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Erik 9ccb61a8ec fix(render): S4 chunk 2 round 1 - particle throw, detail-off immediate draws, EnvCell FIFO, gate honesty 
Fix round 1 of the two the plan allows for S4-c2 (048d5b12f), addressing
every item M1-M8/A1-A8 from the campaign branch's packet section 11.

M1 (BLOCKING): ParticleRenderer.DeferToRetailAlphaQueue threw whenever a
mesh-particle batch's TranslucencyKind.Opaque classification (mask 0x00)
reached a non-Append DrawMesh row - a real, reachable outcome since
TryAppendMeshDraws applies no IsOpaque-style pre-filter unlike
WbDrawDispatcher's path. Deleted both throws (ParticleRenderer.cs,
WbDrawDispatcher.cs SubmitToAlphaQueue), extracted the router-input
derivation into internal static ParticleRenderer.RouteParticleSubmission
(directly testable), and implemented rows 1/5's immediate draw by reusing
the existing per-instance billboard/mesh draw code (new
DrawImmediateParticleSubmissionRhi, no new renderer, no sort per A8).
materialHasAlpha (row 4) is derived from CMaterial::CheckAlphaValues
@0x005396a0 (Ghidra-verified 2026-09-04): has_alpha=0 only when
Ambient.a==Diffuse.a==Specular.a==Emissive.a==1.0f, else 1 - and
CMaterial::SetTranslucencySimple @0x005396f0 (reached from
CPhysicsPart::SetTranslucency <- Particle::Update @0x0051c290's per-frame
alpha-fade) sets all four channels to (1f - translucency) uniformly, so
has_alpha == "this particle's current alpha isn't 1.0" - already carried in
ColorArgb's top byte (Lerp(StartAlpha,EndAlpha,tLife), ParticleSystem.cs
1039-1041/1453).

M3: SubmitToAlphaQueue now takes isBuildingShell + viewProjection and feeds
Row 1's detailSurfaceActive gate for translucent building-shell instances
(retail DrawBuilding @0x0059f2a0 installs building detail before its own
shell subsets reach DrawMesh). Row 1 (detail on) draws the instance
immediately at its own walk-stream AlphaSubmitMark via new
DrawImmediateAlphaInstance/DrawImmediateAlphaInstanceRhi (reusing
WriteDeferredAlphaEntrySlot + the drain's pipeline/detail code for slot 0);
never touches _deferredAlpha/the queue for pure-Immediate submissions (fixes
a latent leak: previously reserving a _deferredAlpha slot for every
candidate meant a frame with ALL-immediate content never registered a
source, so ResetAlphaSubmissions never ran). M3c: DrawPreparedAlphaBatchRhi's
own per-command hasDetail/DrawBuildingDetailRangeRhi branch is deleted -
detail-eligible content no longer reaches the drain (spec: delayed replay
is always detailEnabled=0). New AD-120 register row for the "in place -> at
the entity's own stream mark" granularity adaptation this introduces.

M6: RetailPViewPassExecutor.SubmitOrDrawTransparentCellShell routes an
EnvCell's transparent shell through the SAME RetailAlphaMeshRouter table
(mask 0x02, detailSurfaceActive = EnvCellRenderer.TransparentDetailEnabled)
instead of a hand-coded branch. Detail on: unchanged immediate draw. Detail
off: appends ONE token per CELL via new EnvCellAlphaDrawSource (internal,
delegate-based so it's unit-testable without a GPU harness), replayed
through EnvCellRenderer.RenderTransparentOrdered at the next flush -
RenderTransparentOrdered already replayed a cell's batch on demand, so no
new deferred-replay abstraction was needed (the original landing's claim
that one was required is corrected in the packet).

M4: RetailAlphaEntry.IsFirstForList deleted. Retail's per-DrawMesh-
invocation "first for this list" flag is trivially true for every subset
retail ever appends (DrawMesh @0x0059d4a0 sets both flags true at entry,
0059d4cc/0059d4d0, clearing each independently after ITS OWN first append
within that call, 0059d5ef) - the captures confirm it (new=1 on 9,685/10,556
AM lines, impossible under "first since last drain"). acdream's deleted
isFirstForList = target.Count == 0 computed the wrong quantifier. One
acdream append already IS one DrawMesh call, so the field carried no
information and its own pin was vacuous (feedback_every_new_pin_must_be_
shown_to_fail) - deleted rather than kept as an always-true no-op.

M5: split all six AlphaFlushTranscript_* KnownFailure Facts into live
AlphaFlushSites_* (site+threshold sequence only, content-independent,
unconditional pass) and AlphaFlushCounts_* (KnownFailure, full tuple incl.
drained counts) sharing one RunAlphaFlushTranscriptReplay helper. Rewrote
the KnownFailure reason honestly: THREE independent causes, not "harness
content only" - (1) zero live mesh content, (2) acdream appends one entry
per INSTANCE vs retail's one per SUBSET per DrawMesh call, (3) acdream's
CLIP list is structurally empty for ordinary content (M2). Added ONE live
valve pin (WalkFrameDriverTests.SortCellExit_ValveDrainsThroughReplayAtThe
ExactBoundary, a Theory over 2250/2249) that goes through WalkFrameDriver.
Replay's own SortCellExit arm, not RetailAlphaQueue.Flush called directly.

M2/A2/M8c (register): ~~AP-34~~ restored as struck-through RETIRED (it had
been deleted outright, not struck, breaking the register's own convention)
citing residuals AP-238/AP-239/AP-240. The chunk-2 commit's "AP-236"/
"AP-237" collided with an id ALREADY filed-and-retired on main by an
unrelated #132 fix (docs/ISSUES.md:19976) - ids are never reused, so both
are renumbered: AP-236->AP-238 (EnvCell; rewritten per M6 - granularity-only
residual now, "never through the shared queue" is retired), AP-237->AP-239
(mask-reconstruction gap; the dangling "AP-236b" citation in
RetailAlphaMeshRouter.cs never matched either filed id and is corrected to
AP-239). New AP-240 filed for M2: WbDrawDispatcher.IsOpaque filters
ClipMap out upstream, so ordinary clip-mapped content never reaches
retail's CLIP FIFO (draws immediately on the pre-existing
OpaqueAlphaToCoverage pipeline instead) - no pipeline change this round,
per the contract. AP section header recounted honestly: 159 active (was
stale at 161); AD section 92 (was 91, +AD-120).

M7: AP-239's only cited example (cloud GfxObj 0x01004C35, surface
0x08000023) is DISPROVEN - decoded Type=0x10114 has alpha-family bits
that win in BOTH retail's real priority and acdream's reconstruction, so it
never actually diverges. A 2026-09-04 scan of all 6,152 Portal-dat Surfaces
found 27 real Translucent+Base1ClipMap-no-alpha-family instances
(Type=0x14); cross-referencing GfxObjs found surface 0x08000015 on GfxObj
0x010001EC - cited in place of the disproven cloud example.

M8: (a) RenderDeviceD3D::DrawBlock is @0x005a17c0 per symbols.json, not
@0x005a18d0 (that is its per-land-cell loop head) - fixed across
RetailAlphaQueue.cs, RetailPViewPassExecutor.cs, WalkEvents.cs,
WalkFrameDriver.cs (x3), RetailFrameWalk.cs. (b) RetailAlphaQueue.cs's four
FlushAlphaList addresses were labelled "return site" but are the CALL
instruction's own address (x86 CALL rel32 is 5 bytes) - relabelled "call at
X (returns to X+5)". (d) worldbuilder-inventory.md:420's AP-34 citation
updated.

A1: RetailPViewRenderer.cs's outdoor-root passes.FlushLandscapeAlpha() call
(labelled LandscapeFlush) is deleted - retail's real LandscapeFlush
(PView::DrawCells @0x005a4840's own FlushAlphaList(0f) @0x005a4872) sits
strictly inside if (outside_view.view_count > 0) on the INTERIOR PView; an
outdoor root never reaches it (terrace-edge capture: zero 005a4877 FL
lines). Verified no opaque draw intervenes between this deletion point and
RetailAlphaQueue.EndFrame()'s own RenderNormalMode pass-end flush
(WorldSceneRenderer.cs: DrawPostWorldParticles's PView branch is an
explicit no-op; only diagnostic wireframes follow) - #132's "drain after
the finished opaque world" invariant is kept by that flush alone.

A4: RetailAlphaQueue's ApplyScratchRetention call sites passed the ENTRY
count as the SOURCE-count argument too (observedClip + observedAlpha
twice), so _sources/_sourceDrawOffsets never shrank toward the real source
count. Fixed to capture _sources.Count before Clear().

A5/A6/A7: WalkStaticStreamPopulatorTests.cs's stale "same viewer distance"
banner corrected; two off-by-one entry counts in the packet's section 10
sequences corrected (foundry-deep x10->x11, holtburg-doorway-still x5->x6);
WalkAlphaDepthTrace.cs's "new=" comment explains why IsNew is retained but
never compared (M4's finding makes a per-subset comparison meaningless at
acdream's per-instance granularity); RetailAlphaMeshRouterTests.cs's
IndependentReferenceRoute (never actually independently-shaped) renamed to
RestatedBranchTableRoute with an honest doc comment, and the unverified
"flipped in turn and failed every time" claim deleted.

A3 was resolved as a side effect of M1's SubmitToAlphaQueue doc-comment
rewrite (the wrong "0x02/0x03, 0x04/0x05, 0x08/0x09" enumeration no longer
exists); RetailAlphaMeshRouter.cs's own MaskFromTranslucencyKind comment
updated in the same spirit (M1's particle-site Opaque-reachability finding).

Mutation checks (each applied to a scratch-restored copy, confirmed
failing, then byte-exact reverted - diffed against a /tmp backup after
restore):

- A1 (RetailPViewRendererTests.DrawInside_NeverCallsFlushLandscapeAlphaDirectly):
  restoring the deleted "if (ctx.RootCell.IsOutdoorNode)
  passes.FlushLandscapeAlpha();" line reintroduces a direct
  RetailPViewPassExecutor.FlushLandscapeAlpha call in DrawInside's compiled
  body. Actual failure: "Assert.DoesNotContain() Failure: Filter matched in
  collection ... CompiledCall { ... Target = Void FlushLandscapeAlpha() }".

- A4 (RetailAlphaQueueTests.RetainedSourceCapacity_ConvergesToTheReal
  SourceCountNotTheEntryCount): reverting both ApplyScratchRetention calls
  to (observedClip + observedAlpha, observedClip + observedAlpha) - with
  100 distinct sources in the spike frame (so _sources.Capacity grows to
  128, past its initial 4) followed by three low-demand frames of 10
  entries via ONE repeated source - makes sourceTarget compute from 10
  (Math.Max(4,10*2)=20) instead of 1 (Math.Max(4,1*2)=4). Actual failure:
  "Expected the retained source-array capacity to converge toward the real
  source count (1), but it stayed at 20". (A single-source-only spike does
  NOT discriminate this bug - Math.Min(sourceTarget, _sources.Capacity)
  clamps both formulas to the same unchanged initial 4 - hence the
  100-source setup.)

- M5 valve (WalkFrameDriverTests.SortCellExit_ValveDrainsThroughReplayAt
  TheExactBoundary, 2250 case): flipping RetailAlphaQueue.Flush's no-op
  comparison from "<" to "<=" (S4-c1/c2's own boundary mutation) makes the
  2250-entries case a no-op instead of draining. Actual failure:
  "Assert.Equal() Failure: Values differ Expected: 0 Actual: 2250".

- M6 (EnvCellAlphaDrawSourceTests, both Facts): adding an immediate
  renderTransparentOrdered(new[]{cellId}) call inside
  EnvCellAlphaDrawSource.AddPendingCellId (simulating the M1/M3 "drew
  immediately instead of deferring" bug class) makes
  PendingCellToken_IsDrainedAtTheFlushAndNeverBeforeIt fail with
  "Assert.Empty() Failure: Collection was not empty Collection: [[4660]]"
  and ParticleAppendedBetweenTwoCellTokens_KeepsItsPositionInTheCombined
  Drain fail with 'Expected: string[] ["cell:256", "particle:7",
  "cell:512"] Actual: List<string> ["cell:256", "cell:512", "cell:256",
  "particle:7", "cell:512"]'.

- M1 (ParticleRendererRouteTests.OpaqueClassifiedMeshBatch_WithMaterialAlpha
  _RoutesToAlphaAppend): hardcoding materialHasAlpha to false inside
  RouteParticleSubmission makes the Opaque-mask+has-alpha case route
  Immediate instead of Append. Actual failure: "Assert.Equal() Failure:
  Values differ Expected: Append Actual: Immediate".

Gates (real output lines):

- dotnet build AcDream.slnx -c Release -> "Build succeeded. 0 Warning(s)
  0 Error(s)".
- Hermetic lane (--filter "Lane!=InstalledDat&Lane!=PreparedPackage&
  Lane!=Live&Lane!=Manual&Lane!=Timing&Lane!=Windows&Lane!=Linux&
  Lane!=SystemFont&Purpose!=Diagnostic&Status!=KnownFailure") ->
  "Passed! - Failed: 0, Passed: 6864, Skipped: 0, Total: 6864".
- InstalledDat lane (ACDREAM_RUN_INSTALLED_DAT_TESTS=1,
  ACDREAM_DAT_DIR="C:/Users/erikn/Documents/Asheron's Call",
  --filter "Lane=InstalledDat") -> "Failed: 10, Passed: 255, Skipped: 1,
  Total: 266" - the exact 4 pre-existing failures
  (TowerAscent_StaircaseStaysConeVisible_EveryStep,
  LayoutImporterMediaBearingChildSweepTests, LayoutImporterInvisibleSweep
  Tests, Oh_doorway_still_first_frame_diff) plus the six
  AlphaFlushCounts_* KnownFailure Facts, nothing else; all six
  AlphaFlushSites_* Facts pass inside this same lane (the whole
  WalkTraceConformanceTests partial class carries Lane=InstalledDat, so
  they cannot run hermetically).
- Shader classes (VulkanShaderDescriptorContractTests,
  VulkanShaderManifestTests, RenderPackSpirvValidatorTests) -> "Passed! -
  Failed: 0, Passed: 32, Skipped: 0, Total: 32".
- RetailAlphaQueueTests, RetailAlphaMeshRouterTests, RetailFrameWalkTests,
  WalkFrameDriverTests, ParticleRenderer*Tests, EnvCellRenderer*Tests
  (combined filter) -> "Passed! - Failed: 0, Passed: 120, Skipped: 0,
  Total: 120".
- Register collision grep: AP-238/AP-239/AP-240/AD-120 each count exactly
  1; ~~AP-34~~ count exactly 1; live totals AP=159, AD=92.

Not done / deferred: none - all M1-M8/A1-A8 items landed; A8 was a
no-action note.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-04 11:53:03 +02:00
..
architecture fix(render): S4 chunk 2 round 1 - particle throw, detail-off immediate draws, EnvCell FIFO, gate honesty 2026-09-04 11:53:03 +02:00
audit docs: update audit — Sprint 1 items verified (sequence counters + scenery LCG) 2026-04-13 13:51:39 +02:00
plans docs(overhaul): start S4-c2 completion attempt 2 2026-09-04 11:34:33 +02:00
reference docs(reference): preserve local ACE command catalog 2026-07-27 00:03:58 +02:00
render-packs fix(render): correct foliage-wind classification, receiver/caster desync, and frame binding (Campaign VM VM6 review) 2026-08-23 01:54:36 +02:00
reports docs: the overnight consolidation report, open questions first 2026-07-29 03:54:43 +02:00
research feat(render): S4 chunk 2 — retail's two-list alpha FIFO cutover 2026-09-04 11:52:40 +02:00
reviews docs: close r3 test cleanup 2026-08-18 17:02:15 +02:00
superpowers docs(plans) Campaign FW: implementation plan, roadmap entry, spec approval 2026-08-30 08:38:47 +02:00
bugs.md docs: reconcile project status and navigation 2026-07-20 13:00:41 +02:00
ci-and-releases.md docs: note that docs-only pushes skip the pipeline 2026-08-19 16:15:04 +02:00
ISSUES.md docs+gate: #468 filed — the Holtburg doorway pose seats the player in the interior cell at a floorless point and it falls through the world; route-g3b pose 15 moved to the outdoor standing point 2026-09-04 06:37:09 +02:00
launch-options.md fix(render): S3 review round 1 — punch fans clipped by their own view, seal pin through the producer, dead per-cell clip machinery deleted, EC/OC transcript exact 2026-09-03 20:15:29 +02:00
README.md docs: launch-options reference + the test that keeps it honest 2026-08-24 10:28:59 +02:00
release-gate.md feat(render): implement Campaign AR and terrain fidelity 2026-08-22 13:13:29 +02:00

README.md

acdream documentation map

This page is the entry point for project documentation. It distinguishes current sources of truth from implementation history so an old plan or issue banner cannot silently override the current program state.

Current snapshot — 2026-07-27

  • Milestone state: M3, “Cast a spell,” landed 2026-07-21. M4, “Live in the world,” is active.
  • M4 gameplay program: resume the pre-M4 world-interaction completion program. Favorite-spell overflow, status Use/Assess, and the complete assessment surface are user-accepted. Equipped-child picking and vendor browse/transactions remain Slices 4–6.
  • Structural/runtime state: all eight GameWindow decomposition slices, Modern Runtime Slices A–J, and the connected visual/lifecycle gates are complete. GameWindow is a 1,622-line composition/callback shell. AcDream.Runtime.GameRuntime owns canonical session, entity/object, gameplay, movement, physics, projectile, environment, and portal state; graphical and no-window hosts borrow the same owner graph.
  • Headless state: Slice K is complete. AcDream.Headless is a presentation-free Windows/Linux host with deterministic commands/events, shared immutable content, multi-session isolation, reconnect, resource telemetry, and 1/5/10/30-session gates. The final two-account native-Linux soak completed ten minutes, logged out through ACE, and converged every ownership ledger.
  • Linux graphical state: Slice L0 and the L1 implementation checkpoint are complete at 66f114b2 and 11501d52. Native Windows passes the active modern-GL/audio/window smoke. WSLg X11/Wayland correctly reject their missing GL_ARB_bindless_texture. Physical-Linux validation and L2–L6 are explicitly deferred; resume at the supported AMD/NVIDIA L1 gate.
  • Completed gameplay gates: R6 locomotion/collision/projectile/teleport/ radar, two-client portal-out/materialization, indoor prepared collision, loot ordering, local/remote ground drops, and selection-marker lifetime.
  • Separate visual verification: issue #225, the shared-alpha lifestone/particle result; its connected resource-lifetime and performance routes pass.
  • Carried behaviour debt: issue #153 (far teleport onto an unstreamed edge), #116 (narrowed slide response), #235 (capped/RDP jump cadence), and the active temporary-stopgap rows in the divergence register.
  • Divergence audit: 189 active rows — IA 18, AD 38, AP 91, TS 38, and UN 4 — plus retained struck/retired historical rows such as TS-37.
  • Latest automated baseline: the Release build succeeds with the 17 test-project warnings tracked by issue #228; 8,826 tests pass and five are intentionally skipped. App passes 3,763 / 3 skips. The L1 Windows supported smoke and WSLg X11/Wayland negative-capability reports all end with zero window/GL/input/audio ownership.

Sources of truth

Read these in this order when deciding what to do next:

  1. plans/2026-05-12-milestones.md — the active playable outcome, freeze boundaries, and visual gates.
  2. plans/2026-04-11-roadmap.md — strategic phase ledger: shipped, active, deferred, and future work.
  3. ISSUES.md — tactical defects and small follow-ups. The status inside an issue is authoritative; physical order is not.
  4. architecture/retail-divergence-register.md — every known place runtime behavior can differ from retail.
  5. architecture/acdream-architecture.md and architecture/code-structure.md — ownership, dependency, update-thread, and extraction rules.
  6. architecture/worldbuilder-inventory.md — rendering/DAT code already owned in-tree versus mechanisms still ours to port.

If these disagree, milestones control the current outcome, the roadmap controls work ordering, the issue status controls the individual defect, and the architecture documents control implementation shape. Reconcile the stale document in the same change; do not leave both claims standing.

Research and implementation records

  • research/named-retail/ is the primary retail oracle: named pseudo-C, headers, symbols, and types from the Sept 2013 build.
  • research/decompiled/ is the older Ghidra fallback.
  • research/ contains focused pseudocode, traces, fixtures, and gate reports. A dated research note records evidence; it does not become a new roadmap.
  • superpowers/specs/ and superpowers/plans/ are per-slice design and execution records. Completed plans remain historical.
  • ci-and-releases.md is the SSOT for the Gitea CI pipeline, the self-hosted runners, and how alpha releases are published. Load-sensitive tests live in Lane=Timing; see release-gate.md before adding to it.
  • launch-options.md is the SSOT for every environment variable and command-line argument the client reads, including what each one changes about the run beyond its obvious effect. Read the side-effects column before trusting any measurement. Enforced by LaunchOptionsDocumentationTests: a flag without a row fails the build, and so does a row whose read site was deleted.
  • audit/ contains completion and conformance audits.
  • reference/ace-commands.md preserves the local ACE server's complete in-game command catalog and points to the authoritative per-command help surface.

Durable memory

  • ../claude-memory/MEMORY.md indexes the live subsystem memories and the render/physics digests. Read a domain digest before changing that subsystem, especially its DO-NOT-RETRY table.
  • ../memory/ contains stable engineering references such as the modern rendering pipeline, two-tier streaming, and toolchain notes.

Memory accelerates recall; it does not outrank the canonical documents above. When current truth changes, update the relevant canonical document and distill only the durable lesson into memory.

Historical and deprecated documents

  • bugs.md is the April 2026 bug snapshot. It is preserved for archaeology and is not an active ledger.
  • Dated plans and specs describe the decision at that time. Their completion wording is historical unless the current milestone/roadmap explicitly links the item as active.
  • Old R1→R8 architecture sequencing is superseded. Current execution comes from the milestones and strategic roadmap.

Documentation maintenance rules

  • Update milestone, roadmap, issue, divergence, architecture, and memory claims in the same commit when a shipped change affects them.
  • Keep one issue ID per defect. Narrow an issue in place; do not reuse another issue's number as a shorthand.
  • Mark automated, connected, and visual gates separately. An automated pass is not a visual acceptance, and an RDP throughput sample is not a local-display visual comparison.
  • Preserve research history, but remove stale “current/next” claims from living documents once the state advances.