- 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>
source410 — literal reconstruction of the missing BT 4.10 game source
Everything in this directory is RECONSTRUCTED, not recovered. The authentic surviving
source lives in CODE/ and is never mixed with this tree. The goal here is an
archival-grade recreation of the d:\tesla_bt\ translation units that exist only inside
BTL4OPT.EXE (the shipped 4.10 binary), written in the 1995 VWE house style against the
1995 MUNGA/MUNGA_L4 engine headers that DID survive.
Ground rules
- Never copy a reconstructed file into
CODE/— the assembled buildable tree (originals + reconstructions) is produced by a script into a build directory, so provenance stays unambiguous file-by-file. - Every
.CPPhere has a.NOTES.mdsidecar carrying the evidence: the binary address map, decomp references, which sibling sources supplied each idiom, and every judgment call with its tier ([T1] decomp-proven … [T4] style guess). The.CPPitself stays clean 1995 style — no modern annotations inside. - Assert line numbers are constraints. The binary's
Fail()sites record the original file+line (BTL4APP.CPP:400etc.); reconstructed files are shaped so those calls land on their recorded lines. A file that can't meet its line constraints yet says so in the sidecar. - Layout mirrors the original tree:
BT/(bt.lib, 36 TUs) andBT_L4/(btl4.lib, 13 TUs + BTL4.CPP), matching the survivingBT.MAK/BTL4.MAK.
What drives the work
- The per-TU manifest:
C:\VWE\BT411\reference\BT410_SOURCE_MANIFEST.md(tooltools/manifest410.py; method logphases/phase-03-bt410-source-manifest.md). - The decomp:
C:\VWE\BT411\reference\decomp\all\part_*.c(+section_dump.txtstrings). - The port's semantic reconstructions:
C:\VWE\BT411\game\reconstructed\(WinTesla-hosted; each literal file here re-hosts one back onto the 1995 engine APIs). - Style/idiom exemplars: surviving
CODE/BT/*.CPP,CODE/RP/RP_L4/*.CPP,CODE/RP/MUNGA*/**(the 1995 engine source itself).
Status (2026-07-19)
Compile verification is LIVE: ./compile410.sh --sweep (BC4.52 + the authentic OPT.MAK
flags; the period compiler is the reviewer). backdate.py mechanizes WinTesla→1995 header
back-dating (donors: C:\VWE\BT412\engine\MUNGA\*.h).
| item | state |
|---|---|
| ORIGINAL BTMSSN, BTCNSL, BTSCNRL, BTTEAM, BTL4MODE, BTL4ARND | ✅ COMPILE CLEAN — 6 of 10 surviving originals (first builds since 1996) |
| BT/BTCNSL.HPP + BT/BTSCNRL.HPP | ✅ reconstructed round 2 — console wire IDs recovered from the binary (Killed=9, Damaged=10, ScoreUpdate=13, DeathWithoutHonor=15 [T1]; TeamScore=12 [T4 GUESS — verify]); see BTCNSL.NOTES.md |
| BT_L4/BTL4APP.CPP (pilot reconstruction) | 12/12 functions, Fail() at recorded line 400; compile gated on the mech-family header package |
| MUNGA backfills (VDATA, ROTATION, VECTOR2D, AUDREND, APP, LAMP, GAUGREND, GAUGE) | ✅ 6 compile-proven, 2 parse-proven (BACKFILLS.NOTES.md) |
| ORIGINALS still blocked | BTREG (btplayer.hpp), GAUSS+PPC (emitter.hpp), BTTOOL (mech.hpp) — all gated on the mech-family package |
Next work package — the mech-family, REVISED (round-3 finding, 2026-07-19): the plan to "reconstruct mech.hpp first" was the wrong order. A full read of the port's mech.hpp shows it is a hybrid (1995 skeleton + Recon proxies + port-only members + relocated fields), and substantial regions of the binary's 0x854-byte Mech object remain UNMAPPED — the port declares "the remaining members up to sizeof==0x854" in its mech2-4 slices. A literal MECH.HPP that precedes those TU reconstructions would be fiction. Corrected order:
- MECH.HPP is the CAPSTONE, grown incrementally with each mech-family TU
reconstruction (mech.cpp → mech2-4 → subsystem TUs), starting as an interface +
known-ordered members with explicit
reserved[]filler for unmapped regions (sidecar-tracked), tightened as each TU pins its slice. - The dependent headers (
mechsub,mechmppr,btl4mppr,emitter+mechweap,btplayer,projtile,missile) ship WITH their TUs against the staged MECH.HPP. - The blocked originals (BTTOOL, GAUSS, PPC, BTREG) and the BTL4APP pilot compile green as those land — BTREG last (it includes the whole game-header world). Offset oracles for every stage: BT411 CLASSMAP.md, decomp-reference.md §3, and the port headers' static_assert-locked members.
Toolchain — IN HAND (2026-07-19)
Borland C++ 4.52, archived at ../../BORLAND/BC45/, chosen by byte-match: the fleet's own
CODE/RP/CW32.LIB is identical to 4.52's (and not 4.5's). BCC32/TLINK32/TLIB/MAKE run natively
on Win11. The shipped BTL4OPT.EXE recipe is CODE/BT/OPT.MAK (plain bcc32,
-DLBE4;DEBUG_LEVEL=0;DEBUG_STREAM=cout, -5 -a4 -ff -k- -V -Jg -x- -RT- + the full -O set,
PCH btopt.csm; link -Tpe -ax with c0x32.obj + dpmi32.lib + cw32.lib = Borland PowerPack
DPMI32, not Phar Lap TNT). Compile verification of reconstructed TUs is therefore possible
file-by-file; the current blocker for full closure is the 1995 engine header gap (vdata.hpp
first — only the drifted WinTesla VDATA.h survives, in BT412/engine). Include order for
builds: CODE/BT/* over CODE/RP/*, -DNO_PRECOMPILED_HEADERS until the mech-family headers
are reconstructed. Remaining gap: TASM32 (JOYSTICK.ASM only).