TeslaRel410/README.md

# Tesla Release 4.10 — Tesla:BattleTech & Tesla:Red Planet

Source code and game content for **Tesla:BattleTech** and **Tesla:Red Planet**, the
two games that ran on the **Tesla**-generation simulator cockpits built by
**Virtual World Entertainment, Inc.** (VWE). Source file headers are dated
1994–1996; this tree corresponds to release 4.10 of the Tesla software.

This repository is an archival snapshot. The tree is preserved byte-for-byte as
found (see `.gitattributes` — no line-ending conversion is applied).

## Target hardware

Each Tesla cockpit was driven by a server-class **Pentium Pro** machine running
**Novell DOS**. Graphics were split across two adapters:

- The **main (out-the-window) display** was rendered by one of the first
  pixel-pipeline 3D accelerator cards ever made, driven through **Division Ltd.'s
  dVS/DPL libraries** (`libDPL` — DPL, dsys, dvs, and the VPX headers; Division
  copyright 1995).
- An **S3 video adapter** drove the other **six cockpit displays** (instrument
  and gauge screens — see the `GAUGE` content directories and the `PCPIC.INC` /
  `L4GAU*` gauge code).

Other hardware/OS interfaces:

- **Audio:** HMI **SOS** (Sound Operating System) — `sos/` libraries, with
  variants for Borland (`bc4`) and Watcom (`wc`).
- **Networking:** pods were networked over Ethernet using **WATTCP** (DOS
  TCP/IP, with BOOTP) via VWE's **NetNub** layer.
- **Input:** joystick/pedal/panel I/O in assembly (`JOYSTICK.ASM`) and the
  `L4CTRL*` control modules.

## Toolchain

- **Borland C++ 5.0** (`BCC`) with **TASM32** for assembly — see the `.MAK`
  makefiles (original build tree lived at `D:\TESLA_RP\` and `D:\BC5\`).
- Precompiled-header discipline throughout (`.CSM` headers, `#pragma hdrstop`).
- `VSSVER.SCC` / `MSSCCPRJ.SCC` files are remnants of the original **Visual
  SourceSafe** source control.
- File extensions: `.CPP/.HPP` C++ source/headers, `.TCP/.THP` C++ template
  source/headers, `.MAK` Borland makefiles.

## Repository layout

```
ARTTOOLS/   (empty placeholder — art tools were not included in this snapshot)
BORLAND/    (empty placeholder — compiler was not included in this snapshot)
CODE/       Game and engine source (~200k lines of C++/asm)
CONTENT/    Game data: models, animations, audio, maps, textures, gauges
HEADOFF/    Head/camera offset calibration configs for the cockpit displays
```

### CODE/

Both games share the same architecture: a portable simulation engine
(**MUNGA**, VWE's in-house engine) plus a hardware layer (**MUNGA_L4**, the
"L4" Tesla pod platform layer), with game-specific code and a game-specific
L4 layer on top.

```
CODE/BT/                Tesla:BattleTech
  BT/                   Game logic: mechs, weapons (PPC, Gauss, missiles),
                        damage tables, teams, missions, scenario rules
  BT_L4/                BattleTech pod application layer (app modes, arena,
                        radar, playback, version)
  MUNGA/                Engine bricks: math (matrices, angles, splines),
                        containers, file streams, audio manager, events
  MUNGA_L4/             Pod hardware layer: video renderer manager, keyboard,
                        mouse, audio hardware, warehouse (resource loading)
    LIBDPL/             Division Ltd. dVS/DPL graphics library (headers +
                        LIBDPL.LIB + VREND*.BTL renderer modules)
    NETNUB/             WATTCP-based pod networking (headers + WATTCPLG.LIB)
    SOS/                HMI Sound Operating System libraries + drivers

CODE/RP/                Tesla:Red Planet (same structure)
  RP/                   Game logic: VTV (hover racer) power/subsystems,
                        pickups (booster, blocker, crusher, thruster)
  RP_L4/                Red Planet pod application layer
  MUNGA/                Engine (fullest copy — 351 files incl. all .CPP)
  MUNGA_L4/             Pod hardware layer (fullest copy, incl. JOYSTICK.ASM)
    libDPL/, NetNub/, sos/   as above
  */opt/                Compiled Borland C++ 5.0 object files from the
                        original build (preserved as found)
```

Note: the BT copies of MUNGA/MUNGA_L4 are partial (69/68 files) while the RP
copies are complete (351/231 files) — the BT tree appears to hold only the
files that diverged from the shared engine.

### CONTENT/

```
CONTENT/BT/             Tesla:BattleTech content
CONTENT/BT3025/         Parallel BattleTech content set (3025-era variant;
                        mostly identical to BT/ with a different mech roster)
CONTENT/RP/             Tesla:Red Planet content
```

Per-game content directories:

| Dir      | Contents |
|----------|----------|
| `MODELS` | `.MOD/.SUB/.DMG/.TBL` — vehicle/mech models, subsystems, damage tables |
| `ANIMS`  | `.ANI` — animations (BT only) |
| `AUDIO`  | `.MID` MIDI music, `.SCP` audio scripts, `.BNK/.BLD` banks |
| `GAUGE`  | `.GIM` — gauge images for the six S3-driven cockpit displays |
| `MAPS`   | `.MAP/.ZNE` — arena/terrain maps and zones |
| `SOLIDS` | `.SLD` — collision solids |
| `VIDEO`  | Division renderer data: `GEO/` geometry, `MAT/` materials, and `TEX/` textures per environment (ARENA, DAY, NIGHT, DESERT, POLAR, CAVERN, …), `.DZM` skins, `.BMF/.BGF` binary geometry, `BUILD/` sources |
| `SCENES` | Scene definitions (RP only) |
| `BTCAM`  | Camera batch setups (BT only) |

`DIVISION.SAV` subdirectories inside `VIDEO/` are backup saves written by
Division's tools. `MTMCDAI.SYS` (Mitsumi) and `TAISATAP.SYS` are DOS CD-ROM
device drivers used on the pod machines.

### HEADOFF/

INI-style calibration files (`.XST/.CAM/.BAK`) defining viewing extents and
camera offsets ("head offset") for the cockpit's main display, including a
`[LAB_ONLY]` configuration.

## Provenance

- Copyright (C) 1994–1996 Virtual World Entertainment, Inc. All rights
  reserved worldwide. Original headers mark the source as proprietary and
  confidential.
- Third-party components retain their own copyrights: Division Ltd. (dVS/DPL),
  Human Machine Interfaces (SOS), Erick Engelke / University of Waterloo
  (WATTCP).