Files
BT411/context/pod-hardware.md
T
Joe DiPrimaandClaude Fable 5 e0e9dcc292 KB: decode the pod's RGB SPLIT -- one VGA port drives THREE mono MFDs
Answering 'how do the panels split RGB into 3 monitors' from primary sources
rather than inference:

- content/GAUGE/L4GAUGE.CFG (the authentic 1996 pod config) configures each
  gauge port with a bit-plane mask AND A COLOUR CHANNEL: Comm=red,
  Mfd2=green, Heat=blue on clut2 (the upper row); Mfd1=red, Mfd3=green on
  clut1 (the lower row, blue spare); sec/radar = full rgb, rotation 270 (the
  portrait CRT).  Eng1/2/3 are the engineering-page twins on the same
  monitors, swapped in/out via reconfigure() with 'blank'.
- L4GraphicsPort::BuildSecondaryColor (L4VB16.cpp) proves the mechanism at
  T0: it walks the palette entries owned by the port's bit group and writes
  exactly ONE component (RedChannel->Red, GreenChannel->Green,
  BlueChannel->Blue, AllChannels->whole triplet); BlankColor blanks the
  group.  So one palettized framebuffer emits three independent pictures on
  the R/G/B analog lines, and the splitter feeds each line to its own mono
  monitor -- which is also what the '1280x480 horizontally spanned' MFD
  surface actually is: two VGA outputs x three channels.

Port consequence recorded: the per-panel window path (BT_POD_SURFACES) is
right for per-panel outputs but WRONG for splitter-wired glass, which needs a
channel-composite mode (three planes -> one RGB image, pure primary tints).
ExpandPlaneToBGRA already does the per-plane half.  Open: how Nick's cart is
actually wired.  Also lands the pod bring-up scratch (ssh helper, layout cfg,
launcher, firestorm repo browser).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-06 12:35:39 -05:00

27 KiB
Raw Blame History

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 button space + lamps [T0, L4CTRL.h enum]

buttonGroup addresses 0x00-0x47: AuxLowerRight/Left 1-8 (0x00-0x0F), Secondary1-12 (0x10-0x1B), AuxUpperCenter/Left/Right 1-8 (0x20-0x37; 0x30-0x37 = the target HOTBOX, pilot select), icom/door 0x39-0x3C, Panic 0x3D (the config-mode lamp), Throttle1 0x3F (throttle-head = REVERSE THRUST), joystick cluster 0x40-0x47 (Main trigger 0x40, hat 0x41-0x44, Pinky/ThumbLow/ThumbHigh 0x45-0x47 — the four MAPPABLE fire buttons). "Lamp buttons" are literal: physical illuminated pushbuttons in panels around the screens; the RIO LampRequest protocol lights them (MakeLinkedLamp), reports burned-out bulbs (RIODeadLamps failure page, per-lamp names). A lit button = active. Keypads are NOT buttons: keyboardGroup[KeyboardPilot/ KeyboardExternal] carry key VALUES ('0'-'9','A'-'F', L4CTRL.cpp:2526). RIO event convention: press = buttonGroup[a].Update(a+1, modeMask) (mask saved), release = Update(-a-1, savedMask) (L4CTRL.cpp:2470-2520). Bank→MFD assignment (Gitea #9, from the streamed "L4" .CTL EventMapping dump [T1]): each preset-able MFD owns the 8-button bank AROUND it, mode-mask-gated per page — Mfd1 (lower left) = 0x08-0x0F (AuxLowerLeft), Mfd2 (upper center) = 0x20-0x27 (AuxUpperCenter), Mfd3 (lower right) = 0x00-0x07 (AuxLowerRight): Quad page → the outer buttons direct-select the populated Eng pages; Eng page → one button back to Quad, the rest drive the shown subsystem (generator select A-D msg 4-7, gen mode msg 8, weapon configure msg 9; also msg 0x3 = ToggleCooling — WIRED 2026-07-20: the button→msg-3 route was always authored (BT_CTRLMAP_LOG shows ~a dozen EVENT msg 0x3 entries, e.g. Eng-page aux elem 0x21 mask-gated per ModeMFD page to each weapon), but was "silently dead" only for lack of the id-3 handler. Reconstructed HeatSink::ToggleCoolingMessageHandler (@004ad6f8) + restored the PoweredSubsystem→HeatSink handler chain, so the Eng-page "Coolant" button now toggles the shown weapon's coolant flow. msg 0xb = ToggleSeekVoltage (energy) / EjectAmmo (ammo weapons) still unreconstructed). Always-active records IDENTIFIED 2026-07-20 [T1] (roster: sub 3 = Reservoir, 4-9 = Condenser1-6, 10-13 = GeneratorA-D): 0x2C = the COOLANT FLUSH button (Reservoir InjectCoolant, hold-to-flush — works), 0x2F/0x2E/0x2D/0x2B/0x2A/0x29 = the per-condenser VALVE buttons (MoveValve, Cond1-6 — work), 0x1A-0x1D = Generator A-D ON/OFF (ToggleGeneratorOnOff id 4, binary table @0050fb90 fn @004b1ed0 — WIRED, powersub.cpp). Newly decoded from the binary message tables: 0x13 → Mech DuckRequest (0x1a @0049fa00 — the manual's CROUCH button) COMPLETE 2026-08-06: handler (07-26) + the master-perf posture CONSUMER + squat/rise clips + MP replication (locomotion §CROUCH; glass key F4); the map legend's bduck.pcc widget still lights. (The old "no code consumer" verdict was export-gap blindness — reconstruction-gotchas §20) —, 0x28 → Mech BalanceCoolant (0x16 @0049f728) WIRED 2026-07-21 (#20), 0x12 → ThermalSight ToggleLamp (id 3, table @0x51120C fn @004b860c) and 0x14 → Searchlight + Searchlight2 ToggleLamp (id 3, table @0x51117C fn @004b838c) BOTH WIRED 2026-07-25 (#61), previously default-constructed blackholes; verified live (0x14 → lightState 0→1, 0x12 → thermalActive 0→1). ⚠ The fn addresses were swapped in this file before #61 (@004b860c is ThermalSight's) — see decomp-reference for the table evidence — and that swap had propagated a false "1995 latent bug" (retracted, subsystems WAVE 4). An unhandled message is SILENTLY ignored (Receiver::Receive finds no handler and does nothing — dead buttons produce NO log). 0x10/0x11 = map ZoomIn/Out, 0x15 = CycleDisplayMode, 0x18 = CycleControlMode (#6). Buttons with NO streamed mapping authored (authentically inert): 0x16/0x17/0x19/0x1E/0x1F/0x38-0x3E. Full decode: gauges-hud §preset pages; the complete 72-button census + verification: docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md §2026-07-20.

Desktop input remap — CONTROLS.MAP + XInput (2026-07-18) [T2 live]

game/reconstructed/btinput.cpp + content/CONTROLS.MAP (WASD-classic default, compiled-in twin; content/CONTROLS_NUMPAD.MAP = the corrected community numpad profile). Grammar: key <name> button <addr>|axis <axis> deflect|rate <n>|keypad pilot|external <0-15>|pckey <char>|action <name>; pad <button> same targets; padaxis <src> axis ... [invert] [deadzone d] [rate n]. Axes: Throttle (lever, rate-walks + sticks), LeftPedal/RightPedal/Pedals (turn, springs), JoystickX (torso twist), JoystickY (torso ELEVATION — pitch aim; every 1995 control mode routes it to Torso::SetAnalogElevationAxis; keys R/F + pad LeftStickY in the default map; verified to the authentic VerticalLimitTop clamp, 20° on the Blackhawk; aims the GUNS — reads on the HUD elevation tape, the eyepoint stays level). AXIS SIGN CONVENTION (2026-07-18, user-verified) [T1]: the sim uses MATH convention — positive turnDemand / twist / free-aim slew is CCW (LEFT). On the pod the RIO Ranger owned the hardware sign; the desktop key bridge negates ONCE per channel (key_turn = -gBTDrive.turn; stickPosition.x = -gBTTwistAxis; the SetFreeAimSlew call-sites pass the bridge value un-negated) so input-right = turn/twist RIGHT (manual p8: "pulling your joystick to the right torso twists your 'Mech to the right"). Forced/BT_GOTO harness demands are already sim-frame and stay un-negated. Lesson: large-rotation screenshot comparisons are AMBIGUOUS — trust tracked landmarks, numeric yaw telemetry with an established convention, or the user's live observation. Emissions mirror the RIO conventions above exactly; the four fire buttons (0x40/45/46/47) publish as levels to the bring-up fire channels instead of buttonGroup (avoids double-fire once the streamed ChooseButton mappings are exercised). XInput loads dynamically (xinput1_4 → 9_1_0; disconnected-pad probing rate-limited to 1 Hz). Keys claimed by a binding are SUPPRESSED from the legacy WM_CHAR/KEYUP feed (BTInputSuppressKey, hook at L4CTRL.cpp keyboard read) — this ended the historic DOUBLE-DISPATCH: 'w' drove AND selected pilot 0; F5's key-up value 0x74 aliased to the 't' hotkey; letter key-ups (uppercase) fed the developer fake-event dispatcher. Unbound keys keep their authentic 1995 dispatcher meaning (reachable from any key via pckey). The old dual-use 'V' (view toggle + look-behind) is split: V = ViewToggle, B = LookBehind. Verified live: bindings load, W/NumPad8 drive (spd rises), X all-stop, aux-button emission ([input] 0x2f PRESS), suppression both directions ('r' delivered / 'w' swallowed), full-keyspace WM_CHAR+WM_KEYUP fuzz survived. Diag: BT_INPUT_LOG.

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). Step-2a fix (2026-07-17) [T2]: these ids are POSITIONAL (Find(id) = index[id-1]) and our MechControlsMapper chain started one low (Subsystem::NextAttributeID==2 vs the binary's 3) — every streamed record landed one member late (a real-pod landmine: the RIO throttle scalar drove pedalsPosition). Ids are now PINNED to the binary numbering with an id-2 pad + static_assert locks (mechmppr.hpp/.cpp); audit tool BT_CTRLMAP_LOG=1. ⚠ The streamed BUTTON mappings (like record [2]) are NOT CONSUMED yet — the SCALAR records drive their attributes, but MechControlsMapper::AddOrErase (both overloads, @004b02b0/ @004b02d4) is still the unreconstructed Fail("Unhandled mapping!") stub, so a streamed button never reaches its attribute. Consequence found the hard way (user report 2026-07-24, "i cant seem to reverse"): REVERSE THRUST was dead on the desktop. LALT→0x3F was bound and PadRIO pushed the RIO ButtonPressed event correctly, but nothing applied it to attr 6, and the only writer of reverseThrust was the keyboard bridge's key_throttle < 0 test — which is (a) bypassed whenever a RIO is operational (the pad RIO always is, so the bridge is OFF on the desktop) and (b) unreachable anyway, since L4PADRIO clamps the Throttle channel to [0,1] (low = 0.0f). Fixed by publishing the 0x3F hold state from PadRIO::EmitButton (the single chokepoint keyboard/pad/joystick/glass clicks all share) and applying it in InterpretControls, gated on BTPadRIOActive() so pod hardware is untouched — marked [T3], delete when streamed button mappings land. Verified: hold LALT ⇒ rev=1, speedDemand 61.5; release ⇒ forward. Reverse is a HOLD, per the manual. [T2] Details: docs/GLASS_COCKPIT.md §2a; see glass-cockpit.
  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.

MECHANICAL-notch hypothesis (2026-07-16) [T4, hardware]: the "5 speeds" pod lore may still be true — as detents in the throttle QUADRANT hardware, invisible to the software (the pot reads continuous counts regardless of where the lever mechanically rests). Independent corroboration from the gait math (locomotion): the gait SM has NO stable state for a demand between the walk cap (walkStrideLength@0x534) and the run engage speed (reverseSpeedMax@0x538, the walk→run transition clip's exit speed) — a demand PARKED in that band hunts walk→shift-up→shift-down forever, firing the authored EngineShiftFwd/Rev sounds each swing (binary-verified, all-authentic data: Blackhawk band = demand 22.0230.87 = throttle 3650%). A design like that only ships if the hardware discourages parking in the band. Port accommodation: the keyboard lever snaps out of the dead band AT REST (mech4.cpp "GAIT DETENT"; sweeping through while held stays continuous = authentic moving lever). Ask Nick: did the pod throttle quadrant have mechanical detents (how many / positions)? — 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]

THE RGB SPLIT — how ONE VGA port drives THREE mono MFDs (decoded 2026-08-06) [T0 engine source + T1 authentic pod config]

The five monochrome MFDs are NOT five video outputs. Each VGA port's R, G and B analog lines are split to three separate monochrome monitors, and the software puts a different MFD in each colour channel of one shared palettized framebuffer. Mechanism, end to end:

  1. Every surface is a bit-plane + a CHANNEL. content/GAUGE/L4GAUGE.CFG (the authentic 1996 pod config) configures each port as configure(idx, port, rotation, bitMask, clut, COLOUR, palette):
    port panel mask clut channel
    Comm upper right 0x8000 clut2 red
    Mfd2 (Engineering) upper centre 0x0400 clut2 green
    Heat upper left 0x4000 clut2 blue
    Mfd1 lower left 0x0100 clut1 red
    Mfd3 lower right 0x1000 clut1 green
    sec (+overlay 0x00C0) secondary/radar 0x003F clut0 rgb (full colour, rotation 270 — the physically ROTATED portrait CRT)
    Eng1/2/3 are the engineering-page twins of Mfd1/2/3: same monitor, second bit-plane, switched
    by reconfigure(...) giving one plane the channel and the other blank.
  2. The channel assignment is literally a palette write. L4GraphicsPort::BuildSecondaryColor (L4VB16.cpp) walks the palette entries owned by the port's bit group (BitWrangler(byteMask,8)) and writes ONE component: RedChannel -> triplet->Red, GreenChannel -> ->Green, BlueChannel -> ->Blue, AllChannels -> the whole triplet. BlankColor blanks the group (BlankPalette()), which is how a page swap silences the plane it replaces. The *TransparentZero variants skip colour 0 so zero reads as transparent for that group.
  3. So the DAC output carries three independent pictures, one per analog line, and the splitter hands each line to its own mono monitor. Three MFDs per VGA port; the pod's two MFD ports are the 1280x480 "horizontally spanned" surface (2 x 640x480 halves) the Displays section describes — clut2 = the upper row (Comm/Mfd2/Heat), clut1 = the lower row (Mfd1/Mfd3, blue spare). The radar rides its own port in real colour.

Why this matters for the port [T2]: our modern path renders each surface as its own mono-tinted window on its own Windows display (see §MFD PANELS ON REAL HARDWARE), which is right when every panel has its own output. On splitter-wired glass it is wrong — three monitors would share one Windows display and each would show only its channel's share of a single tinted image. Driving original splitter hardware needs a CHANNEL-COMPOSITE mode: extract three planes into ONE 640x480 RGB image with pure (255,0,0)/(0,255,0)/(0,0,255) tints, one window per VGA output. SVGA16::ExpandPlaneToBGRA already does the per-plane extraction with a tint, so the composite is a small addition. OPEN: which way Nick's crash cart is wired (Windows shows three separate 640x480 displays there, which suggests per-panel outputs via the Trigger 6 USB adapter, not a splitter) — settle it by eye before building.

MFD PANELS ON REAL HARDWARE — the bring-up path (2026-08-06) [T2 local / T4 on-pod]

Nick's crash cart (pod hardware + Chrome Remote Desktop on a burner account) is the first chance to drive the real panels. The 1995 display path is NOT the way in. That rig spanned the five MFDs as ONE 1280×480 surface via NVIDIA Horizontal Span, which every driver after XP dropped; SVGA16::BuildWindows also wants an exclusive-fullscreen D3D device per adapter, which is fragile on modern drivers and over a remote session. Both are still in-tree and still the authentic reference — they are just not the bring-up route.

The route is the glass per-display windows (glass-cockpit): one window per surface, which maps 1:1 onto one physical panel per MFD, needs no special driver, and is already field-proven on desktops. Two pieces were added for the cab:

  • BT_POD_SURFACES=1 (pod surface mode, L4GLASSWIN) — crops every window to its SURFACE (MFDs exactly 640×480, radar 480×640 portrait), drops the on-screen RIO button banks (the cab's buttons are PHYSICAL — drawing fake ones over a real panel is precisely wrong), goes frameless, and does not create the Flight Controls pad at all (6 windows, not 7). Per-window equivalent: append ,bare to a line in glass_layout.cfg (mixed rigs).
  • Placement receipts — every window logs [glasswin] '<title>' surface=<port> at X,Y WxH bare -> monitor \.\DISPLAYn (origin WxH, PRIMARY). On a cab nobody can see seven surfaces at once, and over CRD you cannot see the panels at all: the log IS the confirmation that a picture landed on the right glass.

Runbook (tools/podprobe.ps1, PowerShell, no install/admin — run it ON the pod PC):

  1. Probe: GPUs, every monitor's virtual-desktop rect, EDID make/model (identifies the original panels), serial ports (the RIO board), session type, and a PROPOSED glass_layout.cfg that assigns the six surfaces to the non-primary monitors top-to-bottom/left-to-right, centred.
  2. Drop the cfg in the game's working directory; run with BT_GLASS=1 BT_GLASS_PANELS=1 BT_POD_SURFACES=1 BT_GLASS_LAYOUT=load (=save to persist drags instead).
  3. Read the receipts; re-assign titles to monitors in the cfg until each picture is on its panel. Surface→panel roles: Heat MFD = upper left (coolant), Engineering = upper centre, Comm MFD = upper right (hot box), Left/Right Weapons = lower left/right, Secondary/Radar = the secondary screen (portrait). Main 3D view stays the game's own window on the main-view monitor.

Known constraints / open on-pod questions: whether the panels are attached to this PC at all (the probe answers it); whether Windows offers a 640×480 mode on them (if not, the surface renders at native size CENTRED, not scaled — a scale-to-fit option is the obvious follow-up); whether Chrome Remote Desktop holds the CONSOLE session (it should — an RDP session would get a virtual display and light nothing); and the RIO serial input, which is a separate task from the displays.

The 1995 player manual — alignment audit (2026-07-18) [T1, primary source]

reference/manual/Tesla40_BT_manual.pdf (34pp, from Nick). CONFIRMS the reconstruction on every checked control behavior:

  • Control modes are named BAS / MID / ADV (basic/middle/advanced; our Basic/Standard/Veteran names came from the RP analog — mechanics identical): BAS = joystick turns the mech, pedals inactive, NO torso twist; MID = pedals turn + auto-slow for tightest radius, joystick = torso; ADV = as MID but NO auto-slow (wider radius at speed) — exactly our mapper's turn-clamp difference. Mode button = top right of the secondary screen.
  • Stick right = torso right in MID/ADV (p8) — the corrected sign. Blackhawk and Owens are the fixed-torso exceptions (named in print!); twist arc "about 120°" (per-mech: Loki/Thor tables say Torso Limit 110°, Torso speed 60°/s).
  • Throttle is a continuous lever (push=accelerate, pull=stop; inertia); reverse = HOLD the red throttle button (release = forward) — our 0x3F hold-state model.
  • Hot Box Selector MFD = callsign buttons + a CLOSEST button (lower right = our hotbox button 8 → ChooseNearestPilot); radar = travel-oriented, 60° vision wedge sweeps with twist, red hot box + callsign on contacts; map zoom ± buttons flank the secondary screen.
  • Experience gates the hunting aids: viewscreen hot box + hunting-guide arrow appear in STANDARD sim mode only (not veteran/expert); expert mode adds movement heat. (2026-07-18 [T1]: 4.0→4.10 drift — in OUR 4.10 binary the HUD reads NO experience flag (hotbox/arrows are lock-gated in every mode) and movement heat is veteran+expert; full wiring in experience-levels.)
  • Cockpit: 5 MFDs (Coolant UL, Engineering top, Hot Box UR, Weapon ×2) + secondary screen with side button columns + EJECT button beside the joystick + per-mech COOLANT LOOP tables (weapons+generators per loop 1-6) and stat sheets (tonnage/armor/reservoir liters/heat sinks/top speeds incl. "Super Charged").
  • MYOMER SEEK / "SUPER CHARGE" — ⚠ the "4.0→4.10 drift" verdict below was WRONG and is RETRACTED (same day). 4.10 HAS the seek→speed coupling — in the un-exported master-perf gap (@0x4a9cf2: speedDemand *= max myomer speedEffect, turn-freeze at dead drive; see subsystems WAVE 6 correction). The manual is ACCURATE for 4.10; Oracle's pod memory (seek-4 humanoid = 182 kph = the printed figure) confirmed it and prompted the re-audit. The paragraph below is retained as the record of the error (its BINARY facts — the two exported AvailableOutput callers, the single attr ref — were correct but incomplete: export-gap functions are invisible to decomp text sweeps). ORIGINAL (WRONG) VERDICT: Manual p20/p22: seek "translates to a lower or higher top speed", gear 4 is named Supercharge (screenshot caption "Seek Level Is Set to Supercharge"), expert-only ("in standard simulation mode, you are not able to supercharge"), and "overheated myomers can reduce your 'Mech's speed to zero". Stat sheets print THREE top speeds (Loki/Thor: Normal 143 / Super Charged 182 / Gimped 40 kph). The 4.10 BINARY dropped the runtime coupling entirely: the mapper demand @004afd10 has no myomer/seek term, AvailableOutput has exactly two callers (assembly cap + graph), and the SpeedEffect attribute string has one reference (its own table row). Even the printed ratio disagrees with 4.10's authored gears (182/143 = 1.27 vs 0.9999/0.7 = 1.43) — the gear table and the assembly cap are vestiges. In 4.10 the seek dial's live effects are heat (ratio² ≥ 1), the generator brown-out threshold (whose real stake is TORSO TWIST — see subsystems WAVE 6), and the ENG graph. "Top Speed Gimped 40" also confirms the limp-gait speed cap as an authored spec. The port follows the BINARY (house rule); resurrecting manual-4.0 supercharge would be an opt-in deviation for the operator to decide. NEW LEADS (manual describes, port lacks input/UI): CROUCH CROUCH COMPLETE 2026-08-06 (locomotion §CROUCH), EJECT EJECT WIRED 2026-08-02 (core: Mech::EjectPilotMessageHandler id 0x19 @0049f854 + the crippled-mech permission evaluator @0049fa1c; input = binding-engine "Eject" action, Backspace / pad LeftThumb; the punch-out kills via graphicAlarm 10 ≥ 9 — KillBonus authors 0 in ALL shipped content, so the zero charge is authentic; tails: console relay notice, RIO 0x38 panic control, alarm-10 audio/canopy presentation, SpecialCaseDeathPenalty role+0x20 consumer), hot-box viewscreen framing (the deferred PNAME marker chain). Per-mech stat tables = a systematic cross-check source for our streamed subsystem resources.

Coolant-loop cross-check RESULT (2026-07-18) [T1] -- STRUCTURE strongly faithful

Dumped each mech's subsystem->loop (subsystem's linked-condenser number, BTCoolingLoopFrame) and diffed vs the manual's COOLANT LOOPS tables. The 4.0->4.10 drift shows here too, but the STRUCTURE is remarkably intact:

  • Backbone identical on ALL 6 mechs: Generator A/B/C/D on loops 1/2/3/5, Sensors (our "Avionics") on loop 2, Myomers on loop 5, LRMs on loops 1&3, autocannon on loop 4, the large energy weapon on loop 6 -- match the manual exactly.
  • Weapon LOADOUT identical on 5 of 6 (Thor, Vulture, MadCat, Owens, Blackhawk carry the exact same weapon set 4.0->4.10). Loki is the one full rework (4.0 PPC x2 / AFC100 / SRM6 / Medium Laser -> 4.10 AFC50 x2 / ER Medium x2 / SRM4).
  • The consistent 4.0->4.10 change: the small energy weapons were REDISTRIBUTED across loops -- the 2 ER Small Lasers moved off the sensor/heavy loops (4.0) onto the energy-weapon loops 4&6 (4.10) on Thor/MadCat/Vulture; SRM/laser placement reshuffled on Blackhawk. Owens is a near-PERFECT match (loops 1&3 exact; only a 4.0 "second myomer set" on loop 2 is absent).
  • Loop 0 = correctly UNCOOLED infrastructure (condensers, reservoir, gyro, torso, HUD, searchlight, thermal sight, ammo bins, message manager, mechtech, controls mapper) -- not a loop. CONCLUSION: the coolant-loop reconstruction is faithful; every difference is 4.0->4.10 tuning (loadout rework on Loki, small-laser redistribution elsewhere), NOT a bug. BT_SPEC_LOG (mech4) re-dumps on demand.

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