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FormationSet_S<NN>.tbl records are slot lists -- 1 + 8*FrameCount fields, exactly. Resolving every squadron's FormationID and comparing gives sum(n) <= FrameCount holding 1159/1160 across all 28 stages, 0 unresolved, with 539 filling the formation exactly. The single violation is a debug leftover (S20, AI_Test / MessageSet_test, Formation_1_only with n=2) and is recorded. The old 'n is not the _NN suffix of FormationID' observation was right but drew the wrong conclusion: the suffix IS FrameCount, so n=9 against _30 just means 9 units in 9 of 30 slots. Also: FormationID does not hash into its table (0/16). FormationSet carries a name roster record -- no FrameCount, fields are (tag, name, '') with the tags being the record keys -- the same convention as Enumerate_Squadrons. Second occurrence of 'keys are resolved by an in-table roster, not by hashing'. Does not close the 387-vs-300 gap, and the key derivation stays open.
186 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
186 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
# `stage\UnitGroup_S<NN>.tbl` — the per-stage squadron roster
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Status: ✅ container format and field semantics, validated across all 28 stage
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tables present on the disc; 🟡 one member field; ❔ the record key and the
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arrival-interval *values*.
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Reached from the per-stage definition record's `EnumerateSquadron` field — see
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[stage-definition-table.md](stage-definition-table.md). Tool:
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`tools/re-capture/unitgroup.py` (pure static; runs no emulator).
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```
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python3 tools/re-capture/unitgroup.py S02 # full roster
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python3 tools/re-capture/unitgroup.py --all --check # self-check every stage
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```
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A committed dump of Stage 02 is at [`../data/unitgroup-s02.txt`](../data/unitgroup-s02.txt).
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## ✅ Container
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```
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0x00 "IDXD"
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0x04 u32 nrec
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0x08 nrec x 16 record: (key, squadron_off, field_lo, field_hi)
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u32 npool
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npool x 12 property entry: (tag, name_off | 0xffffffff, value_off)
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u32 strsize -- and STR + strsize == filesize, exactly
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strsize string pool; [0] = "Enumerate_Squadrons", [0x14] = ""
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```
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**Every offset in the file is relative to `STR`**, the string-pool base. A
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record's fields are pool entries `[field_lo, field_hi)`. An entry with
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`name_off == 0xffffffff` is *positional*; otherwise the entry carries its own
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field name inline, so the table is self-describing and the tag hash never has to
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be inverted.
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Exactly one record per file is not a squadron: it is the **`Enumerate_Squadrons`
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roster**, whose entries map `key -> squadron id` for every other record. It is
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usually the last record but not always — in S05, S06, S07, S08, S09, S11, S13,
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S28 and S29 it sits elsewhere, so find it by its missing `Count`, not by
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position.
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## ✅ A squadron record
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Five named fields, always present and always these five:
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| field | values |
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|---|---|
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| `Count` | 1 (×1082), 2 (×50), 3 (×8), 4 (×20) |
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| `SideID` | `ADAN` (745), `TCAF` (294), `Neutral` (121) |
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| `AIID` | 31 distinct, e.g. `AI_ADAN_CraftSquadron_Veteran`, `AI_TCAF_BirdFlight`, `AI_ADAN_Fleet`, `AI_Structure`, `AI_TraceRoute` |
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| `FormationID` | e.g. `Formation_4_Bird`, `Formation_ADAN_Turret07_30`, `Formation_1_only` |
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| `DisableInterval` | `No` (1129), **`Yes` (31)** |
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…preceded by `Count` **member tuples** of four positional entries:
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```
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(unit model, message set, n, identity)
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```
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* unit model — 122 distinct, and they are our XBG7 mesh names:
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`UN_f001_TCAF_DeltaSaber_T_Player`, `UN_e010_ADAN_Attacker_S`,
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`UN_e007_ADAN_Turret`, `UN_bf001_TCAF_SchlosBase`.
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* message set — the squadron's radio chatter, e.g. `MessageSet_Ellen`,
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`MessageSet_ADAN_plA`.
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* `n` — ✅ **the number of units this tuple instantiates**, filling slots of the
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squadron's formation. Integer 1…30, dominated by 1 (735) and 9 (197). See
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*"What `n` counts"* below — the old note that it is "not the `_NN` suffix of
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`FormationID`" was right but drew the wrong conclusion.
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* identity — 63 distinct: named pilots (`ELLEN`, `SANDRA`, `RAYMOND`, `YOJI`),
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ship nameplates (`NP_Charon`, `NP_Amalthea`, `NP_Olympus`), carrier tags
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(`Carrier_ADAN01`), cargo tags (`CARGO_1`), or empty.
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Worked example — Stage 02, squadron `TCN004`, the player's own flight:
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```
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TCN004 TCAF Count=2 DisableInterval=No Formation_2_Rhino1 AI_TCAF_RhinoFlight
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unit=UN_f001_TCAF_DeltaSaber_T_Player msg=MessageSet_Katana n=1 id=Character_Player_Test
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unit=UN_f001_TCAF_DeltaSaber_T msg=MessageSet_Ellen n=1 id=ELLEN
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```
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## ✅ Two independent self-checks, both corpus-wide
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1. **`len(fields) == Count * 4 + 5`** — holds for **1160 of 1160** squadrons
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across all 28 stage tables. This is what pins the member-tuple width at 4 and
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the named-field count at 5; it was not assumed.
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2. **Roster agreement** — the `Enumerate_Squadrons` record's `key -> id` mapping
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agrees with the name each record resolves independently through its own
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`squadron_off`, for **1160 of 1160**.
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S17 has no `stage\UnitGroup_S17.tbl` in `GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak`, matching the
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missing S17 stage record.
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## ❌ Refuted along the way
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* **The record key is not the squadron id's name hash.**
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`name_hash("TCN001") = 0xd639f1a4`, but the keys run
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`0x659aff47, 0x659b0046, 0x669b0047, …` — 0 of 112 match. What the key encodes
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is still ❔. Its byte structure (`b0` ramping, `b2` taking small signed values)
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looks like a packed tuple, untested.
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* **Squadron ids do not use a separate string base.** An earlier reading here
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put them at `STR + 0x15` and scored "109 of 111", which looked like a near-fit
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but was an artefact of the uniform 7-byte id stride — it silently shifted
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every name by three entries (record 0 read as `ADN104` instead of `ADN101`,
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and 17 `TC*`-named squadrons came out with `SideID = ADAN`). The roster record
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refuted it outright, and with the correct base — plain `STR` — agreement is
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111/111. The lesson is that a 98 %-looking score on a self-consistent stride
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is not evidence; the roster was an independent oracle and should have been
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consulted first.
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* **The 20-byte "section header"** described in an earlier draft of
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[stage-definition-table.md](stage-definition-table.md) does not exist. What
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looked like `(tag, 0, 0, count, size)` was the file's last 16-byte record
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followed by the `npool` word. The corrected layout above is uniform across all
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28 files, which the earlier reading was not — it failed on 9 of them.
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## What is still open
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* The meaning of the 4-byte record key.
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* The member tuple's third field `n`.
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* **The interval values.** `DisableInterval` is a per-squadron *flag* and 31
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squadrons set it, but the interval durations, spawn triggers and arrival
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positions are not in this file. The next places to look are
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`Formation_*.tbl` (the formation geometry and possibly its timing) and
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`EnumSquadron_Test.tbl`, both named by the stage record.
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## ✅ What `n` counts — bounded by the formation, 1159 of 1160
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`n` is the **number of units the member tuple instantiates**. The evidence is a
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hard, falsifiable inequality against a table `UnitGroup` never mentions.
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`FormationSet_S<NN>.tbl` is the same IDXD container, and a formation record is a
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**slot list**: one named field `FrameCount` plus 8 positional fields per slot —
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`FrameCount = 4 → 33` fields, `14 → 113`, `30 → 241`, `32 → 257`, i.e.
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`1 + 8·FrameCount`, exactly.
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Resolving each squadron's `FormationID` to its formation (below) and comparing:
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```
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sum(n) <= FrameCount: HOLDS 1159 VIOLATED 1 unresolved 0
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of the holders, sum(n) == FrameCount exactly: 539
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```
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Across all 28 stages, **every** `FormationID` resolves and **every** squadron
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but one fits its formation, with 46 % filling it exactly. A field unrelated to
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formation size would not do that.
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**The one violation is a debug leftover**, recorded rather than swept up: S20
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(a tutorial stage), `Formation_1_only` (`FrameCount = 1`) with `n = 2` —
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`AIID = AI_Test`, `msg = MessageSet_test`, no identity, unit
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`UN_e015_ADAN_Puppy_2`. It is still a literal violation of the invariant.
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### ✅ The formation name's trailing number IS `FrameCount`
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`Formation_ADAN_Turret07_30` → `FrameCount = 30`; `Formation_TCAF_ArrowHead02_32`
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→ 32; `Formation_4_Bird` → 4 (leading, this family has no suffix). So the old
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observation that `n = 9` does not match the `_30` in
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`Formation_ADAN_Turret07_30` is correct and **not** evidence against `n` being a
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count: 9 units occupy 9 of that formation's 30 slots.
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### ✅ How `FormationID` resolves — the same roster trick
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`FormationID` does **not** hash into the table: `name_hash("Formation_4_Bird")`
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= `0x6286edad`, and the record key is `0x22a5eeed` — 0 of 16 resolve that way.
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`FormationSet_S02.tbl` has **17 records for 16 formations**, and the extra one is
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a **name roster**, exactly like `Enumerate_Squadrons` here: it carries no
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`FrameCount` and its fields are `(tag, name, "")` triples whose **tags are the
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record keys**. Find it by its missing `FrameCount`, map name → key, done.
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That is the same convention twice in two different tables, which is worth
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remembering for the next one: **a table's record keys are resolved by a roster
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record inside the table, not by hashing the name.**
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### 🟡 What this does not settle
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* It shows `sum(n)` *fits* the formation, not that each unit is separately
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instantiated. "Slots consumed" and "units spawned" are indistinguishable here.
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* It does **not** close the 387-vs-~300 gap in
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[roster-to-craft-link](../roster-to-craft-link.md). Σ`n` over all of Stage 02
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is 387 against 296–300 live craft. That count was measured mid-mission after
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kills, and squadrons deploy across phases, so the two are not comparable as
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they stand — but the earlier note rejected `n = 387` as *the* craft count on
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the assumption that everything deploys at once, and that assumption is still
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untested.
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* The **key derivation** stays ❔. The roster makes it unnecessary, but the tag
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is not `name_hash`, so a second hash function is still unidentified.
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