25-hit MP autofire trace: kick -> damped oscillation -> settle, peaks well
inside clamps, no NaN/drift; measured Y:X frequency ratio 7.75x matches
sqrt(springK.y/springK.x) exactly.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report from the MP/cavern session: the canopy frame rendered flat light
gray -- unlike the dark frames in the polar exports. Root cause: the frame
colour was routed through the LIT material path (Diffuse+Ambient), so it
multiplied with each map's lighting -- polar's dim purple light happened to
look right, cavern-night's ambient 0.8 washed it out to gray.
The canopy is unlit interior structure: the frame batches now go through the
renderer's pure-emissive UNLIT branch (black diffuse + emissive = the frame
colour), constant on every map. The exact original value is not recoverable
(texture-less ramp = no texel luminance to index); default (0.13,0.12,0.15)
[T3] matches the near-black frame in pod gameplay footage.
BT_COP_FRAME="r g b" overrides; BT_COP_RAMP_L retired.
Verified: cavern-night and polar-day now show the identical dark frame.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Community reports said the camera looked too far back and the cockpit frames
were never this revealed; the user's hypothesis (our projection widens the
view) was exactly right. The original Tesla projection call, preserved in a
comment at DPLRenderer::SetView, is
dpl_SetViewProjection(view, -1, -aspect, +1, +aspect, 1/tan(viewangle/2))
i.e. BTDPL.INI's viewangle=60.0 is the HORIZONTAL field of view with the
vertical derived by aspect: the pod's frustum was 60 x 46.8 deg at 4:3. The
port fed the 60 to D3DXMatrixPerspectiveFovRH as the VERTICAL fov -> 75 x 60
at 4:3 (worse on widescreen): the world rendered ~25% farther away and far
more canopy was visible than the pod ever showed.
Fix: BTFovYFromHorizontal(viewangle, aspect) at all five projection sites
(main, per-frame resize, sky pass, WM_SIZE rebuild, fallback) -- the
horizontal field stays the authentic 60 deg at any window shape. The aim
boresight reads the live projection (gBTAimP22) and adapts; combat
re-verified (kill chain, no NaN). Cockpits now show the frames at the
pod's framing: viewports dominant, frames at the periphery.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The user caught the inversion (blocked viewports, see-through frames); the
answer came from the rasterizer board itself: an i860 disassembly of the
VREND.MNG firmware decoded the damageize handler (@0xf040f6f8) -- cmd 0x20
(vr_damage_action) writes the dpl_Punchize token triple onto the punch
geogroup's first three geometry chunks IN FILE ORDER:
chunk1 = the detailed window-aperture shapes -> an invisible per-pixel MASK
chunk2 = the coarse hull -> the ONLY colour-drawn geometry (where not masked)
chunk3 = byte-identical hull twin -> the damage-reset record, never visible
Visible canopy = hull-minus-apertures. Both earlier readings were wrong ways
around the same three chunks: dropping all punch left floating fragments (no
hull); hiding the duplicate pair hid the HULL and drew the MASK -- the exact
inversion observed.
Port: bgfload tags per punch patch {non-paired pmesh = mask (role 1),
first twin = hull (role 2), second twin = skip}; L4D3D DrawMesh runs
mask->stencil-1 (no colour/z-write, z-tested), hull->stencil-NOTEQUAL,
mask->stencil-0; device D24X8 -> D24S8 + stencil clear. The cut never
touches z, so later-drawn entities show through the apertures.
BT_COP_PLATES=1 disables (diag).
In-game, all 8 mechs on pure defaults: connected dark frames with clear
viewports -- thor (the footage mech) shows the central viewport + surrounding
frame exactly as filmed. Combat regression clean (kill + no NaN).
Arena textured punch uses the same firmware kit; the black-texel alpha path
there is a working approximation, flagged in the KB.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The user's observation was right twice over: cockpit elements can't float
disconnected, and the missing punch geometry is STRUCTURE, not glass. The
TRICODER.H decode (dpl_Punchize tokens = {dmg_set, undmg2enbl|texture,
dmg_clear}) shows PUNCH marks geometry for the board's per-triangle DAMAGE
machinery -- battle damage punches holes through it; undamaged it renders
opaque.
The per-mesh discriminator: every *_cop PUNCH patch contains exactly one pair
of BYTE-IDENTICAL duplicate PMESHes -- solid damage-state cover plates, not
visible undamaged structure. Rendering them was the "solid black canopy";
dropping whole punch patches left the floating fragments. The loader now
hides just the within-patch duplicate pairs (FNV hash over the raw pmesh
chunk; BLX duplicates its main lattice ACROSS patches, so cross-patch copies
stay) and renders the rest of the punch lattice opaque, DOUBLE-sided (the old
single-siding + per-face inward winding existed only to fight the plates'
black box; with the plates hidden it was moot and its centroid heuristic was
fragile on the tight canopies -- removed). BT_COP_PLATES=1 shows the plates,
BT_COP_SINGLE=1 restores single-siding (diag).
In-game on pure defaults: madcat dome + connected framed cockpits with window
apertures on bhk1 / owens / sunder / vulture / avatar. Residual: thor + loki
still show an oversized central block vs the offline authored-eye prediction
-- under investigation.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Resolved the non-Madcat blocked views. Rendering every *_COP shell offline
from its mech's AUTHORED eye (SKL [jointeye] translation -- incl. the Thor's
+1.13 offset cockpit) with faces coloured by punch flag showed the answer
plainly: the PUNCH-tagged patches sit exactly over the window apertures in
all 8 mechs. On these texture-less black-diffuse shells dpl_Punchize renders
the tagged geogroup as holes -- the punch patches are the transparent
WINDSHIELDS, and the visible frame is only the non-punch geometry.
The loader now drops the punch batches of _cop meshes (bgfload finish();
BT_COP_KEEPPUNCH=1 keeps them for diagnosis). In-game sweep on pure defaults:
- madcat: the dark dome frame (matches gameplay footage)
- thor / owens / sunder: authentic brace/dash/pillar remnants
- bhk1 / loki / vulture / avatar: authentically FRAMELESS (all-punch
canopies -- the pod showed no frame for those mechs)
(An early-session test that "disproved" drop-punch ran with the broken
pre-inverse eye; its conclusion was wrong and is corrected in the KB.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Re-disassembled the unexported gap 0x4b2980-0x4b2d8b byte-exact (capstone over
section_dump.txt) and reconstructed Gyroscope::ApplyDamageResponse:
- zero-damage + Collision(type 0) no-op; hit direction = Damage::damageForce
or a RANDOM horizontal fallback when ~zero (per-component sign roll then
value roll -- binary-legal until senders fill damageForce)
- direction rotated by the yaw-only torso-twist frame (placeRot=(0,twist,0)
-> euler->matrix, the FUN_00408744 raw row-dot reproduced verbatim)
- per-type scaling amount / damageMultiplier[type] * damageResponse[type]
.{trans,pitchRoll,yaw,vibration}; Explosive alone multiplies burstCount;
each clamped at 1.3f
- four kicks: impulse(trans, dir), torque(pitchRoll, dir), impulse(vibration,
vibrationDirection@0x390) and verticalImpulse(yaw, dir)
Layout corrections (byte-verified): gyro+0x390 is ONE Vector3D vibration axis
init (0,1,0) -- was mis-split as scalars animationOffset/Scale/Phase; mech
+0x5c4 is a FLOAT rumble-period countdown (gyroRumbleTimer) -- was mis-typed
int clipLoadGuard.
Call sites wired (binary-gated):
- take-damage hub: mech.cpp TakeDamageMessageHandler, FIRST action (@0x4a0264
in hub FUN_004a0230) -- an invalid-zone hit still bounces
- crushable-icon crunch: mech4.cpp, torque 0.4 along the bounce delta-v + up
impulse 0.2 (@4aa81e/@4aa86c)
- firing recoil: projweap.cpp FireWeapon, damage>3 -> impulse (0,0.6,-1.5)
x damage/16 (@4bc136-4bc19c) via the new Mech::GetGyroSubsystem accessor
DEFERRED (recorded in KB with the byte recipe): the alternate-gait engage
jolt + 0.4s rumble (@4aa158-4aa365) -- its gates are [T3]-flagged and it
mutates the #49/#50-stabilized gait machine.
Verified live: [gyro-dmg] fires per hit with correct type scaling; eyePosition
shows the damped bounce (ramp to ~0.015u, oscillating Y, decay to zero); kill
chain un-regressed; no NaN.
Also recorded in KB: the OFFSET-COCKPIT verification -- Thor's authored
jointeye tranx=+1.13 matches its canopy X-center exactly AND our in-game eye
reproduces it to the hundredth (the placement model is correct per-mech); and
the playable roster is 8 models (strider/raptor/firstrtr/blkjack have assets
but no model resource -- BT_FORCE_MODEL with those names = NULL-resource AV,
cdb-verified, not a code bug).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The Gyroscope subsystem is LIVE again (was a stub since the NaN revert).
Reconstructed byte-exact from @004b3778 / @004b2ec0 / @004b30ec / @004b33e0 /
@004b34ec + the byte-verified dispatch in the unexported Mech performance
FUN_004a9b5c (calls @0x4aaf74/0x4aaf83):
- ctor field map corrected: springConstant@0x1E8 / dampingConstant@0x1F4 were
mislabelled (the old 'eyeOrientation = r->springConstant' poison line), the
0x254-0x2B3 block (externalPitchPtr, work matrix, placement) was missing so
everything after was mis-offset, and clamps/accumulators were 0xCD fill --
every field now initialised per the binary; 33 offsets static_assert-locked,
sizeof == 0x3D0 exact
- integrators: state-minus-target displacements, componentwise damping
OVERWRITE (FUN_004086d0 is a component multiply, not a cross), position step
without dt, clamp to [posSpring, negSpring]; IntegrateBody's X/Z-crossed
force + integration terms
- writers: WriteMechJoint drives ONE node ('jointeye', type 5): TRANSLATION =
eyePosition spring, ROTATION = bodyOrientation spring; WriteEyeJoint is a
multiplicative sway attenuator on 'jointlocal' (post-anim only)
- dispatch moved out of GyroscopeSimulation into the Mech performance tail
(GyroFrameJointWrite bridge, mech4.cpp) with the binary gates; gyro<->torso
pitch link wired (gyro+0x258 = &torso currentTwist) via complete-type-TU
bridges, retiring the SubProxy::linkTarget landmine
- Mech ctor: deathAnimationLatched/legResetLatch were never initialised --
0xCDCDCDCD gated the writers off silently
Runtime-verified: joints resolve (both BallTranslation), Performance installs,
WriteMechJoint finite from frame 0 (no NaN), Madcat cockpit un-regressed,
combat targeting healthy. Empirical: spring targets are SYMMETRIC -> eye
equilibrium (0,0,0), clamps +/-0.1-0.15u -- the gyro is the hit-BOUNCE
mechanism, not a steady eye offset (hypothesis disproven, recorded in KB).
Pending (task #56 tail): the damage->gyro fan-out FUN_004b2980 (unexported
gap) so hits actually kick the springs; the mech+0x3F0 overspeed sway model;
the torso-pitch EyepointRotation writer (FUN_004b66b4) + glance-look states.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The first-person cockpit now shows by default and matches gameplay footage
(verified on the Madcat). Two decomp-verified reconstructions:
EYEPOINT (FUN_004579a8 + caller part_014.c:5525, FUN_004c22c4):
- eye offset = siteeyepoint GetBaseOffset (not GetSegmentToEntity, not the
upright hack), parented on the PARENT segment DCS (btl4vid.cpp)
- live view = affine INVERSE of the eye world matrix (L4VIDRND Execute) --
replaces the hand-rolled LookAtRH whose +Z-forward/+Y-up row guess aimed
some mechs into the canopy; combine order fixed to baseOffset * R
- chase camera basis + aim boresight re-expressed for the inverse convention
(row2 = back); boresight now derives from the view matrix (the stale rows
aimed the pick ray at the sky = no target, no discharge)
CANOPY (*_COP.BGF, dpl_Punchize geogroups):
- every shell is an open strut lattice (38-59% boundary edges, all 12 mechs);
rendered single-sided with per-face INWARD winding (l/r torso patches are
mirrored, so no global winding works) the struts are the dark frame and the
openings show the world
- frame colour = the 'softer' ramp near its dark end (texture-less unlit ramp;
BLXSKIN.BMF has no texture -- the old "punch texels" theory was wrong)
- scoped by filename (meshIsCop); wrong drop-punch + view-cut paths removed
- BT_FORCE_MODEL=<name> forces the player mech for per-mech bring-up
KB: new context/cockpit-view.md topic; punch split corrected in bgf-format;
gotchas 14 (LookAt axis guess) + 15 (per-patch edge namespaces); env gates +
eye/punch addresses in decomp-reference.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Scouted the "-net node render glitch". Two prior framings were wrong and are
corrected in the KB: it is NOT device contention (retracted earlier), and it is
NOT a from-load glitch -- the trigger is a RESPAWN (user correction). It's a
post-respawn render-rebuild fault on the MP path.
Could not reproduce in 9 automated 2-node loads + a forced death/respawn (all
clean). Debug uninit is a deterministic 0xCDCDCDCD, so the intermittency implies
a race -- and the task #52 respawn fixes (LoadMission re-entry, viewpoint relink,
death-latch) plausibly already closed it. Parked as WATCH; re-open if it recurs.
Tooling (general, off by default): BT_SHOT=<path> dumps a per-instance backbuffer
PNG from the world-render path (L4VIDEO.cpp) every 90 frames -- lets us capture a
specific node's frame without foregrounding the window. Used with
scratchpad/hunt53.sh (N-run divergence hunter) to verify a fix if the glitch
returns.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The death/respawn "blue whirlwind" (tsphere) now matches the original cabinet
photo (capture.png): a smooth spinning lavender vortex with a bright core.
Root cause of the long-standing "radial spokes" artifact was NOT the warp code
but a general engine bug: L4D3D::SetTextureScrolling computed its texture-matrix
offset as scrollDelta * absolute_time, which grows unbounded and collapses UV
float precision -> a smooth scrolled cloud shatters into grainy radial steps.
Wrapped with fmodf(..., 1.0f) (identical under REPEAT tiling, full precision).
This also cleans the scrolling bexp beam grit and any other SCROLL material.
Visual reconstruction (verified against the real 45-vtx TSPHERE.BGF bicone,
offline-rasterized then ported):
- view ON-AXIS (eye centred on the throat) + spin in place -> concentric rings
(decomp FUN_00453dc4 does spin-about-local-Z + submit; the port had stubbed it)
- bintA cloud through a WIDE lavender ramp at full contrast (drawn as SKY);
no geometry "bands", no log-polar twist, no off-axis tornado (all discarded)
- tessellate the 12-facet bicone smooth; isotropic + trilinear; ramp baked into
the texture and drawn SELECTARG1(TEXTURE) to avoid double-tinting
Env knobs (BT_WARP_*) default to the verified values; BT_WARP_SELFTEST/SELFSHOT
are an off-by-default visual-verification harness (backbuffer frame dump).
Docs: new context/translocation-warp.md (geometry/material/visual/lifecycle/env);
reconstruction-gotchas.md gains the accumulated-time precision-collapse bug class;
rendering.md / multiplayer.md / decomp-reference.md / CLAUDE.md cross-linked.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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>
Four fixes for the user's "static / above the viewport / cavern clips it / doesn't
shoot off" report, each root-caused:
1. STATIC swirl -> now animates. The material's SCROLL (0.0 0.0 0.1 0.5) only
reaches the draw via a per-texture .met file (L4D3D.cpp:640) that tsphere lacks,
and the ramp-bake path leaves doScroll=false -- so the swirl was frozen. Set the
authored scroll rates (u -0.1/s, v +0.5/s) + REPEAT wrap on the sphere's draw-ops
at load, so SetTextureScrolling churns the swirl (the "spins around").
2. "Above the viewport" -> recenter. tsphere.bgf is modelled with its centre at
y=+8.25 (logged: center=(0,8.25,0.47) r=21.5); scaled x100-150 that threw the
sphere ~1000 units overhead. Translate the mesh's mCullCenter to the origin
before scaling so it sits ON the eye/anchor. (Added public-ish mCullCenter use;
l4d3d.h already exposes it.)
3. Cavern clip -> Z-test off. The arena is an enclosed cavern; a depth-tested 150x
sphere gets occluded by the ceiling/walls. Draw the POV overlay with ZENABLE off
(ZWRITE already off, so no depth pollution). BT_WARP_ZTEST=1 restores it.
4. "Fades in then disappears" -> expand-only. A respawn now starts in the EXPAND
phase (1->150 over 1s) so the swirl immediately bursts and blasts outward ("shoots
off into the distance"). The collapse (100->1) is the DEATH warp, not the
respawn. BT_WARP_COLLAPSE=1 plays the full collapse->expand.
Build + render + no-crash verified 2-node; expand warp fires POV/world. Still
deferred: the SetIsDead world-mask (black-out that makes the expand "reveal" the
world) -- carries the camera-coupling risk, add scoped if wanted.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Deep-dived the authentic engine effect (L4VIDRND.cpp POVTranslocateRenderable, T0)
and reworked our one-shot to match it, fixing the user's "blob from my own POV /
not aligned to my orientation" + "gray, not blue" reports:
1. PLACEMENT was the misalignment. The engine parents the sphere to the VTV/eye
("rotated and scaled around the VTV", L4VIDRND.cpp:1812) -- it is centered on and
oriented to the viewpoint. We world-fixed it at the mech's feet, so from your own
camera it sat off-axis and, once expanded, engulfed the eye as a shapeless blob.
Now: the own-respawn warp (BTStartWarpEffectPOV, from btplayer) uses
world = Scale(s) * inverse(view) -> centered on + carried by your eye (the tunnel
wraps you). Observing a PEER (BTStartWarpEffect from mechdmg) stays world-anchored
at the peer's point.
2. GEOMETRY SPIN was inauthentic. myRotateY/myRotateYSpeed are set in the engine
ctor but NEVER applied -- the swirl's rotation is entirely the material's texture
SCROLL (bintA, SCROLL 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.5). Dropped our world-Y geometry spin.
3. COLOR (gray) fixed at the source. The blue/white is the "sky" RAMP remapping the
grayscale bintA cloud per-texel (argb=lerp(0,0,0.6 -> .99,.99,.99, luminance),
L4D3D.cpp:480). The port bakes exactly this but GATED it off for normal-bearing
meshes; tsphere has normals so it arrived raw gray, and a MODULATE tint can't add
the blue floor (it only multiplies) -> the wash-out. Un-gate the ramp for
tsphere_mtl (bgfload.cpp) so the bound texture is already the blue-white swirl;
draw it MODULATE by white (no tint), alpha from TFACTOR.
4. SCALE to authentic 100 (collapse) / 150 (expand end) -- correct now that it's
eye-centered (you're meant to be inside it as it collapses through you and blasts
back open, the "blast off into the distance").
Still deferred (higher risk / SimulationState-coupling trap): the WaitForReincarnate
Lissajous wobble + the SetIsDead world-mask (black-out during the dead hold). Noted
for follow-up; the placement/color/motion are the parts the user flagged.
Smoke-verified 2-node: own respawn logs POV(eye), observer logs world-anchored, no
crash. BT_WARP_ADDITIVE / BT_WARP_COLOR / BT_WARP_SCALE remain as live tuning knobs.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Three respawn-visual bugs the user saw, each grounded in the engine/decomp:
1. Warp = flat blue BLOB, not the demo's swirly blue/light-blue/white shimmer.
Ground truth (content/VIDEO/MAT/DAY/BTFX.VMF): tsphere_mtl = a SCROLLING bintA
texture (tsphere_scr_tex, SPECIAL SCROLL) + EMISSIVE {0.7,0.5,1} + RAMP "sky"
(dark-blue->white). The swirl IS the scrolling texture; the colour is the
emissive/ramp. Our draw did COLOROP=SELECTARG1/ARG1=TFACTOR, which REPLACES
every texel with one flat colour -> the blob. Fix: MODULATE the (bound,
scrolling) texture by a TFACTOR set to the authentic EMISSIVE hue (0xB380FF)
so the swirl survives and reads blue-white. DrawMesh's cached SetTexture
(L4D3D.cpp:1215) leaves our MODULATE ops standing since textured meshes drew
first. Additive glow, all state saved/restored.
2. First-person view BLACK on the dying/respawning mech until V. SetViewInside's
body-hide + '_cop' canopy suppression + viewSkeleton update were gated !wrecked,
and RebuildMechRenderables (respawn un-wreck) restored the full OUTSIDE torso
with no '_cop' rule -> the cockpit eyepoint ended up wrapped in opaque geometry.
Fix: factor the per-segment mesh selection into ApplyViewSkeleton(viewpoint,
inside) shared by SetViewInside AND RebuildMechRenderables, so respawn re-asserts
the inside skeleton + '_cop' hide; record viewSkeleton even while wrecked. Only
the mech the local camera views FROM gets the inside treatment (a replicant is
always outside).
3. OBSERVER never saw the peer respawn -- the peer's wreck sat forever. The wreck
appears incidentally via rising damage-zone replication -> MechDeathHandler::Tick
-> BTRemakeMechModel (one-way). The un-wreck+warp ran master-only in Mech::Reset.
Fix (reuses the existing damage channel, no stream-framing change): Mech::Reset
also ForceUpdate(DamageZoneUpdateModelFlag) so healed zones cross; Tick handles
the FALLING edge -- on a ReplicantInstance whose zone heals from destroyed, call
BTRebuildMechModel + BTStartWarpEffect once (wasWrecked latch). This is the port
analog of the binary's type-0 graphic-state -> ResetPose un-wreck hook
(Mech::ReadUpdateRecord case 0); the full Mech::WriteUpdateRecord death record
(type 6) is deferred (would touch the netcode framing).
Smoke-verified headless (2-node): victim respawns intact + warp; observer logs
"replicant un-wrecked + warp" at the peer's spawn point; no crash.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Two render bugs behind "warp never appears" + "respawned mech stays a sunk wreck":
1. Warp invisible: the tsphere was drawn in PASS_ALPHABLEND, but DrawMesh skips
any op whose alphaTest != (pass==PASS_ALPHABLEND) (L4D3D.cpp:1045) and
tsphere's op is opaque -> every op skipped, nothing drawn. Flag the sphere's
ops for the alpha pass, and draw it as an explicit translucent-blue ADDITIVE
glow (state saved+restored) so it reads as a warp shimmer, not an opaque ball
or (as shipped) nothing. Tint via BT_WARP_COLOR.
2. Render stays wrecked on respawn: SwapToWreck hides the body + hangs a sinking
dbr hulk with render_tree.wrecked a one-way latch; Mech::Reset healed the sim
but nothing reversed the render, so the reborn mech kept rendering as the sunk
hulk. Add RebuildMechRenderables (the heal direction of RemakeEntity): drop the
hulk/debris, clear wrecked, restore every body segment to its now-intact mesh.
Mech::Reset calls it via BTRebuildMechModel.
Smoke-verified: tsphere loads with its op alpha-flagged; on each respawn
"[BTrender] respawn: rebuilt intact model (12 segs restored, hulk dropped)"; no
crash. Both are local render (the respawning node's own screen); remote-observer
replication of the warp+un-wreck rides the deferred WriteUpdateRecord death path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The respawn glitches (2 mechs, on-fire respawn, camera-inside, can't-control,
wreck-never-disappears) all traced to one architectural divergence: our respawn
SEVERED playerVehicle on death and CREATED a new mech, leaving the old as a
permanent wreck and building a duplicate viewpoint whose old render tree was
never torn down.
The authentic engine (FUN_0049fb74 + RPPlayer) REUSES the same mech entity: on
respawn Mech::Reset heals it and moves it in place. Implemented faithfully,
adapted to our layout (the 1995 raw offsets map to different 2007 engine fields,
so reset the equivalent named members, not the offsets):
- Mech::Reset (real, was a reposition-only stub): reposition + kill dead-reckon
(projectedOrigin/projectedVelocity/updateVelocity + our relocated gait
accumulators) so the replicant stops lerping to the death spot; clear the
death latch (movementMode=1, graphicAlarm=0); Heal every damage zone
(new Mech__DamageZone::Heal: full structure, intact skin); DeathReset
(vtable+0x28) every subsystem; ForceUpdate to broadcast.
- btplayer.cpp: VehicleDead no longer severs playerVehicle; the respawn re-post
gates on the mech still being dead; DropZoneReply resets the EXISTING mech in
place (heal+move) instead of creating a new one, then fires the warp. Warp
moved to the shared placement (initial drop-in + respawn).
Verified 2-node: mech entity ID stays 3:22 across 3 deaths (reused, not a new
3:32); each Reset logs alive=1, 20 zones healed, 33 subsystems reset; A sees ONE
mech (no wreck+new pair). Warp fires each respawn.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Pulsing the player's SimulationState (DropZoneAcquired->Translocated) to trigger
the translocation sphere regressed everything else that dial drives in our
reconstruction -- the camera flipped to inside-view, targeting/firing gated off,
shadow pass glitched. That dial is load-bearing; co-opting it was wrong.
Replace with a self-contained render one-shot: btplayer.cpp respawn calls
BTStartWarpEffect(dropZoneOrigin); the effect plays its own collapse->expand and
touches nothing but the render. No SetSimulationState, no DropZoneLocation write,
no per-entity renderable walk (the tree's BTTranslocationRenderable objects are
now inert). Scale capped 30/40 (authentic 100/150) so the sphere -- centred on
your own reinsertion -- doesn't envelop the camera; tunable via BT_WARP_SCALE.
Smoke-verified 2-node: warp fires on each respawn (collapse 31->5, expand ->35),
repeats, respawn cycle intact, no crash. Camera/targeting restored (state pulse
gone).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
BTTranslocationRenderable was a no-op stub; now reconstructed over the engine's
POVTranslocateRenderable: loads tsphere.bgf and runs a collapse-on-arrival /
expand-on-reveal sphere (scale 100->1 over 1.3s, then 1->150 over 1.0s, rotating)
keyed on the player's SimulationState dial. Drawn direct from the render loop by
BTDrawTranslocationSpheres (beside BTDrawBeams, PASS_ALPHABLEND) -- the same
accommodation the beams/reticle use.
The asset loads by FILENAME (tsphere.bgf), not through the RES table -- which is
why every resource-name search missed the effect for three rounds.
Trigger wiring: btl4vid.cpp MakeEntityRenderables builds the sphere for the LOCAL
player (the authentic wiring builds it only for replicants + a POV fade for self,
but peer player-attribute replication isn't wired -- on a replicant SimulationState/
DropZoneLocation read uninitialised). btplayer.cpp pulses SimulationState
DropZoneAcquired->VehicleTranslocated at respawn (a 1.4s flip timer stands in for
the engine's +1s drop-zone re-post) and writes the respawn origin into the
DropZoneLocation attribute.
Verified 2-node (BT_TLOC_LOG): on respawn the sphere collapses (~100->5) then
expands (->150) at the valid drop-zone origin, deduped to <=2 active, respawn
cycle un-regressed, no render errors. Visual appearance (colour/size) still needs
a live look; the authentic see-others'-spheres path needs player replication.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
My earlier 'not a shipped asset' verdict was wrong. The effect is POVTranslocateRenderable
(engine) / BTTranslocationRenderable (our port), which loads tsphere.bgf BY FILENAME (not via
the RES table, so every resource-name search missed it) and runs a collapse-on-death /
expand-on-respawn sphere keyed on the SimulationState dial. Wiring already exists in
btl4vid.cpp; the renderable is a no-op stub in btstubs.cpp. That's why it never shows.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Searched the full pod install (nick-games/tesla4pod_extracted REL410/BT;
BTL4.RES byte-identical to ours) and the whole nick-games archive: no
whirl/warp/tunnel/vortex asset by filename or RES resource name, no such
psfx in BTDPL.INI. The decomp drop path (DropZoneReply FUN_004bffd0) fires
no effect — only Mech::Reset + the level-2 "translocated" cockpit alarm.
BTPLAYER source is absent from all archives (binary-only). RP411 analog
uses InitialStasisFlag (sim gate, no visual). Verdict: the pod build's
respawn is mech-redrop + translocated alarm; the "blue whirlwind" is not
a shipped REL410 asset.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Death transition (mech4) now dispatches VehicleDead(-1) to the owning
player; BTPlayer::VehicleDeadMessageHandler restructured to the authentic
@004c05c4 three-way branch: -1 = death bookkeeping + sever playerVehicle
(wreck stays) + 5s re-post; >=0 = engine drop-zone hunt -> DropZoneReply
-> CreatePlayerVehicle (new mech); -2 = the acquire probe. Guarded on a
DropZones group so a zone-less mission stays dead instead of aborting.
Three latent bugs the respawn path exposed, all fixed:
- IsMechDestroyed latched on graphicAlarm>=9 alone; a later leg hit on the
wreck rewrites the alarm to 4/3, un-latching -> the death transition
re-ran (double kill/score, abort). Now latches on movementMode 2||9.
- Score handlers dereferenced the severed playerVehicle during the dead
window; guarded.
- The console score flush routed a NetworkClient::Message through the
player's Entity::Dispatch, which stamps entityID past the smaller struct
-> /RTC1 stack overflow. Sent via application->SendMessage instead.
- Renderer LoadMission re-entry (per viewpoint-make) re-read the env INI;
its light block Fail'd on stale sceneLightCount. Reset it in
DPLReadEnvironment so the respawn's second read is clean.
Verified 2-node self-drive: B killed repeatedly by A respawns each time
(wreck stays), ticks + reloads + takes fresh damage on the new mech, no
abort/hang across multiple death->respawn cycles.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report from 2-window play: after dying, the pilot could still steer the
wreck around invisibly. Zero throttle/turn/fire and the forced harnesses at
the gBTDrive source when IsMechDestroyed() -- deliberately INPUT-only, so the
gait/animation machinery keeps running and the death collapse plays out.
Also recorded in the KB: the killer's screen shows the wreck SWAP but not the
death SINK (needs the Mech-level death/knockdown update records, disasm
preserved from task #51), and the respawn-cycle scouting (type-12 intro
scripts are binary ref-records; adrop; DropZone + Mech::Reset machinery) for
the recovery-whirlwind reconstruction (task #52).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report: lasers only visible on the window firing them. The peer's
replicant emitters never learned the master fired.
THE AUTHENTIC PIPE (decomp-verified):
- FUN_0041c350 (the "beam keepalive" ServiceDischarge/ContinueDischarge call)
does TWO things: queue the LOCAL deferred beam-effect callback (@0x4bac0c)
on the app+0x34 manager -- our per-weapon render walk already plays that
role -- and set the subsystem DIRTY bit, which maps to the 2007 engine's
updateModel / ForceUpdate().
- Replication rides SUBSYSTEM UPDATE RECORDS inside the mech's update message:
the roster walk already hands the entity's stream to every subsystem's
PerformAndWatch; Simulation::WriteSimulationUpdate serializes each requested
updateModel bit; Entity::UpdateMessageHandler routes received records by
subsystemID to the subsystem's ReadUpdateRecord. All engine machinery --
the missing pieces were the Emitter's serialize/apply pair + the triggers.
CORRECTIONS to the dormant task-33-era transcriptions (never exercised --
nothing ever set updateModel -- so the latent misreads never surfaced):
- The weapon-family VTABLE SLOT MAP was swapped: slot 6 = ReadUpdateRecord,
7 = WriteUpdateRecord, 9 = TakeDamage (evidence: Mech hierarchy symmetry +
body semantics; @004ba568 resolves an EntityID at rec+0x30 through the
entity index -- record semantics, not Damage). Renamed across MechWeapon /
Emitter / ProjectileWeapon; the real Emitter::TakeDamage @004bafc8 is
undecoded (inherits MechWeapon for now).
- Emitter/MechWeapon Write: `*record = 0x38/0x18` is the record LENGTH, not
recordID; rec+0x30 is the TARGET's EntityID (GetEntityID()), not a colour --
the old `CopyColor(targetEntity+0x184)` was also a databinding trap.
- OVERRIDE-SIGNATURE TRAP: the decls used each class's own shadowing
UpdateRecord typedef as the param type, silently NOT overriding the engine
virtual (the base ran instead; nothing would ever have serialized).
Base-typed params (Simulation__UpdateRecord*), casts inside.
- Emitter::ReadUpdateRecord reconstructed (@004ba568): target EntityID resolve
(drop unknown non-null targets), MechWeapon alarm apply chain, beam fields.
- ServiceDischarge/ContinueDischarge: ForceUpdate() per keepalive tick + one
final record at beam end (turns the peer's beam off).
- Mech::DrawWeaponBeams extracted from the player-only drive block so the walk
runs for REPLICANTS (+ per-mech gun-port cache -- the process-wide statics
would have served the player's segment pointers as the replicant's muzzles).
VERIFIED 2-node: A fires 57 volleys -> 225 emitter records -> B applies all
225 -> B draws 414 beams (PPC blue / laser red, from A's replicant's own gun
ports). Solo un-regressed (150 beams, kill chain, no crash).
Also preserved: the full Mech::WriteUpdateRecord @0x4a0c2c recovery
(reference/decomp/mech_writeupdate_004a0c2c.disasm.txt) with all 9 record
types decoded (pose/alarm/leg-state+heat with the body-channel write-through
re-sync, knockdown, death, impact, movementMode) -- transcription deferred;
it replicates remote knockdown/death/heat and was not needed for beams.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report from the first live 2-window session: throttle worked, A/D turn
did nothing. [mppr] showed the input REACHING the mapper (stickX=-1) but
turnDemand=0 and controlMode = pointer garbage (73583232 / 217478632 --
different per instance), from frame 1, MP only (solo mode=0).
Hunted with a cdb hardware write-breakpoint (ba w4 armed at ctor time on
&controlMode, compiled offset +0x128 from the [mode-ctor] probe). Caught the
writers red-handed: MechControlsMapper::BuildPilotArray / FillPilotArray.
ROOT CAUSE -- a shrunk-span array: the binary reserves a FIXED 10-slot pilot
block @0x15C..0x183 ((pilotArrayBuilt@0x184 - 0x15C)/4 = 10); the recon
declared `Pilot *pilotArray[1]` ("variable length"), so every write past
slot 0 stomps the members declared after it. In MP, FillPilotArray wrote the
PEER's Player pointer into slot 1 = over controlMode -> the turn shaping
dispatched on pointer garbage -> turnDemand 0. MASKED in solo: the zero-loop
overrun wrote 0 there, and 0 == BasicMode. This was ALSO the real cause of
task #48's "turnDemand zeroes out in -net" observation (worked around then
with the direct goto-turn; attribution corrected in the KB).
Fix: pilotArray sized to the binary's own 10-slot span; ctor zeroes all
slots; BuildPilotArray clamps pilotCount to capacity (local + 9 remotes; an
8-pod game fits). Diagnostics kept (BT_MODE_LOG ctor probe; [mppr] line now
prints mapper/&mode).
VERIFIED: MP session holds mode=0 throughout, turnDemand flows nonzero, the
mech turns (heading -1.33) and closes on the peer; solo kill chain intact.
KB: new "shrunk-span array" gotcha (reconstruction-gotchas 5) with the cdb
ba-w4 recipe; multiplayer.md task-#48 note corrected.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A peer's replicant mech slid around as a frozen statue: DeadReckon moved
localOrigin but nothing animated the legs. Reconstruct the replicated-motion
display loop: after DeadReckon, derive a SIGNED speed demand from the
replicated velocity (the master publishes worldLinearVelocity in every update
record, Mover::WriteUpdateRecord MOVER.cpp:759; the replicant stores it in
updateVelocity.linearMotion :712; sign = forward dot against the -Z facing),
write it to controlsMapper->speedDemand (the LEG channel's live demand
source), and advance the LEG state machine for its JOINT writes only --
travel stays with DeadReckon, so position always follows the master and the
clip cadence matches the replicated speed.
Two replicant-only initialization holes found live (the master's equivalents
are primed per-frame in the PLAYER-only drive block):
- globalTimeScale/idleStrideScale read 0 -> clip advance time dt*0, the leg
machine engaged (state 11) but the clip froze (legCycle stuck 0);
- reverseSpeedMax2 (the run-cycle rise-clamp @0x7a0; LoadLocomotionClips does
NOT set it) read debug-heap garbage -> legCycleSpeed clamped to -4.3e8 on
entering run state 13. Primed both; legCycleSpeed sane-banded once.
VERIFIED 2-node (BT_GOTO driver + BT_REPL_LOG observer): the replicant runs
the full gait lifecycle -- stand -> walk(5,7) -> run(10,12), legCycle 7.5->34
tracking the master's speed, wind-down(8), Standing(0) when the master stops.
Solo un-regressed (goto->aim->kill chain intact, no crash).
projectedVelocity source-swap (the binary publishes the BODY channel's
smoothed projection instead of the actual travel velocity) evaluated and
DEFERRED: it risks a verified working replication feed for a smoothing
nuance; recorded in multiplayer.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report: the shadow broke MID-SESSION -- suddenly solid opaque black and
buried on any slope. The session log pinned the trigger: pressing V. The
view toggle (SetViewInside) RELOADS every segment mesh through the object
loader and swaps them into the render tree -- including blh_tshd.bgf -- and
the reload path never called SetIsShadow(1) (only the original tree-build
call site tagged it). Untagged, the entire shadow pipeline disengages: no
translucent TFACTOR state block (solid black), no depth bias (buried), wrong
pass. The damage-swap reloads had the same hole.
Fix: tag *tshd* filenames in LoadObjectBGF itself, next to the existing
all-shadow-material detector (which misses the mech proxy -- plain black
material, not shadow_mtl). Every load path -- build, damage swap, view
toggle -- now yields a tagged object; the drawOps alphaTest routing reads
the flag downstream. User-verified live: the shadow survives repeated V
toggles, translucent and slope-correct.
This also likely explains the RECURRING "shadow vanishes on inclines"
reports: any V toggle silently broke it; every relaunch "fixed" it. KB
(locomotion.md): loader-level tag recorded as co-dependent part 5 of the
shadow arrangement; the vanish-diagnostic note now lists all three causes
(reload untag / gait desync / genuine burial) with check-first guidance.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report: the ground shadow painted OVER the mech's feet. Root cause: the
flat quad + big depth-bias (-0.004 ~= 2-4 world units) workaround for slope
burial -- a bias big enough to beat the TERRAIN also beat the FEET in the
depth test, and the shadow drew in the late alpha-blend pass (after the mech),
so z-arbitration was the only layering control.
Fix, four co-dependent parts (user-verified live: feet on top, opaque,
survives inclines/declines):
- TILT (mech.cpp UpdateShadowJoint): apply the SKL's own contract for
jointshadow ("apply terrain angle to pitch and roll") -- quad up aligned to
the surface normal via an orthonormal basis fed to the ENGINE's own
LinearMatrix->EulerAngles conversion. Hand-derived Euler signs are exactly
how the prior tilt attempts "dug into the hillside"; the engine conversion
is convention-proof. ~35 deg cliff-guard cap.
- SAMPLER (mech4.cpp): surface gradient from the collision probes PLUS
BTVisualGroundLift per probe -- the quad hugs the VISIBLE terrain, whose
lift varies across a slope; world->local rotation by the TRUE yaw from
localToWorld, not the drift-prone gDriveHeading mirror (the task-#48 bug
class). BT_SHADOW_LOG traces the normals.
- DRAW ORDER (new PASS_SHADOW, l4d3d.h/L4VIDRND/L4VIDEO): shadows draw
between the STATIC terrain and the DYNAMIC opaque bodies -- the classic
decal order. The mech, drawn after, z-passes over the shadow: the bias
can never paint the shadow over the feet, structurally.
- BIAS pairing (L4D3D.cpp): tilt on (default) -> decal epsilon -0.0008;
BT_SHADOW_TILT=0 flat fallback -> the old -0.004. BT_SHADOW_BIAS overrides.
KB (locomotion.md): the four-part arrangement recorded as co-dependent, with
the gait-desync-symptom diagnostic hint retained.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The shadow report was a desync symptom, not a bias/tilt bug: the ~2-4 unit
depth-bias margin is tight enough that v4's out-of-phase leg pose showing
through could push the flat quad under a slope. No shadow code changed;
both symptoms cleared together. Noted as a diagnostic hint (check
[sync]/BT_SYNC_LOG before touching bias/tilt for this report class).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User-reported recurrence of "legs stutter and lose sync". Live [sync] showed
advSum/legSum drifting 5->92 during walk-up churn, then locking. Reproduced
headlessly (BT_FORCE_OSC throttle feathering + BT_FORCE_TURN + the new
per-frame BT_SYNC_LOG probe) and root-caused in two parts:
- SEED: the bring-up turn-in-place trigger arms only the LEG channel, so the
walk re-entry lands one frame apart -> a persistent clip phase offset.
- AMPLIFIER: with offset clips the two end-of-clip callbacks fire on different
frames; a demand change landing between them picks DIFFERENT next states
(one channel winds down, the other keeps walking) -> opposite-phase churn
(observed bs=6 ls=7 -- body on walk-R, leg on walk-L).
Under v4 (display+travel = BODY) the out-of-phase LEG pose showed through on
every frame the body didn't write joints (Standing/wind-down) = the visible
stutter/pop.
DISASM GROUND TRUTH (neither Advance fn has a static decomp caller; found by
byte-scanning the CODE section for e8 calls):
- master perf (0x4a9b5c gap) -> AdvanceLegAnimation @0x4aa399 (air @0x4aa388)
-> -dist/dt into localVelocity (+0x1cc): the LEG drives LOCAL travel and
(writing last) the displayed pose;
- IntegrateMotion (0x4ab1c8, body advance @0x4ab312, caller FUN_004ab430 =
the projected-origin updater) -> -dist/dt into projectedVelocity (+0x2a0):
the BODY is the dead-reckoning PROJECTOR -- locally invisible.
v4's reading of FUN_004ab430 as the travel source was wrong.
FIX: advance body FIRST (projection; its writes get overwritten), leg LAST
(displayed pose); travel = legAdv under the two-channel split. Display ==
travel through the LEG by construction -- body-channel drift can no longer
become visible, structurally (not by input-symmetry luck).
Verified: trn+feathering repro clean; straight drive locked (adv==proj);
solo goto=enemy kill chain intact; MP 2-node drive-to-range cross-pod kill
intact (241 hits, DESTROYED); no crashes. KB corrected (locomotion.md roles
+ P3_LOCOMOTION.md v5 entry). New gated instruments: BT_SYNC_LOG,
BT_FORCE_OSC.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The BT_GOTO beeline never actually closed on a target -- three separate faults:
1. It was gated behind `if(gBTDrive.forced)`, and `forced` was set ONLY by
BT_AUTODRIVE -- a chicken-and-egg where the block that would drive was gated
on the drive already being on. So BT_GOTO alone just turned in place (the
"stall"). Fix: BT_GOTO enables forced mode itself AND supplies its own
forward throttle (a beeline must drive, not only steer), cutting the throttle
inside a stop radius (weapon range for "enemy", so it holds + shoots).
2. Steering used the gDriveHeading SCALAR MIRROR (seeded to 0), but MP pilots
spawn facing a non-zero heading -> it steered the WRONG way. Fix: heading
error from the mech's ACTUAL forward (localToWorld's -Z axis), signed angle
to the target.
3. The goto turn was routed through controlsMapper->turnDemand, which zeroes out
in -net mode (the mapper key-bridge only shapes the local viewpoint mech
there) -- the heading froze and A drove straight past B. Fix: apply the goto
turn to the orientation integration DIRECTLY (if gBTGotoActive, turn=
gBTGotoTurn), after the mapper read.
Verified 2-node one-box: A with BT_GOTO="enemy" ALONE (no autodrive) drives
dist 1673->231m, holds at weapon range, mechPicks=59, autofire -> B hdlr=192,
DESTROYED -- a fully automated human-style cross-pod KILL via the real beam
path (not the FORCE_DMG hook). Solo un-regressed (plain autodrive still drives;
goto="enemy" resolves the enemy, mechPicks=59, no crash). BT_GOTO_LOG traces
the beeline.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The aim/pick ray was the active RENDER EYE's view direction, which made a
mech unable to aim at a distant enemy:
(a) it inherited the mech BODY pitch -- on a slope the body tilts ~8 deg to
conform to terrain, so the boresight pointed that far DOWN and the pick
ray hit the ground ~50-100m short of the target (groundPicks, never
mechPicks); and
(b) in CHASE view (the default) it was the elevated behind-the-shoulder
camera, so the ray started over the mech's shoulder and flew high.
Fix (L4VIDRND DPLEyeRenderable::Execute, the BTSetAimCamera publish):
- LEVEL the boresight: drop the view-direction pitch and rebuild an upright
basis (world +Y up) -- the guns fire along the mech's gyro-stabilized
HORIZONTAL heading, not the terrain-pitched body. Reticle X still carries
the torso twist (BTTwistToReticleX); reticle Y any elevation.
- ANCHOR the ray origin at the mech's TORSO (myEntity->localToWorld
translation + ~5) instead of the render eye, so it is correct in BOTH the
chase (default) and cockpit views.
Verified end-to-end: solo, enemy 120m ahead, BOTH chase and cockpit view ->
[target] "MECH under boresight ... mechPicks=59 groundPicks=0" -> beam ->
*** DESTROYED. Also proved PickRayHit resolves a REPLICANT when aimed at it
(hit=1 at 757m, 2-node run).
mech4: BT_GOTO="enemy" test aid now chases the nearest peer of ANY instance
(solo dummy OR replicant), not just replicants.
Still open (locomotion, not aim/MP): BT_GOTO/BT_AUTODRIVE stall short of the
enemy, so an AUTOMATED 2-node kill via the real beam isn't demonstrated yet
(the FORCE_DMG hook still is). A human can now aim correctly in the default
view. Solo un-regressed; build clean; KB validator clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Re-measured interactive -net combat on a 2-node run. The KB's "aim ray dead /
drive dead in -net" was STALE: A's aim ray is live (noRay=0, the active eye
publishes the aim camera) and A drives (BT_AUTODRIVE/BT_GOTO move it). The real
blocker to a human cross-pod kill via the beam path is NOT the netcode:
- Boresight inherits the mech BODY pitch. The aim ray = the active eye's view
dir; on sloped terrain the body pitches to conform and the boresight points
~8 deg down ([EYE] up=(-.03,.99,-.14) == [pick] ldir.y=-0.145 every frame),
so at range the ray hits terrain ~50-100m short of the enemy (mechPicks=0).
- Drive/goto stalls ~700m short before closing to pick/weapon range.
- PickRayHit vs a replicant is thus unconfirmed, but the replicant localToWorld
IS correct (lstart magnitude == true A->B distance; the DeadReckon +
localToWorld=localOrigin block already tracks the replicated position).
Change: add a gated BT_GOTO="enemy" test mode (beeline toward the nearest live
replicant) -- MP spawn coords vary per run so a fixed "x z" can't reliably face
the peer. KB (multiplayer.md) updated with the corrected findings + the real
remaining work (torso-pitch/level-boresight aim ray + drive-to-range).
Solo un-regressed; btl4.exe builds; KB validator clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Full cross-pod KILL now works: instance A (host 2) shoots B's mech (host 3)
dead over the network; B runs the death transition on its own screen. Verified
on a 2-node one-box run (BT_MP_FORCE_DMG on A): B's mech takes ~36 remote hits
of 12 and is DESTROYED, with wreck swap + explosion.
ROOT CAUSE (one bug): B's own MASTER mech was INVALID. Entity::Receive(Event*)
does `if(!IsValid()) event->Defer()` -- so a cross-pod-delivered TakeDamage that
arrived, resolved to B's real mech, and Posted, was DEFERRED forever; the handler
never ran. The reconstructed Mech::Make force-set ValidFlag only for replicants
(the P6 bring-up hack for the partial MakeReady handshake); a locally-created
master never got validated.
FIX (one line): Mech::Make now sets ValidFlag for the master too -- the
reconstructed ctor builds the mech synchronously, so it's safe. Nothing else
changed: targeting, the virtual victim->Dispatch, the replicant reroute, the
wire, receive, and id resolution were ALL already correct.
Two prior root causes were BOTH mis-diagnoses from the WRONG messageID:
Entity::TakeDamageMessageID is 18, not 21. Every earlier probe filtered
msgID==21, never matched a real TakeDamage, and mis-correlated the stray 21
hits' 3:19 / classID-48 against the real 3:22 hit -- inventing (a) a "cross-TU
Entity layout divergence" (disproven: offsetof identical in both TUs, sizeof
444, entityID@0x17C) and (b) a "localID corrupted on the wire". Both FALSE; the
id is correct end-to-end (3:22 = B's master).
- game/reconstructed/mech.cpp: validate master + replicant at Make.
- game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp: BT_MP_FORCE_DMG cleaned to a concise gated
2-node cross-pod reproducer (real virtual Dispatch path).
- context/multiplayer.md, reconstruction-gotchas.md: corrected root cause +
the validity-defers-cross-pod gotcha. Engine diagnostics reverted to clean.
Solo un-regressed (the solo enemy was already force-valid; the change only ADDS
ValidFlag). btl4.exe builds; full mission loop clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The prior commit (c78662a) filed cross-pod damage failure under a
"cross-TU Entity/EntityID layout divergence" (and the P5 base-region
audit). A compile-time offsetof probe injected into BOTH translation
units disproves that: game/reconstructed AND engine/MUNGA compute an
IDENTICAL Entity layout --
sizeof(Entity)=444 offsetof(entityID)=380 (0x17C)
offsetof(ownerID)=388 offsetof(simulationFlags)=32
offsetof(Mech,entityID)=380 (Entity subobject at 0)
So Entity::Dispatch reads this->entityID at the SAME offset mech4's
GetEntityID() does -- there is no per-TU read difference, and the
logged 3:22 (mech4 candidate) vs 3:19 (engine Dispatch) cannot be one
object read two ways. Those lines were different objects/messages,
mis-correlated. The distinct, REAL P5 "base-region layout divergence"
(HARD_PROBLEMS.md) is about raw-offset stomps at this+0x2d4..0x2f0 --
far above entityID -- and is unrelated to #47.
Changes:
- Revert the committed BT_MP_NET engine diagnostics (ENTITY/EVENT/
NTTMGR/RECEIVER/L4NET) to the clean a9c3e96 baseline -- those are
the very instruments that produced the mis-correlated data.
- mech4 BT_MP_FORCE_DMG hook: dispatch via the real m->Dispatch(&td)
path (no false id stamping); comment records the offsetof finding.
- context/multiplayer.md: layout-divergence RULED OUT; 3:22/3:19 marked
unconfirmed; leading hypotheses reframed as H2 (wire host-relative
(de)serialization) vs H3 (replicant id != master's registered key),
to be distinguished by a 2-node run with per-message correlation.
Solo un-regressed (mech walks + targets, 0 faults). Cross-pod delivery
remains open, but the investigation is redirected off the wrong (large,
structural) layout-audit path onto the EntityID wire/id-assignment path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Traced the dispatched-message delivery end to end with BT_MP_NET /
BT_MP_FORCE_DMG. Everything works except one wire step:
- A's Entity::Dispatch reroutes the replicant's TakeDamage
(application->SendMessage(ownerID=3, EntityManager, msg)); POST-Dispatch
the message carries entityID=3:22 (host:local) -- the replicant's own
ID, matching B's master (GetEntityID()==3:22). VERIFIED sent.
- On B the message ARRIVES, GetEntityPointer finds an entity, Posts it,
the event drains (ProcessEventTask = ProcessOneEvent(0)), Event::Process
runs, Receive finds+calls a handler. VERIFIED the full deliver chain.
- BUG: B receives entityID=3:19, NOT 3:22 -- the localID dropped by
exactly the hostID (3) between A's send and B's receive. So
GetEntityPointer(3:19) returns the WRONG entity (classID 48, not the
mech 0xBB9), whose base handler ignores the unaimed hit -> 0 damage.
Auto-replicated UPDATE records (msgID 18) arrive with the correct 3:22
and find the mech, so the corruption is specific to the dispatched-
message wire path/direction.
Next: the host-relative EntityID (de)serialization on the dispatched-msg
path (RoutePacket / packet EntityID encoding) -- diff vs the update path
which translates correctly. Diagnostics retained (all BT_MP_NET-gated,
off in solo -- verified: solo 22 hits, 0 probe noise).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
STEP 1 -- target any peer mech: DONE + verified. A live-mech registry
(BTRegisterMech/BTDeregisterMech from the Mech ctor/dtor) collects
every mech -- player, dummy, and peer replicants. The boresight
world-pick walks BTGetTargetCandidates (all mechs != shooter, closest
ray hit) and the whole fire/damage block retargets from the solo
gEnemyMech to the picked hotTarget; missile/projectile validation
generalised via BTIsRegisteredMech. Verified one-box: instance A
enumerates B's mech as a live ReplicantInstance (20 zones, ownerID=3).
Solo un-regressed (pick->damage->kill clean, 28 hits + DESTROYED).
STEP 2 -- cross-pod damage: dispatch + engine reroute are CORRECT and
invoked with a valid owner, but the dispatched message doesn't reach
the master. Entity::Dispatch (ENTITY.cpp:244) reroutes a replicant's
msg via application->SendMessage(ownerID,...); BT_MP_FORCE_DMG proves A
dispatches at B's replicant with ownerID=3, yet B takes 0 STEP-6
damage. Corrects the KB's [T3] "Dispatch already reroutes": the reroute
FIRES; the break is downstream in the transport/delivery of a
dispatched entity-message (update records flow fine -- net-rx works).
Next MP task = that wire delivery. Diagnostics BT_MP_LOG /
BT_MP_FORCE_DMG retained.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
One-box smoke test re-run on the current build: console egg -> mesh ->
RunningMission both instances, 174+ x144-byte update records each side,
2 mech trees per instance, 0 crashes (~6 min). The movement-replication
milestone is intact after all the targeting/weapon/death changes.
Gap map to a first playable LAN fight recorded in
context/multiplayer.md (wiring order): (1) generalize the world-pick
from gEnemyMech to all peer mechs; (2) exercise the Dispatch reroute
for cross-pod TakeDamage; (3) victim state visuals on the shooter's
screen (zone replication or a death event); (4) cross-pod beam visuals
via the AUTHENTIC beam-keepalive messages (FUN_0041c350, templates
@0x511e6c/78 -- already stubbed in emitter.cpp); (5) 2-window driving +
DEATHS scoring; respawn deferred to the P5 teardown debt.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User: "it doesn't scale with our screen resolution?" -- correct. The
HUD draws into the fixed 800x600 backbuffer and the present stretches
it into the client area: on non-4:3 windows everything distorted
(circles -> ellipses, the bottom tape widened vs the ladder, positions
drifted outward).
- BTGetPresentAspect (L4VIDEO, from gWindowAspect; 4:3 fallback).
- dpl2d x-unit = (bbW/2)/presentAspect (== bbH/2 at 4:3 -- unchanged
there), circles pre-squished in bb space so the stretch restores
round.
- The reticle<->NDC conversions (BTGetAimRay / BTProjectToReticle /
BTProjectHotBox / BTTwistToReticleX) use the PRESENT aspect; the
mouse map (BTClientToReticle) is now pure client-relative.
- Placement itself is authentic and stays put: the binary clusters the
instruments around the boresight (ladder x=0.35 half-heights, spans
+-0.25) -- NOT at the display edges.
- Crash en route: the BTGetPresentAspect extern declared INSIDE dpl2d's
anonymous namespace = a different, unresolved symbol -> /FORCE
garbage call (landed in MissileLauncher::DefaultData). Moved to
global scope; gotcha noted in the comment.
Verified 4:3 regression: aimed lock + zone hits + no crash; hud-geom
MapX/MapY unchanged at 4:3.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User screenshot showed three artifacts, all one root cause: my dpl2d
executor drew OpenLines/CloseLines vertex runs as a connected LINESTRIP.
Every ctor use of OpenLines is SEGMENT PAIRS (4 crosshair arms, one pair
per ladder tick, the compass stem, the lock ring's 4 ticks, threat
marks) -- the strip joined ticks into zigzags ("squiggly lines" on both
ladders), hung diagonals off the crosshair arms, and drew chords across
the lock ring. Now D3DPT_LINELIST (one line per pair).
Also PIP_SPACING: _DAT_004cdce8 is a DOUBLE = 0.03 (read from the exe);
my 0.01 guess overlapped the 0.028-wide pips (user: "pips are
overlapping"). Reference-screenshot pairs sit side-by-side, matching.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A period pod screenshot from players who know the game flagged the
overlay. Stroke-by-stroke re-read of the ctor (@4546-4587) against it:
- The range caret triangle is GREEN width 1 (ctor @4550-4551 sets
SetLineWidth(1)+SetColor(0,0.75,0) AFTER the yellow bar's CallList) --
my transcription left it yellow/2. Same for the bottom bowtie carets
(@4569-4570). Both fixed; the caret polylines also get the binary's
explicit 4th closing point (@4558).
- The screenshot otherwise CONFIRMS our layout (yellow range bar, green
caret, colored pip dots, tick tape + green bowtie, rotating compass,
mid-ladder range with no lock = the world-pick terrain range).
- Its crosshair is ~2.5x taller with arrowhead arms -- NOT our binary's
+-0.04..0.16 program: a different pod revision. Ours stays [T1] to
BTL4OPT.EXE 4.10.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report: after killing the enemy, wandering around, weapons won't
fire. Not a lock requirement -- the trigger pulse generator (the
1,0,1,0 edge feed for CheckFireEdge) sat inside `if (gEnemyMech != 0)`.
Once the wreck buried and gEnemyMech nulled, the channels froze at
their last value -> no rising edges -> no fire, even with a valid
terrain pick in the target slot. Latent since the world-pick model made
no-enemy firing meaningful (task #41); the weapon-group split kept the
pulses in the same wrong place.
The pulses now run unconditionally (before the enemy block); the
weapon's own HasActiveTarget gate remains the only fire arbiter --
terrain downrange fires at the scenery, a true sky shot (nothing within
1200) authentically refuses.
Verified: BT_AIM=0.5,0.3 (terrain-only picks, enemy never aimed at) ->
sustained fire, 123 laser + 82 PPC beam samples.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Interim pod-like grouping ahead of the authentic ConfigureMappables/
ChooseButton mapper channels (decomp-anchored in open-questions):
- Three fire channels like three pod buttons: gBTWeaponTrigger (lasers,
key 1 or SPACE), gBTPPCTrigger (PPCs, key 2), gBTMissileTrigger
(missiles, key 3 or CTRL). Keyboard only per user (mouse buttons
removed).
- EmitterSimulation picks its channel by classID (PPC 3028 vs Emitter
3016); BT_AUTOFIRE holds all three.
- The BT_BEAM_LOG sampler modulus 30 aliased to ONE weapon under the
new synchronized 5-beam volleys (5 | 30) -> 31 (coprime).
Verified: all 5 energy weapons fire (31 samples each), aimed hits land,
kill completes.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Answering "do lasers and PPCs fire together?": in the pod, grouping was
a PILOT CHOICE. MechWeapon message handlers id 9 'ConfigureMappables'
(FUN_004b9550) and id 10 'ChooseButton' (FUN_004b95b8), handler table
@0x511860 (names read from the exe): ConfigureMappables binds the
weapon's fireImpulse@0x31C to controls-mapper fire-channel #N (roster
slot 0; vtable +0x38 register / +0x3c unregister / +0x44 choose),
ChooseButton = the in-cockpit re-binding. Weapons sharing a button fire
together. The port's SPACE=energy / CTRL=missiles split is a stand-in
default; the authentic per-button channels are a tracked follow-up.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
[hud] pip diagnostic logs each registered pip's classID/PipPosition/
WeaponRange/PipExtendedRange/PipColor. The live dump corrects the
"everything is 500m" assumption: BLH lasers red @500 (x3, ext=1),
missiles amber @800 (x2), PPCs blue @900 (x2) -- the pips sit at their
weapons' max-range marks on the range ladder (caret below a pip = that
weapon reaches), so 7 weapons read as 3 weapon-system groups. KB +
comments corrected.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
User report: lock at spawn range (~120) but no damage until closing in.
The bring-up damage gate used kWeaponRange=100 -- a placeholder from
before the weapon reconstruction -- while the authored BLH weapon range
is 500 m. The binary's rule (FireWeapon @004bace8:7758 [T1]): damage
applies when dist <= the weapon's EFFECTIVE range = (1 - host-zone
damage) x authored WeaponRange -- the per-weapon targetWithinRange flag
UpdateTargeting computes each frame. The gate (and the [target] log's
IN WEAPON RANGE annotation) now reads that flag across the weapon
roster; kWeaponRange removed.
Verified: stationary at spawn range 120 -> IN WEAPON RANGE + 34 aimed
zone hits (was 0 until closing under 100).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
