-tmfds 4 splits the 1280x480 MFD span into two independent 640x480 monitors so
the span hardware is no longer required. It rendered correctly but stuttered
rhythmically and constantly, making the game unplayable. -tmfds 1 on the same
binary was flawless.
Root cause: a cross-DirectDraw-object texture read, twice every 7-frame cycle.
CHSH_Device::InitFirst with no pOtherHSHD peer creates its OWN IDirectDraw7 (via
wDirectDrawCreateEx on that monitor's device GUID) and InitSecond creates its OWN
primary flip chain and IDirect3DDevice7. CMFDRight_Device::InitFirst passes no
peer, so the right MFD is an entirely separate DirectDraw object.
EndChannel then did, for channels 3-4:
target->pD3DDevice->SetTexture(0, pDDSTarget);
where target->pD3DDevice belonged to the RIGHT device but pDDSTarget was the LEFT
device's render-target texture. The old code comment asserted "both devices are
on the same GPU so VRAM textures are mutually accessible" -- that premise is
wrong. In DirectDraw 7 a surface belongs to the IDirectDraw7 that created it, not
to the physical GPU, so it is not a valid texture on another object's D3D device.
The MFDs still displayed, which means the runtime was emulating the access with a
VRAM -> system-memory readback and re-upload of the 1024x512 16-bit render target.
That forces a full GPU pipeline stall, and it happened on channels 3 and 4 (that
is, sh_step 5 and 6) -- twice per 7-frame cycle, on the same GPU drawing the main
view. Hence a fixed-period hitch in the whole game, forever.
This also explains why the earlier stagger work (eaa5fd3, BeginSceneRight) did not
help: it only moved a Flip from sh_step 0 to 1, and the flips already used
DDFLIP_DONOTWAIT|DDFLIP_NOVSYNC and never blocked. The flips were never the
problem.
Fix: give the right device everything it draws with, and render channels 3-4
entirely on it.
- New HSH_CreateMFDTextures() builds the mech image atlas and the MFD sprite atlas
on a caller-supplied IDirectDraw7. Both devices now call it, so each owns a
complete independent texture set. CMFD_Device::InitSecond was refactored onto it.
- CMFDRight_Device gained its own pDDSMechTexture / pDDSDamageTexture /
pDDSTargetTexture plus a Release() override, and its InitSecond now sets up
tw/th and the material/render state exactly like the left device.
- New CMFD_Device::SwapRightState() exchanges this object's DATA members with the
right device's. BeginChannel swaps in when channel >= 3 in mode 4; EndChannel
swaps back. This routes all existing drawing to the correct monitor without
touching the ~233 mfd_device.* call sites in hudchat/huddamage/hudweapon/
GUIRadarManager. The vtable pointer is deliberately never swapped, so virtual
dispatch is unaffected; CHSHFont has no virtual functions so its array is
swapped bytewise to avoid ctor/dtor side effects on a temporary.
- EndChannel's composite is now a single path for all modes. Mode 4 composites
full 640 width at x=0 (each device is a standalone panel); modes 1-3 keep the
half-width (ch/3)*w packing into one backbuffer.
Side effects: startup builds the 65-bitmap mech atlas twice (once per device), and
VRAM use rises by a few MB. Modes 0-3 are behaviourally unchanged.
Known cosmetic leftover, deliberately not changed: huddamage.cpp lines ~1319 and
~1901 call LoadTargetTexture outside the channel-3 block, so those loads land on
the left device and go unused. The in-channel call at ~2209 runs every frame in
that branch and correctly populates the right device's copy, so behaviour is
correct -- it is just a redundant load on target change.
Requires rebuild: MW4.exe (GameOS changes recompile the engine library).
Verified: compiles clean, console launches. Two-monitor testing pending.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
A full 16-'Mech roster plus a cameraship silently refused to launch: the console
sat in nLaunchState 3 ("loading") forever with no crash and no error. 15 mechs +
camera worked, and 16 mechs with no camera worked.
Two independent bugs, both counting the cameraship against the 16 'Mech slots.
1. Session capacity (broke all-human rosters)
CTCL_DefaultHostSetup derived the camera reserve from
CTCL_GetTeslaCountAll() - CTCL_GetTeslaCount(). Those counters read the CTCL
tesla table, which is only populated when CTCL_IsConsoleOrCOOP() is true --
i.e. only on the console. But the machine that creates the network session is
the cameraship pod (CTCL_DoMission sets g_nServer = nCameraship, and that pod
runs CTCL_DoCreateGame -> CTCL_DefaultHostSetup(0) -> Mech4CreateGame ->
gos_CreateGame(..., Environment.NetworkMaxPlayers, ...)).
On that pod both counters return 0, so the reserve collapsed to +0 and the
session was created with dwMaxPlayers = 16. The 17th connection was refused,
CTCL_CheckServerReady never saw nCount == g_nTeslas + 1, and the launch hung.
Fixed by reserving with a constant, MW4_CAMERASHIP_RESERVE (4, matching
MAX_CAMERAS), which is valid on every machine regardless of the tesla table.
2. Bot admission (broke any roster containing bots)
MW4Shell::AddBot rejects when (player_count + bot_count) >= m_maxPlayers.
player_count is the DirectPlay player count, which includes the cameraship
connection, so with m_maxPlayers = 16 the last bot was silently refused.
g_nBOTs then never matched the connected lancemates and the same readiness
check spun forever.
Fixed by subtracting cameraship participants from player_count under CTCL,
via a new CTCL_CountCameraShipsInGame() helper (non-bot entries with
m_nMechIndex == 0). Cameraships hold a network slot but pilot no 'Mech, so
they must not consume a 'Mech slot.
Also applies the constant reserve in the PLAYER_LIMIT_PARAMETER path, guarded by
!CTCL_IsNone() so a standalone non-pod host keeps its exact configured limit.
This supersedes commit f76dc05f, which had the right formula but evaluated it on
the console rather than on the pod that actually creates the session.
Note for later: m_maxPlayers is serialized in only 5 bits (MWApplication.cpp),
so 31 is the hard ceiling for any future player-cap work. See
RAISING-PLAYER-CAP.md.
Requires rebuild: MW4.exe (Release + Profile). No script or resource changes.
Verified: compiles clean, console launches. Pod testing pending.
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
- Stabilize Load File first-click behavior across mission/map/options/slots.
- Fix map sequencing by rebuilding game-type scenario list before mission lookup.
- Resolve mission-name miss to map index 0 fallback for selected game type.
- Fix decal handling: map INI decal IDs to dropdown indices, clamp invalid indices, display actual decal IDs in UI labels, and avoid redraw-time decal overwrite.
- Fix option apply timing and UI visibility issues, including Weapon Jam refresh.
- Add NoReturn support end-to-end: parse/store in MW4Shell auto globals, expose script variable, and apply to respawn/no-return mission params and UI checkbox.
- Update autoconfig spec to reflect actual parser/default/fallback behavior and add NoReturn examples.
'gui_objects have no parent' crash at line 907: initialize(this) cannot be
called from sender==@conlobby@ context (external mail). Fix:
1. Replace initialize(this)+mail(-9998,parent) in MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION
with mail(MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION_DONE=-8888, this) -- a self-mail.
2. Add MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION_DONE handler in sender==this block, which
safely calls initialize(this)+mail(-9998,parent) from the correct context.
Also repaired a corrupt duplicate MAIL_PREVIOUS_MISSION_PARAMS block
that was left orphaned by an earlier edit (the original body of
MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION had been inserted there when the handler was
moved from sender==this to sender==@conlobby@).
No rebuild required (script-only).
Handler was inside 'if (sender == this)' but MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION is sent
from ConLobby (sender != this), so it never fired. All game params (FriendlyFire,
SplashDamage, UnlimitedAmmo, WeaponJam, AdvanceMode, ArmorMode, etc.) were
silently ignored on every Load File click.
Fix: move the ~70-line handler to the 'if (sender == @conlobby@)' block,
alongside MAIL_SET_ROOKIE_MISSION and MAIL_PREVIOUS_MISSION — where all
ConLobby-originated mails are handled. No rebuild required (script only).
Issue 1 — double press to fix team/FFA display:
cur_team_val is updated by ConLobbyMission's -9998 signal which was async.
Fix: call SetNetworkMissionParamater(team_allowed, ...) directly in ConLobby
before the slot loop, then re-read cur_team_val via CTCL_GetTeamParams.
This is synchronous so the slot display is correct on the first click.
New file keys: TeamAllowed=0/1, TeamCount=2 (default 2 teams).
Issue 2 — Default button broken after Load File click:
CTCL_LoadAutoFile was overwriting g_nRookieGameType/g_szRookieMission etc.
so the Default button loaded the last auto-file params instead of defaults.
Fix: 14 new dedicated g_nAutoXxx/g_szAutoMission globals. CTCL_LoadAutoFile
populates ONLY these. Rookie Mission globals are never touched.
New MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION (-6666) sent to ConLobbyMission applies the Auto
globals (mirrors MAIL_SET_ROOKIE_MISSION_PARAMS but uses g_nAutoXxx).
ConLobby reads game type/mission from Auto globals directly into the
ConLobbyMission dropdowns (@ConLobbyMission@o_game_options[N].nselected).
Files changed:
MW4Shell.cpp: 16 new globals, StartUp/ShutDown registration, CTCL_LoadAutoFile
ConLobby.script: MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION define, updated handler
ConLobbyMission.script: MAIL_LOAD_AUTO_MISSION define + handler
autoconfig-file-spec.html: document TeamAllowed + TeamCount fields
Rebuild required: MW4.exe (Release + Profile).
1. Expose g_bAutomaticMode as gosScript variable so ConLobby can check
it at init time. o_load_file.state is set to 3 (disabled/hidden) if
automaticmode != 1 in options.ini. Button is fully visible and active
only when the feature is intentionally enabled.
Rebuild required: MW4.exe (Release + Profile).
2. Remove cur_team_val conditional for team/skin slot assignment.
Previously, only one of o_team[k] or o_skins[k] was set depending on
cur_team_val at click time, but MAIL_SET_ROOKIE_MISSION propagates the
new game type asynchronously -- cur_team_val would not reflect the
file's GameType until the next frame, requiring a second click.
Fix: always set both o_team[k] and o_skins[k] unconditionally. The
mission launch code uses whichever is relevant for the active mode;
the other is harmlessly ignored. No rebuild (script-only).
mech[j] in the flat sorted array hits variant entries (e.g. 'Assassin2 A'
sorts before 'AssassinII' alphabetically, pushing all subsequent chassis
indices off by 1 or more). The script's stock_array[] maps each chassis
index -> its actual position in the flat mech[] array, bypassing variant
entries.
Fix: mech[allowed_mechs[j]] -> mech[stock_array[allowed_mechs[j]]]
Only stock (chassis) names are supported in Mech= field. Operators can
adjust variants manually after Load File is clicked. No rebuild required
(script-only change).
Script calls callback(CTCL_GetAutoSlotInt, k, 0/1/2/3) where 0-3 are
integer literals. The script engine passes literals as (void*)N directly
(not as pointers), so INTPARM(1) = *((int*)data[1]) dereferences NULL
when field=0, producing the 'Attempt to read from NULL' STOP.
Fix: VALUEPARM(1) = (int)data[1] reads the value without dereferencing.
k (data[0]) remains INTPARM because it is a script variable (passed as
a pointer to the variable's storage, not a literal).
Also add exists(@ConLobbyMission@) guard before MAIL_SET_ROOKIE_MISSION
for defensive safety if the sub-script is not running.
Rebuild required: MW4.exe (Release + Profile).
options.ini [automaticmode] section:
automaticmode=1
automaticfile=c:\path\to\config.ini
Right-click was considered then dropped in favor of a dedicated button
at 467,510 (below Pick Cond., left of Reprint).
C++ (MW4Shell.cpp):
- SAutoFileSlot struct + g_aAutoSlots[16], g_bAutomaticMode, g_szAutomaticFile globals
- [automaticmode] ini read at StartUp
- CTCL_LoadAutoFile: checks file exists, reads [mission] page into existing
g_nRookieXxx globals + [slot0]..[slot15] pages into g_aAutoSlots[]; returns 1 if loaded
- CTCL_GetAutoSlotName(out_str, k): pilot name for slot k
- CTCL_GetAutoSlotMech(out_str, k): mech display name for slot k
- CTCL_GetAutoSlotInt(k, field): Type/Team/Skin/Decal for slot k (fields 0-3)
- Register/unregister all 4 callbacks in StartUp/ShutDown
Script (ConLobby.script):
- o_load_file button at 467, 510
- Handler: CTCL_LoadAutoFile -> if loaded, sends MAIL_SET_ROOKIE_MISSION to
ConLobbyMission (game options), clears all slots, then applies per-slot data
in a loop (pilot names, mech by display-name lookup in allowed_mechs[], team,
skin, decal). USE_ALLOWED_MECHS/non-ALLOWED_MECHS both handled via #if.
File not consumed (stays on disk); external app overwrites for next load.
Rebuild required: MW4.exe (Release + Profile).
MW4Shell.cpp:
- CTCL_DefaultHostSetup (non-coop): replaced hardcoded
Environment.NetworkMaxPlayers=16 with
params->m_maxPlayers + (CTCL_GetTeslaCountAll() - CTCL_GetTeslaCount())
so DirectPlay reserves one extra slot per installed cameraship.
CTCL_GetTeslaCountAll() - CTCL_GetTeslaCount() = camera-only seat count.
- SetNetworkMissionParamater / PLAYER_LIMIT_PARAMETER: applied the same
camera-slot formula when the host changes the player limit at runtime.
Also restored the gos_NetServerCommands(gos_Commend_UpdateMaxPlayers)
call (was accidentally dropped) and the missing break that caused
fall-through into JOIN_IN_PROGRESS_PARAMETER.
- COOP branch: no change (capped at 9+bots; camera seats not needed there).
ConLobby.script:
- Raised the launch-guard cap from nTempPlayerCount > 16 to > 17,
allowing the 17th connection (the cameraship) to not trigger the
'Too many player/bots' error.
Version bumped to V5.1.0b1 to align with the 5.1.0b-in-progress branch name and
the goal of producing a tested release candidate.
Incorporated manually-tested script changes from Buddy 'Highlight' Taylor of
MechCorps (MCHL), who expanded the default mech pool from Fab4 to Super6:
- ROOKIEMECH defines extended to 6 entries (added Archer ID=1, Warhammer ID=62)
- 16-slot default mech assignments updated to cycle through all 6 Super6 mechs
- Right-click mech randomizer expanded from random(0,3) to random(0,5) to
include Archer and Warhammer in the pool
Changelog entries for Cyd (06/24/26), MCHL (06/27/26), and RT (07/19/26)
added to the script header.
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
Battlemaster stock loadouts (Content\Mechs\Battlemaster\battlemaster.subsystems):
- Replace lone MediumPulseLaser with full IS stock: PPC (Special2, group 1),
6×ML (3 RT + 3 LT, group 1), 2×MG (LA, 200 rds, group 1), SRM6 (Special1,
15 rds, group 2).
Battlemaster Clan 2C (battlemaster2c.subsystems):
- Replace ClanMediumPulseLaser with: ER PPC (RA, group 1), 6×ER ML (3 RT + 3
LT, group 1), 2×Clan Gauss (LA, 16 rds each, group 1), Clan SSRM6 (Special1,
15 rds, group 2).
Behemoth / Behemoth2 (.subsystems):
- Move Gauss rifles from weapon group 3 → group 1 (3 occurrences each).
Resource builder (build-resources.ps1):
- Always run with -window (windowed + DDrawCompat). Fullscreen native DDraw
fails on VMs with the generic Microsoft display adapter.
- Remove dgVoodoo2 D3D interceptors (D3D8/D3D9/D3DImm.dll) from Gameleap\mw4:
they silently break the builder (process exits 0 without packing anything).
Script also defensively moves any such files aside via $dgvMoved block.
- Remove dgVoodoo.conf and dgVoodooCpl.exe (abandoned experiment, no longer used).
- Expected: 'Hardware Error: not compatible with MechWarrior 4' dialog at end
of build on VMs -- click OK, packages are built correctly regardless.
CLAUDE.md: updated with mfdsplit branch notes covering all 2026-07-18 work.
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
ConLobbyMission.script:
- Expand MP time-limit dropdown from 9 to 18 entries (1-15, 20, 25, 30 min)
with max_displayed=10 so the list scrolls cleanly.
- Fix bare else-if syntax (missing braces) that caused null-reference crash
on console lobby load when this was merged from main.
- Fix i==5 vs i==6 max_displayed assignment for time vs radar dropdowns.
build-resources.ps1:
- DDrawCompat's ddraw.dll is fatal to MW4pro.exe in FULLSCREEN but works
in WINDOWED mode. Don't move it aside; instead run the builder with
-window when ddraw.dll is present. This fixes builds on VMs with generic
display adapters (no hardware DirectDraw) and avoids the EnterWindowMode
CreateSurface crash on Win10/11 without a functioning DWM shim.
- Also temporarily set options.ini bitdepth=32 when running without any
ddraw interceptor (bare-metal fallback), restored in finally block.
- Remove stale comment about ddraw being fatal; update interceptor detection
to correctly identify DDrawCompat vs dgVoodoo2 via dgVoodoo.conf presence.
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <copilot@github.com>
MySQL database export (dbexport.h / dbexport.cpp):
- New files dbexport.h / dbexport.cpp implement late-bound MySQL export.
libmysql.dll is loaded at runtime via LoadLibrary/GetProcAddress so no
MySQL SDK is required at compile time; the app runs normally if the DLL
is absent.
- After each print job, match data is exported to a MySQL server before
PrintDlg() is called: one row in 'match', one row per player in
'player_result', one row per attacker/victim pair in 'pvp'. An optional
'event' table records every individual SRecScore entry (off by default).
Tables are created automatically (CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS) on first
connect.
- Config stored in mw4print.ini (app directory), section [MySQLExport]:
Enabled, Host, Port, Database, Username, Password, ExportEvents.
- Config loaded at startup (OnCreate); DB_LoadConfig() / DB_SaveConfig().
- Connection timeout set to 5 seconds so the app does not hang if the
server is unreachable.
- libmysql.dll (MySQL Connector/C 32-bit) added to Gameleap/mw4/ so the
deploy script copies it to MW4/ alongside mw4print.exe.
Database Settings dialog (File > Database Settings... / Ctrl+D):
- MFC dialog: enable checkbox, Host/Port/Database/Username/Password fields,
Export Events checkbox, Test Connection button with live status label,
OK/Cancel. OK persists settings to mw4print.ini immediately.
Configurable banner text (File > Banner Setting...):
- The 'WWW.MECHJOCK.COM' URL string printed at the bottom of every score
sheet is now configurable. Stored as BannerText= in options.ini under
[battle tech print] (same section/file as the other print layout params).
File > Banner Setting... opens a dialog to edit it; OK saves to options.ini
and takes effect on the next print job with no restart needed.
Default value is the original MECHJOCK string if the key is absent.
Root cause of the broken MFD2 display: CMFD_Device::BeginScene() cleared
the right device back buffer at old sh_step==0, but with the stagger the
right device flip also fired in that same frame (new sh_step==1 = old
sh_step==0 after increment). The flip presented a just-cleared buffer
with only the grid, no channel data.
Fix: split BeginScene for mode 4 - left device (step 0) vs right device
(step 1). Add BeginSceneRight() called from WinMain at old sh_step==1.
The right device flip at new sh_step==1 (= old sh_step==0) now shows
channels 3-4 rendered at steps 5-6 of the previous cycle - correct.
Cycle for mode 4 with stagger:
old sh_step 0: radar+left BeginScene, no flip
new sh_step 1: flip right MFD (shows prev cycle channels 3-4)
old sh_step 1: right BeginScene (clear+grid)
old sh_step 2-4: channels 0-2 -> left device
old sh_step 5-6: channels 3-4 -> right device
new sh_step 0: flip radar+left MFD (shows prev cycle channels 0-2)
Incremental Release + Profile builds (0 errors) picking up the
CRIOMAIN.CPP UpdateThrottle change; rel.bin\MW4.exe and MW4pro.exe
deployed to MW4\. Build logs in build-env\build_pr4_*.log.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Removes the if(lT!=0) guard in UpdateThrottle that made an exact-zero
throttle reading keep the previous throttle value; adds a negative
clamp. Zero now falls into the deadzone branch -> ZERO_THROTTLE.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
-tbaud <rate> (9600-921600) overrides the COM1 baud rate while keeping
old-RIO (type 0) protocol behavior unchanged; independent of -trio.
SetupComm buffers 2/2 -> 1024/1024 only when the override is active.
Rebuilt Release + Profile (0 errors), deployed rel.bin\MW4.exe to MW4\.
run-firestorm driver: game-start now takes optional extra args.
CLAUDE.md: branch notes incl. the CP949 comment-encoding hazard
(mw4 sources must be edited byte-safely).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
FS507D_20161015 release analysis wrap-up (drop itself is gitignored; art-review
folder kept local for review):
- Recovered the only assets our tree lacked: 13 hsh HUD/radar/mech bmps and the
two 5.07D lobby decals (decal_46/47.tga, extracted from release props.mw4 via
a ported gos_LZDecompress).
- ResourceImagePool.cpp: missing-texture placeholder is now LAB_ONLY (editor
keeps degraded mode); Release restores the original fatal STOP. Release +
Profile rebuilt, 0 errors.
Console script reconciled:
- ConLobby.script.new ("BattleTech Console V5.0.7Df", newest revision anywhere)
promoted to Content\ShellScripts\ConLobby.script; .new removed; stale loose
deploy copy removed. Verified in-game (console title shows V5.0.7Df).
- Corrected CLAUDE.md: the release never "renamed" the console to
ComputerPlayer.script -- the resource packer stores script contents under
alphabetically skewed entry names (runtime resolves the same pairing).
Packer quirks documented (stale entry carry-forward on incremental builds,
name/content skew in directory sweeps).
Mechlab bug fix (first FireStorm bug hunt):
- New-Mech dialog showed blank rows for Wolfhound/Zeus and crashed (KERNELBASE
read AV) when creating a Zeus. Root cause: newmech in chassis.script created
its Type droplist without setting $$m_listBoxSize$$, so capacity defaulted to
60 while 65 chassis were written in -- OOB script-array writes. Fixed by
sizing the list from $$m_chassisCount$$. Latent stock-MW4 bug armed when the
FireStorm roster passed 60 chassis. Verified: Zeus variant creates cleanly.
props.mw4 fully repacked (decals + promoted console + mechlab fix, junk
.new/.org entries gone); game deploy refreshed at MW4\. Gitignore: FS507D drop
and player-created MW4\Resource\Variants.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Complete disaster-recovery snapshot: engine/game source, game data assets,
VC6 toolchain + DX SDKs, build outputs, deployed game, and _UNUSED archive.
Large binaries in Git LFS; text preserved byte-for-byte (core.autocrlf=false,
no eol attributes). See RECOVERY.md for the one-clone rebuild procedure.
CydandClaude Fable 5