CydandClaude Opus 4.8
101562978d
"Race" is Red Planet's term (it's a racing game) and rode in with the
RPL4LOBBY port. In BattleTech the gameplay unit is a MISSION. Sweep it out
of the front-end / lobby / marshal code + the roadmap and steamification
digest: rename the public API BTLobby_Push/PullRaceResults ->
Push/PullMissionResults, the internal PrimeHostedRace -> PrimeHostedMission,
the deferred marshal InstallNetworkRace -> InstallNetworkMission, and the
user-facing strings ("STEAM MISSION LOBBY", "L A U N C H M I S S I O N",
"HOST/JOIN STEAM MISSION"). Comments follow. No behavior change; both gates
(default + BT412_STEAM) still build + link clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
252 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
252 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
---
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id: steamification
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title: "BT412 Steamification — status, seams, and merge notes"
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status: living
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source_sections: "docs/BT412-ROADMAP.md; RP412 repo (C:\\vwe\\RP412) git history + docs"
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related_topics: [pod-hardware, multiplayer, gauges-hud, build-and-run, wintesla-port]
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key_terms: [egg, RIO, console]
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open_questions:
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- "BT cockpit button-bank geometry source (no vRIO CockpitLayout exists for BT): l4gauge.cfg / pod photos / Nick"
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- "Does BT's rebuilt L4D3D still have RP's NULL-texture AddRef crash pattern?"
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- "Does L4CONTROLS=PAD set primaryControlType=PrimaryRIO so MechRIOMapper engages unchanged?"
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---
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# BT412 Steamification — status, seams, and merge notes
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BT412 = BT411 made distributable on Steam and playable over the internet with no pod
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hardware, following the recipe RP412 proved end-to-end (RP411 → RP412). The full plan
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and phase order: `docs/BT412-ROADMAP.md`. RP412 (`C:\vwe\RP412`) is the reference
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implementation — its git history from commit `467934c` onward is the steamification,
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grouped roughly: toolchain → PadRIO input → MFD-split cockpit → front end/LocalConsole
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→ NetTransport/Steam sockets → lobby → bindings/KeyLight → packaging.
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**Repo rule [T0]:** `origin` = `VWE/BT412.git` only. This repo must never touch the
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BT411 **remote** (the gitea URL) — no remote, no fetch/push to it. Forked at BT411
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`4e72f0c` (2026-07-14). *Bringing BT411 work forward is allowed via a **local-path**
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merge (`git fetch C:/vwe/BT411 master`) — that never contacts the gitea BT411 remote;
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see the merge note below.*
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## BT411 catch-up merge (2026-07-14)
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Merged BT411's post-fork line (`4e72f0c..abed41e`, 91 commits) into BT412 via a
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**local-path** merge — brought the whole **audio-fidelity system** (engine `AUD*` +
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`L4AUD*` + `audiopresets.cpp` + ~600 content `.wav`s, `docs/AUDIO_FIDELITY.md`),
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missiles/rear-fire/HUD/gyro/gait tasks (#66–68), `FOGDAY.EGG`, and refreshed context
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docs. Only **5 files** overlapped the steamification; resolutions:
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- `.gitignore`, `CMakeLists.txt`, `mech4.cpp` — trivial / auto-merged (the
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`deviceOwnsInput` gating survived).
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- `L4NET.CPP` — took BT411's task-#50 fix (don't close the game listener on console
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loss) over the seam's adaptation of the old buggy close; the point-to-point send
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stays on `NetTransport_Get()->Connect()`.
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- `L4NETTRANSPORT.cpp` — folded BT411's **TCP_NODELAY** latency fix into
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`WinsockNetTransport::Connect` (the seam already had BT411's retry-while-refused +
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non-blocking). Accept-side game-socket NODELAY stayed at the L4NET call site.
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- `mechmppr.cpp` — combined the `device_owns_input` gating with BT411's task-#68
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look-behind ('V' rear-view), gating the `lookBehind` write too (a live RIO device
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feeds it through its mapped button).
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Verified after merge: clean build; solo front-end mode; loopback MP through the seam
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(mesh completes, both tick, replication, no NODELAY warnings). [T2]
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## Status ledger
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- **Phase 0 bootstrap — DONE 2026-07-14.** Tree copied (working tree + full history,
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`build/` excluded), origin re-pointed, fast-forwarded to `4e72f0c`, dev-state
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`run/run.cmd` working-tree edit discarded (committed version is the documented solo
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launcher), identity pass (README/CLAUDE.md/CMake `project(bt412)`), this topic +
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roadmap authored.
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- **Phase 1 (VS2022 v143) — DONE 2026-07-14.** Generator moved to
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`Visual Studio 17 2022` (v143, Win32). One real change was forced: the v143 linker
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fails the image on unresolved externals even under `/FORCE`, so the dead
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offline-tool ladders in `game/reconstructed/mech3.cpp` are neutralized behind
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`BT412_OFFLINE_TOOLS` (default off) and the exe now links `/FORCE:MULTIPLE`
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(UNRESOLVED retired — real unresolved symbols are hard errors now). None of RP412's
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other v143 source fixes (TIME.h, NETWORK.h, L4DINPUT, CAMMGR) were needed — BT's
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tree was already v142-clean. Verified: clean build; solo DEV.EGG runs (gait/target/
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31-subsystem ticks); two-instance loopback MP via btconsole.py — mesh forms
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(console + 1502↔1602 game ports, "All connections completed!"), mission runs both
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sides, each world ticks its master + the remote replicant. [T2]
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- **Phase 2 (PadRIO input layer) — DONE 2026-07-14.** Ported from RP412:
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`L4RIO.h` (RIOBase split; serial RIO re-parented), `L4CTRL.h` (`rioPointer` is
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`RIOBase*`), `L4CTRL.cpp` PAD-token hook (→ `primaryControlType=PrimaryRIO`, so the
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stock `MechRIOMapper` engages — confirmed), new `L4PADRIO.*` / `L4PADBINDINGS.*` /
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`L4KEYLIGHT.*` (gates renamed `BT412KEYLIGHT`; KeyLight TU builds `/std:c++17
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/permissive-` per-file). Default `bindings.txt` = the shared Tesla board layout
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(numpad flight, letter rows = MFD banks, F-keys = Secondary columns, joystick head
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0x40-0x47 on Space/arrows/pad). `content/bindings.txt` is gitignored (written on
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first PAD run).
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**BT-side changes PadRIO forced:** (1) both keyboard input bridges (mech4.cpp write
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of mapper attrs; mechmppr.cpp `BT_KEY_BRIDGE`) now stand down when a RIO device
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exists (`bridge_controls->rioPointer != 0`) — they clobbered the engine push every
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frame; M mode-cycle / X recenter conveniences stay live. (2) **the mapper attribute
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chain was off by one** — see [[reconstruction-gotchas]] §11 (short-parent-chain
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positional trap): the `.CTL` stick mapping wrote `throttlePosition`. Fixed with a
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pad slot + binary-locked enum. This was a latent REAL-POD bug (Phase 8 would have
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hit it).
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Verified live: `L4CONTROLS=PAD` → throttle lever ramps (rate axis, sticky), stick
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deflects (turnDemand=1 + the authentic speed-vs-turn clamp: 61.5→22.0 u/s while
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turning), mech drives across the map, XInput pad detected + 3 s re-probe, bindings
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parse (59 key buttons/8 axes/12 pad buttons/5 pad axes). Keyboard fallback
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regression-verified headless (`BT_FORCE_THROTTLE=1` walks). New diagnostics:
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`BT_CTRLMAP_LOG=1` (streamed-mapping dump), `BT_STICK_LOG=1` (RIO stick push trace).
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- **Phase 3a (PlasmaScreen, `L4PLASMA=SCREEN`) — DONE 2026-07-14.** `L4PLASMASCREEN.*`
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copied verbatim; `L4GREND.cpp` selector diff applied (BT's only divergence there is a
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comment at line 440 — no collision). Renders BT's 128×32 plasma into a desktop window.
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Verified: a window titled "Plasma Display" opens and the game ticks normally beside it
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(`L4GAUGE=640x480x16 L4PLASMA=SCREEN`). Note: the `L4GAUGE` gauge path binds a listen
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socket at startup → a first-run Windows Firewall prompt (expected; unrelated to plasma).
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- **Phase 3b (single-window MFD-split cockpit, `L4MFDSPLIT=1`) — DEFERRED 2026-07-14.**
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Two blockers make this the wrong thing to land now:
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1. **No BT cockpit-layout geometry.** RP412's `L4MFDVIEW` button-bank anchors/addresses
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come from vRIO's `CockpitLayout` for the Red Planet pod; vRIO has **zero** BattleTech
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data. The BT pod's panel geometry has no reference (needs pod photos / `l4gauge.cfg`
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mining / Nick) — the clickable lamp-lit banks can't be authentically placed.
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2. **BT's MFD compositing is an unfinished upstream beachhead.** Per `docs/GAUGE_COMPOSITE.md`,
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only the radar/secondary surface composites on a dev box; the five mono MFDs don't
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render yet (port-name mismatch, Step 2). RP412's split panes would be empty until that
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upstream work lands.
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3. **Merge is HIGH-risk** (quantified above): BT's 521-line L4VB16 divergence (dev-gauge
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docking + a 476-line block) overlaps RP412's 402-line split rewrite in the ctor and
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`Update` regions — a true hand-merge, not a drop-in. The 3-way diffs are staged in the
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scratchpad (`rp412-L4VB16.diff`, `bt-L4VB16.diff`).
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Prerequisite order when resumed: finish BT's MFD dev-composite (GAUGE_COMPOSITE.md Steps
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2–3) → obtain BT cockpit geometry → then hand-merge `MFDSplitView`. Until then the game
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ships single-window with the dev-gauge dock (`BT_DEV_GAUGES`) as its cockpit composite.
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- **Phase 4 (NetTransport seam + Steam transport) — DONE 2026-07-14.** `L4NET.CPP`
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taken from RP412 post-seam (all ~24 Winsock call sites now route through
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`NetTransport_Get()`); BT's 3 `BT_NET_TRACE` blocks re-sited onto their code anchors
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(the drop path, the point-to-point send before `NetTransport_Get()->Send`, the
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pad-buffer receive) — they read message/packet metadata, not sockets, so no
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collision. `L4NETTRANSPORT.*` (seam + `WinsockNetTransport` default) and
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`L4STEAMTRANSPORT.*` (gate renamed `BT412_STEAM`, self-test env `BT412STEAMSELFTEST`)
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copied. `extern/steamworks_sdk_164/` vendored (headers + win32 redistributable_bin).
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One engine global ported from RP412's APPMGR: `gConsoleLossEndsMission` (default
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False = arcade re-listen; the marshaled/lobby path sets it in Phase 5/6).
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CMake: seam always compiled; `option(BT412_STEAM)` (default OFF) gates the transport
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define + `sdk/public` include + `steam_api.lib` + post-build `steam_api.dll` copy.
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`steam_appid.txt` gitignored (Spacewar 480 by hand until a real AppID).
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Verified: (1) default TCP build — loopback MP through the seam is byte-for-byte the
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old behavior (console connects, egg msgID-3 chunks delivered, "All connections
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completed!", both instances tick, `net-tx`/`net-rx` traces fire through
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`NetTransport_Get()`); (2) `BT412_STEAM=ON` config + build (compile-check of the
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Steam transport TU against the vendored SDK; a live Steam session needs the Phase 6
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lobby + 3 machines).
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- **Phase 5 (front end) — DONE 2026-07-16 (5a–5d).** Interactive menu + local egg builder
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+ in-process marshal + results + single-binary loop all landed and boot-verified.
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Landed the local **mission-egg builder** — the core "single-player without the
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operator console" capability:
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- `game/reconstructed/btl4fe.{hpp,cpp}`: catalogs (8 maps, 8 mechs + variants,
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colors), a `BTFeMission` config struct, and `BTFeMission_WriteEgg` that emits the
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exact console egg format (verified against `content/MP.EGG`): `[mission]`,
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`[ordinals]` + the 4 static rank-place plasma bitmaps, `[pilots]`, per-pilot
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loadout sections, `[largebitmap]`/`[smallbitmap]` with **GDI-rendered** 128×32 /
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64×16 pilot-name plasma bitmaps, and the role models.
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- Two engine setters ported from RP412's L4APP.H (`SetEggNotationFileName`,
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`SetNetworkCommonFlatAddress`) so the front end feeds the standard `-egg` path.
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- `game/btl4main.cpp` WinMain: **front-end mode** — no `-egg` and no `-net` builds
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`frontend.egg` locally and points the engine at it (`BTFrontEnd_Run`). `-egg`/`-net`
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runs are untouched.
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Verified: zero-argument launch → `[frontend] built frontend.egg` → mission loads and
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runs (ticks, gait, targeting); the generated egg is structurally identical to MP.EGG
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(32×32/16×16 name bitmaps with real glyph pixels, all sections present).
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**Completed since (2026-07-16):**
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- Interactive on-screen catalog **menu** (green-on-black GDI, `btl4fe.cpp`): map / mech /
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color / time / weather / length groups + pilot-name edit, framed LAUNCH (and, under
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Steam, HOST / JOIN) buttons. Zero-arg launch shows it; a chosen LAUNCH builds the egg.
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- In-process **LocalConsole marshal** (`btl4console.{hpp,cpp}`): NOT a thread — it runs on
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the engine's per-frame hook (`gPerFrameHook`, added to `engine/MUNGA/APPMGR.*`, called on
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the game thread in `RunMissions`), so its `application->Dispatch(StopMissionMessage)` is
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safe. Owns the mission clock and stops it at the chosen `length=`; snapshots
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per-pilot kills/deaths at the stop (`BTResolveRosterPilot`/`BTPilotKills`/`BTPilotDeaths`).
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- **Score intake + results screen**: BT's own kills/deaths model (no `gConsoleScoreSink` —
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that is RP-layer; BT has no working mission-end wire flow, msgID 0x18 stays a stub). A
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GDI "MISSION COMPLETE" scoreboard (`BTFrontEnd_ShowResults`) reads the marshal snapshot
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(`BTLocalConsole_GetResult`/`GetResultName`).
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- **Single-binary loop** = RELAUNCH per mission (`CreateProcessW` after the marshal stop),
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NOT an in-process `for(;;)` — in-process re-init crashes on the stale reconstructed
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`gBT*` globals (cdb-traced to `BTL4VideoRenderer::MakeEntityRenderables` →
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`gBTTerrainEntity`). Verified: 3 distinct PIDs across the menu→mission→results→menu cycle.
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- WinMain launch-mode branch (`BTFrontEnd_LastLaunchMode()`): 0 solo, 1 lobby host, 2
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lobby member (see Phase 6).
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- **Phase 6 (Steam lobby) — CODE LANDED 2026-07-16; live 3-machine test DEFERRED.**
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`game/reconstructed/btl4lobby.{hpp,cpp}` (ported from RP412 `RPL4LOBBY`) builds both gates
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— stubs without `BT412_STEAM`, full `ISteamMatchmaking` room under it (both configs
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link clean). What works: the room screen; member data (`ip`/`cp`/`gp`/`nm`/`vh`/`cl`/`bd` =
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FakeIP + fake console/game ports + persona + mech/color/badge); the nonced `go` launch
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roster → `SteamNetTransport_RegisterPeer` for every peer; `Push`/`PullMissionResults` over
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lobby data (`res` key) rebuilding the shared score sheet via `BTLocalConsole_ClearResults`/
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`InjectResult`. The menu offers HOST/JOIN when `BTLobby_Available()` (Steam transport up,
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installed by WinMain on `BT412STEAM` env). A host launch bakes every member into the egg's
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`[pilots]` (mesh `FakeIP:1502` addresses, round-robin drop zones) via
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`BTFrontEnd_SetHostedPilots`; a member enters as a network pod on `:1501`
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(`SetNetworkCommonFlatAddress` + `gConsoleLossEndsMission=True`).
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**Deferred / not built:** the host→member **wire egg-feed marshal** (`InstallNetworkMission` —
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the owner streaming eggs + RunMission to remote pods, as `tools/btconsole.py` does). Without
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it a member waits for a console connection nothing supplies, so a live host+member mission
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is blocked on it. The lobby object does NOT survive the per-mission relaunch (the
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single-binary limitation — everyone returns to a fresh menu, not the room).
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`docs/STEAM-3-MACHINE-TEST.md` for BT is not yet authored.
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- Phase 7: packaging (`pack-dist.ps1`), KeyLight, release — remain.
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## The seams (what plugs in where) [T0 unless noted]
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- **Input**: `LBE4ControlsManager` PUSH model; `L4CTRL.cpp` parses `L4CONTROLS` tokens;
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RP412 adds token `PAD` → `new PadRIO()` (a `RIOBase` implementation from
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XInput+keyboard), and the stock RIO mapper runs against it unchanged. BT's mapper
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selection: `btl4app.cpp MakeViewpointEntity` switch on
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`controls->primaryControlType` (+0xc98) → `MechRIOMapper` for PrimaryRIO(4).
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- **Plasma**: BT's plasma is identical hardware to RP's (128×32, `L4PLASMA.h`);
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RP412's `PlasmaScreen` renders the same `Video8BitBuffered` surface into a desktop
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window, selected in `L4GREND.cpp` on `L4PLASMA=SCREEN`.
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- **Displays**: BT pod = main 800×600 3D view + 640×480 radar + five mono MFDs on one
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spanned 1280×480 surface (+ plasma). All cockpit surfaces are bit-plane masks over
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one shared `SVGA16` pixelBuffer (see [[gauges-hud]], [[pod-hardware]]). RP412's
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`MFDSplitView` (`L4MFDVIEW.*` + `L4VB16.cpp` split mode, `L4MFDSPLIT=1`) composes
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child panes on a fixed 1920×1080 canvas; 3D presents into the viewscreen pane via
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`Present(hDestWindowOverride)`.
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- **Networking**: arcade stack unchanged (see [[multiplayer]]); RP412 moved the wire
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behind `NetTransport` (`L4NETTRANSPORT.*`), default `WinsockNetTransport`, Steam
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implementation `L4STEAMTRANSPORT.*` (`ISteamNetworkingSockets`, FakeIP + SDR,
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degrade-to-TCP on any failure). Addresses stay SOCKADDR_IN-shaped so the egg
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`[pilots] ip[:port]` roster works over both wires.
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- **Session**: console protocol (egg msgID 3, 1040-byte chunks + ACK; RunMission
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msgID 5 ×2; console must stay connected) — `tools/btconsole.py` is the working
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feeder and the spec for the in-process LocalConsole marshal (Phase 5).
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## Known merge risks (from the 3-way BT411 / RP411-baseline / RP412 comparison)
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**Quantified 2026-07-14 [T1]** — BT-vs-RP411-baseline divergence measured with
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`diff --strip-trailing-cr` (baseline extracted from RP412 history, `git show
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3b8b729:MUNGA_L4/<f>`); RP412-side change sizes from `git diff 3b8b729..HEAD`:
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| File | BT vs baseline | RP412 change | Treatment |
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|------|----------------|--------------|-----------|
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| `L4RIO.h` | identical | 125 lines (RIOBase split) | RP412 verbatim |
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| `L4RIO.cpp` | identical | 0 | nothing to do |
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| `L4CTRL.h`, `L4NET.H`, `L4PLASMA.*`, `L4KEYBD.h` | identical | small | RP412 verbatim |
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| `L4CTRL.cpp` | 29 diff lines | 17 (PadRIO hook) | apply RP412 diff |
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| `L4GREND.cpp` | 6 diff lines | 15 (PlasmaScreen selector) | apply RP412 diff |
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| `L4VIDEO.cpp` | **2725** diff lines (BT render work) | only 14 | apply RP412 diff — small despite BT divergence |
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| `L4VIDEO.h` | 29 diff lines | 7 | apply RP412 diff |
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| `L4NET.CPP` | 23 diff lines (BT_NET_TRACE ×5) | 345 (seam refactor) | **MEDIUM** — apply seam refactor, re-site traces |
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| `L4VB16.cpp` | **514** diff lines (dev-gauge dock) | 350 (split view) | **HIGH** — true hand-merge |
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| `L4VB16.h` | 14 diff lines | 32 | hand-merge with L4VB16.cpp |
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- **`L4VB16.cpp` — HIGH.** RP412 rebuilt ~3846–4046 (splitViews/canvas/present); BT
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rebuilt the same window-management region for dev-gauge docking (`BT_DEV_GAUGES`,
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`BT_DEV_GAUGES_WINDOW`, `BT_DEV_GAUGES_DOCK`, `BT_GAUGE_SCALE`, `BT_GAUGE_SEC_ROT`,
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`BT_ALL` — 15 sites). Hand-merge; write the 3-way diff notes HERE before editing.
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- **`L4NET.CPP` — MEDIUM.** RP412 rerouted all ~22–26 Winsock call sites through
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`NetTransport_Get()`; BT's 5 `BT_NET_TRACE` diagnostic blocks sit exactly on those
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send/receive sites and must be re-sited onto the seam calls.
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- **CMake**: engine sources are explicit per-file lines (no globs) — every ported
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`.cpp` needs its own `add_library` line or it silently doesn't compile. New deps:
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`xinput9_1_0.lib` (PadRIO), C++/WinRT (KeyLight, per-file C++17), Steamworks SDK +
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`steam_api.lib` behind `option(BT412_STEAM)`.
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- **No `/Zp1` in BT's build** (RP's engine builds `/Zp1`): RP412's packing-mismatch
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workarounds (`WINDOWS_IGNORE_PACKING_MISMATCH`, KeyLight default-packing carve-out,
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`pack(push,8)` around Steam headers) are no-ops here — keep them for verbatim-ness,
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but eyeball any copied code for /Zp1-layout assumptions.
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## Key Relationships
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- Uses: [[pod-hardware]] · [[multiplayer]] · [[gauges-hud]] · [[build-and-run]]
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- Feeds: [[open-questions]] (steamification investigate items)
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