#!/usr/bin/env python3 """Pin the displayed-frame rate by hooking the present path (docs/engine-re.md "Frame cadence"). The frame-cadence probe showed the engine spin-waits on timeGetTime (~118k/sec) and busy-pumps PeekMessageA (~12k/sec), so no message/timing API fires once per frame. The true per-frame signal is the present — a DirectDraw surface Blt/Flip (a COM vtable method, not an export) or, if windowed-GDI, a gdi32 blit. Both live in SYSTEM DLLs, so hooking them is anti-tamper-safe (unlike engine code). Approach: grab ctx via the proven operand-fetch hook (0x41b940), scan the engine context for pointers whose vtable lands in ddraw.dll (= surface COM objects), and hook Blt(vtbl[5]) / BltFast(vtbl[7]) / Flip(vtbl[11]) on each distinct vtable found. Also hook gdi32 blits (BitBlt/StretchBlt/StretchDIBits/ SetDIBitsToDevice). Report each candidate's call rate; the one that sits at a steady ~display rate (30-120/sec) is the frame signal. Run (game running, sitting in / actively playing an ADV scene): py -3.11 -X utf8 tools/frida/probe_present.py [seconds] Just play normally (no Ctrl needed — frame rate is mode-independent). Writes build/frida-present.jsonl. """ import json import statistics import sys import time from pathlib import Path REPO = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] OUT = REPO / "build" / "frida-present.jsonl" OPFETCH_OFF = 0x1b940 # operand-fetch (0x41b940), ecx=ctx — proven-safe engine hook to grab ctx CTX_SCAN = 0x200000 # bytes of the engine context to scan for the d3d9 device pointer JS = r""" const OPFETCH_OFF = %d, CTX_SCAN = %d; const mod = Process.getModuleByName('AGE.EXE'); let ctx = null, scanned = false; const cnt = {}; // label -> count function bump(label){ cnt[label] = (cnt[label]||0) + 1; } // IDirect3DDevice9 vtable slot indices (0-based): Present=17, BeginScene=41, EndScene=42. // (Present/EndScene fire once per displayed frame -> the frame clock.) const SLOTS = { 17: 'd3d9.Present', 42: 'd3d9.EndScene', 41: 'd3d9.BeginScene' }; function scanForSurfaces(){ let d3d = null; try { d3d = Process.getModuleByName('d3d9.dll'); } catch(e){} if (!d3d) { send({kind:'note', msg:'d3d9.dll not loaded'}); return; } const lo = d3d.base, hi = d3d.base.add(d3d.size); const inD3D = (p) => p.compare(lo) >= 0 && p.compare(hi) < 0; const vtables = new Set(); for (let off = 0; off < CTX_SCAN; off += 4) { let obj; try { obj = ctx.add(off).readPointer(); } catch(e){ continue; } if (obj.isNull() || inD3D(obj)) continue; // want a heap COM object whose *obj is a d3d9 vtable let vt; try { vt = obj.readPointer(); } catch(e){ continue; } if (!inD3D(vt)) continue; vtables.add(vt.toString()); } // Identify the DEVICE: its vtable has ~119 methods all in d3d9; the factory/textures far fewer. let best = null, bestN = 0; for (const vs of vtables) { const vt = ptr(vs); let n = 0; for (let s = 0; s < 120; s++) { let fn; try { fn = vt.add(s*4).readPointer(); } catch(e){ break; } if (inD3D(fn)) n++; else if (s > 3) break; // stop at first non-d3d slot past IUnknown } if (n > bestN) { bestN = n; best = vt; } } send({kind:'note', msg:'d3d9 vtables in ctx: ' + vtables.size + '; largest method run = ' + bestN + (bestN >= 60 ? ' (device found)' : ' (no device-sized vtable)')}); if (best && bestN >= 60) { for (const slot in SLOTS) { let fn; try { fn = best.add(parseInt(slot)*4).readPointer(); } catch(e){ continue; } if (!inD3D(fn)) continue; const label = SLOTS[slot]; try { Interceptor.attach(fn, { onEnter(){ bump(label); } }); send({kind:'note', msg:'hooked '+label+' @ '+fn}); } catch(e){} } } } Interceptor.attach(mod.base.add(OPFETCH_OFF), { onEnter(){ if (ctx === null) { ctx = this.context.ecx; send({kind:'ctx', ctx: ctx.toString()}); if (!scanned) { scanned = true; scanForSurfaces(); } } } }); // GDI blit fallback (system exports, safe) const gdi = Process.getModuleByName('gdi32.dll'); for (const nm of ['BitBlt','StretchBlt','StretchDIBits','SetDIBitsToDevice']) { let p=null; try{ p = gdi.findExportByName(nm); }catch(e){} if (p) Interceptor.attach(p, { onEnter(){ bump('gdi.'+nm); } }); } const user32 = Process.getModuleByName('user32.dll'); for (const nm of ['UpdateWindow']) { let p=null; try{ p = user32.findExportByName(nm); }catch(e){} if (p) Interceptor.attach(p, { onEnter(){ bump('user32.'+nm); } }); } let ddrawInfo = null; try { const dd = Process.getModuleByName('ddraw.dll'); ddrawInfo = dd.base.toString() + ' size ' + dd.size; } catch(e){} const gfxMods = Process.enumerateModules().filter(m => /ddraw|d3d|dinput|dsound|d8thunk/i.test(m.name)).map(m => m.name); send({kind:'ready', base: mod.base.toString(), ddraw: ddrawInfo, gfxMods: gfxMods}); setInterval(() => { send({ kind:'tick', t: Date.now(), cnt: cnt, hasctx: ctx!==null }); }, 250); """ % (OPFETCH_OFF, CTX_SCAN) def capture(seconds, proc): import frida OUT.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True) ticks = [] def on_message(msg, data): if msg.get("type") == "error": print("[frida-error]", msg.get("description")); return if msg.get("type") != "send": return pl = msg["payload"] k = pl.get("kind") if k == "ready": print(f"[frida] hooks live @ {pl['base']}; ddraw.dll: {pl.get('ddraw') or 'NOT loaded'}; " f"gfx modules: {pl.get('gfxMods')}"); return if k == "ctx": print(f"[frida] ctx = {pl['ctx']}"); return if k == "note": print(f"[frida] {pl['msg']}"); return if k == "tick": ticks.append(pl) target = int(proc) if str(proc).isdigit() else proc try: session = frida.attach(target) except frida.ProcessNotFoundError: print("[frida] AGE.EXE not found."); return 2 script = session.create_script(JS) script.on("message", on_message) script.load() print(f"[frida] attached; capturing {seconds}s — just play normally.") try: for _ in range(seconds): time.sleep(1) except KeyboardInterrupt: pass try: session.detach() except Exception: pass with open(OUT, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f: for t in ticks: f.write(json.dumps(t) + "\n") report(ticks) return 0 def report(ticks): if len(ticks) < 3: print(f"[!] only {len(ticks)} ticks."); return labels = sorted({k for t in ticks for k in t.get("cnt", {})}) if not labels: print("[!] no present-candidate hooks fired — no d3d9 device found in ctx and no GDI blits."); return print(f"\n=== present-rate report ({len(ticks)} ticks) ===") rates = {} for lab in labels: rr = [] for a, b in zip(ticks, ticks[1:]): dt = (b["t"] - a["t"]) / 1000.0 if dt <= 0: continue rr.append((b["cnt"].get(lab, 0) - a["cnt"].get(lab, 0)) / dt) active = [x for x in rr if x > 0] rates[lab] = (statistics.mean(active) if active else 0.0, max(rr, default=0), len(active)) for lab in sorted(labels, key=lambda l: -rates[l][0]): avg, peak, n = rates[lab] flag = " <-- frame signal?" if 20 <= avg <= 130 else "" print(f" {lab:22s} active-avg {avg:8.1f}/sec peak {peak:8.1f} ({n} active){flag}") print("\n The candidate at a steady ~display rate (≈60/sec, maybe ~100) is the present = frame clock.") print(" Combine with the cadence probe's ops/sec to get ops-per-frame.") def main(): args = [a for a in sys.argv[1:] if not a.startswith("-")] seconds = int(args[0]) if args and args[0].isdigit() else 12 return capture(seconds, "AGE.EXE") if __name__ == "__main__": sys.exit(main())