Sylpheed/docs/re/REFUTED.md

# Refuted — claims that were tested and died

**Read this before proposing a hypothesis.** Every line below was believed at
some point, measured, and found false. Reviving one costs a whole iteration and
produces nothing.

This file exists because the list had been living in the autonomous agent's
*loop prompt* — the only copy, lost the moment the container was. A refuted
result is a real result; it belongs in the corpus like any other.

**Format:** each entry is the claim as it was believed. Where the true answer is
known it follows after `→`. Grouped by subject so a grep for your noun finds the
neighbourhood, not just the line.

---

## Offsets, structs and the progress singleton

* `position = instance − 0x12c` → refuted.
* `+0x29d0` → refuted.
* "an offset intersection can find a struct's consumer" → **only for LARGE or
  unusual offsets.** Small ones have no power (`+184`: 301/351/115 hits).
* "a `+1956` store means a progress write" → writes go through the COPY, not
  direct stores. 9 direct stores, none of them a progress write.
* "the singleton-global filter can find progress writers" → it fails its own
  control.
* "the progress copy destination is an `r1`-relative stack local" → it is a
  **frame register**. The `r1` assumption returned 0 for all 21 candidates
  *including the known-good* — the filter was killed by its own control.
* "word B's writer also stores the Time/Points record" → it does not.
* "the debriefing records the metric with the clear bit" → 44 calls, exactly two
  strings (`DEBRIEFING`, `BASE_INFO`), no `Time`, no `Points`.
* "`0x820AF030` holds live state" → all 384 words constant; it is a
  spawned-entity record, not live state.

## Screens, classes and RTTI

* "the boot title is phase 2 and the attract title is phase 4 state 0, and only
  phase 2 handles Ⓐ" → **mine, and refuted the next iteration.** Ⓑ from the menu
  is the decoded edge `4 → 0`, and Ⓐ on that returned title opens the menu.
* "any title after the first one refuses input" → too broad. The **Ⓑ-returned
  title accepts Ⓐ**; only the **attract**-returned title is inert.
  [`canary-scripted-input-traps.md`](canary-scripted-input-traps.md)
* "`sub_821C6458` is `GamePart_Title`'s state machine" → **mine, imprecise.** It
  is the machine for **phase 4** of a five-way outer dispatch at `this+132`;
  phase 0 is the splash. The ten states and eighteen edges are phase 4 only.
  [`boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md`](boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md)
* "`sub_821CC860` is the game's by-name screen factory" → **mine, and wrong.** Its
  decoded arguments include `BG`, `BLACK`, `FADE`, `FILE`, `KEY`, `PAD`, `SOUND`,
  `GAMMA_RGB` — it is a **generic name-keyed lookup**, mostly config.
* "`DIFFICULTY` and `EXTRA_MENU` are corroborated screen names" → **mine, and
  wrong.** Neither appears in `r5` at any of the 48 call sites; they were strings
  merely referenced by the same functions. Only `TUTORIAL_MENU` survives.
  [`boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md`](boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md)
* "the `{func, func, ptr}` triples at `0x820a3b48` are a GamePart state table" →
  **static-initialiser records trailing the `RegisterToFactory` strings.** The
  bytes before them are the tail of a diagnostic string and the data column is
  zero-filled descriptors.
  [`boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md`](boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md)
* "the boot sequence is driven by a table the game reads" → it is **not
  data-driven**; four search spaces closed, transitions are calls with an id
  argument. [`boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md`](boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md)
* "`config.ini` is a GamePart settings table, so the boot order is in it" → its
  `[SYSTEM]` section is **empty**; the only populated section is `[LANGUAGE]`.
  [`boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md`](boot-config-and-gamepart-registry.md)
* "the attract loop is `GP_ADVERTISE_DEMO` (GamePart 1)" → 🟡 id 1 has **no
  registration site** in the shipped build; the attract is the title replaying
  `ADV.wmv`.
* "the 29 id-table names are 29 distinct GameParts" → 24 register, and `3`/`4`
  are the **same class** (`GamePart_SaveLoad`).
* "Ⓐ on `NEW GAME` leads to a standing black-screen hang" → it opens
  **`DIFFICULTY`**, then **`SELECT DATA`**. What looked like a hang was a menu
  waiting for input that nobody pressed; the crash that follows is the already
  documented `sub_823070B0` cache throw.
  [`menu-navigation-semantics.md`](menu-navigation-semantics.md)
* "tapping Ⓐ during the boot movie breaks the title" → **one** tap skips the
  movie cleanly and the title works normally. It is *hammering* (88 presses) that
  breaks it. [`movie-binding.md`](movie-binding.md)
* "the attract movie runs ~85 s, so it is not `ADV.wmv` (137 s)" → **mine, and
  wrong.** Sampling began 39 s into the movie, so what was timed was its tail.
  The attract movie **is** `ADV.wmv`, played in full.
  [`movie-binding.md`](movie-binding.md)
* "the boot intro and the attract movie are different videos" → one asset, one
  manifest slot (`ADVERTISE_MOVIE`).
* "the new-game intro is unidentified" → `MS00A` → `S00A.wmv`, decoded from the
  movie manifest.
* "`GP_READY_ROOM.pak` holds the Ready Room screen" → its 317 distinct element
  names contain **none** of the six visible labels; it is the briefing /
  tactical-map content behind the `BRIEFINGS` item.
  [`ready-room-probe.md`](ready-room-probe.md)
* "the Ready Room might be 3D with a UI overlay" → it is **2D**; the pak carries
  zero 3D containers.
* "element kind `0x3002` is *the* button kind" → title-side only. All 902
  `GP_READY_ROOM` bundles have **zero** `0x3002`; that pak uses `0x3000`,
  `0x3004`, `0x300c`, `0x3008`. `0x3002` is one member of a `0x3000` family.
* "the transition between menu screens is a cut" → it is a **fade through
  black**; a 0.5 Hz screenshot burst simply samples too slowly to see it.
  [`screen-transitions.md`](screen-transitions.md)
* "the main menu's initial focus is fixed" → three boots of one script gave
  `TUTORIAL`, `TUTORIAL`, `NEW GAME`.
* "the title menus drop d-pad presses shorter than ~0.3 s" → **refuted by my
  own data.** The menu **wraps at both ends**; every press registered, and the
  "missing" step was the wrap. See [`menu-navigation-semantics.md`](menu-navigation-semantics.md).
* "the main menu opens with `NEW GAME` focused" → it opens on **`TUTORIAL`**,
  2/2 boots (🟡 a third recorded run implies `NEW GAME`, so this is reproducible,
  not invariant).
* "`GP_TITLE` builds 6/8/9 are three submenus" → **8 is the JAPANESE main
  menu**, and 6/9 are the English and Japanese `EXTRAS` submenu. `GP_TITLE`
  holds eight screens shipped twice (EN/JP), and exactly one submenu. See
  [`ui-title-build-map.md`](ui-title-build-map.md).
* "the `PRESS Ⓐ BUTTON` plate is a state of the title build" → it is **its own
  build** (2/3), composited over build 4 and faded in a beat later.
* "the RTTI route can name the anonymous classes" → 1 150 vtables: 1 150
  `ANON_`, 0 `rtti_present`, 0 base classes.
* "the sibling vtable methods name the class" → they cannot.
* "`xrefs` can name the callers of a vtable method" → no.
* "the `ind_call` refutation voids existing corpus claims" → damage bounded,
  4/4 caller claims verify. But **`xrefs.ind_call` is a CROSS PRODUCT** — always
  filter `kind='call'`.
* "`BASE_INFO` marks the 5-slot screen family" → it discriminates
  screen-config from table-read, 9/9 vs 10/10.
* "a high key count means a rich screen" → `sub_82297550` / `sub_822A2F00`'s 27
  "keys" are coordinate pairs, i.e. a layout table.
* "`EX_` = the CHALLENGE-mission debriefing" → `EX_` is **EXTRA**, mission-kind
  3.
* "the `EX_` selection has not been shown" → it has: `[[obj+4]+184] == 3`.

## Stages, missions and the challenge set

* "the disc's stages are numbered 1..28" → S01–S16 story, S17 **cut**, S18–S23
  tutorials, S24–S29 challenge.
* "S24–S29 are story missions" → they are the challenge missions.
* "the challenge missions have their own maps" → they reuse
  `GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak`'s stage records.
* "the challenge `REQUIREMENT` values are 16,25,26,27,29" → the chain is
  16→24→25→26→27→28.
* "the `Extra0n` family shares one leaderboard metric" → `RECORD_TYPE` is
  per-stage: 3 Time / 3 Points.
* "stage = filled SHAB count + 1" → refuted.
* "the first TRIGGER is always the point of no return" → refuted.
* "`EnumUnit_S14.tbl` might be missing" / "S14's 13 are a manifest omission" /
  "asteroids are exempt from the manifest" → S14's 13 are **dangling
  deployments**. NEEDS-HUMAN: fly S14.
* "`StageMessageSet_S02.tbl` is not in the pak" → it is.
* "`S28_p1` has an asteroid volume with no definition" → refuted.
* "`test_s8p1_asteroid.tbl` is test-only" → refuted.
* "the settings family has 28 or 29 objects" → 24.

## ISL / mission scripting

* "the bytecode is in the `.embsec_` sections" → refuted.
* "only 31 built-ins take a unit" → refuted.
* "`sub_8230C398` is the message pump" → refuted.
* "`bus+8216` is the subscriber registry" → refuted.
* "the ScriptPhase vtable is ≥200 slots" → 113.

## IDXD, paks and naming

* "IDXD record keys are `name_hash`" → record keys are **`tag_hash`**
  (case-SENSITIVE); `name_hash` is case-INSENSITIVE and used for pak keys.
* "pak TOC order is stage order" / "TOC order is semantic order" → it is not.
* "the executable holds the asset names" → the image names **no data value at
  all**; that route is powerless.
* "the image might name a data VALUE" → powerless.
* "the XPR2 manifest names hash to the DefTables tables" → refuted.
* "the `DefTables` model names are unreachable" → reachable via the `Enumerate`
  declaration tables (1 413/1 425, 99.2 %).
* "the `GP_MAIN_GAME_*` unnamed block is undiscovered data" → refuted.
* "each `GP_MAIN_GAME_*` `Enumerate` object declares something" → refuted.
* "`GP_HANGAR_ARSENAL` is missing data tables" → refuted.
* "the `Enumeration` self-index can name objects" → a self-index names
  **records, not files**.
* "a per-pak prefix might close the 2D blocker" → no.
* "the `+` paths might name the 2D or `GP_READY_ROOM` keys" → the `+`-dictionary
  route is exhausted, 0 of 1 817.
* "the `game:\` paths are unresolved" → refuted.
* "a set-difference over file names can see reuse" → it cannot; **join per
  USER**. Per-pak copies are ×6.


## Audio

* "which bank the menu plays is not on the disc" → the **cue table** cannot say
  (all BGM cues are numeric), but the **code** can: `sub_821C5580` plays cue
  **1103 = `BGM_103`**, and its two declared waves match the two streams the XMA
  probe saw byte-for-byte.
* "the observed BGM stream sizes match no bank's declared waves, so the game hands
  the decoder a window" → **mine, and wrong** — I checked only the `BGM_0xx` rows.
  They are `BGM_103`'s two waves exactly; the game hands over the whole wave.

* "an individual SE cue's audio cannot be extracted" → **mine, and wrong.**
  `--xma_param_probe=true` logs each stream's head bytes; searching them in
  `Static.slb` locates the wave exactly. [`menu-audio-cues.md`](menu-audio-cues.md)
* "`Static.slb` has no wave boundaries, so its layout is unknown" → it is a
  **packed run** of whole 2 048-byte XMA packets with no delimiters — the two
  located cues are contiguous. There is nothing to scan for, by design.

* "`Pj_Silph.xgs` holds the cue→wave index, so parse XACT" → **no XACT container
  exists on this disc**: 0 × `XGSF`/`SDBK`/`WBND` in all 1.08 GB of `sound.pak`,
  and no `XACT`/`.xgs` string in the executable. The extensions are the authoring
  tool's, not the format's. [`menu-audio-cues.md`](menu-audio-cues.md)

* "every sound cue resolves to its own `.slb` bank" → the 322 `SE_*` cues do not;
  **0 of 322** are in `FILES`, and `BANK_SE` puts them all in `Static.slb`.
* "`Static.slb` can be split into waves like any other bank" → it holds **0
  `RIFF`, 0 `seek`, 0 `WAVE`** across all 8 353 472 readable bytes.
  [`menu-audio-cues.md`](menu-audio-cues.md)

* "`BGM_001.slb` is three sub-waves (10 KB + 4.47 MB + 4.67 MB)" → the 10 KB is
  the **bank header**; a bank is **two** waves.
* "a music bank's two waves might be intro + loop, two variations, or two halves"
  → they are **two stems of one performance, played together** — equal duration
  in 32/32 banks, and sample-synchronous.
  [`structures/bgm-two-stems.md`](structures/bgm-two-stems.md)
* "`BGM_106`–`BGM_109` break the two-wave rule" → they are the leading-region
  straddle; realigned across entry boundaries they obey it.
* "the cue table names which BGM belongs to which screen" → all 32 BGM cues are
  numeric (`BGM_001`…`BGM_109`).

## Units, weapons, effects and assets

* "`Generic` (394) is the unit datasheet" → refuted.
* "a loadout's `Arm1` names an item" → it names a **hardpoint slot**
  (`Turret_NNN`), 59/59.
* "`EnumUnit` and the unit datasheet share a vocabulary" → they do not.
* "the roster is the `Generic.Model` set" → roster 40, `Generic.Model` 46,
  `GameResourceID` 480 — three vocabularies.
* "every unit ID is `UN_<l>###_<FACTION>_<name>`" → the grammar is
  `UN_<letter>###_[<subkind>_]<FACTION>_<name>`.
* "`_EXn` is the `Extra0n` index" → three different `EX` vocabularies exist.
* "the only two `_EX5` names on the disc are the AA gun and the DeltaSaber" →
  refuted.
* "running the tutorial will instantiate the `_Ttrl` weapons" → refuted.
* "the disc has exactly three `EnumWeapon` tables" → four.
* "the `wep_NN` package gaps are unshipped weapons" / "`wep_85` is the tip of a
  family" → `wep_85` is the **only** declared-but-unshipped asset (59/0/1/26).
* "nothing is deployed without being declared" → refuted.
* "effects are one namespace" → refuted.
* "the 58 undeclared effect names are missing assets" → refuted.
* "all five orphan effects are unshipped" → refuted.
* "`eff_f0002` ships in `Base.xpr`" → refuted.
* "`Base.xpr` holds more bound effects than `ptc_pack`" → refuted.
* "the 34 unlocated are a scatter" → refuted.
* "the 9 unlocated might be under another prefix" → refuted.
* "`ptc_pack` has 532 names" → 727.
* "the `_e`/`_f` law is effect-FIELD-specific" → it is the **faction law**,
  564/564.
* "a disc-wide `.xpr` byte search can show an effect is ABSENT" → it cannot.
* "`rot_n001` is on the disc" → refuted.
* "`rou_f004`'s mesh is in `Stage_S28.xpr`" → it is in `DeltaSaber_A.xpr`.
* "`parent` + `_all` + `_child` is the composite-model convention" → refuted.
  `_hangar` **is** real (59 of 166, 59/59 with a bare twin); `_all`/`_child` is
  not.
* "`Motion_guard_start` has no damage variants" → refuted.
* "`CoverArea` bits 2 and 3 are mutually exclusive" → refuted.
* "the 27 unresolved `NamePlate` values are missing objects" → refuted.

## LOD, background and misc tables

* "`EnumLODSet_*` is a per-stage family" → `EnumLODSet_test.tbl` serves 17
  stages; 17+5+1 = 23.
* "there are 8 orphan LOD tables" → 6.
* "the orphans are stale copies of `_test`" → refuted.
* "S25 is absent from the `DefTables` LOD families" → refuted.
* "`BackGroundID` has no referent anywhere" → it is an **identity**.
* "`BackGroundPackage == BG_<id>.xpr`" → refuted.
* "`<X>ID` + `<X>Package` is a convention" → refuted.
* "`Placement_*` / `RouteTest_*` are unattached" → refuted.
* "the `AsteroidDefinition` join does not reproduce by hash" → it does.
* "the 8-value frame is a new finding" → it was already in the corpus.

## Loaders, config and tuning

* "the config reader is XML" → INI.
* "`sub_822F9498` is the unit-definition loader" → it is `PlayerParams`'s.
* "`sub_822AE628` reads the main-game `Tweak`" → refuted.
* "`sub_8230D1F8` is a rank table" → it is the stage-settings loader.
* "`sub_82286BC8`'s key list is new" → refuted.
* "`sub_825F2CF0` / `sub_825F2F88` read a post-processing table" → refuted.
* "`Booster` is a new schema" / "`Booster` is the player craft's flight
  envelope" → refuted; nothing selects `Booster`.
* "the `AnalogRevice`/`Tweak` block is unreachable" → reachable
  (`sub_821A6CF0`, base `0x820A1630`).
* "a 0-xref string block has no reader" → refuted.
* "the AI table was NEEDS-HUMAN" → refuted.
* "the `PG*` HUD names are undocumented" → they are documented.
* "a base-solver row identifies a FUNCTION" → it does not.
* "a 64K-boundary base is low confidence" → **inverted**; it is high
  confidence.
* "the 0x820B0000 cluster is a false positive" → refuted.
* "a pointer to a function in the image implies a registry" → refuted.
  `.pdata` is not a registry.
* "the 13 player-facing chatter tables are the WINGMAN tables" → refuted.
* "the 8 undeclared chatter tables are tutorial chatter" → refuted.
* "other datasheets ship a schema too" → refuted.

## Encoding and text

* "every IDXD string value is ASCII" → 6 non-ASCII values of 99 328.
* "`文字列` is a dev placeholder" → they are Shift-JIS **type words**.