arcattackandClaude Opus 5
4360908d38
Asked to double-check the launchers and make sure the user-facing docs in the
zip are up to date. players/README.txt is the ONLY user-facing doc mkdist
ships (content/VIDEO/RESULT2.TXT is a game asset), and it was last touched
2026-07-24 -- before all of today's work.
1. CORRUPTED PATHS (real defect, worst possible placement). The file
contained literal CONTROL BYTES where two paths should be:
offset 440 0x08 ...personal files (content<BS>indings.txt with...
offset 490 0x0b ...joystick setup, content<VT>olume.cfg with...
i.e. `content\bindings.txt` and `content\volume.cfg` had been written
through a string that interpreted \b as backspace and \v as vertical tab.
Testers read "contentindings.txt" / "contentolume.cfg" -- files that do not
exist -- in the UPGRADE paragraph, the one place that tells them which
personal files to preserve when extracting over an old install. Repaired
by byte, and verified: 0 control bytes remain in all four packaging
variants. (The other two occurrences, content\join.log and a later
content\bindings.txt, were undamaged -- \j and the second \b happened to
survive.)
2. CONTENT now current with today's 13-issue wave, tester-relevant parts only:
* AMMO BAY FIRE is now LETHAL (#46) -- flagged prominently as a gameplay
change, with the ~10 s fuse, what it costs, and the EJECT-hold escape.
Previously these fires were harmless; a tester who ignores one now dies.
* ENG-page buttons FLASH on a jam or bay fire (#47) -- the restored pod
annunciator, so testers know to look for it.
* KNOWN ISSUE + WORKAROUND for #62: the BUS MODE button's second press
detaches a weapon from its generator and the auto re-attach is dead, so a
weapon can go permanently dark. Documented with the recovery (press a
GENERATOR SELECT A/B/C/D button) to pre-empt a wave of "my weapon broke"
reports.
Verified by simulating mkdist's own marker processing across all four
steam-on/off x expire-on/off variants: new content survives every path, no
leftover {VERSION}/{STEAM}/{EXPIRE} markers reach the tester, no control bytes.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
105 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
105 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
BattleTech {VERSION} -- multiplayer client
|
|
==========================================
|
|
|
|
IMPORTANT: FULLY EXTRACT this zip first (right-click - Extract All).
|
|
Do NOT run anything from inside the zip. The .bat files must sit next
|
|
to the 'content' and 'build' folders.
|
|
|
|
UPGRADING from an older version? Extract the new zip OVER your
|
|
existing game folder and say YES TO OVERWRITE. Do NOT delete the
|
|
folder first -- your personal files (content\bindings.txt with your
|
|
key/joystick setup, content\volume.cfg with your volume) are not in
|
|
the zip and survive an extract-over-top, but a delete wipes them.
|
|
If you prefer a clean delete anyway, copy those two files out first
|
|
and put them back after.
|
|
|
|
TO JOIN AN INTERNET GAME: double-click join.bat
|
|
-- pick your CALLSIGN and MECH, click JOIN (your choice is sent to
|
|
the operator; waits for the session if it's not up yet)
|
|
TO JOIN A LAN GAME: double-click join_lan.bat (operator's LAN;
|
|
same callsign/mech menu)
|
|
SINGLE-PLAYER: double-click play_solo.bat -- opens the
|
|
mission menu: pick your mech (all 18), map, experience level,
|
|
colours, weather and mission length, then launch
|
|
{STEAM}STEAM INTERNET PLAY: double-click play_steam.bat (EXPERIMENTAL --
|
|
{STEAM} needs the Steam client running; host or join from the menu)
|
|
|
|
Your seat is assigned automatically; you'll pilot the mech you picked
|
|
in the join menu (the operator can override it).
|
|
When a round ends your game AUTOMATICALLY rejoins for the next one
|
|
(same seat, same mech) -- just wait for the operator's next launch.
|
|
Close the window to leave for real.
|
|
If the game closes unexpectedly, send the operator content\join.log.
|
|
|
|
AFTER A MULTIPLAYER SESSION: the game writes a small match report,
|
|
content\matchlog_<date>_<time>_<number>.txt. Please send the operator
|
|
the newest one -- we combine everyone's files to verify damage, kills
|
|
and scores worked correctly across all players.
|
|
|
|
You start INSIDE the cockpit with the pod's MFD panels composited
|
|
around the view (one window). The red MFD buttons, radar rails and
|
|
joystick buttons are all MOUSE-CLICKABLE -- right-click a button to
|
|
latch it held. Press V any time to toggle the external camera.
|
|
|
|
CONTROLS (keyboard):
|
|
W/S or Up/Down ....... throttle lever X / NumPad5 ... all stop
|
|
A/D or Left/Right .... turn pedals Alt ........... reverse thrust
|
|
Q/E .................. torso twist R/F ........... torso aim
|
|
NumPad 8/2/4/6 ....... torso aim/twist (alt) Shift ......... throttle up
|
|
1 or Space ........... main trigger 2 ............. middle thumb
|
|
3 or Ctrl ............ upper thumb (missiles) 4 ............ pinky
|
|
V view | B look-behind | M control mode | N schematic | J/K/L MFD pages
|
|
NOTE: you SPAWN IN BASIC control mode (the pod's rookie setting) --
|
|
in BASIC the stick steers and the pedal keys (A/D, arrows) do
|
|
NOTHING. Press M once for MID (pedals steer, stick twists the
|
|
torso -- the full experience). If 'turning does not work', it is
|
|
this, not a bug.
|
|
CONTROL MODE (BAS/MID/ADV, the M key IN the cockpit) is NOT the
|
|
menu's EXPERIENCE setting (novice/standard/veteran/expert) -- that
|
|
one changes the simulation (heat, damage), not your controls.
|
|
Numpad aim keys (8/2/4/6) need NUMLOCK ON; with it off they act as
|
|
arrow keys instead.
|
|
- / = ................ game volume down/up (saved between sessions)
|
|
H (hold) ............. coolant flush (dumps reservoir to cool everything)
|
|
C .................... cycle a coolant valve. CAREFUL: the detents go
|
|
1 - 5 - 50 (max) - 0 (CLOSED!) - back to 1. One press past max
|
|
SHUTS THE LOOP OFF and everything on it will overheat -- watch the
|
|
valve dial on the coolant screen. Boosting one loop starves the
|
|
others (the coolant supply is shared).
|
|
A weapon gone quiet with ammo left has probably JAMMED (heat makes
|
|
ballistic weapons jam -- authentic!). Check its panel's ENG DATA page
|
|
for the jam lamp (a cocked round with warning bolts). The pod's fix
|
|
is the EJECT button on that weapon's ENG DATA page: TAP to eject the
|
|
jammed round (weapon reloads and returns to service), HOLD ~3s to
|
|
jettison the whole bay before it cooks off. Watch the TEMP strip and
|
|
pace salvos.
|
|
NEW: on a jam or a bay fire, that system's ENG-page buttons now FLASH
|
|
to catch your eye -- the pod's own annunciator, restored.
|
|
NEW AND DANGEROUS: an AMMO BAY FIRE is now genuinely lethal. You get
|
|
a fire icon by the ammo counter, the flashing buttons, and about TEN
|
|
SECONDS -- then the bay detonates for (rounds x per-round damage),
|
|
which can and will kill you. HOLD the EJECT button on that weapon to
|
|
dump the bay and put the fire out. Previously these fires were
|
|
harmless; they are not any more, so treat one as an emergency.
|
|
G (hold) + fire key .. regroup a weapon onto that trigger -- or hold a
|
|
weapon panel's red PROGRAM button with the mouse and tap a fire key;
|
|
the joystick diagram on the panel shows the binding live.
|
|
|
|
KNOWN ISSUE THIS BUILD -- a weapon that goes dark after you press ENG-page
|
|
buttons: the BUS MODE button detaches that weapon from its generator on
|
|
its second press, and the automatic re-attach is not working yet. The
|
|
symptom is a weapon whose recharge arc and ready dot are BOTH blank and
|
|
which will not fire, while its panel still shows normal data. THE FIX:
|
|
press one of the GENERATOR SELECT buttons (A/B/C/D) on that weapon's
|
|
panel and it comes straight back. Not a lost mech -- just that button.
|
|
|
|
An Xbox controller works out of the box. FLIGHT STICKS / HOTAS /
|
|
pedals: run joyconfig.bat ONCE -- a wizard asks you to move each
|
|
control (stick, twist, throttle, fire buttons), writes the bindings,
|
|
and drops you into the solo menu to try them. Rebind keys in
|
|
content\bindings.txt (regenerates with defaults if deleted).
|
|
|
|
This build: {VERSION}. Private -- do not redistribute.
|
|
{EXPIRE}Test builds STOP WORKING 14 days after they are made -- if the game
|
|
{EXPIRE}says it has expired, just grab the operator's newest zip.
|