CydandClaude Opus 5
8e2e00d8d3
RPL4.RES is compiled from authored sources by RPL4TOOL -b, the original 1996 resource tool, which still builds in this tree. That pipeline did not work: the tool aborted on the very first model, so the resource file could only be consumed, never regenerated. Content could not be changed at all. It died in PlugStream_FindEntryAndWriteObjectID resolving resource= Translocation01 from AUDIO/PLYINT.SCP, a name defined in no file under CONTENT/RP. The obvious suspect was the AWE32 soundbank path, since AudioCard::LoadSBK is stubbed to return 1 by the Win32 port - but that is a red herring. Supplying the banks changes nothing because nothing reads them at build time. CreateStaticAudioStreamResource opens audio\static.scp, which declares all 154 patch resources as plain text mapping each name to a bank and patch number, and CONTENT/RP simply does not have that file. The sda4 developer drive does. Two more scripts included by 27 vehicles, VTVINT.SCP and VTVEXT.SCP, were missing the same way. All three are kept in recovered/ because they are the keystone and are small. No engine change was needed. The pipeline was missing content, not code. build-res.ps1 assembles a build tree from the 4.10 content, those three scripts, and the soundbanks and ~547 VIDEO files that RP412 ships complete and the content tree does not. It never overwrites an authored file with a shipped one, so archival content stays authoritative where it exists. A model missing a skeleton is dropped SILENTLY - the tool logs and carries on, producing a resource file with fewer models rather than failing. Check the model count, which is why the script reports unresolved inputs. -RestoreCutVehicles uncomments dark, blkspk and blktrn, three vehicles taken out of the .bld after 4.10 shipped with their model ids left in place. All three build clean and take the count from 42 to 45, exactly retail's, each with its full subsystems, segments, damage zones and control mappings. What this cannot do yet: eleven maps have no source. Five survive only on the sda4 drive in a 1996 state older than retail, and otto, frstrm, burnt, brewers, headoff and headmf are gone entirely - the .CAM cameras and .XST existence boxes are here but the .MAP files are not. So a build from these sources yields 45 models and zero maps against RP411's nine, and is not yet a drop-in replacement for assets/RP411/RPL4.RES. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Rebuilding RPL4.RES
RPL4.RES is Red Planet's resource file — every vehicle, map, model, damage
zone, control mapping and audio stream the game loads. It is compiled from
authored sources by RPL4TOOL -b, the original 1996 resource tool, which
still builds in this tree as Release\RPL4TOOL.exe (see BUILD.md).
Until now that pipeline did not work. RPL4TOOL -b aborted on the very first
model, so assets/RP411/RPL4.RES could only be consumed, never regenerated.
This folder makes it build again.
# rebuild exactly what RP411 ships (minus the maps, see below)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\resbuild\build-res.ps1
# ...plus the three vehicles that were cut after 4.10
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\resbuild\build-res.ps1 -RestoreCutVehicles
Output lands in %TEMP%\rp412-resbuild\rpl4.res. Inspect any resource file
with Release\RPL4TOOL.exe -l <file>; that listing is the acceptance test for
anything built here. The result is not yet a drop-in replacement for
assets/RP411/RPL4.RES — see What is still missing.
Why it was broken
RPL4TOOL -b died in PlugStream_FindEntryAndWriteObjectID while building
player.mod's audio stream, resolving resource=Translocation01 from
AUDIO/PLYINT.SCP. That name is defined in no file in CONTENT/RP.
The first guess — that it needed the AWE32 soundbanks through
AudioCard::LoadSBK, which the Win32 port stubbed to return 1 — was wrong.
Supplying the banks changes nothing, because nothing reads them at build time.
The real answer is L4AudioResourceManager::CreateStaticAudioStreamResource
(MUNGA_L4/L4AUDRES.cpp), which opens audio\static.scp. That file
declares all 154 of RP's patch resources as plain text:
[PatchLevelOfDetail]
bank_ID=2
patch_ID=29
name=Translocation01LOD1
...
[PatchResource]
audio_level_of_detail=0.0, Translocation01LOD1
name=Translocation01
Every model's audio script resolves its resource= names against those, so
without static.scp the first model aborts and no .res is ever written.
CONTENT/RP/AUDIO does not have it — but the sda4 developer drive does.
No engine change was needed. The pipeline was missing content, not code.
What the build tree is made of
build-res.ps1 assembles three sources, and never overwrites an authored file
with a shipped one — archival content stays authoritative where it exists.
| source | provides |
|---|---|
TeslaRel410\CONTENT\RP |
models, solids, gauge art, audio scripts, RPL4.BLD |
recovered\ (this folder) |
STATIC.SCP, VTVINT.SCP, VTVEXT.SCP |
assets\RP411\ |
AUDIO1/2.RES soundbanks, ~547 VIDEO files |
The three recovered scripts came from TeslaRel410\sda4\RPDAVE\AUDIO (identical
to RPLIVE) and are kept here because they are the keystone and are small.
VTVINT.SCP and VTVEXT.SCP are [include]d by 27 vehicle audio scripts and
are absent from CONTENT/RP as well.
The VIDEO gap is mostly .SKL skeletons — MAN.SKL, BAN.SKL, BUN.SKL,
DUN.SKL and their S variants. A model missing one logs
video\<x>.skl is empty or missing!, then <model> has no Segments!, and is
silently dropped from the build — the tool does not fail, it just produces
a resource file with fewer models. Always check the model count.
What is still missing
Eleven maps have no source in any tree. The build reports each one and carries on:
| map | source |
|---|---|
wise, yip, pain, blade, lyzlane |
only in sda4\RPDAVE\MAPS (1996 dev state, older than retail) |
otto, frstrm, burnt, brewers, headoff, headmf |
nowhere |
CONTENT/RP/MAPS has the .CAM camera files and SOLIDS has the .XST
existence boxes, but the .MAP files themselves are gone. So a build from
here produces 45 GameModels and zero maps, against RP411's 9. Until those
are recovered, this pipeline can rebuild vehicles but cannot replace the
shipped resource file.
The three cut vehicles
-RestoreCutVehicles uncomments three lines in RPL4.BLD that were commented
out after 4.10 shipped, with their model IDs left in place:
//Armadillo Class
model=puck.mod /id:19
//model=dark.mod /id:56 <- dark puck
//Experimental Vehicles
//model=blktrn.mod /id:47 <- black tornado
//model=blkspk.mod /id:48 <- black speck
All three build clean, taking the model count from 42 to 45 — exactly retail's count. Each gets its full resource set: GameModel, Model List, VideoModel, Subsystems, Segments, DamageZones, ControlsMappings and GaugeImage.
Two caveats. blktrn has no audio script anywhere (BLKTRN.SCP is absent from
every tree) and no gauge block in L4GAUGE.CFG, so its cockpit panel has no
layout to select — dark and blkspk still have theirs. And nothing has been
verified in-game; building is not the same as playable.
See docs/CONTROL-PRESETS.md for what these vehicles carry and the preset
tables they shipped with.