Files
Syplheed-Reborn/tools/re-capture
Claude (auto-RE) faa7b3d611 re(challenge): the part id is never persisted -- differential search says stack only
No literal 26 exists anywhere, so the GamePart id is computed. That does not stop
it being found: the id is KNOWN at each screen from the GamePart table (EXTRAS = 5,
MISSION SELECT = 7), so snapshot both and intersect. New tool diff_words.py does
the classic differential search over the sparse guest image, and find_partslot.sh
drives the two screens and runs it.

Result: 171 MB scanned, exactly 4 addresses read 5 then 7 -- 0x708FFBEC,
0x708FFCBC, 0x708FFDAC, 0x708FFE20 -- and all four are guest STACK (the same run's
log puts thread stacks at 0x709...). So the requested part id exists only as a
stack argument in flight; there is no persistent field, which is consistent with
finding no literal store, and means there is nothing stable to poke.

That closes the last memory-and-menu route to the challenge missions. Reaching
them needs either the genuine in-game unlock (an in-mission attainment, per
AVSCRIPT_COMMAND_ATTAINMENT_CHALLENGE_MISSION_CARGO_SCORE) or an emulator-side
hook that forces the transition -- a code change, not a poke.

diff_words.py is worth keeping well beyond this question: it locates any field
whose address is unknown but whose value is known at two moments.
2026-08-13 21:31:47 +00:00
..

Runtime-capture harness (sylph-re container)

Screenshot-driven scripts for reading the running retail game's menus under Xenia Canary + lavapipe, headless. They assume the container helpers screenshot, vgamepad, pad are on $PATH and HOME=/sylph-home/re.

Script What it does
skip_intro.sh Boot → main menu, unattended. Taps A only while the intro movie is actually playing (frame-to-frame RMSE), then once at the PRESS Ⓐ BUTTON title. Static logo screens are left alone, so a stray tap can never land on NEW GAME.
wait_title.sh Older variant: wait for the title (green Ⓐ glyph at px 625,618) and tap A. Superseded by skip_intro.sh.
step.sh One Arsenal navigation step (down/up/next/prev/none) + a compact capture: weapon list stacked over the DATA SHEET.
sweep.sh Walk a whole weapon-type list, capturing only rows that show a DATA SHEET — locked rows (a "Conditions to Develop" panel) are detected by the brightness of the Range Class label box and skipped.
type.sh Change weapon-type tab N times (RB) and report the header strip.
hp.sh / cyc.sh Hangar hard-point carousel: cyc.sh steps it (d-pad down, not left/right) and captures the Name + DATA SHEET.

Input timing under lavapipe: the game polls input at its own low frame rate, so a 60 ms d-pad tap is dropped roughly half the time. 200 ms is reliable; 300 ms starts to auto-repeat (two rows per press).

Findings produced with these: docs/re/weapon-datasheet-runtime.md.

Guest-memory tools (no screenshots)

Script What it does
gmem.py Read the live guest address space out of /dev/shm/xenia_memory_* (Xenia's backing file), addressed by guest VA. find / read / words.
weapon_runtime.py Solve the Weapon/Shell struct layouts against the disc records and read the fields the disc defaults.
unit_discover.py Find which runtime class carries a set of ID strings, assuming no vtable: tallies the word at pointer_site - k across distinct IDs.
unit_runtime.py Same solver for the unit\UN_*.tbl definition objects (vtable 0x820af844). Unions several snapshots — unit definitions are per-stage.
schema_order.py Merge a sub-record's field-declaration order across all tables (topological sort); the layout check that pins fields no table ever values.
order_check.py Test offset = base + 4*index for one table's sub-record against solver output.
grab_tutorial.sh Cold-boot Canary, walk to the Nth TUTORIAL entry, wait for the stage load, snapshot guest RAM. One emulator per capture — backing out of a loaded mission wedges it.

Snapshot first — cp --sparse=always /dev/shm/xenia_memory_* snap.bin (~2 s) — and point $GMEM_FILE at the copy; the running emulator pegs every core under lavapipe.