re: add a hunting pilot; withdraw the "10 of 116 records are dynamic" result

The user asked for an actively hunting pilot, since a player who kills nothing
cannot trigger an event-gated wave and both previous runs used the survival
pilot.

pilot.py gains SYLPH_HUNT=1. The substantive change is which contacts ENGAGE may
shoot: it previously skipped every "hard" target -- "turrets and hulls are not
the objective" -- and stood off 2500 units from turrets, on the assumption that
an e007 Turret is an AA mount on a capital ship. It is a craft, one of the main
enemy types of the first six missions, and at 100 HP the cheapest kill on the
field. Under SYLPH_HUNT it is a target and the keep-out drops to 600. The run
confirms the pilot engages: steady ENGAGE, fire=1, committed to an
e010_ADAN_Attacker_S at ~2.2 km, hull and escorted asset untouched over 160 s.

Withdrawn: "only 10 of 116 records ever changed a byte in 170 s". This run
measured 41-56 records changing in every 10 s tick. The old figure does not
reproduce.

I cannot say why, because I changed two variables at once -- the record bound
(fixed 0x200 to bounded-by-next-record) and the pilot (survival to hunting).
Either explains it. That is a design error, and the honest outcome is a
retraction without a replacement explanation rather than a story that fits.
The conclusion it had supported is unaffected: the roster identity now rests on
the exact 10-of-10 unit-composition match measured independently.

Still open, and explicitly not concluded: the pilot's own entity scan shows ADAN
drifting 147 -> 129 -> 142, and the late rise has the shape of an arrival, but
the sample-to-sample swing is +/-10, the same size as the effect. AGENT.md warns
that polling faster than the guest updates manufactures a curve out of noise, so
no wave conclusion is drawn. The run probably did not kill anything either
(fc=0, asset at 100%), so it does not test the event-gated model. A stable
per-record liveness field and a working kill counter are both needed first;
REMAINING OB at 0xbdb59668 still does not read as a counter.

docs/re/BACKLOG.md

@@ -332,8 +332,11 @@ search cannot find a *schedule*.
   moves in one and not the other.
 * 🔴 **Diffing inside the 116 records did not find the arrival flag**
   (2026-08-24, same doc). 10 of 116 records are dynamic, 106 never change a byte
-  in 170 s — more support for the pre-allocated roster — and STRONGER than
+  in 170 s — 🔴 **the "10 of 116 dynamic" figure is WITHDRAWN** — a hunting
-  first written: the "turrets don't move" hedge was withdrawn after the user
+  run measured 41–56 records changing per tick; I had changed two variables at
+  once (record bound and pilot) so the discrepancy is unattributed. The roster
+  identity is unaffected: it now rests on the 10/10 unit-composition match.
+  Earlier note, kept for history: the "turrets don't move" hedge was withdrawn after the user
   pointed out that early-mission "Turret" is a craft type, which the data
   confirms (`UN_e007_ADAN_Turret` flies under `AI_ADAN_CraftSquadron_*`, never
   `AI_Structure`). Lesson: check a unit's `AIID`, not its English name. No field transitions in groups of 3 at the

docs/re/mission-wave-arrivals.md

@@ -313,3 +313,76 @@ records it recurring in about 5 runs of 7), and this was one of the misses, so
 the run cannot say whether the pilot killed anything. Re-hunting the counter
 with `ob_hunt.py` is a precondition for the kill-versus-no-kill test, not an
 optional extra.
+
+---
+
+# Hunting run (2026-08-24) — and a withdrawal
+
+Status: ✅ a hunting pilot exists and engages; 🔴 the "10 of 116 records are
+dynamic" result is **withdrawn**; ❔ the wave question is still open, and the
+entity scan is too noisy to settle it.
+
+The user asked for an actively hunting pilot, with attention to the objectives,
+because the two previous runs used the *survival* pilot and a player who kills
+nothing cannot trigger an event-gated wave.
+
+## ✅ `SYLPH_HUNT=1`
+
+`pilot.py` gained a hunt mode. The change that matters is which contacts ENGAGE
+is allowed to shoot: it previously skipped every "hard" target with the comment
+*"turrets and hulls are not the objective"*, and kept 2500 units away from
+turrets. That was written on the assumption that an `e007` "Turret" is an
+anti-aircraft mount on a capital ship. It is not — it is a craft, one of the main
+enemy types of the first six missions
+(`AI_ADAN_CraftSquadron_*`, `Type = Squad`), and at 100 HP the cheapest kill on
+the field. Under `SYLPH_HUNT=1` turrets are targets and the keep-out drops to
+600.
+
+The run confirms it flies and shoots: steady `ENGAGE`, `fire=1`, committed to
+`e010_ADAN_Attacker_S` at ~2.2 km, hull 1500/1500 and escorted asset at 100 %
+throughout 160 s.
+
+## 🔴 Withdrawn: "only 10 of 116 records are dynamic"
+
+The previous section reported that 10 of 116 records ever changed a byte in
+170 s, and used it as supporting evidence for the pre-allocated roster. **This
+run measured 41–56 records changing in every single 10 s tick.** The earlier
+figure does not reproduce and is withdrawn.
+
+I cannot say why, because I changed two things at once — the record bound (fixed
+`0x200` → bounded by the next record's address, capped at `0x400`) *and* the
+pilot (survival → hunting). Either could explain it: the old window mis-framed
+every record whose true size is not `0x200`, and a hunting pilot flies into
+traffic that an evading one avoids. **That is a design error on my part**: a run
+that changes two variables cannot attribute its own result, and the honest
+outcome is that the old number is retracted without a replacement explanation.
+
+The conclusion the retracted number was supporting is unaffected — the
+roster identity now rests on the exact 10-of-10 unit-composition match, which is
+far stronger evidence and was measured independently.
+
+## ❔ The entity scan is too noisy to answer the wave question
+
+`pilot.py`'s own scanner reports a live entity count each tick. Over the run:
+
+```
+t=0s  168 (147 ADAN)      t=56s  147 (131)      t=101s 145 (129)
+t=20s 171 (147)           t=76s  155 (131)      t=137s 151 (129)
+t=30s 148 (132)           t=86s  147 (131)      t=157s 166 (142)
+```
+
+ADAN drifts 147 → 129 and back to 142. The late rise is the shape an arrival
+would have, but the sample-to-sample swing is ±10 or more, which is the same
+size as the effect. This is exactly the trap `docker/agent/AGENT.md` warns about
+— polling faster than the guest updates manufactures a curve out of noise — so
+**no wave conclusion is drawn from it.**
+
+Two things are needed before this run type can settle the question:
+
+1. A *stable* liveness signal — a per-record field that means alive/dead, read
+   from the 116 labelled records, rather than a re-scan whose population changes
+   between samples.
+2. A kill count. `fc=0` in the pilot's telemetry and the asset at 100 % suggest
+   the hunt did not actually destroy anything in 160 s, in which case this run
+   does not test the event-gated model either. `REMAINING OB` at `0xbdb59668`
+   still did not read as a counter, so that check remains unavailable.

tools/re-capture/pilot.py

@@ -113,13 +113,18 @@ ASSET_NAME = os.environ.get("SYLPH_ASSET", "Acropolis")
 KILL_TURRETS = os.environ.get("SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS") == "1"
 
 
+HUNT = os.environ.get("SYLPH_HUNT") == "1"
+
+
 class Pilot:
     KP, KD = 2.2, 0.45
     FIRE_CONE = math.radians(9)       # fallback only; the real gate is angular size
     FIRE_RANGE = SHELL_MAX_RANGE      # the shells simply do not arrive past this
     CONE_MIN = math.radians(2.0)
     CONE_MAX = math.radians(25.0)   # close-in the target subtends a lot; let it
-    TURRET_KEEPOUT = 2500.0   # ...and stay this far from things that shoot back
+    # Keep-out from things that shoot back. Under SYLPH_HUNT the turrets ARE the
+    # targets, so standing off 2.5 km from them just guarantees no kills.
+    TURRET_KEEPOUT = 600.0 if HUNT else 2500.0
     EVADE_QUIET = 5.0         # seconds without damage before re-engaging
     RETIRE_FRAC = 0.30        # hull fraction that sends us home
     HZ = 8.0
@@ -355,11 +360,20 @@ class Pilot:
         return tgt
 
     def pick(self, me_p, me_v, fwd, hos):
-        """Nearest *fighter*, weighted by how far off the nose it is."""
+        """Nearest *fighter*, weighted by how far off the nose it is.
+
+        SYLPH_HUNT=1 also lets ENGAGE take turrets. The exclusion below was
+        written believing an e007 "Turret" is an anti-aircraft mount bolted to a
+        capital ship. It is not -- it is a craft, one of the main enemy types of
+        the first six missions, flown by AI_ADAN_CraftSquadron_* (Type=Squad,
+        full manoeuvre-weight block) and never by AI_Structure. At 100 HP it is
+        also the cheapest kill on the field, which is what a run needs when the
+        question is whether kills release the next wave.
+        """
         best, bestscore = None, 1e18
         for off, nm, p, v, r, hard in hos:
-            if hard:
+            if hard and not HUNT:
-                continue          # turrets and hulls are not the objective
+                continue          # capital-ship hulls are not the objective
             rel = p - me_p
             d = float(np.linalg.norm(rel))
             if d < 1e-3:

tools/re-capture/wave4_probe.py

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Hunting run: does killing things make more records go active?
+
+Uses the labelling and the MEASURED stride from wave3_probe.py -- each record is
+bounded by the next record's address, not by a constant. Reports, per tick, how
+many records changed and which unit types they are, so a rise in activity can be
+tied to the hunt rather than to the clock.
+"""
+import os, sys, time, struct, collections, importlib.util
+SD = __file__.rsplit('/', 1)[0]
+spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('gmem', SD + '/gmem.py')
+gmem = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec); spec.loader.exec_module(gmem)
+w3 = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('w3', SD + '/wave3_probe.py')
+wave3 = importlib.util.module_from_spec(w3); w3.loader.exec_module(wave3)
+
+MAXREC = 0x400
+
+def main():
+    secs = int(sys.argv[1]) if len(sys.argv) > 1 else 200
+    every = int(sys.argv[2]) if len(sys.argv) > 2 else 10
+    path = gmem.mem_path()
+    fd = os.open(path, os.O_RDONLY); size = os.fstat(fd).st_size
+    f = os.fdopen(os.dup(fd), 'rb')
+    offs = wave3.find_records(f, fd, size)
+    if not offs: print('NO ENTITY RECORDS'); return 2
+    lens = [min(MAXREC, offs[i+1] - offs[i]) for i in range(len(offs)-1)] + [0x100]
+    ids = [wave3.resolve_id(f, size, o)[0] or '?' for o in offs]
+    print('records: %d, labelled %d' % (len(offs), sum(1 for i in ids if i != '?')))
+    print('composition:', collections.Counter(ids).most_common(6))
+    prev = [wave3.rd(f, o, l) for o, l in zip(offs, lens)]
+    log = open('/tmp/wave4-activity.tsv', 'w'); log.write('t\tactive\tunits\n')
+    t0 = time.time(); series = []
+    while time.time() - t0 < secs:
+        time.sleep(every)
+        el = round(time.time() - t0)
+        act = []
+        for k, (o, l) in enumerate(zip(offs, lens)):
+            cur = wave3.rd(f, o, l)
+            if cur != prev[k]: act.append(k)
+            prev[k] = cur
+        types = collections.Counter(ids[k] for k in act)
+        series.append((el, len(act)))
+        line = '%d\t%d\t%s\n' % (el, len(act), dict(types))
+        log.write(line); log.flush()
+        print('  t=%4ds  active=%3d  %s' % (el, len(act),
+              [(u.replace('UN_',''), c) for u, c in types.most_common(5)]), flush=True)
+    log.close()
+    print('\nactive-record series:', series)
+    a = [n for _, n in series]
+    if a: print('active: min=%d max=%d first=%d last=%d' % (min(a), max(a), a[0], a[-1]))
+    return 0
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())

tools/re-capture/wave4_session.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -u
+export HOME=/sylph-home/re SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy DISPLAY=:98
+export PYTHONPATH=/sylph-home/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages
+SD="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+SECS="${1:-200}"; EVERY="${2:-10}"
+CFG=/tmp/nav-wave4.json
+"$SD/launch_mission.sh" fly || { echo "BOOT FAILED"; exit 1; }
+if python3 "$SD/entities2.py" self 0x130 "$CFG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  SYLPH_HUNT=1 SYLPH_KILL_TURRETS=1 nohup python3 "$SD/pilot.py" "$CFG" "$SECS" \
+      </dev/null >/tmp/wave4-pilot.log 2>&1 &
+  PILOT=$!; echo "--- HUNTING pilot (SYLPH_HUNT=1)"
+else PILOT=""; echo "--- BIND FAILED, no pilot"; fi
+python3 "$SD/wave4_probe.py" "$SECS" "$EVERY"; rc=$?
+[ -n "$PILOT" ] && kill "$PILOT" 2>/dev/null
+echo "--- pilot tail ---"; tail -12 /tmp/wave4-pilot.log 2>/dev/null
+echo "WAVE4 DONE rc=$rc"