Stop approximating -- replicate POVTranslocateRenderable::Execute() behaviorally,
byte-for-byte on the constants and transitions (engine T0, L4VIDRND.cpp:1763-2076),
per the user's "replicate the effect exactly". The five prior piecemeal attempts
each fixed one facet and broke another because they left out the WHOLE mechanism.
Full state machine (btl4vid.cpp), driven by two decoupled events (NOT the
SimulationState trigger -- that dial also drives camera/POV+targeting, the f053535
regression; SetIsDead is a separate pure-render flag, verified safe):
- LOCAL DEATH -> InitialCollapse: scale (pct_left*100)+1 over 1.3s (world visible),
then SetIsDead(true) + WaitForReincarnate. (btplayer VehicleDeadMessageHandler,
deathCount==-1, local-guarded.)
- WaitForReincarnate: world BLACK (mask), scale 1, Lissajous throb
(cos(t*3.33), sin(t*2.5)) x2.0 -- the "dances around playfully".
- LOCAL RESPAWN -> ExpandReveal: SetIsDead(false) + scale (pct_used*150)+1 over
1.0s -- blasts open, world revealed ("shoots off into the distance"). (btplayer
DropZoneReplyMessageHandler, local-guarded.)
Draw EXACTLY as the engine (isDeathDraw -> drawAsSky): PASS_SKY, OPAQUE,
CULLMODE=CW, z-test ON (L4VIDEO.cpp:7526/7568-7570/7693). This kills the "glitchy
funnel" -- opaque = one write/pixel (no translucent double-blend), CW = one winding
of the double-sided mesh (no coincident z-fight), z-on = the expand shell is
occluded/revealed by the returning world. Placement = Scale * inverse(view) with
NO recenter (the mesh is authored off-origin so the eye sits inside, authentic);
dropped the wrong mCullCenter recenter and the Z-off overlay hack. Colour is the
"sky" ramp (per prior commit); no geometry spin (myRotateY is dead) -- swirl is the
texture scroll. SetIsDead reached via a BTSetWorldDead bridge (L4VIDRND.cpp).
STUCK-BLACK SAFETY (the one new risk of decoupling mask-on from mask-off): a 12s
WaitForReincarnate render-loop timeout un-masks if no respawn arrives, plus
BTWarpForceUnmask on the mission-ending + no-DropZones abort paths. Smoke-verified
2-node: collapse->wait(masked=1)->expand(masked=0), ends masked=0, no crash.
The peer-observer warp stays a world-anchored translucent alpha draw (port
extension; the authentic effect is POV-only).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
