# SiteLink

**Linking multiple VWE Pod Bays together to play games across the internet.**

A Pod Bay today is an air-gapped network of ~20 computers: 1 command console, 1 printer,
2 review stations (Live Cam & Mission Review), and 16 cockpit computers. SiteLink is the
project to connect those islands — so a bay in one city can field a lance against a bay in
another, share a queue, share voice, and (eventually) be commanded as one fleet.

## Seed concept (2026-07-10)

> Organize each site into its own `10.0.y.x` subnet (site 1 = `10.0.1.x`, site 2 =
> `10.0.2.x`, …), VPN them all together into a single `10.0.0.0/16`, then collect every
> site's `.siteconfig` and merge them for a **master console** that can command the
> entire fleet.

That concept is the anchor of this repo. The analysis, alternatives, and open questions
live in the docs below.

## Contents

| File | What it is |
|------|-----------|
| [docs/PODBAY-ECOSYSTEM.md](docs/PODBAY-ECOSYSTEM.md) | Survey of the existing bay software stack — every component, every protocol/port, with source pointers into the sibling repos. The ground truth SiteLink has to work with. |
| [docs/BRAINSTORM.md](docs/BRAINSTORM.md) | The design record: goals, the seed proposal analyzed, addressing plan, VPN topology options (routed vs bridged), the event authority-handover model, per-game linking analysis, shared services, security, open questions, and a phased roadmap. |
| [docs/PHASE0-PLAN.md](docs/PHASE0-PLAN.md) | The lab-proof plan: VM topology simulating two sites + the hub, hypervisor/VM-management recommendations, and experiments E1–E9 with pass criteria that close the brainstorm's open questions — no cockpit hardware, no travel. |
| [tools/SiteConfigMerge](tools/SiteConfigMerge/README.md) | **Working tool**: decodes TeslaConsole `.siteconfig` files and merges `<siteName>.siteconfig` inputs into one `master.siteconfig` for the central event console, renaming squads `<siteName>-<squad>`. Verified against the real TeslaConsole 4.11.4.1 loader. |

## Related repositories (gitea.mysticmachines.com/VWE)

| Repo | Role |
|------|------|
| `TeslaSuite` | TeslaConsole (operator console), TeslaLauncher (pod service), the Console↔Pod RPC contract, SecureConfig provisioning, and **vPOD** (virtual pod — our cross-site test double). |
| `firestorm` | BattleTech: Firestorm — the MW4/Gameleap-engine game the 16 cockpits run. DirectPlay 4 multiplayer. Contains the drafted 16→32 player-cap plan that a two-bay link needs. |
| `RP411` | Classic Red Planet — Tesla 4.10 reconstruction as a native Win32 port (MUNGA engine + L4 platform layer, DX9). Console-controlled via Munga protocol, TCP 1501. |
| `BT411` | Classic BattleTech — Tesla 4.10 reconstruction on the shared RP411/MUNGA Windows engine. Console streams the mission egg over TCP; pods mesh with each other. |
| `TeslaRel410` | The original 1994–96 Tesla 4.10 source/content archive **plus a custom DOSBox-X emulator** (HLE of the Division VPX render board) to run the *original unmodified DOS games* on today's Windows pod hardware — cockpit RIO and plasma passed through on COM1/COM2, pod networking via emulated NE2000. |
| (local `PQS/`) | Pod Queue System — operator-built PHP/MySQL event tooling (traffic flow when bringing pods to events): registration, callsigns, queue, and the HTTP endpoints the game/console poll for the next mission + roster. Support tooling in SiteLink scope; possible future coordination layer. |

## Status

Brainstorm / design phase. Nothing here touches a live bay yet.