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It concluded no target-select input exists because no single press cycled a target; select is A pressed twice. Kept with a correction banner rather than deleted — a probe that never performs the action will 'prove' the action does not exist, which is the reusable warning.
105 lines
5.7 KiB
Markdown
105 lines
5.7 KiB
Markdown
# In-flight control mapping — measured, not assumed
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**Status:** ✅ for the weapon bindings (ammo counters move), 🟡 for the rest (HUD
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observation only). Probes: `tools/re-capture/fire_probe.sh` (hold each input, photograph
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the ammo counters) and `lock_probe.sh` (tap each, watch the reticle). Stage 02, in flight.
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Evidence: [`captures/fire-probe-ammo-counters.png`](captures/fire-probe-ammo-counters.png).
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| input | effect | confidence |
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|---|---|---|
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| **`RB`** | **Nose gun.** `NOSE BM` 06000 → 05956 in a 4 s hold ≈ **11 rounds/s**; `HEAT` bar rises | ✅ |
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| **`Y`** | **Main mount** (missiles). `MAIN MPM` 00300 → 00299 per tap | ✅ |
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| **`RT` / `LT`** | Throttle up / brake, a *persistent* setting (488 → 1510 → 174 u/s) | ✅ (earlier session) |
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| **d-pad** | **Tactical map** overlay (grid with contact blips) — not target cycling | 🟡 |
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| `LB`, `X`, `B`, `A`, `LS`, `RS` | No change to either ammo counter | ✅ (as "not a weapon") |
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## ~~Targeting appears to be automatic~~ — WRONG, corrected below
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> **Superseded.** This section concluded targeting was automatic because no input
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> cycled a target. It is wrong: the HUD tutorial states target select is **Ⓐ pressed
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> twice**, and every sweep here tapped once. Kept because the reasoning is a useful
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> warning — a probe that never performs the action will "prove" the action does not
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> exist. The rest of the section's measurements stand.
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No *single* press cycled a target. The green `TARGET` marker is already present in
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idle frames with nothing pressed, which I read as the game selecting for us.
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That fits the measurements end to end:
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- the guns fire fine (11 rounds/s) but the kill counters read `0000` after five gun-only
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runs → **we shoot and miss**;
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- guided missiles (`Missile_P`, Power 200, `GuidanceType` 5) got the first kills,
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`WARPLANES 0002`, but only **2 per 98 launches**;
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- the pilot's own log shows aim error wandering between ~10° and ~40° for most of a
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pass.
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At the time I concluded the bottleneck was aim dwell. Partly right — target
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**commitment** did take kills 2 → 9 — but the larger cause was simply that no target was
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ever selected, so the guided missiles had nothing to guide to.
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## The game's own action list (from the OPTIONS key-config screen)
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Decoded from `dat/GP_OPTIONS.pak` (`po_keys_btn*` sprites) — this is the authoritative
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set of bindable in-flight actions, straight off the disc, no probing required:
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| # | Action | Our mapping |
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|---|---|---|
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| 1 | Aircraft Control | LX/LY ✅ |
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| 2 | View Point Control | RX/RY (unused by the pilot) |
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| 3 / 4 | Left / Right Yaw Control | — (separate from pitch/roll!) |
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| 5 / 6 | Accelerate / Decelerate | `RT` / `LT` ✅ |
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| 7 | **Use Main Weapon** | `Y` ✅ |
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| 8 | **Use Nose Weapon** | `RB` ✅ |
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| 9 | Special Move | ❔ |
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| 10 | Maneuver | ❔ |
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| 11 | Resupply | ❔ |
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| 12 | **Change Target** | ❔ — **this is the target-select the loop needs** |
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| 13 | Change Main Weapon | ❔ (would reach `ASMissile`, Power 5000) |
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| 14 | **Padlock Mode Toggle** | ❔ — **the aim-dwell mechanism** |
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| 15 | Radar Map Toggle | d-pad 🟡 (matches the observed map overlay) |
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Two entries change the plan outright:
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- **`Change Target` exists**, so target selection *is* an input after all. The earlier
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probe swept `LB/X/B/A/LS/RS` and found no ammo change — consistent with those being
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exactly these non-weapon actions. The probe simply watched the wrong indicator.
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- **`Padlock Mode Toggle`** is a view/aim lock onto the selected target. That is the
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aim-dwell problem solved *by a game mechanic* rather than by tuning a PD controller —
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and it is why a human player can hold a contact long enough to lock a missile.
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Also note `CONTROL SETTINGS` carries a **`Control Type`** preset plus **Yaw / Pitch /
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Roll Sensitivity** and a separate **`Throttle`** option: the mapping is not fixed, and
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the craft's response to a given stick deflection is configurable. Any calibration done
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against one profile (e.g. the `ctrl_probe.py` throttle numbers) is only valid for the
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save's current settings.
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## What the tutorials state outright
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`tutorial_capture.sh <index> <secs> <tag>` plays one lesson and photographs it. Captions
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use a typewriter effect, so crop `900x125+160+40` from many frames to read a full
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sentence. Lessons that require the player to *do* something stall (BASIC CONTROLS sits
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on "Go to the box on your screen" forever with nobody flying); the expository ones run
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on their own.
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- **HEADS-UP DISPLAY (index 1):** *"Enemies are displayed with **red markers** and allies
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with **blue markers**." · "Targeting an enemy displays an Armor Gauge…" ·* **"Press Ⓐ
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twice to target the enemy closest to the center of the screen."**
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- **ADVANCED CONTROLS (index 5):** `B`+`LS` = Side Roll / 180 Degree Turn / Level Off ·
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`B`+`A` together = face the target · `LT`+`RT` together = *"sets your fighter's speed
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to that of the target… works well when you are trying to get behind an enemy. Once
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behind an enemy, this also helps you attack them."*
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**`Change Target` is Ⓐ pressed TWICE** — a double tap. That is why every button sweep in
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this document found nothing and why I wrongly concluded targeting was automatic: each
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sweep tapped once. It also explains the missiles — `GuidanceType 5` needs the *game's*
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selection, and the loop had never made one, so 98 launches guided to nothing.
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## Notes for the reimplementation
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- Two independent weapons with separate ammo pools and separate HUD counters:
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`NOSE BM` (gun, 6000) and `MAIN MPM` (missiles, 300).
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- The gun has a **HEAT** bar that fills while firing — a sustained-fire limit the
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reimplementation needs; its cap and cool-down rate are not measured yet.
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- The tactical map is a full-screen overlay bound to the d-pad and does not pause flight
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(the craft kept taking fire with it open).
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