Files

T

Joe DiPrimaandClaude Fable 5 f49f35cd43 KB housekeeping sweep: end-of-arc staleness purge (2026-08-06)

Corrections (wrong claims fixed + swept):
- open-questions: the DuckState 'no CODE consumer, authentic [T1]' verdict
  RETRACTED (consumer = the unexported posture block; squat clips shipped in
  BTL4.RES all along); the searchlight fog swap re-marked DONE (was 'STILL
  DEFERRED'); crouch index pointer updated.
- combat-damage: old task-#60 kill-score section marked SUPERSEDED by the
  report tail (BTPostKillScore retired).
- pod-hardware: crouch census rows -> COMPLETE; gauges-hud: 07-20 note
  (generators 'unreconstructed') re-swept.

New knowledge:
- reconstruction-gotchas #20: EXPORT-GAP BLINDNESS (4 incidents, 2 falsely
  T1; the byte-scan/named-member/RES-TOC/manifest checklist) + the
  verification-viewpoint bullet in #13 (the crouch capture errors).
- decomp-reference: master posture/crouch block offsets (+0x3f8/+0x79c, the
  myomers cluster) + 8 new bench env gates.
- rendering: beam-material decode (btfx brighten) + look-pass acceptance.
- experience-levels: crouch novice lockout in the +0x25c consumer list.
- build-and-run: the stale-link build ritual; test-harness: bench-script
  gotchas (both previously oral tradition).
- glossary: export-gap-blindness; multiplayer: crouch/searchlight ride
  existing records; subsystems: searchlight visuals pointer.

Status refresh: CLAUDE.md front + project-overview current-state -> core
gameplay reconstruction COMPLETE (774->801), polish phase, #60 census next.
Ledger addenda: INPUT_PATH row 6 complete; RESPAWN_REARM VehicleDead-sender
note. .gitignore: content/ bench artifacts (pngs/logs/eggs/exe) out of
status. checkctx CLEAN.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-08-06 10:22:50 -05:00

3.8 KiB

Raw Blame History

id, title, status, source_sections, related_topics, key_terms

title

status

source_sections

related_topics

key_terms

project-overview

Project Overview — what this is, people, goals

established

PROGRESS_LOG.md §1-3; README.md

pod-hardware

wintesla-port

source-completeness

build-and-run

MUNGA

Tesla-platform

WinTesla

pod

Project Overview

Port VWE's arcade pod games (Tesla platform, release 4.10, ~1995-96) to modern Windows and, ultimately, the actual arcade pod hardware. Primary target: BattleTech (BT); Red Planet (RP) shares the engine. Full detail: docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md §1-3.

The ORIGINAL 1995-96 team — the initials in the source headers matched to names by VWE veterans (dev team ~8, art ~6, MUNGA by a smaller internal team) — is credited in docs/CREDITS.md.

The stack

Two games, one engine: BT + RP. Engine = MUNGA; HAL = L4 (MUNGA_L4). Game logic = CODE/BT, CODE/RP. [T1]
Original platform: 32-bit DOS under a DPMI32 extender, Borland C++ 5 + TASM32, on Novell DOS pods. 3D by a proprietary Division IG image-generator board (dual EISA), driven by the closed libDPL.lib (binary + VREND microcode). [T1]
The port replaces the IG board/libDPL with a dpl_* → Direct3D9 shim (done in WinTesla as L4D3D). Pods now run Windows 10 + a Voodoo/Glide wrapper. BT was abandoned (MechWarrior 4 runs on the current pods); this project revives BT. [T1]

People / goals

arcattack (user): doing the port. NVIDIA 3060 + A6000 dev GPUs.
Nick: owns the pods + the software license (porting is authorized). Runs the pod hardware. The gating dependency — the missing BT source likely lives on his backup drives (see source-completeness).
Goal: run on (a) a modern dev box and (b) the fixed pod hardware. Multiplayer (pod-to-pod) wanted.

Repo orientation (bt411)

This is the clean standalone bt411 repo. README.md + the top-level CMakeLists.txt are the build of record. Tree: engine/ game/ content/ docs/ reference/ tools/ context/. Historical sections in docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md cite old C:/git/nick-games/... paths — treat as provenance; they map into this repo (reconstructed BT → game/reconstructed/, engine → engine/MUNGA{,_L4}/, content → content/, raw decomp → reference/decomp/). [T2]

Current state (2026-08-06) — core gameplay reconstruction COMPLETE; polish phase

Field-tested nightly at 4-8 pods over Steam (builds 4.11.622→801). Authentic + benched: the full SP+MP loop; per-panel mesh-true targeting/damage (+ crits, cylinder lottery, armour darkening); the 1995 SCORING model (kill awards + received penalties + panic cost — the id-0x16 report tail); death (blast/splash, wreck, burial) + respawn (full re-arm audit); locomotion (two-channel gait, gimp limp, knockdowns, CROUCH F4); the night kit (fog-swap SEARCHLIGHT F5 + beam cone); heat/ power/myomers (incl. the seek-4 freeze); replication (masters/replicants, kill/death columns, ghost+skate field detectors); the Steam wire seam + build gate; the operator console/relay lifecycle; gauges/HUD; audio (real OpenAL backend + the AUDIO_FIDELITY trigger waves — footsteps/ gait/alarms/impacts live in the field). [T2] Remaining (polish + infra): the #60 export gap census (NEXT — export-gap blindness has caused 4 wrong conclusions, reconstruction-gotchas §20); VehicleDead killed-by consumption (operator "X killed by Y"); burning-wreck handler (mech-0x17 label mismatch); the id-0x16 type-0 curiosity; MechRIOMapper Keypress @004d2514; marker beacon (LoadObject wrapper stub); DIV firmware intersection routine (deep-cut); deferred ledger items in open-questions. [T2]

Key Relationships

Full detail: docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md.
Enables: everything — see wintesla-port (the base), source-completeness (the gap), build-and-run (how to build).

3.8 KiB Raw Blame History