# Playing the game: every screen, and how you move through it

**Written from the player's chair.** What is on screen, what you press, what
happens. This is the document you would hand someone who has never seen the game
and wants to reach a mission — or who needs to script that journey.

Internal names (`ptbtn03`, `GP_LOAD`, build numbers) appear only as footnotes,
because they are how *we* find things, not what the game shows anyone.

**Status:** filling in. §1–§4 now carry what the committed oracle frames actually
show; what is still ❔ is what no capture answers. This page exists to be filled
in by playing, not to look finished.

> ## ⚠️ Fill this in from the real game
>
> The oracle is **Xenia Canary running the actual title**, captured. Not
> `sylpheed-cli`, not the Explorer, not any renderer of ours — those are tools
> for verifying our decoding, they are hypotheses under test, and they have been
> wrong. A row here with no capture behind it is a guess wearing a table cell.
>
> Describe what you *saw*. "The cursor starts on the second item" is worth more
> than any amount of reasoning about the layout data.

Confidence: ✅ seen in a capture · 🟡 inferred · ❔ unknown.

---

## 1. From power-on to the main menu

| # | What you see | What you do | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **SQUARE ENIX** in white on black, the two dots in red, `™` after it ✅ | nothing | fades on to the next logo |
| 2 | **GAME ARTS**, **SETA** and **studio anima** stacked on black ✅ | nothing | fades on into the cinematic |
| 3 | The opening cinematic | **Ⓐ** skips it ✅ | ends into the title |
| 4 | **Title screen** — the wordmark appears **first, with no prompt**; `PRESS Ⓐ BUTTON` fades in **2.13 s** later, above the 2006/2007 Square Enix copyright line, and then pulses about every 2.2 s ✅ | press **Ⓐ** | goes to the main menu ✅ |
| 5 | **Main menu** | — | see §2 |

✅ **The order is publisher then developer, confirmed in three cold boots
(2026-08-29)** — `SQUARE ENIX` for ~4.3 s, a ~0.25 s black hold, then
`GAME ARTS` / `SETA` / `studio anima` for ~3.5 s, and both dwells are declared on
the disc (240 and 195 keyframe units). ⚠️ There is a **third** SQUARE ENIX
wordmark about ten seconds in — bloomed, below centre — and it is the opening
card of the intro movie, not a splash.
[the three frames side by side](../re/captures/boot-order/splash-order-two-runs.png) ·
[`boot-order-and-splash-dwell.md`](../re/boot-order-and-splash-dwell.md)

Both logo screens are **still pictures the game draws**, not video — neither is a
`.wmv` on the disc. Captures:
[publisher](../re/captures/title-builds/live-splash-publisher.png) ·
[developer](../re/captures/title-builds/live-splash-developer.png) ·
[title](../re/captures/title-builds/live-title-press-a.png).

⚠️ **One Ⓐ skips the cinematic**, and it is worth a lot of time: the title
arrived at **57 s** with the skip against **193 s** without it ✅.

⚠️ **The title screen has two states that look identical.** The one that ends
the boot accepts Ⓐ. The one the attract loop returns to, after the game has sat
untouched and looped back, **accepts nothing** — Ⓐ, START, B, BACK, X, Y, dozens
of presses, no response. Nothing on screen distinguishes them ✅. If you are
scripting: use the *first* title after boot, and do not press anything during the
boot.

⚠️ **The title is not input-ready for about ten seconds** after it appears ✅.
And even then Ⓐ registers roughly half the time, with nothing yet found that
predicts which ✅ — budget retries.
🔴 **Refutation attempt, 2026-08-29 — both halves of that came out wrong on the
runs I could test.** Two boots, Ⓐ pressed **7.29 s** and **7.28 s** after the
title art settled (5.15 s and 5.15 s after the prompt appeared): **accepted both
times, first press, no retry**, and each went straight on to the main menu. Ⓑ on
the menu was then also accepted first press, both runs.
⚠️ Reach: **n = 2**, so "half the time" is only made unlikely (2/2 has p ≈ 0.25
under it), not excluded — but *"not input-ready for about ten seconds"* is
contradicted outright, because 7.3 s worked twice. Keep the retry budget; drop
the ten-second wait. Evidence:
[run 1](../re/data/plate-timing-run1.tsv) · [run 2](../re/data/plate-timing-run2.tsv) ·
[`title-plate-delay-measured.md`](../re/title-plate-delay-measured.md).

⚠️ **The prompt takes 2.13 s to arrive, measured twice (2.138 s / 2.132 s).**
Timed from the moment the wordmark stops animating, not from the moment it first
appears — the build-in itself varies by half a second between runs.

---

## 2. Main menu

Five options in a vertical stack, roughly centred, with a highlighted state on
the focused one.

> ✅ **The focused option carries a small ring to the left of its label, and the
> ring turns — continuously, about once every 2.2 s.** It has a bright head, so
> you can see it go round. It is the **only** thing moving on this screen once it
> has settled: the labels, the bracket and the footer are all completely still
> (temporal std exactly 0.000 over 20 s). Ⓑ
> [five frames, 4 s apart](../re/captures/focus-ring/ring-single-frames-4s-apart.png) ·
> [the measurement](../re/focus-ring-spin-measured.md)

| position | label | what it opens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **NEW GAME** | a **DIFFICULTY** prompt, then **SELECT DATA** ✅ |
| 2 | **LOAD GAME** | the save-slot list ✅ |
| 3 | **TUTORIAL** | the lesson list ✅ |
| 4 | **OPTIONS** | the settings menu ✅ |
| 5 | **EXTRAS** | a three-item submenu ✅ |

Read off [`live-main-menu.png`](../re/captures/title-builds/live-main-menu.png);
destinations off
[`q4-destinations.png`](../re/captures/menu-nav/q4-destinations.png) and
[`newgame-difficulty.png`](../re/captures/newgame-path/newgame-difficulty.png).

The screen is the title art gone dim, with the wordmark ghosted behind the list
and a bracket of glowing rule-lines drawn around it. The focused item is bright
white with a **spinning ring** to its left; the others are dim blue. Every item
carries a small dot-in-circle at the left end of its underline — that is on all
five all the time and is *not* the cursor.

**Moving around ✅**

| you press | what happens |
|---|---|
| ⬆ / ⬇ | one item, and it **wraps** at both ends |
| ⬅ / ➡ | nothing |
| Ⓐ | opens the focused item |
| Ⓑ | 🟡 back to the title — see the warning below |

❔ **Which item is focused when the menu opens is not fixed.** Four boots of the
same harness opened on `TUTORIAL`, `TUTORIAL`, `NEW GAME`, `NEW GAME`. Do not
assume the top item, and do not assume the middle one either.

> ⚠️ **The main menu is the one screen whose footer does not offer Ⓑ.** It reads
> `⊙ : Select   Ⓐ : OK` — every submenu adds `Ⓑ : Back`. Measured: **zero**
> red-Ⓑ glyph pixels anywhere in the frame, on two captures, with the same
> detector finding the glyph on `EXTRAS` and `DIFFICULTY` ✅.
> ✅ **But Ⓑ does leave it, and the objection that stood here is refuted
> (2026-08-29).** This page used to say the title "returns on its own after
> ~8–10 s idle", so an observer could not tell Ⓑ from the timer. That timer
> belongs to the **title**, not to this screen: the main menu was held untouched
> for **≥ 60 s** and never moved. Ⓑ is delivered and is the only input in ≥ 100 s
> before the return, so the ordering is measured — the *latency* is not
> ([the measurement](../re/menu-idle-and-b-2026-08-29.md)).

*Internals: `GP_TITLE.pak` build 5; buttons `ptbtn01`–`ptbtn05` top to bottom.*

---

## 3. The rest of the menus

One section each, in the shape of §2: what is on screen, what the cursor does,
what each choice leads to, and what a wrong choice shows you.

### New game ✅
Ⓐ on `NEW GAME` does **not** start a mission. It opens **DIFFICULTY** —
`EASY` / `NORMAL` / `HARD` / `BACK`, opening focused on **NORMAL** ✅ — and Ⓐ
there opens **SELECT DATA**, a save-slot picker headed
`Current Storage: Dummy HDD` that asks you to choose a file for the auto-save.
Pick one and a movie plays ✅.
[DIFFICULTY](../re/captures/difficulty-screen.png)

### Load game ✅
A vertical list of numbered slots, **8 rows visible**, scrolling as a carousel —
one capture shows the order `19, 20, 01, 02, 03, 04` with `01` focused, so the
list runs past the end and back round to the start ✅. Each row shows
`Difficulty`, `Flight Time` and `Clear Ratio`; a **Details** panel to the right
gives `STAGE`, `Game Status`, `Points` and `Times Cleared`, and an empty slot
leaves every one of those blank ✅. `Current Storage: Dummy HDD` sits along the
top.

Its footer offers more than the other menus:
`⊙ : Select   Ⓐ : OK   Ⓑ : Back   Ⓧ : Delete   Ⓨ : Select Storage` ✅.
[capture](../re/captures/menu-nav/q4-destinations.png) (left panel)

❔ Still open: the overwrite / delete confirmation, and where its cursor starts.

Known: `title → LOAD GAME → slot 01 → YES → READY ROOM → TAKE OFF` reaches
flight ✅.

### Tutorial ✅
A list of lessons in two headed groups, with a one-line description shown on the
left for whichever is focused ✅ — e.g. `BASIC CONTROLS` reads
*"Learn how to move and attack"*. Opens focused on the first entry.

| group | lessons |
|---|---|
| **Level 1** | `BASIC CONTROLS`, `HEADS-UP DISPLAY`, `RADAR` |
| **Level 2** | `SUPPLY AND SPECIAL MOVES`, `RADIO ORDERS`, `ADVANCED CONTROLS` |
| — | `BACK` |

[capture](../re/captures/menu-nav/q4-destinations.png) (middle panel)

### Options ✅ (one level in)
`GAME SETTINGS` · `CONTROL SETTINGS` · `SOUND SETTINGS` · `SCREEN SETTINGS` ·
`BACK`, opening focused on the first ✅.
[capture](../re/captures/menu-nav/q4-destinations.png) (right panel)

❔ Still open: what is inside each of the four, what each setting ranges over, and
whether a change needs confirming.

### Extras ✅
Three items: `MISSION SELECT` · `MOVIE THEATER` · `BACK`, opening focused on
`MISSION SELECT` ✅. The cursor wraps here too — it is a menu rule, not a
per-screen one ✅.
[capture](../re/captures/title-builds/live-extras.png)

❔ `MOVIE THEATER` has never been opened.

### Mission select ✅ — and the "stuck cursor" is explained
The stage list on the left (**8 rows visible of 16**, with a scrollbar), a detail
panel showing the stage's name, a picture, `High Score` and `Best Time`, and a
**Wide Area Space Map** on the right with the named systems on it. The chosen
difficulty is printed top-right. Footer:
`⊙ : Select   Ⓐ : OK   Ⓑ : Back   Ⓨ : Difficulty` ✅.

⚠️ **"Stage select would not move" — sixteen d-pad presses never left Stage 01 —
is now explained: the other fifteen stages were LOCKED** ✅. A locked row is
drawn *dimmer than an unfocused one*: measured, the labels sit at three distinct
brightnesses — focused **254**, unlocked **183**, locked **104** — and on a save
with the story unlocked the same rows read 183, with the cursor able to reach
**Stage16** at the bottom of the scrolled list.
[the measurement](../re/menu-navigation-semantics.md#-mission-select-the-cursor-was-stuck-because-the-stages-were-locked) ·
[locked](../re/captures/mission-select-stage01-only.png) ·
[unlocked](../re/captures/mission-select-all-story-unlocked.png) ·
[at Stage16](../re/captures/mission-select-ends-at-stage16.png)

So: if you are scripting a run, **check what the save has unlocked** before
concluding the list is broken. ❔ Whether the list wraps past Stage16, and
whether a locked row is skipped or simply unreachable, is not settled.

### Briefing and Ready Room ❔
❔ What you read, what you choose, and what finally launches the mission.

### Hangar / Arsenal ❔
❔ How a weapon is fitted, how one is bought, what a purchase prompt says.

---

## 4. Prompts, confirmations and alerts

The interrupting layer — and the thing most likely to break a scripted run,
because it looks like a menu and does not behave like one.

| prompt | when | where the cursor starts | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Save game?` | after a mission | **YES** ✅ | |
| `Do you want to develop this weapon?` | Arsenal, on purchase | ❔ | |
| overwrite / delete confirmation | saving, loading | ❔ | |
| "not enough points" or similar refusal | Arsenal | ❔ | ❔ does it need dismissing |

⚠️ **A short d-pad tap is ignored inside a prompt.** Sixty milliseconds moves the
cursor on a menu and does *nothing* in a dialog ✅. So a script that works
through the menus will silently accept the default in every prompt it meets —
which is how you end up overwriting a save you meant to keep. **Confirm which
side the cursor is on before pressing Ⓐ.**

---

## 5. Flying

Not started, and the game teaches it better than we could: **play the in-game
tutorials and write down what they say.** They are the game's own explanation of
its controls, which is exactly the document we want.

To fill in: the control map, and whether there is more than one scheme · throttle
and boost · targeting — ⚠️ target select is Ⓐ pressed **twice**; a sweep that
only ever tapped once concluded targeting was automatic, and was wrong ✅ ·
switching weapons · the pause menu and what it offers · what the HUD tells you,
element by element · how a mission ends, win or lose, and what you see next.

---

## 6. If you are scripting this

Traps that read as bugs but are not, all measured ✅:

* **F10 opens Xenia's own menu bar**, and while any emulator UI is up the game
  is handed an empty keystroke before any pad driver is asked. The controller
  looks dead and is not.
* **A signed-in profile is required** — `--create_profile_if_none`.
* **A trace consumer that exits stalls the emulator**, which also reads as a dead
  pad.
* Cold boot is slow; ~25 s once the shader and code caches are warm.