CydandClaude Fable 5
afc3fd839e
Bring the graphics-dev collaborator's dpl3-revive into the repo as first-class
project code (they've handed it off; it's ours now). This is the proven
Division renderer that our in-process rt_draw has been trying to be.
What's here:
- parser/ B2Z/V2Z/SVT/SCN/SPL/BGF/BMF/BSL decoders (pure Python).
- spec/ reverse-engineered format + the definitive VelociRender wire
protocol (from the original DIVISION source, matches our live
VPX node/action tables exactly).
- source-ref/ read-only copies of the original DIVISION C (BIZREAD.C,
DPLTYPES.H, DPL.H) that define the formats.
- patha/ the "virtual VelociRender board": vrboard.py (24-action protocol
server), vrview.py (numpy software rasterizer, the reference),
vrview_gl.py (moderngl GPU backend, 832x512@60Hz), plus the
run/replay/regress tooling and evidence renders. Drives FLYK/BLADE/
Star Trek demos AND our btl4opt/rpl4opt game binaries.
- viewer/ WebGL archive generators (.py); prebuilt HTML/data regeneratable.
- samples/ small test models/textures.
- bt*.raw.bin real BTL4OPT arena wire captures (kept for offline renderer
testing/regression against OUR game).
.gitignore keeps the multi-hundred-MB demo capture dumps + debug logs +
regeneratable viewer bundles out of history (they stay on disk).
Phase 0 of the integration is validated: their board decodes our bt8 capture
with zero errors (3748 nodes, 507 instances, 4 mechs) and renders our arena
(terrain/dome/sky, correct Division DAC gamma). Plan + status in memory;
integration continues in emulator/RENDERER-COLLAB.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
109 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
# `.MAP` game maps and `.MOD` game objects
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The **actual playable game worlds** — BattleTech arenas and Red Planet tracks —
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live in the game trees' `MAPS/` directories (`BTDAVE`, `BTLIVE`, `BTRAVINE`,
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`RPDAVE`, `RPLIVE`), not in `.SCN` files. Reverse-engineered from the files
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themselves (INI-style text; ~50 maps, ~13,000 instance placements archive-wide).
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## `.MAP`
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Sections declare assets; a `type=map` section places them:
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```ini
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[hall2] ; asset declaration
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type=model
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modelfile=hall2.mod
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[one]
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type=dropzone ; pod spawn ring
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dropzone= x y z rx ry rz ; rotations in RADIANS
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[arena1] ; the map itself (usually named like the file)
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type=map
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instance=hall2 x y z rx ry rz
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instancedropzone=one x y z rx ry rz
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[inc]
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type=include ; merge another .MAP's sections
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file=other.map
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```
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- `instance=` may reference a **model or another map section** — maps nest, with
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transform composition (row-vector, `Rz·Rx·Ry·T`, unit scale — the SCN transform
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with radians instead of degrees).
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- The root map section is the one named like the file (fallback: the map-typed
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section with the most instances).
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- Comments: `//`. A leading `[LAB_ONLY]` marks unreleased content.
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## `.MOD` (game object)
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```ini
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[video]
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object=rb3.bgf ; render geometry (may carry a node name after it)
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[collision]
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name=rb3_cv.sld ; collision volume (not needed for rendering)
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[gamedata]
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class=UnscalableTerrainClassID
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; plus physics (mass, drag, friction), DamageZones, Explosion*, animation=,
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; skeleton=, Subsystems= ... the full game-object layer (MechBld output)
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```
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For rendering, only `[video] object=` matters — take the first token, resolve the
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`.BGF` (DIV-BIZ2 geometry, see B2Z_FORMAT.md).
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## LOD container (format evolution, 1996)
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Game-side BGFs nest their patches **inside** the LOD block (`0x041`), which the
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1994 loader treated as an empty marker and skipped:
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```
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0x040 object
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0x036 vertex format
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0x041 LOD ; now a CONTAINER
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0x046 len=8 ; switch in/out distances (2 × f32)
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0x042 patch ... ; the actual geometry
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```
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A parser following the 1994 spec reads these files as *empty*. Parse the first
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(highest-detail) LOD's contents; later `0x041` blocks are lower-poly alternates
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and would double-draw. This unlocked ~850 game models that previously decoded to
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zero geometry.
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## Animation & effects
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- A MOD's `[video] object=` list may carry **several objects** — e.g. the Red
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Planet door `DRW.MOD`: `drw.bgf dr1.bgf dr2.bgf` = frame + two sliding leaves
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("number and order of objects is significant!"), plus low-poly LOD twins
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(`<name>l`, dropped for rendering). The wellhead `WH1.MOD` carries
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`wh1.bgf … lazdril.bgf` — the **laser-drill beam mesh**.
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- **Door motion is data**, in the `.SUB` subsystems file:
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```ini
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[door1]
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Type=DoorClassID
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TravelTime=13.0 ; seconds to open
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DeadTime=3.0 ; dwell at each end
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MotionExtent=-25.0 0.0 0.0 ; local slide vector
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Collision=dr1_cv.sld ; links the subsystem to video object "dr1"
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```
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The viewer plays this as a ping-pong slide (extent rotated into world space per
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instance). The laser drill's firing is engine-driven (no data), so the viewer
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gives `laz*` objects an approximate glow pulse — flagged as approximation.
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- Scrolling textures play in maps too: any surface whose texture entity carries
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a `SPECIAL=" SCROLL u0 v0 du dv"` hook in its material library (smoke stacks,
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sky domes, beam effects) drifts its UVs — see SCN_FORMAT, Scrolling textures.
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- Other animation carriers, not yet implemented: `.ANI` (INI skeletal keyframes:
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framecount/framerate/skeletonfile + `.SKL` skeletons — the mech walk cycles)
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and `SPECIALFX` particle-emitter definitions.
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## Asset resolution
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Prefer assets from the **same game tree** as the map (`<tree>/MODELS/*.MOD`,
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`<tree>/VIDEO/**.BGF`) before the archive-wide basename index — BTDAVE, BTLIVE and
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BTRAVINE each carry their own versions.
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## Validation
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`ARENA1.MAP` → the arena hall + 8 dropzones. `CITY1.MAP` → 77 placed buildings.
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`BLADE.MAP` (Red Planet) → 205 placements / 24k triangles; a render from its first
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dropzone shows the drop-station, canyon walls and track — the pod's-eye view.
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Dropzones are drawn as small red pyramids in the archive viewer.
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