-motion investigation:
 - btl4mppr.cpp: the L4MechControlsMapper full-throttle detent used the
   unparenthesized Abs() macro (STYLE.H:118) on an expression -- Abs(throttlePos
   - 1.0f) mis-expands to -(throttlePos + 1.0f), always <= 0.05, so the detent
   snapped throttle to full EVERY frame.  Diff into a temp first (same class as
   the 7615ecd angular-resync Abs fix).
 - context/pod-hardware.md: document the decomp-verified analog-continuous pod
   throttle path (RIO Ranger 0-800 counts, 0.05 deadband, no notching; '5 speeds'
   is false) from workflow w0odszxro.
 - mech4.cpp: BT_SLIDE/[mslide] per-frame slide diagnostics (peer position moving
   while legs in stand; master decel profile) -- used to prove the stop-slide is a
   peer leg-SM-winds-down-early desync, not master momentum.  Env-gated.

The 'pretty good' coupled-motion gameplay state is already shipped (a9ab3db).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-14 22:13:56 -05:00

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id, title, status, source_sections, related_topics, key_terms
id title status source_sections related_topics key_terms
pod-hardware Pod Hardware — the fixed target (7 monitors, D3D9, RIO) established PROGRESS_LOG.md §3; the PLATFORM PROFILE + GAUGE DEV-COMPOSITE notes
gauges-hud
rendering
project-overview
pod
RIO
MFD
IG-board
SVGA16

Pod Hardware (the fixed target)

The port must run on (a) a dev box and (b) the fixed arcade pod. The pod is a hard constraint that bounds the graphics API. Full detail: docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md §3.

Displays

  • 2 video cards → 7 monitors: main 3D view 800×600; radar 640×480; five monochrome MFDs driven as one 1280×480 horizontally-spanned surface. [T1]
  • Requires old NVIDIA drivers for the MFD horizontal spanning — a hard constraint that bounds the graphics API → Target Direct3D 9 (lowest common denominator that runs on old-driver pods AND modern cards; one codepath). NOT Vulkan/D3D11+. CUDA is irrelevant (compute, not display). [T1]

Cockpit I/O (RIO)

Joystick X/Y, throttle, pedals, buttons over serial COM (L4RIO, L4SERIAL). Must be remapped to keyboard/gamepad on a dev box; real wiring is a pod bring-up task (Phase 8). The engine is a PUSH model — LBE4ControlsManager groups are fed by all devices (RIO on the pod, DirectInput on dev); the MechControlsMapper interprets them (locomotion). [T2]

The pod throttle is ANALOG-CONTINUOUS, not notched (verified end-to-end) [T1]

The authentic pod throttle path — traced 2026-07 (task #50 throttle-fidelity question):

  1. Hardware → RIO: serial AnalogReply packet → Ranger("Throttle", 0, 800, .05) — raw counts 0800, 5% deadband, auto-ranging offset, output a CONTINUOUS Scalar; the sign is inverted ("Throttle counts BACKWARDS", engine/MUNGA_L4/L4RIO.cpp:1374-1377, Ranger @L4RIO.cpp:461-701). No quantization/notching anywhere in Ranger::Update.
  2. Manager: LBE4ControlsManager::ExecutescalarGroup[ScalarThrottle].Update(&rioPointer-> Throttle, mode_mask) on every AnalogReply (L4CTRL.cpp:1379-1382). ScalarThrottle = index 0 → manager+0x24 (scalarGroup base 0x24, 0x20/entry; buttonGroup base 0x1c0, keyboardGroup 0x160).
  3. Streamed .CTL mapping (the "handled elsewhere"): MechRIOMapper's ctor @004d266c binds NO throttle — the bind comes from the type-19 ControlMappingStream resource named "L4" (child of the per-mech type-6 ControlMappingsList; installed by BTL4APP MakeViewpointEntity via CreateStreamedMappings @0047703c). BTL4.RES "L4" record [1]: Scalar Throttle → subsystemID 0 (ControlsMapper slot), DirectMapping, attr 4, mask 0xffffffff. Attr 4 = "ThrottlePosition" @ mapper+0x11c (binary IndexEntry table @0050efd8: id 4 → offset 0x11d-1 = 0x11c, name "ThrottlePosition" @0050f28f). Reverse = record [2]: Button Throttle1 (0x3F, on the throttle handle) → attr 6 ReverseThrust@0x124. Turn = pedals value-bound in the ctor (manager+0x44/+0x64 → mapper+0x1b4/+0x1b8).
  4. Interpretation: L4MechControlsMapper::InterpretControls @004d196c applies the ONLY software detent — snap to 1.0 when |t1.0| ≤ 0.05 — then MechControlsMapper::InterpretControls @004afd10 computes speedDemand@0x128 = maxSpeed(mech+0x34c) × throttlePosition(0x11c) × scale(mech+0x5c0) (forward) or maxSpeed × throttlePosition (reverse flag 0x124).

Consequence: the original pod produced a continuously varying speedDemand while the lever moved (updated per serial AnalogReply, NOT per render frame). There are NO "5 throttle notches" anywhere in the software path. (Keyboard keys '1'-'5' in @004d1bf0 set controls-manager MODE masks; the '+'/'-' pair steps a [0,5] value that drives pow(2,x) into mech+0x404 = HUD zoom 1×–32× — neither is a speed setting.) The mech's throttleState@0x4a4 writer remains un-exported (likely in the 0x4a9b5a0x4ab188 gap) — open-questions.

Multi-surface gauge path (intact, pod-only by default)

The pod multi-surface path EXISTS and is intact: DPLRenderer::FindBestAdapterIndices (multi- adapter selector, honors PRIMGAUGE/SECGAUGE/MFDGAUGE/SPANDISABLE), SVGA16::BuildWindows (a fullscreen D3D device + window per gauge/MFD surface, MFD span = width×2), L4GaugeRenderer (gated on L4GAUGE). content/SETENV.BAT is the authentic pod env preset (L4CONTROLS=RIO,KEYBOARD; L4GAUGE=640x480x16; L4PLASMA=com2). [T2]

Platform profile switch

-platform pod|dev (or BT_PLATFORM env; default DEV) selects a runtime env preset WITHOUT forking the codepath. DEV = keyboard + single 800×600 window. POD = RIO input (keyboard fallback off serial) + multi-surface gauges (from SETENV.BAT/L4GAUGE on real hardware). -platform pod does NOT auto-enable L4GAUGE (each surface needs its own fullscreen device on the pod's 2 cards). Off-pod, the 6 MFD surfaces render in a dev window via BT_DEV_GAUGES (gauges-hud). [T2]

MFD surface model

All cockpit surfaces are bit-plane MASKS over ONE shared SVGA16 pixelBuffer: sec=palette low byte; Heat=0x4000, Mfd2=0x0400, Comm=0x8000, Mfd1=0x0100, Mfd3=0x1000; Eng1-3 = engineering-mode alt planes; overlay=0x00C0 (shares the sec surface). See gauges-hud. [T2]

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