RANK=-1: Player::DefaultFlags creates every player NonScoring (CalcRanking only
ranks IsScoringPlayer()==true, else -1), and the bring-up never cleared it. Call
SetScoringPlayerFlag() in DropZoneReplyMessageHandler's mech branch (a piloted mech
IS an active scoring combatant; the camera-ship branch stays non-scoring). -> RANK=0.
DEATHS runaway (climbed ~1/s, not the "1" first seen): @004c012c -- which our
MESSAGE_ENTRY binds as the VehicleDead handler -- is actually the drop-zone
RESPAWN-RETRY helper. The engine's RequestDropZone (PLAYER.cpp:400) posts a
2s-delayed VehicleDead(deathCount=-2) as a "did the drop zone reply?" timer; our
handler ++deathCount + RE-POSTED it UNCONDITIONALLY -> an infinite loop, because the
drop-zone handshake never "completes" in the bring-up (no console/drop-zone system).
Traced it to a pure boot artifact (13 fires with zero combat; the only VehicleDead
producers are the re-post + my kill-producer, and the kill fires AFTER the loop
starts). FIX (correct respawn-retry semantics): if the player already has a vehicle
the drop zone WAS acquired (the DropZoneReply created it), so the retry is moot --
return without counting a death or re-posting. -> DEATHS=0 in solo, loop gone.
Verified DBASE+dev gauges: the Comm roster shows KILLS=1 / DEATHS=0; the KILL log
reads killCount=1 deaths=0 score=164 rank=0; 0 crashes. (MP real-death DEATHS -- a
destroyed vehicle via the separate @004c05c4 path -- remains deferred per the plan;
solo never dies so the retry gate is correct there.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
