Commit Graph

82 Commits

Author SHA1 Message Date
8b03a52aa6 re(flight): both axes at settled speeds -- shape confirmed, absolute scale is not
Burst design repeated with the HUD clock bracketed (01:01.86 -> 02:10.61, ~x1.26)
and roll measured in the same flight.

    pitch   87.0 @ 85    82.8 @ 308    47.0 @ 1077   min:max 1.85
    roll   125.0 @ 76   119.0 @ 291    82.6 @ 1023   min:max 1.51

SHAPE CONFIRMED on both axes: the rate interpolates between _Min (at minimum
speed) and _Max (at maximum speed), matching to 1.6% for pitch (vs PitchMinus
75/40 = 1.88) and 5.6% for roll (vs 200/125 = 1.60). Both ratios are
clock-independent so they stand regardless of the conversion, and pitch's
re-confirms ly+ = pitch-MINUS (reproducing 1.82 from the previous run).

ABSOLUTE SCALE DOES NOT MATCH, and not in the same direction:

    pitch  measured/predicted = 1.15, 1.21, 1.07   consistently OVER
    roll                      = 0.62, 0.64, 0.60   consistently UNDER, very flat

A clock error cannot explain this -- it would move both axes together and these
go opposite -- so the discrepancy is per-axis. Candidates, neither measured: a 1 s
burst not completing the angular-acceleration ramp (would under-read; fits roll's
flat 0.62, not pitch's excess), or an unidentified per-axis multiplier. Left as an
open question with the separating test named: 1 s versus 3 s bursts at the same
throttle, where the ramp hypothesis predicts the longer burst reads higher.

Also noted: the roll run correctly REFUSED on a WEAK row pin after the pitch
bursts left the craft tumbled -- and roll is immune to that labelling, which the
guard's own message says, so ALLOW_WEAK_PIN=1 is its documented exception. A guard
that states its own exception is worth having.
2026-08-13 23:42:28 +00:00
92d9683f3a re(flight): short bursts confirm the rate-vs-speed SHAPE, without needing the clock
The design the sweep could not provide: settle the throttle, measure the settled
speed, pitch for ONE second so speed barely moves inside the burst. Three
throttles, two repeats, row pin CONFIDENT, fresh flight.

    LT min      burst speed ~105    rate 113.6, 109.5 deg/wall-s
    cruise                  ~383         100.2,  88.4
    RT max                 ~1483          52.2,  70.5

Rate falls monotonically with speed -- 111.5 -> 94.3 -> 61.4 -- at three KNOWN,
SETTLED speeds instead of smeared across a bleeding one.

The decisive comparison needs no clock. Absolute rates depend on the run's clock
ratio, but the min:max RATIO cancels it:

    measured min:max            = 1.82
    AV_PitchMinus_Min/Max 75/40 = 1.88   ->  3.0% apart
    AV_PitchPlus_Min/Max 150/70 = 2.14   -> 15.1% apart

Two conclusions, neither resting on a clock measurement:
 - _Min/_Max really do mean "at minimum / at maximum speed", with the rate
   interpolating between them: shape confirmed to 3%.
 - ly+ drives pitch-MINUS, not plus. The craft has asymmetric pitch authority
   (75/40 down vs 150/70 up) and the ratio picks the pair cleanly.

Absolute magnitudes remain open: this run did not bracket the HUD clock, so
deg/GAME-second cannot be computed from it, and picking a ratio that makes the
numbers fit would be circular. The probe now screenshots the clock at both ends.

Also: fly_stage.sh now waits for the TAKE-OFF load too. Guarding only the stage
load left a run pressing A into a black screen and then reporting "player entity
not found" from a game that never reached flight.
2026-08-13 23:29:23 +00:00
a3f14710a4 re(flight): clean pitch sweep -- magnitudes agree, the interpolation law does not
Fresh flight, row pinning CONFIDENT (margin 0.413), one sweep and nothing before
it. axis_probe now REFUSES to measure on a WEAK pin (ALLOW_WEAK_PIN=1 overrides)
since it is a precondition, not a warning: roll is immune to the up/right
labelling but pitch and yaw are not.

Clock x1.26. Binned by speed, both in game units, against the linear
interpolation of AV_PitchPlus_Min 150 (at MinimumVelocity 100) to _Max 70 (at
MaximumVelocity 1200):

    speed ~435   measured 100.8   predicted 125.6
    speed ~572            113.8             115.7
    speed ~709            126.3             105.7
    speed ~846             83.1              95.7
    speed ~983             72.7              85.8

Supported: the magnitudes (73-126 measured vs 86-126 predicted) and a falling
high-speed end. NOT supported: the interpolation law. Scatter is +-25%, the two
fastest bins hold 1 and 2 windows (the first moments before the speed bled), and
the slowest bin misses in the wrong direction.

The flaw is structural, not statistical: a sweep DRIVEN by the speed bleeding
cannot dwell at either extreme, which is exactly where the law is most testable.

What would settle it: hold a settled throttle and pitch for ~1 SECOND, so speed
barely moves inside the burst and each burst gives one honest (speed, rate) point;
repeat at LT / neutral / RT for three clean points at known speeds. Recorded as
the next design rather than attempted as a fifth variation of the same sweep.
2026-08-13 23:12:50 +00:00
0a84c1358e re(flight): polling faster than the guest updates manufactures a clean curve
Fitting rate against instantaneous speed produced a tidy "rate rises with speed"
relationship, with speeds up to 4795 when the craft's maximum is 1200. It is
entirely an artefact: 20 Hz polling is faster than the guest updates these fields,
so a per-read delta is either exactly zero (no update yet) or a whole frame's
worth divided by a fraction of a frame. 111 of 352 reads were zero on BOTH
channels -- position and attitude update on the same frame, so the two are
perfectly correlated, and dividing each by the short wall dt produced the
correlation out of nothing.

Fix: aggregate over windows spanning many frames (0.5 s). A sum of |delta| over
such a window is right however the updates fall inside it.

This does NOT affect the swept-total probes (roll_axis.py, rate_probe.py) -- they
already summed over the whole dwell, immune for the same reason. Only per-sample
instantaneous rates were ever wrong, so no earlier number moves.

The windowed re-run is NOT yet claimed as a result. It gives plausible magnitudes
but still shows rate rising with speed, against the definition's PitchPlus_Min 150
> _Max 70, and it has two disqualifiers: it ran on an instance where the craft was
already tumbling from the previous sweep, so pinning reported "WEAK -- craft may
not be level", and the sweep started mid-range rather than at maximum. A clean
answer needs a fresh flight with pinning CONFIDENT and nothing before it. Since
what is in doubt is precisely what _Min/_Max mean, a measurement through a
doubtful instrument cannot settle it.

Both datasets kept, the bad one labelled, because the aliased curve is a good
example of what a manufactured correlation looks like.
2026-08-13 23:00:59 +00:00
6c7025851e re(flight): the rate probe measures a MOVING speed -- pitching bleeds it hard
Measured pitch with the rows properly pinned, against this craft's own disc caps
(AV_PitchPlus_Min 150, AV_PitchPlus_Max 70):

    min speed (LT)  1391.0 deg / 8.00 s, clock x1.326 -> 131.1 deg/game-s  vs 150
    max speed (RT)   989.0 deg / 8.05 s, clock x1.318 ->  93.2 deg/game-s  vs 70

A rate 33% ABOVE a cap is not a finding, it is a broken instrument. The HUD speed
is in the same bracketing screenshots that give the clock, so read it:

    slow phase   102 ->  18
    fast phase  1193 -> 589

The speed is NOT constant during the dwell -- pitching halves it in 8 seconds.
The cap is speed-dependent, so as the craft slowed its cap rose, and an 8-second
average necessarily lands between the max-speed cap and a mid-speed one. The 133%
is entirely the instrument.

This also weakens the roll result committed earlier: same method, so 120.9 vs
AV_Roll_Max 125 is CONSISTENT but is not a tight test -- the true cap could be
lower and still produce that average. Said plainly in the doc rather than left
standing as a clean confirmation. Min-speed figures are less affected; there is
little speed left to lose.

Proper fix, not yet done: dwell ~1-2 s so speed barely moves, or sample HUD speed
continuously and fit rate against INSTANTANEOUS speed -- which yields the whole
rate-vs-speed curve instead of two points.

Separately this is a flight-model finding: TURNING COSTS SPEED, steeply, with the
throttle still at maximum. A reimplementation treating the throttle as a speed the
craft simply holds will be wrong during manoeuvres.
2026-08-13 22:48:29 +00:00
dc46339b63 re(flight): rows pinned by world-Y, and nothing yaws -- the yaw gap is answered
The probe now pins which non-forward row is up and which is right, instead of
taking the D3D convention on faith:

    row world-Y means: [0.469, 0.883, -0.000]   forward = row 2
      -> up = row 1, right = row 0   CONFIDENT

That is the OPPOSITE of the assumption the previous run used, so that run's yaw
and pitch columns were swapped -- under the correct labels its ly+ reading of
154.1 deg/wall-s is PITCH, which is what a left-stick Y should do.

Measured with the unknown inputs FIRST, each passing a liveness check:

    rx  0.0  0.0  0.0      ry  0.0  0.0  0.0
    LB  0.0  0.0  0.0      RB  0.0  0.0  0.0
    lx  roll 209.8         ly  pitch 154.1

These zeros are trustworthy where the previous run's were not: the craft was
verified alive between inputs, and the probe aborted the moment it stopped moving
rather than reporting the clean zeros a destroyed craft produces (it did abort,
after lx+, which is why lx/ly are carried from the earlier run rather than
re-measured).

So NO PAD INPUT YAWS THE CRAFT. AV_Yaw_* (45/25) exists in the definitions but
nothing on the right stick or the shoulders drives it, which upgrades the old
"yaw: no input found" from a failure to find one into a measurement that the
remaining candidates do nothing. The natural reading is that yaw is a consequence
of banking rather than a commanded axis.

Not covered, and not claimed: the d-pad (tactical map) and the face buttons
(fire/weapon select). Neither is a plausible flight axis; neither was measured.
2026-08-13 22:35:36 +00:00
5f3c618b51 re(flight): axis probe -- lx is roll, ly drives one clean axis, rest not trustworthy
New probe (axis_probe.py) decomposes every held input into all THREE rotation
components at once, instead of measuring one axis at a time through a non-forward
matrix row -- the flaw that once made roll and pitch produce identical numbers.
For previous rows (f,u,w): roll = atan2(u.w_old, u.u_old), and forward's rotation
toward each of the other two rows gives the remaining pair.

Stage 02, file pad, full deflection on exactly one channel at a time:

    lx+   roll 209.8   b 0.9    c 10.1     deg/wall-s
    ly+   roll   0.0   b 154.1  c  0.0
    rx+   roll   0.0   b 0.0    c  0.0
    ry+   roll 161.1   b 87.0   c 37.1
    LB/RB all zero

What this supports: lx = ROLL, cleanly (~0 on both other channels), agreeing with
the independent roll measurement. ly drives ONE axis, cleanly.

What it does NOT support, and I am not claiming:
 - WHICH axis ly drives. entities2 measures row 2 = forward against velocity, but
   rows 0 and 1 are labelled up/right by the D3D convention rather than by
   evidence, and yaw/pitch SWAP if that is wrong. Roll is immune (rotation of
   either non-forward row in their shared plane is roll either way).
 - anything about rx/ry/LB/RB. The run ended on GAME OVER: full-deflection spin in
   a live combat mission gets the craft destroyed, and the only symptom is "0
   player candidates" AFTERWARDS, so late rows may be post-death. rx+ reading all
   zeros and ry+ reading mixed are exactly what a dying craft would produce.

So "yaw: no input found" is NOT resolved. Both gaps are now written into the
probe's header with what would fix them: a liveness check between inputs, and
pinning up-vs-right against world Y.
2026-08-13 22:10:23 +00:00
850b04c606 re(flight): roll DOES depend on speed -- the withdrawal is reversed
Measured about the FORWARD axis (roll_axis.py), which is the fix the withdrawal
specified: express the new up-vector in the old (up, right) basis and take
atan2(u.w_old, u.u_old), so the component along forward -- what pitch produces --
is dropped by construction. The old probe watched a non-forward matrix row, which
sees any rotation that moves it, and that is why two different stick axes produced
the same numbers.

Stage 02, file pad, single-axis holds (lx=32767 with every other channel exactly
0, trigger held in the same write since the pad state is written whole), 5 s
settles, 8 s dwells, each phase bracketed by HUD-clock screenshots:

  min speed (LT)  1 856.9 deg / 8.01 s wall, clock x1.247 -> 185.9 deg/game-s
                  vs AV_Roll_Min 200
  max speed (RT)  1 181.2 deg / 8.02 s wall, clock x1.218 -> 120.9 deg/game-s
                  vs AV_Roll_Max 125

So roll behaves exactly like pitch: the rate cap falls as speed rises and
_Min/_Max mean "at minimum / at maximum speed". The withdrawn claim that roll
shows NO speed dependence is reversed, and the axis rule is now confirmed on a
second axis instead of contradicted by it.

Both land just under their caps (93% and 97%), the right side for a rate limit.
The shortfall is NOT explained and no claim is made about it: candidates are the
craft not being exactly at min/max speed after 5 s, and the 20 Hz swept-angle sum
undercounting.

The tell that the old result was broken was two conditions agreeing too well. The
tell that this one is sound is that they disagree in the direction the definitions
predict, on two independently bracketed phases.
2026-08-13 21:57:10 +00:00
3d3d6726fa re(flight): START skips the briefing, and the player-entity lock is stage-specific
The scripted route now reaches FLIGHT unattended: boot -> main menu -> poke the
cleared-stage mask -> EXTRAS -> MISSION SELECT -> stage -> briefing -> READY ROOM
-> TAKE OFF -> flight, verified by a full HUD (TIME 00:52.54, speed 350, shields,
REMAINING OB 018) on stage 01.

Two things that cost a run each:

START skips the briefing; A does not. A pages through the brief, and ten A taps
still left the run sitting on a briefing screen -- twice, on two different
stages. One START press lands on the READY ROOM. fly_stage.sh now presses START.

entities2.py's `self` locked on `"Player" in name`, and that suffix is
STAGE-SPECIFIC: stage 02 fields UN_f002_TCAF_DeltaSaber_W_Player, but stage 01
fields UN_f001_TCAF_DeltaSaber_T with no suffix, so the filter found nothing
while the game was visibly flying and reporting 64 typed live entities. Falls
back to the craft class and prefers the instance that is actually moving (a
mission holds more than one). Recorded rather than worked around, because the
same assumption is embedded in several probes.
2026-08-13 21:45:54 +00:00
4cbce6bd21 re(units): S10 closes the story campaign for real -- 69 units, 7 204 values
roster_target had flagged a contradiction: S10, a STORY stage, still fielded an
unharvested unit, which the "story campaign complete at 68 units" claim did not
account for. S10 was simply never flown. Flying it settles it:
UN_e005_ADAN_ElanTypeQ_Margras is in the snapshot, 144 rows, and the merge takes
the file 68 -> 69 units, 9 393 -> 9 537 rows, 7 115 -> 7 204 defaulted-on-disc
values, with 154 disc cross-checks agreeing and 0 disagreeing. roster_target now
reports S10: 0 missing, and every remaining gap is a CHALLENGE stage
(S24/S25/S27/S28/S29).

A much simpler way to fly a story stage, replacing the save-editing route
(tools/re-capture/fly_stage.sh): poke ONE word -- 0x828F40C0 = 0x0001FFFE marks
stages 1-16 cleared -- and MISSION SELECT will launch any of them. Nothing is
written to disc, so there is no save to back up and restore, and TRAP 1 from the
old recipe (launch_mission.sh silently loading the last-used slot) cannot happen.

Route, learned by screenshotting each step: MISSION SELECT -> pick stage -> A ->
mission briefing (A: Continue) -> READY ROOM -> TAKE OFF -> flight. The READY
ROOM carries an "EXTRA" watermark, which is the static analysis's mission-KIND
= 3 ("EXTRA" config section, docs/re/challenge-mission-gate.md section 4) visible
on screen -- an independent confirmation of that field's meaning.

Also recorded: a snapshot taken at the BRIEFING yields 0 runtime objects. Unit
definitions are instantiated at stage load proper, so the snapshot has to wait
for flight; the briefing screen is too early.
2026-08-13 21:14:21 +00:00
aac017dd0d re(challenge): poking unlocks the whole story campaign; MISSION SELECT is story-only
Two results from the running game, one positive and one a clean negative.

POSITIVE: with word A = 0x0001FFFE (stages 1-16) every entry Stage01..Stage16 is
selectable, where the control run had only Stage01 and the rest greyed. Stage16
reads "Lonely Blue Planet - NO RECORD". So any story stage can be launched from
the menu by poking one word, with no save editing at all -- a simpler lever than
the GHAD stage-field patch used until now.

NEGATIVE: with word B = 0x3F (challenge stages 24-29 marked cleared) the list
still saturates at Stage16 -- the cursor stops there and further presses do
nothing. That matches the disc: the debriefing config declares exactly
px_deb_stage01..16, so the list is capped by data, not by the mask. The
challenge missions are NOT reachable through MISSION SELECT, and word B does not
feed it.

Also mapped, without finding the caller: the GP_DIALOG registry (tables.pak #41)
gives DLG_GO_CHALLENGE_MISSION_MENU = 41 and DLG_CHALLENGE_MISSION_AVAILABLE = 42
(0-based, in config order). No raw immediate 41/39/37 appears anywhere in the
GamePart code region, so dialogs are raised through a computed index and the
entry point to GamePart 26 is still unknown. New probe: examples/screen_configs.rs
dumps any tables.pak screen config by substring.
2026-08-13 20:54:57 +00:00
3ef2c438ae re(challenge): MISSION SELECT renders the cleared-stage mask, and a control run
With word A = 2 the screen lists Stage01 SELECTABLE, carrying a High Score and a
Best Time, and Stage02-Stage08 GREYED OUT. One cleared stage, one selectable
entry, at the bit index that names it -- the mask's meaning is now visible on
screen rather than inferred from disassembly.

Two runs, identical navigation, fresh boot each:
  control  word A 0x00000002  -> MISSION SELECT opens normally
  poked    word A 0xFFFFFFFF  -> MmAllocatePhysicalMemoryEx fails on 128 MB,
                                 guest throws, Xenia shows "Disc Read Error"
So last commit's heap failure was caused by the poke, and by a careless one:
0xFFFFFFFF claims stages that do not exist (0, 17, 24-31 in word A). Poking only
real story ids (0x0001FFFE = stages 1-16) does not blow the heap. That the list
screen changes behaviour with the mask is itself evidence word A feeds it.

Getting a trustworthy control took three tries, and every failure produced a
plausible wrong answer rather than an error:
  1. the title-glyph oracle fired during the ATTRACT MOVIE, so A was pressed at
     nothing and the run "reported 0 failures" for a screen it never reached;
  2. Xvfb keeps the previous instance's framebuffer until the new one draws, so
     a screenshot seconds after launch showed the OLD run -- "MAIN MENU reached
     after 1s", against a process that no longer existed;
  3. a single-pixel "is NEW GAME white?" test matched a white LOADING FLASH.
Fixes, all in challenge_probe.sh: blank the root and refuse screen oracles for
the first 40 s; identify a screen by a PATTERN of sampled points (white text AND
the dark panel behind it), not one pixel; require two consecutive samples. The
new oracle was validated offline against all six saved screenshots and accepts
exactly the one real main menu.

General lesson worth the words: a navigation oracle that can only fail by
returning the wrong screen will happily produce a whole run of confident,
meaningless results.
2026-08-13 20:44:27 +00:00
023bb71cfd re(challenge): the cleared-stage mask is CONFIRMED on the running game
Booted the title and read the two gate words live:

    0x828F40C0 = 0x00000002     word A
    0x828F4814 = 0x00000000     word B

Word A = 2 = bit 1. The profile's save is Stage 02 "At Standby" -- stage 01
cleared -- so the mask is exactly one bit, at the index of the one cleared
stage, 1-BASED. Reproduced across two cold boots. That confirms against a known
progress state, on the real game:

  - the singleton is the static object at 0x828F4070, as derived statically;
  - word A is a cleared-stage bitmask (not achievements, not a stage number);
  - bit index = stage id, 1-based, so TimeAttack's REQUIREMENT 16 means "clear
    stage 16" -- the last story mission;
  - word B is the challenge half and is 0 on a story-only profile.

New tools: gpoke.py (live guest-memory WRITE, companion to gmem.py, prints
before/after for every word), pad.py (drives the new --hid=file pad; replaces
vgamepad, which leaked to the host through /dev/uinput), challenge_probe.sh
(one blocking session: boot, wait for title, drive in, poke, screenshot).

Poking both words did NOT surface a challenge entry in EXTRAS -- and that menu
was built 26 s after the poke, so it is not staleness. Entering MISSION SELECT
then failed, but the log names the real cause and it is not the gate:
MmAllocatePhysicalMemoryEx could not satisfy a 128 MB request (parent free
30633/131072 pages), the guest threw a C++ exception, and Xenia surfaced its
generic "Disc Read Error". It is preceded by "BaseHeap::Release failed because
address is not a region start" -- a failed release leaking the range. Recorded
as an emulator heap problem, with the control run (same navigation, no poke)
named as the next step.
2026-08-13 20:28:19 +00:00
33ae20896e re(challenge): the gate's bit space is the game's 24 ACHIEVEMENTS
Static only. Last commit left "REQUIREMENT is a bit index into a progress
bitfield" with the space unidentified. It is the achievement space, and both
halves are now readable off the disc and the executable.

- GamePart_Debriefing (0x8218CF38-0x82191B18) awards them: sub_8218F9A8 walks
  the on-disc ACHIEVEMENTS_REQUIREMENTS list (tables.pak #16, schema 744c0519),
  and for entry index n tests bit n, evaluates the entry when clear, and sets
  the bit when satisfied. The list is literally ACHIEVEMENT01..ACHIEVEMENT24 --
  24 entries, which is exactly where the challenge gate splits word A from
  word B.

- The XEX carries the definitions: XACH at .pe 0x8FBCBC, 36-byte records
  {id, name_id, unlocked_desc_id, locked_desc_id, image_id u32, gamerscore u16,
  pad, flags u32, 16 zero bytes}, strings from one XSTR per language (English is
  table #5). tools/xach_dump.py parses it. SELF-CHECK: the 24 gamerscores sum to
  exactly 1000, the retail total -- a wrong stride does not land on a round 1000.

- The two sources agree on ORDER independently: the requirement types
  ShootDownAircrafts 1000/10000, ShootDownShips 100, ShootDownWeight MegaTons,
  GetAllWeapons and GetAllAchievements line up with ids 19-24 exactly as XACH
  names them. So bit n <-> achievement n+1 is evidence, not inference. (Those
  last two are requirement TYPES, not debug cheats, despite how they read.)

- Corollary: TimeAttack's REQUIREMENT 16 -- the one value that sits in direct
  value-before-key adjacency, so it survives IDXD dedup -- is bit 16 =
  achievement 17, "Solar System Defense Award", i.e. finish the story campaign.
  The other five values (25-29) are >= 24 and so index word B, a second flag
  space, plausibly a challenge-clear chain. Still 🟡.

REFUTED, from the last commit: the stores to +1956 in 0x822AF278 / sub_822C8748
are NOT this singleton. That object comes from 0x822CEB30, checks a +2652 flag
and stores string POINTERS at +1956/+2024 -- and a pointer ANDed with 1<<n is
meaningless as a gate. So nothing in the image writes this singleton's +1956
field-wise, and where the mask persists (save vs Xbox profile) is open. XEX
imports are by ordinal, so absent XamUser* strings are not evidence either way.
2026-08-13 19:32:43 +00:00
8ecd70f1bc re(challenge): the unlock is a bit test, and the mission table is on disc
Static only. Bounding each GamePart's code block by its factory creator thunk
(id -> creator recovered for 22 of 24 registrations at 0x8280C000-0x8280F800)
puts GamePart_ChallengeMission at 0x82187E60-0x8218CF10. Resolving every string
that block references gives the screen's config schema, and the record itself is
on disc -- tables.pak schema 54a10697, one copy per language, English entry #64.

Six missions: TimeAttack (record Time), ScoreAttack (record Points) and
Extra01..Extra04, each with MISSION_ID / REQUIREMENT / REQUIREMENT_DESC /
THUMBNAIL / STAGE_DESC / NEW_STAGE and a NORMAL_BUTTON / GRAY_BUTTON pair -- so
the screen always lists all six and greys out what is not earned.

THE GATE (0x82189970-0x821899D8), read off the code:

  REQUIREMENT absent      -> available
  REQUIREMENT == "Always" -> available
  else n = atoi(REQUIREMENT)
      n == 0              -> locked
      n <  24             -> test bit n      of the word at singleton+80
      n >= 24             -> test bit (n-24) of the word at singleton+1956

The singleton is 0x821707C0 (lazy, global 0x828F48BC). So availability is one
bit in a progress bitfield and REQUIREMENT is a bit INDEX -- not a stage number,
score or difficulty.

Values per mission are 🟡: the pool's numeric tokens are 16/25/26/27/29 and
24/28 already appear earlier as font metrics, so they would be deduped -- which
fits 24..29 but IDXD dedup makes positional pairing unsound here, so it is
recorded as a hypothesis, not a table.

Negative: the requirement TEXT is not in GP_CHALLENGE.pak (TextIndex over it =
0 entries; its only prose is embedded font copyright). Its PATH is a per-language
branch the loader does not currently reproduce.

Next: three stores to +1956 sit in 0x822C7DD0 / 0x822C8748, the same region as
the save serializer 0x822C00E8 -- if the bits are save-backed, a hand-written
save unlocks all six challenge missions and the last 42 units become one run.
2026-08-13 19:14:48 +00:00
10a96844ba re(challenge): the EX missions are a MODE, not a stage number
Static-only (no emulator, no pad input). Three findings, each with its own
evidence:

- The disc holds exactly 29 StageResource records in three families --
  S01-S16 story, S18-S23 tutorial (all bg=Original), S24-S29 challenge, plus
  Test. That is 16 + 6 + 6 + 1, matching weapon.tbl's stage01..16 /
  tutorial01..06 / challenge01..06 key set exactly. S17 does not exist.
  GP_CHALLENGE.pak has 0 IDXD objects -- it is the menu screen; challenge
  missions reuse GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak's records.

- The GamePart id table is at 0x820A1630 (29 ids). Indices are confirmed by
  the image's own RegisterToFactory<N, class silph::GamePart_*> text, not by
  position: GP_CHALLENGE = 26, GP_TUTORIAL = 25, GP_BUNK = 10.

- The stage loader selects its config section from a mission-KIND field at
  object+144: 3 -> EXTRA, 5|6 -> CHALLENGE, else FILE (two independent sites,
  0x82184df0 and 0x82185ed0; two more classify {3,5,6} as one group). The
  constructor sets it to 0 and every write inside the class only clears it,
  and no immediate 3/5/6 store to it exists image-wide -- so the kind is
  supplied by the launching GamePart, never derived from the stage number.

That last point is a mechanism (unproven) for why patching the save's stage
field to 27 kills the load: the record is a challenge stage but the kind stays
FILE. Names an untried, zero-cost discriminator -- try stage 18-23.

Also flagged, not resolved: roster_target says S10 (a STORY stage) still
fields an unharvested unit, which contradicts the "story campaign complete"
claim by one unit.
2026-08-13 18:59:52 +00:00
eac92c3e44 re(flight): withdraw the roll result — the probe was measuring pitch as much as roll
Re-running roll with 5 s settles and in-run clock brackets:

  this run's clock: TIME 00:34.93 -> 00:45.97 = 11.04 s game in 7.98 s wall = 1.383
  min speed: 90.6 deg/wall-s /1.383 -> 65.5 deg/game-s  (AV_Roll_Min 200)
  max speed: 59.1            /1.383 -> 42.7             (AV_Roll_Max 125)

The corrected numbers are within a few per cent of the PITCH run's 67.8 and 40.9 —
two different stick axes cannot produce the same rates, so the probe is not
separating them. Cause: watching a non-forward matrix row sees any rotation that
moves that row, and pitch moves it as much as roll. The correct measure is rotation
ABOUT the forward axis (project the row onto the plane perpendicular to forward and
track that angle).

So "roll shows no speed dependence, unlike pitch" is withdrawn: it rested on 2 s
settles and a row that mixes axes, and the two runs disagree with each other
(144/150 then, 90.6/59.1 now). AV_Roll_{Min,Max} are not confirmed and the axis
question is open.

The clock ratio is now measured three times in three flights: 1.260, 1.311, 1.383 —
a property of the moment, not the machine, so every rate probe must bracket its own
phases.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 18:12:20 +00:00
8b10c0451f re(flight): the clock factor is universal — angular matches too once corrected in-run
pitch_gametime.py brackets each turn phase with HUD screenshots, so the mission
clock's own advance converts wall seconds to game seconds within the same run:

  this run's clock: TIME 00:33.68 -> 00:44.12 = 10.44 s game in 7.96 s wall = 1.311

  pitch @ min speed  88.9 deg/wall-s  /1.311 -> 67.8 deg/game-s  vs AV_PitchMinus_Min 75
  pitch @ max speed  53.6            /1.311 -> 40.9             vs AV_PitchMinus_Max 40

Both land on the definition (the slow phase 10% low, consistent with including the
AA_* ramp in an 8 s window), so the clock explanation covers angular motion as well:
every stated rate is per GAME second.

The ratio is not a machine constant — 1.260 in the earlier flight, 1.311 here — so it
must be measured in the same run as whatever it corrects. Bonus: the same shots show
the HUD reading 102 at full LT against MinimumVelocity 100.

Also documents the trap that cost three runs: a killed Canary leaves both its shm
image and its last frame on screen, so a dead emulator looks alive and the scans
report "0 moving triples" like a tooling bug. pgrep -x matches zombies, so
speed_law.require_live_emulator() checks the process state letter and refuses to
measure a corpse.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 17:56:16 +00:00
0cb81b6200 re(flight): the linear discrepancy is a world-unit vs displayed-speed difference
Screenshotting the HUD speed readout at each throttle step, beside the
position-derived measurement of the same moment:

  RT 0.00   HUD 350 (= CruisingVelocity)   position ~447   ratio 1.28
  RT 0.25   HUD 507                        position ~652   ratio 1.29
  RT 0.75   HUD 963                        position ~1141  ratio 1.19

So (a) the HUD speaks the definition's units — exactly CruisingVelocity at neutral,
963 at three-quarters against the 987 the interpolation predicts — confirming the
throttle law in the game's own numbers without any position sampling; and (b) world
displacement runs ~1.2x the displayed speed. Since settled angular rates need no such
factor, this is a unit difference between the position triple and the velocity
fields, not a clock effect: a reimplementation moving entities at MaximumVelocity in
world coordinates will be ~20% slow.

Also fixes speed_law.find_player: a mission holds more than one *_Player object and
at least one never moves, so the finder now samples each candidate twice and keeps
the one that displaces. Locking onto the static one is what produced a run of exact
zeros while the game was visibly flying.

🟡 The ratio is 1.19-1.29 rather than a clean constant and every sample was taken in
a firefight; pinning it wants a quiet map.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 17:06:35 +00:00
f6974ff3f0 re(flight): settled turn rates match the definition exactly — withdraw the time-base claim
Re-measured with 5 s of settle per phase and the speed recorded at the moment the
turn starts (flight_law3.py):

  pitch @ 130/s    74.9 deg/s   vs AV_PitchMinus_Min 75
  pitch @ 1821/s   41.1         vs AV_PitchMinus_Max 40
  roll  @ 110/s   129.5         vs AV_Roll_Min 200
  roll  @ 1722/s  149.3         vs AV_Roll_Max 125

Pitch lands on the definition's own numbers with NO scale factor, so the ~1.2x I
attributed to the emulated time base two iterations ago was an artefact of
differentiating during the AA_* acceleration ramp with too little settle. That
explanation is withdrawn: AV_* can be used verbatim.

What remains is only on the linear side — settled speeds still read high and vary
between runs (RT full: 1342 in one flight, 1821 in another, vs MaximumVelocity 1200),
consistent with a craft being shoved around in a firefight. The HUD reads exactly
CruisingVelocity at neutral. A clean linear measurement needs a quiet map; no cause
is claimed until then.

Roll re-measured with proper settles confirms the axis difference: no speed
dependence, both regimes near AV_Roll_Max, where pitch moved 75 -> 40.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 16:46:33 +00:00
6ebbbeff65 re(flight): LT mirrors RT, and roll does not depend on speed
One flight, two measurements (flight_law2.py, binding early so the moving-craft scan
can see the player).

LT curve: 436, 379, 289, 209, 126 units/s across LT 0.00 -> 1.00 — a straight ramp,
whose endpoints after the ~1.2 time-base factor are CruisingVelocity 350 and
MinimumVelocity 100. So the law is symmetric:

  RT: target = Cruising + RT * (Maximum - Cruising)
  LT: target = Cruising - LT * (Cruising - Minimum)

Roll (measured on a non-forward matrix row, since roll turns about the forward axis):
~144 deg/s at minimum speed and ~150 at maximum — no speed dependence, where pitch
dropped by a third to a half between the same regimes. After the time-base factor
that is ~121, i.e. AV_Roll_Max 125 in BOTH regimes.

So _Min/_Max does not mean the same thing for every axis: pitch interpolates with
speed, roll appears pinned at Max. A reimplementation applying one rule to all axes
would get low-speed roll wrong by ~60%.

Caveat recorded: the two roll phases were 2 s of settling apart, marginal for a
126 -> 1342 speed change.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 16:30:19 +00:00
4dbd4f6cef re(flight): the throttle is analogue — target speed interpolates cruise -> maximum
RT is an analogue trigger, so "held" was one point on a curve. Walking it 0.00 ->
1.00 (throttle_curve.py) gives a straight ramp: 438, 626, 879, 1094, 1342 units/s.
Dividing by the ~1.2 time-base factor, the endpoints land on the definition's own
numbers (365 vs CruisingVelocity 350; 1118 vs MaximumVelocity 1200) and the midpoint
follows, so

  target speed = CruisingVelocity + RT * (MaximumVelocity - CruisingVelocity)

which refines the earlier "selects one of three targets" reading: those three are the
curve's endpoints.

It also refutes the standing afterburner hypothesis that full RT is the burner: the
curve is smooth through full deflection with no step, and the shield does not move.

The LT half is not measured yet — the entity scan needs the craft moving when it
runs, so a mission left idling drops out of it. Bind early.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 16:14:47 +00:00
86fcfcc8b0 re(flight): turn rates confirm AV_* are rate caps and _Min/_Max mean at min/max speed
turn_law.py pins the speed regime with a throttle, holds a stick axis and
differentiates the craft's own forward vector over 1-second windows.

  slow + nose down  ~87 deg/s   (AV_PitchMinus_Min 75)
  fast + nose down  ~54         (AV_PitchMinus_Max 40)
  slow + nose up   ~175         (AV_PitchPlus_Min 150)
  fast + nose up   ~136         (AV_PitchPlus_Max 70)

So agility falls with speed (_Min/_Max are at minimum/maximum speed, not rate
bounds) and pitching up is ~2x pitching down, exactly as the field pairs say.

Control mapping measured: LX is roll (forward vector barely moves, 3-5 deg/s), LY is
pitch (+1 = nose down per vgamepad's LY: -1 = up), and the right stick does not steer
at all.

The ~1.2x overshoot seen in the speed law appears again here (1.16-1.35x), and a
unit scale cannot explain both m/s and deg/s — a TIME BASE can: if the guest's
simulated second is shorter than the wall-clock second the probe measures against,
every rate reads high by the same factor. So the definition numbers are
self-consistent and these measurements confirm the shape of the law, not a scale.

Recorded 🟡: no yaw input found (AV_Yaw_* exists but neither stick yaws), which with
roll on LX and MaximumBank_Normal points at a bank-to-turn model.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 15:30:00 +00:00
1efc3f567d re(flight): the throttle is a target-speed selector, measured against the definition
speed_law.py locks onto the player entity once and samples its position while
holding each throttle input, differentiating over 1-second windows.

  no throttle  -> ~420   (CruisingVelocity 350)
  RT held      -> ~1 530 (MaximumVelocity 1200)
  LT held      -> ~125   (MinimumVelocity 100)
  release      -> back to cruise, from either direction

So the throttle SELECTS a target speed rather than adding thrust — which is what a
reimplementation would most likely have assumed from Acceleration/Deceleration
alone. Those govern the convergence rate instead: ~440 units/s^2 measured on
release (Deceleration 500) and ~470-560 under RT (Acceleration 600).

Recorded as 🟡: measured world speeds run ~1.2-1.3x the definition numbers in all
three regimes while the HUD shows the definition value exactly (350 at cruise), so
world coordinates are a constant multiple (~1.25) of the definition's velocity unit;
the spread is wider than the constant is precise because the craft manoeuvres while
sampled.

Three traps documented: RT/LT are analogue triggers (the button verb is a silent
no-op and the first run measured an unflown craft), per-sample differentiation
aliases against the guest's update rate (0, 1519, 1985, 0, 2681 for smooth flight),
and the player entity only enters the typed scan ~15 s in while the craft dies within
minutes if nobody flies it.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 15:08:11 +00:00
6d0bdf0179 re(units): S08 closes the story stages (68 units), and GAME_CLEAR unlocks nothing
S08 gave the last two story-stage units — UN_be005_ADAN_SpaceFortress and
UN_mn500_ADAN_FloatingMine — plus six S08 asteroid collision meshes: 68 units,
9 393 rows, 7 115 defaulted-on-disc values. Every unit any story mission fields is
now read (689 more disc cross-checks, 0 disagreements).

Probe recorded as a negative: setting Game Status (GHAD +48 and its header mirror
+0x18) to 2 = STATE_GAME_CLEAR leaves both menus unchanged — the title still shows
NEW GAME / LOAD GAME / TUTORIAL / OPTIONS / EXTRAS and EXTRAS still shows only
MISSION SELECT / MOVIE THEATER / BACK. So the EX/challenge rosters are not gated on
that field.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 14:39:05 +00:00
0221217968 re(units): six targeted harvests — 60 of 110 units, 6 071 defaulted values
S03, S06, S09, S13, S15, S16 (plus the earlier run): 21 -> 60 units,
963 -> 6 071 defaulted-on-disc values, 8 241 rows. Disc cross-checks agree with
0 disagreements throughout.

- UN_e901_ADAN_Boss and UN_e910_core_ADAN_GeneratorCore are harvested (HP 10 000,
  Size_X 500, Size_Radius 250, MaximumVelocity 450) WITHOUT the boss ever being on
  screen: definitions are instantiated at stage load, so a unit only needs to be in
  the roster. That is far weaker than what the draw-capture work requires.
- The extra stages are not reachable via the save's stage field: stage 27 boots to
  the title and then the emulator exits during the load, as do the other S24..S29
  entries, while story stages 1-16 all load. The field addresses the story campaign
  only; EX/challenge rosters need the Challenge-mode menu path.

Remaining 50 units are almost all EX variants in S24/S25/S27/S28/S29; the only
story-stage stragglers are UN_mn500_ADAN_FloatingMine and
UN_be005_ADAN_SpaceFortress in S08.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 14:14:18 +00:00
bf6825e278 re(units): target missions by roster, harvest S09 — 36 units / 3 439 defaulted values
examples/roster_target.rs ranks stages by how many roster units are still
unharvested. The EnumUnit_S<NN> tables are found by hashing candidate TOC paths
(hash::TOC_NAME_SCHEMES) — UnitRoster::stage can only infer a tag when the roster
carries a UN_S<NN>_ prop, which most do not.

It picked S09 (10 missing). Flying it: 26 -> 36 units, 3 345 -> 4 785 rows,
2 351 -> 3 439 defaulted-on-disc values. New: e102_Battleship, e104_Carrier,
e107_AAFrigate, e011_Attacker_B, e008_TurretPlus, be001_TerrafoamingUnit,
e001_Elan_GR{,_Violeta}, f102_LightCarrier_Inv, f106_Destroyer_Inv.

Also settled: the definition objects are mission-independent. Eleven units appear in
more than one snapshot and four are not byte-identical, but compared through the
layout ZERO mapped fields differ — the 12 differing slots are all unmapped (offsets
4/8/16/20 and 0x250/0x268/0x300-0x308/0x330-0x338: object header and sub-object
pointers). So a harvested value is the definition, not a per-mission tweak, and the
earlier UN_f201_TCAF_Tanker flag resolves the same way. Cross-checks over three
snapshots: 1 052 agree, 0 disagree.

Third angle field found the same way (Through_AngleMaximum = 60 degrees in radians),
so the degrees<->radians rule covers any name containing "Angle".

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 13:48:12 +00:00
14d5ed54d1 re(units): read definitions with the code-derived layout — defaulted values 1 059 -> 2 351
unit_runtime.py can only place fields the disc values (it scores triples against
disc records): 58 of 153 from one snapshot. data/unit_definition_layout.txt came
from the title's loader instead, so it places all 159 — including the fields no
disc record sets, which is the Route-B target.

tools/re-capture/unit_dump_layout.py reads every field of every live definition
object with that layout and keeps the discipline: a field the disc DOES value is a
check, not a new value. Over two snapshots (19 objects): 700 cross-checks agree,
0 disagree.

  fields placed per object            58 of 153 -> 159
  rows over those 19 units                  609 -> 2 736
  defaulted-on-disc values (whole file)   1 059 -> 2 351

Two traps recorded: the layout table's offsets are DECIMAL while the solver CSV
prints hex (parsing as hex fails the cross-check on everything — which is how it
announced itself), and angle fields can carry a prefix (AB_AA_PitchPlus is still an
angle, so the AV_/AA_ test must match anywhere in the name).

Flagged: UN_f201_TCAF_Tanker's object is not byte-identical between the two
missions — per-mission override or a runtime-mutated field; needs a third snapshot
to separate.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 13:30:49 +00:00
d61baddaf0 re(units): stage select lifts the per-stage coverage limit — 21 -> 26 units
Unit definitions are instantiated per stage, so the parked "coverage grows by
visiting missions" limit was blocked on progress. With the save's stage field
solved, any story stage can be flown from a hand-edited save and snapshotted.

First harvest (a Night Ravens mission, 027 objectives, different roster):
  units with runtime values   21 -> 26
  csv rows                 1 827 -> 2 143
  defaulted-on-disc values   963 -> 1 059

New: UN_e004_ADAN_ElanPlus_N, UN_e006_ADAN_Vindicator_Margras,
UN_f002_TCAF_DeltaSaber_W, UN_f002_TCAF_DeltaSaber_W_Player (a second player craft)
and UN_mn040_Asteroid_Big (47 defaulted values, Size_Z = 2000).

Two traps recorded with the fix: launch_mission.sh presses A on the PRESELECTED
slot, which is the last-used one (03 here), so a probe in slot 01 is ignored — the
first attempt flew stage 02 again and the solver correctly found 0 new units; patch
every slot or confirm the highlighted slot by screenshot. And back up before
patching: the mid-run backup already held the probe, so slot 01 was restored from
the earlier pristine copy (md5 142b4f43…, verified byte-identical).

Token file for the solver: idxd_tokens <GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak> Generic — 110 UN_*
records, the disc's full unit count.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 13:16:04 +00:00
92d36ec10f re(xbg7): a Stage-05 capture validates the pad fix out of sample, and shows how containers load
Ran ship_capture_close.sh in story stage 05 (reachable now via the save's stage
field) instead of stage 02: 3 logs, ~11 200 draws.

- Out-of-sample check of the pad-scoring fix: 124 of 124 index runs identical to
  the GPU's, 2 769 index elements, 0 differing — on draws the fix was not derived
  from (the stage-02 capture gave 93/93).
- A mission keeps SEVERAL stage containers resident: 65 drawn buffers place in
  Stage_S02.xpr at 0x17FE3FF4 (the shared TCAF/ADAN fleet) and 5 in Stage_S05.xpr
  at its own constant 0x1927B7F4 (the f101 ACROPOLIS, this mission's escort) —
  the first capture-truth rows for a container other than Stage_S02. Both sets
  have exact index counts and exact coverage.
- Why: f105_bdy_01 lives in 13 of the 22 stage containers and not in Stage_S05 at
  all, so the resident set follows the mission's unit roster, not the stage number.

Consequence for the residual misses: a different story stage is not a different
container. Aiming a capture at a specific container is a static question (resource
names per container x the stage's EnumUnit roster).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 10:20:00 +00:00
9fd5dcd37d re(savegame): GHAD +52 is the stage number — a hand-edited save plays Stage 05
Static analysis of the header builder (0x822870b4..0x82287128) shows the GDHA
container header carries a SUMMARY of the progress block, and the screens read
that: hdr+0x14 <- GHAD+52, hdr+0x18 <- GHAD+48, hdr+0x1c <- +24 (Points),
hdr+0x20 <- +4 (flight), hdr+0x24 <- the computed clear ratio, hdr+0x28 <- +12.
savegame_edit.py copies the donor header verbatim, so payload-only probes left a
stale summary — which is why +52 looked refuted.

Patching both (hdr[0x14] = 5, ghad[+52] = 5) makes the title read
"STAGE 05 - Star System Escape", load it, brief the Gallia Asteroid Group, and fly
an asteroid-field mission with a different objective and roster. So +52 is the
stage number, 1-based, and one u32 chooses the mission.

Also corrected in the GHAD table: +48 is the Game Status enum (0 = At Standby,
matching the screen's STATE_STAND_BY/STAGE_CLEAR/GAME_CLEAR list) and +12 is Times
Cleared, both via their header mirrors.

This unlocks runtime capture in containers other than Stage_S02 (the 85 XBG7
misses, box identity, ship-placement generalisation) and per-stage unit
definitions. Slot 01 was backed up and restored byte-identically.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 09:46:08 +00:00
33dc12c948 re(xbg7): render the before/after — the index shift shredded capital-ship hulls
ship_render --static on f101 (ACROPOLIS) with and without XBG7_PAD_FIRST_MATCH=1.
Identical triangle count, placements and bounds; the old wiring renders as a mess
of shards, the fixed one as a coherent hull. Kept as the evidence image for the
pad-scoring fix.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 07:28:40 +00:00
6d92e6c114 re(xbg7): the [index][vertex] layout is runtime-verified, and the indices= mystery was batching
The decoder's central unstated assumption — a block's index buffer sits
immediately before its vertex buffer (`vb - idx_count*2 - pad`, pad <= 3) — was
also the prime suspect for the residual anchor misses, since a capture-proven
`e106_eng_02_l` block was rejected outright. Measured it instead of assuming:

- extended the F10 ship capture to log each draw's index buffer (base, count,
  min/max index) and to key its de-dup on the index range, so every draw batch
  is recorded rather than only the first;
- `examples/capture_ib_truth.rs` places each drawn buffer in the container by its
  dumped positions and scores the capture against our decode.

Stage_S02, 42 drawn buffers placed: our idx_count == the sum of the draw's index
batches for 42/42, the batch union covers the vertex pool exactly for 42/42, and
all 30 single-block cases sit at pad <= 3 (20 at pad 0, 10 at pad 2). The other
12 are grouped pools, where one index pool serves the whole group. So the layout
holds, the decoded index count is exact, and eng_02_l died on the connectivity
gate (since replaced by the winding gate) — not on index location. The shipped
exact-coverage rule is independently confirmed.

The recorded "capture indices=21 vs our 246" disagreement was an artefact of the
old de-dup key: 21 was the first of two batches, 21 + 225 = 246. Any conclusion
from a pre-2026-08-13 capture's `indices=` or `vbase - ibase` is about one batch,
not about the block.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9
2026-08-13 05:57:44 +00:00
19b338d9d8 re(route-b): map generalises to units -- 406/0 across 11 objects, 121 defaulted fields
Applying the map to turrets, fighters, an attacker and a station (UNIT records
rather than VESSEL) gives 406 field values agreeing with the disc and 0
disagreeing across 11 objects, so one layout serves both schemas.

Two consequences the four-value signature could not give: the map IDENTIFIES an
object -- 0xbd3b6a00 is UN_bf001_TCAF_SchlosBase (14 agree, 0 disagree), not
UN_be005_ADAN_SpaceFortress (12 agree, 2 disagree on Color_R/Color_G) -- and
variants are provably identical, with ArrowHead/_EX4/_EX5 at 48/48, Turret/_EX4
at 51/51 and three DeltaSaber player variants at 49/49.

121 defaulted fields now have runtime values. FiringRange (0 in all 11) and
ShieldRatio (1 in all 6) look like true constants; HQRatio, ThrusterRatio and
AttackCraftPoint vary per unit and are recorded as such.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-13 00:12:45 +00:00
d674cddad4 re(route-b): full field map verified 154/154, and 101 defaulted fields read out
Anchoring each key string to the first store AFTER the accessor call makes the
extraction exact: 159 fields, 125 of them floats, and verify_fieldmap now checks
every one against the live objects -- 154 agree with the disc, 0 disagree.

The last ten mismatches taught the rule: angle fields are degrees on disc and
RADIANS at runtime (AV_PitchPlus_Max 3.6 -> 0.0628319; MaximumBank_Normal 60 ->
1.0472), an exact conversion across every angle field and unit.

101 defaulted fields now have runtime values: angle limits default to 3.6 degrees,
afterburner/turn-attack fields to 0, FiringRange to 0 (matching the loader's miss
value), Size_Y to that unit's Size_X, and the ratio family is per-unit rather than
constant (HQRatio 0.2 or 1, DefencePoint 0.1 or 0.25, ...).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 23:44:57 +00:00
f4f3bcb20a re: a deeper window does not help -- the 0x820af844 object is not the definition record
Dumping 512 words instead of 96 finds exactly the same 4 of ~50 disc values, for
all five correlated units, so the rest of the record is not in this structure.
Also corrects the reason recorded last commit: get_f32 is NOT unreliable on
default-heavy records -- it resolves 46-57 numeric fields per unit, which is what
made the emptiness of the correlation measurable in the first place. The one
automated hit (YawDragFactor -> +0x0c) remains false: +0x0c holds the integer 2
as a denormal and collided with the float 2.0.

Next probe is a RAM-wide search for a unit-distinctive value, not a bigger window.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 20:49:19 +00:00
3322202732 re(route-b): 13 defaulted Size_Y values read out of the running game
Live definition objects carry no name, so identity comes from the values:
unit_signatures.rs prints (HP, Size_X/Y/Z) for every disc unit and vessel, and a
live object is the record whose known fields it reproduces. 7 of 14 match a disc
record outright; the other 7 match nothing because their records default a field
-- 18 of 23 vessel records are missing at least one, nearly always Size_Y.

Matching each single-default record against the live object that reproduces its
remaining fields resolves 13 values (Destroyer 200, Cruiser 600/700, ASFrigate
80, ADAN Destroyer 300, Acropolis 400, ISCMissile 300, plus _Inv/_EX variants).
Every one equals that unit's Size_X, so the engine's own parsed definitions
confirm the statically-derived inheritance rule.

Limits stated: variants share one live object, and the ...Ratio/...Count family
is not resolved -- their offsets in the live object are still unknown.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 20:28:55 +00:00
a836f8e9ea re: live unit definitions from a running Stage 02, and the recipe that gets there
The runtime track is unblocked. Two environment facts cost most of the effort:
audio must be --audio --apu=sdl WITH SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy (muting with --apu=nop
fills the log with CreateDriver failures and the guest never passes the movie),
and everything must happen inside ONE blocking foreground call because anything
outliving its call is reaped. Boot is 25s to the flight HUD once caches are warm,
which is what makes launch-and-dump fit in one call. numpy/PIL are absent so the
analysis scripts do not run; gmem.py is stdlib and does.

Result: 14 live definition objects dumped (vtable 0x820af844, 96 words each).
The +0x54 column reads as HP across three orders of magnitude and +0x30..0x38 as
Size_X/Y/Z, corroborating the earlier single-snapshot layout, and five of the
fourteen have Size_Y == Size_X exactly, supporting the inheritance default rule.
Open: no name/id field in the first 96 words, so objects are not yet matched to
their disc records.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 20:18:32 +00:00
f340815db6 fix(mesh): require exact pool coverage -- found by rendering, not by a metric
Rendering assembled e106 from Stage_S02 showed the old slab: e106_bdy_03 spanning
600x1600x998 where three other containers give 276x236x941. Its anchor had slack
3, and the coverage gate tolerated up to three unreferenced tail vertices --
tolerance that was hiding a mis-anchor, since real blocks reach their last vertex
exactly (8580 of 8629). Requiring exact coverage moves it to the block the other
containers agree on and the slab disappears.

Costs 3 resources (6212 -> 6209), inconsistency 39 -> 38, capture oracle
unchanged at 46/46, suite green. Evidence: captures/e106-cover-slack-before-after.png

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 06:56:49 +00:00
f835705b48 fix(mesh): winding consistency replaces the connectivity heuristic
Gate attribution put connectivity behind 153 of 225 misses -- the largest
blocker, and the gate already known to reject a capture-proven block. Testing it
against winding consistency (an objective topology signal: ~1.0 or ~0.0 for a
real mesh, ~0.5 for a mis-carve) shows a floor of 0.70 with connectivity inert
dominates the previous default on both axes: 6212 resources decoded (+143) with
39 shared inconsistencies (-17), capture oracle unchanged at 46/46, twin
invariant clean, coverage invariant intact. Suite green.

The 0.80 cliff (5770 resources, 0 inconsistent) is documented, not taken --
consistency is the weaker witness, and both points are one env var apart.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 05:47:01 +00:00
7f1ac41563 fix(mesh): raise the connectivity cap 0.28 -> 0.42 on runtime evidence
Swept against the 46 capture-named Stage_S02 buffers with distinct assignment in
place: 0.28 anchors 40 exactly and leaves 4 unclaimed; 0.42 anchors 45 and leaves
none; nothing above 0.42 improves further, so it is the least permissive value
that captures the whole gain. 589 more resources decode, nothing is lost. The
cross-container consistency proxy worsens (46 -> 62) -- it cannot see a
systematic mis-anchor, and where the two disagree the capture wins. Suite green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 03:25:50 +00:00
b58f42e46d re: the capture is Stage_S02 -- provenance corrected, oracle grows to 46 buffers
capture_truth_scan places every drawn buffer across all 166 containers by modal
vbase-offset. Stage_S02 wins with 64 matches at one constant against Stage_S01's
16, and the logs carry f101/f105/f106/e105 -- a Stage-02 cast. Stage_S01 looked
consistent because the shared block is duplicated verbatim (twins 0x116F0 apart
in both), so the earlier structural findings hold; only the loaded-container
claim was wrong. The S02 table places 46 buffers, 12 claimed by nobody, and
resolves the six Stage_S01 mystery buffers as e105 parts.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 02:59:40 +00:00
76a433f75c re: the proven offsets ARE candidates -- these mis-anchors are selection failures
debug_vertex_run_starts exposes the anchor scan's candidate list: Stage_S01 has
15710 stride-24 starts and all three capture-proven offsets (0x3c55d8 twin,
0x40e418 bridge, 0x44a32c eng_02_l) are among them. anchor_pool_mesh takes the
first that validates, so an earlier lookalike wins. Scoped to the current
decoder's e106 cases; does not overturn the residual-51 finding.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 02:11:41 +00:00
26f1bdf6fd re: exact anchor offsets (GameMesh.vbuf_offset) -- correcting yesterday's defect table
The first read of the capture-truth table located our resources by searching the
container for their leading vertices, which reads much worse than reality: the
same leading run occurs at several offsets in one container. GameMesh now carries
the offset the anchor scan actually chose, so the comparison is exact -- 4 of the
ship's drawn buffers are anchored correctly, 2 are the twin collapse, and 2 are
real mis-anchors of a size we do decode (brg 51 verts, eng_02_l 44).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 02:04:55 +00:00
3245aca8cb re: the capture names file offsets -- the twin collapse is an anchoring error
Locating each drawn buffer's positions inside Stage_S01.xpr shows vbase - offset
is one constant (0x1A94FFF4, same in two runs), so a capture gives ground truth
at file-offset granularity. Read against our anchor scan it is a defect list:
full/_m resources starting at their own _l buffer, eight drawn buffers claimed by
nobody, and the bdy_01_l/bdy_02_l twins sharing one buffer while the container
carries both halves (0x3b3ee8 and its exact X-mirror at 0x3c55d8).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 01:55:13 +00:00
f18d5919f7 fix(mesh): anchor XBG7 resources by neighbourhood -- inconsistency 125 -> 63, ships render right
anchor_pool_mesh took the FIRST candidate in file order from a container-global
vertex-run scan, so a resource could be handed another resource's block whenever
both shared (stride, vertex count, index count). Both blocks are real geometry and
both pass every quality gate, so only position separates them.

anchor_pool_mesh_near now tries candidates in order of distance from a reference,
and anchor_models_filtered runs two passes: pass 1 anchors first-match to learn
where resources land, pass 2 re-anchors each resource preferring the median anchor
of its +/-2 descriptor neighbours. Too few anchored neighbours -> keep pass 1, so
nothing regresses to guesswork.

  before  decoded 5480/6294  shared 681  inconsistent 125
  after   decoded 5480/6294  shared 681  inconsistent  63

Coverage unchanged, inconsistency halved. e303_wep_01 decodes to 49x23x42 in ALL
containers now, and e106 renders as a destroyer instead of a slab -- its two
shared turrets symmetric at X[-203,-154] and X[154,203]. That resolves the
user-reported "capital ships assemble wrong" for this cause.

The filtered path needed care: models_named (what the viewer uses) dropped
non-wanted resources, which would have left filtered decodes with no
neighbourhood and silently kept the old behaviour. Resources are now collected
regardless of the filter, but only the asked-for ones and their +/-2 neighbours
are decoded in pass 1, so a filtered decode stays proportional to what was asked.

63 cases remain; mesh_consistency_disc stays ignored and now records 63, not 125.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-12 00:31:20 +00:00
c5a5065389 re: the format layer is NOT exonerated -- assemble_ship draws a non-renderable volume
Did the visual the backlog kept naming as the next step, and it overturns the
conclusion. Rendering e106 from the static assembly and from the baked runtime
capture: the capture has 8 placements, the static assembly 11 -- the same 8 plus
e303_wep_01 x2 and a second e106_eng_01. In the render the destroyer sits inside
a white slab that dwarfs it.

That slab is e303_wep_01: 172 verts, 110 tris, bounds X[-1000,600] Y[-1050,1050]
Z[-2400,2400] = 1600 x 2100 x 4800. A real e106 turret (wep_02_01) is 269x179x417
with 772 tris; the bridge is 105x76x305. So it is not a turret -- it reads as a
collision/trigger volume, and whatever it is the game does not draw it: the e106
capture contains no e303_wep_01 at all.

Why it was missed: assemble_ship treats every rou_* composite node as drawable,
the cross-id mount is documented as intended, and the test asserts
count("e303_wep_01") == 2. The capture's silence was explained as vbase dedup,
but dedup would show one instance, not zero -- and the test walks capture parts
looking them up in the static output, so EXTRA static placements cannot fail it.
Same shape as the earlier include_external gap: a test that can only fail one way.

Scope stated carefully: sweeping 335 ships for "ship-scale span with <400 tris"
flags 20 ships and 58 placements over 28 resources, but ONLY the e106 case is
proven (render + capture absence + geometry). Others may be legitimately large
low-poly parts and need the same three checks.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-11 23:15:22 +00:00
9228255bfa re: validate the screen layout against the running game -- eight rows, +/-2 px
Booted to the ARSENAL and detected the eight teal category chips by colour, then
compared their row centres against the eight prbtn1..8.rat placements parsed from
eng\prmain_scr.prt. All eight fit

    screen_Y = placement_Y + pivotY(14) + chrome(45)

with residuals -1,-1,-1,-2,0,-2,-1,-2 px. The spacings are the real signature:
predicted 54,56,55,54,56,55,55 against observed 54,56,54,56,54,56,54 -- an
irregular alternating pattern, not a round number that could match by luck. The
one free parameter is the 45 px emulator window chrome, which is not part of the
game, and the residual is centroid measurement noise.

Confirms three things together: the declaration table is the element set, the
placement region gives real screen coordinates, and the pivot composes additively
(pivotY 14 = half the 28 px chip, so placement is top-left as documented).

Explicitly NOT confirmed: the max-dwell rule for animated elements. These buttons
are static -- every keyframe identical -- which is exactly what makes them a clean
ruler. That rule needs an element captured mid-slide.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-11 22:25:18 +00:00
35e2d1067f re: placement X/Y are SIGNED, the tail word is time, and the resting pose is max-dwell
Dumping the remaining Arsenal components turned up placements reading as
4294966780 and 4294966856 -- negative as i32 (-516, -440). X and Y are signed;
off-screen animation starts are negative, and read as unsigned a reimplementation
would draw them four billion pixels off.

The raw region then showed the rest of it. The trailing word is a TIME, and a
group is an in -> hold -> out animation: prselect_win1 runs
t=4:-516 -> 6:-71 -> 7:81 -> 8:127 -> 23:134 -> 24:134 -> 25:127 -> 27:81 ->
31:-71 -> 1:-516. So NEITHER the first nor the last keyframe is where the element
sits -- both are off-screen. The resting position is the max-dwell keyframe,
(127,155)..(134,155) here, which is where the weapon-list panel actually appears.

This corrects my own note from earlier today, which reported "final=" positions.
Static elements were unaffected (the pause menu's buttons have identical
keyframes) but animated ones were misread. screen_layout.rs now reports the
max-dwell pose plus the full timeline, and both captures are regenerated.

Also seen while dumping: kind 0x2, and a .sbo child (scrollbar) parented to the
list window.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-11 22:14:36 +00:00
de357ffdc9 re: the screen parse generalises to the ARSENAL, plus kind 0x4 and the component model
examples/screen_layout.rs dumps a bundle's declaration table and placement region
together. It reproduces the tutorial pause menu exactly and reads the ARSENAL the
same way -- 23 elements that match the running game: eight buttons prbtn1..8.rat
at X=242 evenly spaced (the config declares WEAPON_CATEGORIES = 8, and eight
categories are what the Arsenal shows), prexp3.t32 declared SEVEN times at X=726
34px apart (the DATA SHEET rows), prexp1 sliding (726,143)->(1286,143) with
prexp1a parented to it, and prmsg at (151,645).

Two additions to the format:

  kind = 0x4 marks a REPEATED INSTANCE of a sprite -- prexp3.t32 appears once
  with 0x0 then six times with 0x4, each with its own placement. So the element
  name is not a key; the declaration index is.

  A screen composes from named .prt components. GP_HANGAR_ARSENAL.pak has 510
  RATC entries because its config names components (Menu = prmain_scr.prt, etc.)
  and they resolve under the config's own PATH prefix: prmain_scr.prt is absent,
  eng\prmain_scr.prt is present -- the same <lang>+<member> convention the movie
  table uses. A sub-component reads identically: psselect_win1 declares 4
  elements, three parented to element 0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-11 22:06:00 +00:00