-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>
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>
-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