a3f6ab617b
The mission's objective counter is a big-endian u32 at guest VA 0xbdb59668 in a Stage 02 run on the upstream baseline. It was selected on an 18->24 transition and then tracked 24->23->22 against the HUD on its own - four readings, two changes it was not filtered on. That last point is the whole discipline here, because the first attempt failed it. An earlier differential over 19->18 also produced exactly one candidate, 0xbc22e83c, which matched the transition it was selected on and was still wrong: read live it held 26 while the HUD showed 017. One matching transition is not evidence. A second trap is recorded too: a three-snapshot filter requiring 19 -> 19 -> 18 left ZERO survivors, because the value moves between the memory copy and the screenshot that reads it. Filtering on the next DISTINCT value instead found the counter on the first try. ob_scan.py carries the method: scan one snapshot, then filter the candidate set against live /dev/shm/xenia_memory_* at each new value, so only the first pass needs a 4.8 GB copy. Stated plainly as unsettled: the ADDRESS is from one run and cross-run stability is untested, so the durable result is the method rather than the number. And what the counter counts - whether every OB-badged entity is one of them, and whether that badge is a flag in the entity object - is the follow-on the pilot actually needs to CHOOSE targets rather than just know how many remain.
2.9 KiB
REMAINING OB — the mission's own objective counter, in RAM
Status: ✅ CONFIRMED for one Stage 02 run: a big-endian u32 whose value
is exactly the HUD's REMAINING OB, verified across two transitions it was not
selected by. 🟡 the address itself is from one run — cross-run stability is
untested. ❔ what it counts, and whether objective-marked entities carry a flag.
Why it matters
autopilot-memory-driven.md ranks this its
problem #2: a pilot that flies well but ignores the objective cannot finish a
mission. Its 300 s run took no damage, killed one fighter, and watched
REMAINING OB rise from 004 to 011 as waves spawned. Reading the counter is
what turns "shoot whatever is nearest" into "shoot what closes the mission".
The find
Guest VA 0xbdb59668, big-endian u32, in a Stage 02 run on the
upstream baseline.
| time | RAM 0xbdb59668 |
HUD |
|---|---|---|
| selected on | 18 → 24 | 018 → 024 |
| t+40 s | 24 | 024 |
| t+75 s | 23 | 023 |
| t+110 s | 22 | 022 |
| t+145 s | 22 | 022 |
| t+180 s | 22 | 022 |
The two middle rows are the ones that matter: the candidate was filtered on the 18→24 transition, and it then tracked 24→23→22 on its own.
Method, and the two traps in it
tools/re-capture/ob_scan.py. Scan one snapshot for the current value, then
filter that candidate set against live /dev/shm/xenia_memory_* at the next
distinct value. Only the first pass needs the 4.8 GB copy.
🔴 Filter on a change, not a repeat. The first attempt scanned at 19, filtered at 19 again, then at 18 — and left zero survivors. The value moves between the memory copy and the screenshot that reads it, so "still 19" is not reliable. Scanning 18 and filtering on 24 gave exactly one candidate on the first try.
🔴 Verify across a transition you did not select on. An earlier differential
over 19→18 also gave exactly one candidate, 0xbc22e83c — and it was wrong:
read live it held 26 while the HUD showed 017. It was an unrelated counter that
happened to step 19→18 in the same window. One matching transition is not
evidence; the same offset tracking a later, unselected change is.
What is not settled
- 🟡 Cross-run stability.
0xbdb59668is from a single run. The corpus's other runtime finds are re-scanned per run, so the durable result here is the method, not the number. Testing whether the address repeats costs one boot. - ❔ What it counts. It rose 18 → 24 while waves spawned and fell as things
died, so it is objective targets remaining, not kills. Whether every
OB-badged entity is one of them, and whether that badge is a flag in the entity object, is the natural follow-on — and it is what the pilot actually needs to choose targets rather than merely know how many are left. - ❔ Whether the same address holds for other stages.