Three rounds of source inspection produced three wrong suspects; one
instrumented run settled it:
[pl] PilotList slot=0 at (180,225) <- the only drawer
(no [ps] lines at all)
So the magenta blocks over the top-left title are PilotList's slot-0 entry
(the local pilot's name art + mech icon) on the Comm port -- content that
SHOULD draw; what is wrong is the entry's coordinate convention inside that
port. The port geometry itself is proven right: the Comm background
(btcomm.pcx, the KILLS/DEATHS columns) lands pixel-identical in both exes.
Second, separate finding: PlayerStatus never draws at all. The cfg builds
8 of them (sec port, 4x2, players 1..8) but our roster resolve is 0-based
against 1-based cfg player numbers, so every panel stays unbound and its
Execute returns early. Fixing that will add a whole scoreboard page, so it
belongs in an A/B session against the shipped reference rather than a blind
edit -- both leads are written up in GAUGE-BLOCK.NOTES.md.
Also recorded: the capture rig's occlusion failure mode (CopyFromScreen
grabs whatever is in front -- one run scored 77%/47% purely because an
editor covered half the window) and the PrintWindow fix for unattended runs.
Verified build, zero faults; last valid A/B measurement stands at 94.7%
identical / 92% coverage.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The name art was never missing. The egg carries it as notation pages of hex
rows ([BitMap::Small::Aeolus]); the engine BitMap has a ctor that reads
exactly that format; and the AUTHENTIC Mission ctor already loads them into
smallNameBitmapChain (MISSION.CPP:525 -- implemented, called, working). The
break was ours: btl4gau3's LookupPlayerNameBitmap was a bring-up stub
returning NULL. It now uses the authentic API (GetCurrentMission()->
GetSmallNameBitmap(playerBitmapIndex)) and resolves live -- traced index=1
to a real BitMap, with the fallback-box branch provably never firing.
Coverage 91% -> 92%.
DIAGNOSIS CORRECTED for the stray magenta blocks over the top-left title:
they are NOT a missing-name placeholder. They are the REAL name bitmap
drawn at the wrong slot coordinates -- PilotList lays its 8 roster slots
out from the PE-recovered DAT_0051af88 (x,y,mode) table, and ours puts them
top-left instead of the shipped exe's centre row. Recovering that table is
the next cockpit thread; the egg-hex -> live-BitMap pipeline is verified end
to end, so what remains there is layout, not art or lookup.
(A duplicate loader written before finding the authentic one was removed --
CODE/RP/MUNGA/MISSION.CPP already does this job.)
Gauge fight 11/11, smoke and novice clean, zero faults.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Reading the art settled where the titles live: qsensors/qmyomers/qermlas/
qppc/qstrk6.pcc are 299x26 TITLE BANNERS, while the qblh0..7.pcc strings
the cfg hands vehicleSubSystems are 77x120 MECH ICONS (already lit by the
5.3.28 placement fix). So the authored auxScreenLabel IS the panel title
-- it just belongs on the MFD panel, not only the ENG page.
SubsystemCluster now builds a titleBanner child from the cached label.
Placement was MEASURED against the shipped framebuffer through the A/B rig
(BackgroundBitmap places by left/BOTTOM): a bring-up BT_TITLE_DY knob, then
a green-pixel correlation over the title band, then baked at x+0x09,
y+0xb3 from the panel origin. "SENSOR CLUSTER", "MYOMERS", "TYPE II 65
TONS" and both "ERMED LASER RANGE 500M" banners now render where the
shipped binary puts them.
Score progression vs the shipped cockpit on identical GAUGE content:
5.3.26 birth 90.1% identical / 82% coverage
5.3.28 authored screens 93.2% / 85%
5.3.29 titles tuned 94.8% / 91%
Also: grab.ps1 now focuses the target window before capturing -- the
screen-copy grabbed whatever was in front, which cost two junk captures
(a white frame and an unrelated 3-D app window).
Gauge fight 11/11 rounds and smoke both clean, zero faults.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Ran the reconstructed exe and the shipped ALPHA_1 binary against the SAME
GAUGE content, same mount, gauges on, and diffed the 640x480x16
framebuffers. OUR EXE DRAWS THE COCKPIT: 90.1% pixel-identical on the
first run, and every difference traced to a single root cause.
The authored aux-screen block (screen number / background placement /
label) lives in the subsystem resource -- which is freed with the Mech
ctor's stream buffer (the 5.3.24 use-after-free landmine). Both this tree
and the BT411 port had stubbed it, which is why BT411's displays show the
same artifacting. PoweredSubsystem now caches the block at ctor time with
accessors, and btl4gau2 uses the AUTHORED screen instead of a roster-order
stand-in and builds the placement strip art. Panels snapped onto their
authored screens -- weapon dials now land on the same panels as the
shipped exe, mech icons appear on the sensor/myomer panels, generator
letters correct -- taking the match to 93.2% identical / 85% coverage.
Remaining differences are donor-inherited stubs: the panel title art (now
proven to come from the q-strip statusImage path, not auxScreenLabel --
the label blit is wired and guarded regardless), the pilot name bitmap,
and some lamp frames.
The A/B rig is banked at emulator/render-bridge/gauge-ab/ (both confs +
the window-grab script) so the comparison is repeatable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The gauges now read the real simulation: heat/power/sensor/mech attribute
tables published under the 1995 L4GAUGE.CFG spellings the widgets already
bind by name. Temperatures, coolant mass/capacity/leak rate, condenser
valve settings, generator voltages and numbers, radar percent, and the
mech's radar/speed rows all resolve to live members.
THE NUMBERING IS PINNED: the chain publishes 2..0x0E so
PoweredSubsystem::NextAttributeID lands on the authentic 0x0F -- the
surviving SENSOR.HPP numbers RadarPercent off it and MechWeapon's
binary-pinned table starts at 0x12, so its pads shrank 16 -> 3
(0x0F..0x11) exactly as the 5.3.x header comment predicted. Sensor's
authentic enum finally has its table defined; MechWeapon/Sensor rechain to
PoweredSubsystem and Reservoir/AggregateHeatSink to HeatSink so the whole
family is visible where the cfg expects it.
Verified with BT_GAUGE_ATTR_LOG: 48 OK / 2 NULL (was 33/17, and 0/50 at
the block's birth). The two remaining have no member to bind --
HeatSink/AmbientTemperature (a sim constant) and Searchlight/LightOn (a
memberless subclass) -- and fall to the documented zero cell. Gauge
fight (15/15 rounds, 127 zone hits), smoke and novice all clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Six TUs born in one wave (4-agent re-hosting workflow from the BT411 donors
+ inline integration): BTL4GAUG (16 widget primitives + 5 connections, the
TU anchor @004c3f6c), BTL4GAU2 (13 composite panel clusters), BTL4GAU3
(PilotList/PlayerStatus/SectorDisplay/MessageBoard/mapping group), BTL4RDR
(the MapDisplay radar vs the authentic surviving header), BTL4GRND (the
real renderer: L4LampManager + L4Warehouse + BuildConfigurationFile with
the 19-entry BT registry chained onto the engine table). btl4.lib grows
7 -> 11 members; all 50 game TUs compile; link clean.
VERIFIED LIVE: with L4GAUGE=640x480x16 the interpreter parses the full
authentic L4GAUGE.CFG, Bhk1Init runs, ColorMapperArmor binds the live
mech's damage zones by name (cross-chassis names take the authentic inert
path), and the complete mutual missile fight runs with the cockpit stack
updating from real combat -- 16/16 rounds, 138 zone hits, zero faults.
Gauges-off regressions untouched.
Engine bring-up deviation (documented): ParseAttribute normalizes
unpublished attribute names to a shared writable zero cell -- the 1995
GaugeConnectionDirectOf ctor hard-derefs its source (first boot crashed
there); widgets on unpublished names draw static zeros and light up
automatically as the attribute waves publish the 1995 CFG spellings the
bindings already carry.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Three-dossier workflow output (65KB, verbatim): every class across the six
missing gauge TUs audited -- engine base, the L4GAUGE.CFG keyword + the
attribute each widget binds (and which reconstructed subsystem publishes
it), the port-shim -> 1995-native mapping, BC++4.52 hazards, and the
binary @ADDR anchors. This is the implementing session's hot-start
worksheet for the first rendered milestone (see RENDER-ROADMAP.NOTES.md).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Reconstructed the MechControlsMapper attribute table (StickPosition..PilotArray,
IDs 3-0x16 chained from Subsystem::NextAttributeID==2) + the real members
(stickPosition ControlsJoystick, throttle/pedals/speed/turn Scalars, the look/
torso ControlsButtons, control/display/pilotArray ints) + AttributePointers[] +
AttributeIndex (chains Subsystem::AttributeIndex). Fixed the mapper hierarchy
statics in BTL4MPPR.CPP: L4/RIO/Thrustmaster ClassDerivations now chain correctly
(L4 defined first for static-init order) and all use MechControlsMapper::
AttributeIndex so the mapper instance publishes the control attributes the
streamed mappings bind to.
Mech still constructs (33 subsystems). The post-construction crash is UNCHANGED
(GetAttributePointer, attribute=0x13) -> so it's NOT the mapper; a streamed
AttributeWatcher (numeric ID 19) resolves on another object via GetSimulation.
Next diagnostic: which object/subsystemID the watcher targets. BT: 42 ok.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The reconstructed tree now produces a runnable binary with the authentic
1995 toolchain (BC4.52 / tlink32 / DPMI32):
- BTL4.CPP main TU reconstructed from the 4.11 Ghidra decomp (FUN_0040109c)
+ the 4.10 binary's own string pool + surviving RPL4TOOL.CPP house style;
probe_main.cpp scaffold retired (BTL4.NOTES.md documents every decoded call)
- L4NET.CPP staged: L4NetworkManager ctor/dtor + 10 vtable-pulled virtuals
(standalone-benign ones no-op, network ones Fail loudly) + NetNub client
globals (Net_Common_Ptr=NULL routes L4File to its plain-DOS path)
- build410.sh: libs now built in the AUTHENTIC makefile member order
(MUNGA.MAK / mungal4.mak / BT.MAK / BTL4.MAK). Order is load-bearing:
tlink emits static-init records in module pull order, and alphabetical
order booted into a null-vptr crash (IcomManager::ClassDerivations
constructing before parent NetworkClient::ClassDerivations). Also fixed
stage_link to the proven 32-bit lib set (SOSDBXC+SOSMBXC, no WATTCPLG)
- BOXTREE.HPP MemoryBlock unify, BTL4GRND notify stubs, remaining engine
backfills (audio/gauge/resource/stream TUs) that closed the deep ledger
Smoke test (DOSBox-X + 32RTM, copy of the pod BT tree, our exe swapped in):
BattleTech v4.10
BTL4Application::BTL4Application
l4net.cpp(22): L4NetworkManager -- l4net.cpp not yet reconstructed
Static init, main, -egg parse, BTL4.RES load (version 1.0.6 check passes),
ApplicationManager and the BTL4Application ctor chain all execute real
reconstructed code; boot halts at the first staged Fail() as designed.
Next brick: the real l4net.cpp body.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The tlink32 campaign after the checkpoint: eleven engine bodies back-dated
from BT412 (rotation player team explode dropzone terrain cultural receiver
subsystm app l4gauge - the Application core included), the WinTesla-ectomy
handled by backdate.py's new unwrap rules (accessor-fn statics -> 1995 static
objects, decl rewrites, pointer->reference Derivation ctor, 2007 windowed-
gauge/console-marshal/idle-pump excisions), staged statics TUs opened for the
game classes (MECH/BTPLAYER/BTDIRECT/PROJTILE/MISSILE/BTL4MPPR .CPP + L4APP/
NETWORK engine statics).
State: every compiled symbol short of the shallow graph RESOLVED (the 52- and
17-symbol ledgers burned to zero); with 32stub.exe in place the linker reaches
full vtable closure and emits the deep ledger (~210 symbols, UNRESOLVED-
LEDGER.txt): remaining engine bodies (objstrm cstr gauge/gaugrend graphics
pixelmap palette resfile ray scnrole explosion-table), the DOS driver extern
layer (_SVGA*/_PCSerial*/_PCSPAK*/joystick/netnub/sosMIDI), the full L4App
body, and the real game-TU frontier (Mech::Make et al.). Recipe proven for
every category.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
All 10 surviving original TUs plus the reconstructed BTL4APP.CPP pilot build
clean with the authentic OPT.MAK flags (compile410.sh --sweep). First time
the 4.10 BattleTech source has compiled since 1996.
- layout_probe.cpp: the period compiler measures 1995 layouts from the
surviving headers; validated 3/3 against binary alloc sizes (BTMission
0xFC, BTL4ModeManager 0xC, BTRegistry 0x10). Base boundary: Simulation
0xD0 / Entity 0x1C4 / Mover 0x300 / JointedMover 0x328 => Mech-own region
0x328-0x854 (MECH-LAYOUT.md staging worksheet).
- 13 staged headers close the family ([T3] reserved[]-parked layouts;
interfaces PROVEN by the surviving consumers): MECH, MECHSUB, HEAT,
POWERSUB, MECHWEAP, EMITTER, MECHMPPR, BTPLAYER (BTPlayer__MakeMessage =
Player's 8 args + roleName/teamName [T1 via BTREG]), PROJTILE, MISSILE,
BTL4MPPR, BTL4VID + the round-2 BTCNSL/BTSCNRL.
- compile410.sh: PCH gate retired (bt.hpp/mungal4.hpp full include sets),
DPL SDK roots on the include line.
- BTL4APP.CPP: appmgr include + GetApplicationManager()->GetFrameRate() +
ResourceDescription:: scoping; Fail() held at its recorded line 400.
- Evidence ledgers: STAGED-HEADERS.NOTES.md, MECH-LAYOUT.md, BACKFILLS,
BTCNSL (binary-recovered console wire IDs), BTSCNRL.
Remaining for a linkable BTL4OPT: the ~40 missing TU bodies (917-function
manifest) - the header skeleton they grow into now exists and compiles.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- BORLAND/: Borland C++ 4.52 (chosen over 4.5 by byte-match: CODE/RP/CW32.LIB
is identical to 4.52's install lib). BCC32/TLINK32/TLIB/MAKE run natively on
Win11; CODE/BT/OPT.MAK is the shipped BTL4OPT.EXE's exact flag recipe
(extender = Borland PowerPack DPMI32, not Phar Lap TNT).
- restoration/source410/: the literal 1995-form reconstruction of the missing
BT game source (never mixed into CODE/). Round 1-3 state:
* 6 of 10 surviving original TUs COMPILE CLEAN under the period toolchain
(BTMSSN, BTCNSL, BTSCNRL, BTTEAM, BTL4MODE, BTL4ARND) - first builds
since 1996.
* BT_L4/BTL4APP.CPP pilot reconstruction: 12/12 functions, Fail() lands on
its binary-recorded line 400 exactly.
* BT/BTCNSL.HPP: console wire IDs recovered from the binary's ctors
(Killed=9, Damaged=10, ScoreUpdate=13, DeathWithoutHonor=15 [T1];
TeamScore=12 flagged [T4]).
* MUNGA/: 8 engine-header backfills back-dated from the BT412 WinTesla tree
(VDATA numbering decomp-verified; AUDREND's OpenAL-era virtual removed -
the period compiler is the drift detector).
* Tooling: backdate.py (WinTesla->1995 header transform), compile410.sh
(per-TU verification sweep under authentic OPT.MAK flags).
* README: corrected roadmap - MECH.HPP is the capstone grown with the mech
TU reconstructions; BTREG.CPP green = the header-family milestone.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Fable 5