The user was right: a dead mech turns into a pile of wreckage. The authentic
1995 chain, recovered end-to-end:
kill -> the victim's per-mech DEATH ModelList ('blhdead'/'lokdead'/'owndead'/
'thrdead', .RES ids 22-25) -> its authored effects: 104 (the WRECK script) +
1007 (dnboom big explosion) + 1001 (ddthsmk rubble smoke plume) + a damage-
smoke burst (3/4/5/15).
Effect 104 = ExplosionScripts case 4 (part_008.c:2663, LIVE in the 1996 binary;
the "disabled" warning is case 6): loads the destroyed hulk + flamesml/flamebig
flame meshes with sweep flicker. Every mech ships its hulk (BLHDBR/MADDBR/
LOKDBR/... + GENDBR generic); the 1996 script hardcoded thrdbr.bgf (dev
shortcut) -- we use the victim's own.
Reconstructed as BTL4VideoRenderer::SwapToWreck: hide every segment mesh, hang
"<prefix>dbr.bgf" on the tree root (pending-swap if death precedes tree build);
routed from the engine's ExplosionClassID dispatch (effect 104 ->
BTSwapMechToWreck(explosion->GetEntityHit())). The kill now fires the
authentic 'blhdead' resource (manual 7+1 pfx calls removed -- the list carries
1007/1001 itself). Verified live:
[death] firing authentic death list 'blhdead' id=22
** effect_number = 104
[BTrender] wreck swap: victim -> 'blhdbr.bgf'
Follow-ups noted: mesh flames + hulk settle (cosmetic), DeathSplash.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Task #32 (death collapse animation) resolved by decomp evidence -- BT 4.11 has
NO collapse animation; the movementMode 5-8 fall latch (clips 0x1c-0x1f) is an
engine-lineage vestige:
(1) the clip-table loader FUN_004a80d4 fills slots 0x00-0x1b + 0x20 (bmp
knockdown) and returns -- slots 0x1c-0x1f are never written;
(2) mech+0x63c..0x648 appear in NO exported function;
(3) no fall clip exists in the shipped 27-clip set;
(4) firing the latch would bind resource id 0 -- a StaticAudioStream -- as
keyframes.
Authentic death modes are the FREEZE modes (IsDestroyed == mode 2||9), so
UpdateDeathState now settles straight to 9 (was a [T3] mode-5 guess that would
trip the garbage latch in the binary). The death READ = freeze + dnboom +
ddthsmk smoke plume + destroyed skins + shutdown; the wreck stands.
Also: damage-band effects orient toward the ATTACKER (impact frame) via
lastInflictingID -- which was declared but never written (recon gap); now
maintained by Mech::TakeDamageMessageHandler, unblocking the DamageZone LOD
same-attacker redirect too.
KB corrected + proofs recorded (combat-damage "Death SEQUENCE", open-questions).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The 'can't kill the enemy / no visible damage' cluster, root-caused and fixed
faithfully:
- STEP-6 unaimed path was INERT: the cylinder table was 'cached' at Wword(0x111)
-- the recon ABSORBER bank (stores nothing, reads 0) -- so every unaimed hit
silently no-op'd. Promoted to the named member Mech::damageLookupTable
(binary this[0x111], was mislabeled ammoExpended). New gotcha class recorded
(reconstruction-gotchas §2) + sweep; 2 dead multiplayer branches logged.
- Fire path migrated off the stale vital-zone aim onto the completed STEP-6
unaimed dispatch (zone=-1 + beam entry point -> cylinder resolves the
exterior zone). No more invisible 1-shot kills; death via the authentic
cascade (~14 center-mass hits). Wreck stays TARGETED on kill (beams stop on
it); scoring latches off.
- SendSubsystemDamage AV fixed: unbound critical-subsystem plug guard (43
unbound plugs/mech logged as an open question -- the binding itself is a gap).
- RemakeEntity (render damage swap): the 1996 render state machine's missing
Remake state, reconstructed as an in-place SetDrawObj mesh swap keyed by each
segment's damage-zone graphic state (tree dtor doesn't cascade -> never
rebuild). Destroyed arms/guns visibly wreck (the only variants the RES
registers).
- BT .PFX particle layer (L4VIDEO.cpp): the 1995 explosion/damage effect layer,
unported since 2007 (DPLIndependantEffect/ReadPSFX/ExplosionScripts all
stubs). Parses the authentic VIDEO/*.PFX definitions via the [pfx_day]
psfxN mapping; premultiplied blending renders BOTH families from the same
data (additive-style fire + occluding smoke -- DDAM2 is 30% grey, DDTHSMK
ramps negative: impossible additively); depth-sorted billboards with a
radial-masked grit sprite; impact-frame orientation (.PFX offsets are
authored mech-local, -Z = out of the struck armor toward the shooter) for
weapon hits AND damage bands (via lastInflictingID, now maintained -- was
declared but never written). Both effect-number encodings route (raw dpl
<100 + WinTesla 1000+slot carried by the band resources). Death fires the
authentic dnboom (7) + ddthsmk smoke plume (1).
- Effects anchor at the impact point / damaged zone's segment, not the mech
origin (no more fire at the feet).
- Dev force-input gates BT_AUTOFIRE / BT_AUTODRIVE for headless fire-chain
verification; BT_PFX_ADD=1 flips the particle blend for A/B.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Reconstructs the mech DEATH state machine — the un-exported master-perf death
branch (region 0x4a9770-0x4ab188) — from its EXPORTED consumers + the RP
VTV::DeathShutdown analog, wired into the active path (the bring-up drive
override bypasses the authentic Simulate where this normally lives).
Mech::UpdateDeathState() + IsMechDestroyed() (mech4.cpp), called for every mech
early in PerformAndWatch: on a vital kill (graphicAlarm >= 9, raised by the
damage side) it
1. sets movementMode = 5 -> the collapse clip's one-shot latch in
AdvanceBodyAnimation (fall direction 5-8 is un-exported -> 5 [T3]);
2. loops the roster calling Subsystem::DeathShutdown(1) (RP VTV::DeathShutdown
analog; the base is a no-op virtual, overrides act -- a SHUTDOWN not a
teardown, so it frees nothing and never removes the entity: the wreck STAYS);
3. next frame settles to movementMode = 9 -> IsDisabled -> locomotion frozen.
The drive's lone `movementMode = 1` write (mech4.cpp ~1309) is guarded on
!IsMechDestroyed so the death state is not clobbered back to a live gait.
Runtime-verified (forced kill, BT_DEATH_LOG=1):
[death] mech destroyed -> collapse + subsystem shutdown (wreck stays)
[death] mech settled -> disabled (IsDisabled=1, frozen wreck)
mech frozen in place, subsystem tick + renderer keep running, no crash, wreck
stays.
Also records the full death-sequence decomp map in combat-damage.md (the
exported consumers: AdvanceLeg/BodyAnimation collapse latch, IsDestroyed, the
MechDeathHandler effect engine; and the un-exported orchestration gap).
Deferred (honest): the visible collapse ANIMATION latch through the active path
(gait SM shows state=0 post-death; spawned mechs don't advance body anim);
MechDeathHandler (FUN_0042a984/FUN_0042aa2c -- the exported per-subsystem
destroyed-skin + explosion engine, still a stub) for death explosions; the
whole-mech DeathSplash radius damage (un-exported).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The Mech per-impact hit-location resolver (the cylinder damage table) is now
functional, wired, and runtime-verified [T2]. Unaimed (zone==-1) hits — the
collision-damage path — now resolve an impact point to a damage zone via the
authentic height x angle grid + weighted dice roll, instead of dropping.
dmgtable.cpp/.hpp was a non-functional skeleton on no-op ReconTable/stream
shims; backed it with real std::vector storage and fixed 5 latent runtime bugs:
- ReadEntries now consumes the leading cell name-string ([i32 len][len+1])
- PieSlice ctor reads rotateWithTorso into the correct member
- SelectSlice direct-indexes (was int lookup on a float-keyed table)
- ResolveHit returns the zone (chains SelectSlice -> SelectZone)
- real MemoryStream::ReadBytes (was a variadic no-op)
mech.cpp ctor: replaced the empty-name StandingAnimation stub with the real
load — FindResourceDescription(dzRes->resourceName, type 0x1d) -> stream ->
new DamageLookupTable, cached at mech[0x111]; ~Mech deletes it.
Mech::TakeDamageMessageHandler override registered (MESSAGE_ENTRY overlays
Entity's by ID): on invalidDamageZone, resolve via the table then base-route;
aimed reticle hits pass through unchanged.
Three named accessors (no databinding-trap raw reads): WorldToLocal
(localToWorld.MultiplyByInverse), CylinderReferenceHeight (standingTemplateMaxY
== collisionTemplate->maxY == binary mech+0x2ec[+0xc]), TorsoHeading via a
BTGetTorsoTwist bridge in torso.cpp (Torso::CurrentTwist == torso+0x1d8;
torso.hpp cannot be included into mech.cpp — subsystem-stub collision).
Stream format + geometry + roll + handler were all byte-verified against the
shipped BTL4.RES type-29 resources (18 tables, exact consumption) and the
disassembly (FUN_0049eb54/e678/de14, glue 0x49ed0c, handler @0x4a037a).
Runtime: boots clean, "[cyl] table 'bhk1' layers=7" (exact byte-verified layer
count, found by name), mech spawns + walks, no asserts/AV/0xCDCDCDCD. Env gate
BT_CYL_LOG=1. Unblocks collision-damage application.
KB updated (combat-damage.md STEP 6 COMPLETE, open-questions.md marked done).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The cylinder table resource = type 29 DamageLookupTableStream, 18 in BTL4.RES (one per mech) ->
STEP 6 is FEASIBLE, not content-blocked. Name copied from a sibling resource (local_130+0xc).
RE phase complete; build (containers + handler + load + wire) is the next phase.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
De-risk + format-reversal pass complete. The CylinderDamageZoneTable is a passive nested-list
height x angle grid: TABLE (FUN_0049ea48) -> ROWS-by-height (FUN_0049e740, cell key i*2pi/count,
_DAT_0049e810=6.2831855) -> CELLS-by-angle (FUN_0049deb0) -> zone. All 3 vtables minimal (dtor +
2 Node slots, NO lookup method) -> the lookup is entirely in the unexported
Mech::TakeDamageMessageHandler (handler-set entry, not virtual) = the disassembly target.
Full ctor/dtor/vtable address map + the 4-step build plan recorded in combat-damage.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Per the 'correct errors' convention: the cited FUN_004a0230/FUN_0049ed0c don't exist. The real
CylinderDamageZoneTable = a list of 0x30-byte entries (FUN_0049e740) from resource 0x1d; the recon
builds the table (FUN_0049ea48, mislabeled StandingAnimation @Mech[0x111]) with an EMPTY name -> 0
entries -> no-op. The lookup + Mech::TakeDamageMessageHandler override are NOT in the exported decomp
(need disassembly). Recorded in combat-damage + open-questions.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
