OpenMaidEngine/docs/phase-a-slice-plan.md

Phase A — Vertical Slice Plan (the first build step)

Concrete execution plan for Phase A of remake-architecture-and-roadmap.md. Decided over the alternative (fully decoding SCJUMP.BIN) after recon showed SCJUMP is not the gating unknown.

Why the slice, and why headless-first

SCJUMP recon (2026-07-06): SCJUMP.BIN is a 29,796-instruction progression state machine, not the call-script registry. Top level switches on global 0x3234 (mode 1–9 → big blocks); each block is nested eq/ne/and/jcc on flags, ending in movs to output globals. Almost no call-script. So it decides what scene/branch comes next via state, and does not resolve call-script id → code. Consequence: the id→code registry stays engine-level (deferred), but the slice can stub call-script — it is not gating for running one scene's dialogue.

Correctness bootstrap (roadmap §5) drives the ordering: the VM must be validated-correct before it is trustworthy. Our strongest oracle is build/text/dialogue.jsonl (the show-text lines per script). So the very first slice is headless and text-only, validated by that oracle — no Godot, no AGF, no audio, no dispatch registry. Only once the VM reproduces dialogue do we add rendering.

Phase A therefore splits:

• A0 — headless VM, dialogue-validated (Python prototype). ← immediate, executable now.
• A1 — port the validated model to C# (the runtime's VM core).
• A2 — Godot ADV backend (render one scene with visuals + voice).

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A0 — Headless VM validated by the dialogue oracle

Goal: a Python interpreter that executes one ADV scene's bytecode and emits its show-text sequence; that sequence is a coherent, in-order subsequence of the script's static dialogue.jsonl lines. This proves the execution model — control flow, operand/pointer semantics, string handling, and the no-op-marker assumptions — before any C#/Godot investment. Reuses tools/sys4load.py for all parsing/decoding (no new parser).

Execution model to implement

• Memory: one flat global bank = dict[int,int] (globals are raw offsets into one space; global-int A ⇒ G[A], default 0). Per-call local frame with typed banks sized by header F0–F5 (local_int[F0], local_float[F1], local_string[F2], …).
• PC / control flow: build offset→instruction-index map from sys4load instructions (each has .offset = dword index; jump targets are dword indices). jmp t → pc = map[t]. jcc(cond, A, B) → cond truthy ? goto A : goto B, where 0xffffffff = fall through (confirmed model from RECOVER).
• Operand resolution by type: imm→value; global-int→G[value]; local-int→frame.int[value]; string(2)→decoded string at dword offset; float/global-string/etc. analogous.
• ⚠ Pointer/lvalue semantics — the key modeling task. RECOVER proves -ptr operands are lvalues: lookup-array(dst_ptr, base, idx) yields a reference to G[base+idx]; mov through a ptr writes to the referenced cell; reading a ptr rvalue dereferences it. Model a ptr slot as holding an address into the global bank; nail this so the RECOVER array-copy produces correct results (unit test it directly).
• Opcode handlers (~52 named ops):
  • arithmetic/bit add sub mul div mod and or sar shl → p1 = p2 ⊙ p3.
  • compares eq ne lt lte gr gre → 0/1.
  • mov (incl. through ptr), lookup-array (p1=mem[base+idx]), lookup-array-2d (p1=mem[base + i*stride + col]), copy-to-global, set-array-to, bit-set/reset, check-bit.
  • control jmp call jcc ret exit exit-script.
  • string set-string concat strlen toString.
  • ADV capture: show-text → append (arg text) to the emitted list; end-text-line, wait-for-input, set-font, comment → capture/skip (no visible state).
• Markers → no-op (this TESTS the classification): 0x1f4 0x1f5 0x1d5 0x1bc 0x1bf skip; tentative 0x21b 0x1d2 0x258 skip — if dialogue stays correct, the no-op assumption is validated.
• call-script → STUB: log (id), return immediately. (Its dialogue belongs to other scripts; stubbing keeps the emitted set = this script's own lines.)
• Effectful (draw/texture/audio/ui/input) → STUB: log and ignore.
• Unknown/other opcodes → log + no-op, so a rare op doesn't halt the run (record coverage).

Oracle & scene choice

• Oracle: with calls stubbed and default state, every emitted show-text line must be a real decoded string from the script's pool, and the sequence must be an in-order subsequence of that script's dialogue.jsonl lines (≈ equality for a linear scene). Catches: garbage strings (bad operand/ptr handling), impossible ordering (bad control flow), missing/extra lines.
• Scene pick: choose a short, mostly-linear ADV scene — high show-text count, low jcc density, few call-script. Selection step: rank SC####/SP#### by (show-text count) / (jcc + call-script count), small size. Known-good fallback: SC0030.BIN (dialogue verified). Also run a RECOVER unit test to validate pointer/array semantics independent of dialogue.

Steps

1. tools/vm0.py: load a script via sys4load, build offset→index map, frame + global bank.
2. Implement operand resolution + the arithmetic/compare/mov/lookup/control handlers; unit-test on RECOVER.BIN (array copy + both loops must produce correct global writes).
3. Add ADV capture + markers-as-noop + call/effectful stubs; add opcode-coverage logging.
4. Run on the chosen linear scene; diff emitted show-text vs dialogue.jsonl (subsequence check); eyeball the first ~15 lines for coherence.
5. Iterate until several scenes pass; record which ops/markers were exercised and any surprises (esp. whether the tentative-no-op markers hold).

Success criteria (A0 done)

• RECOVER unit test passes (pointer/array model correct).
• ≥3 ADV scenes: emitted show-text is a coherent in-order subsequence of their dialogue.jsonl, no garbage strings.
• Coverage report of which opcodes actually executed (drives A1/A2 priorities).
• The no-op-marker assumption is confirmed or corrected with evidence.

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A0 result (2026-07-06) — execution model VALIDATED

tools/vm0.py built (reuses sys4load; ~250 lines). Results:

• RECOVER unit test PASSES — all 7 checks (block-1 3-field copy, block-2 restore + flag, both skip-guards). The pointer/lvalue model, 2D stride indexing, both loops, and two-way jcc all execute correctly. The core execution model is proven.
• Full SC/SP oracle sweep (vm0.py --sweep): 282 / 294 scenes DIALOGUE-VALID = 95.9%. Every emitted show-text line is checked (by string offset) as an in-order subsequence of the script's static dialogue.jsonl lines. Zero STRAY and zero ORDER violations across all 294 scenes — the model never emits a garbage string and never emits dialogue out of order. 279 CLEAN (valid + natural exit); 3 OK/LOOP (valid subsequence, halted by the loop-guard); 12 EMPTY; 3 skipped (no static show-text). SC0000 = 326 static / clean; SP0062 = 220/220 CLEAN.

A0-remainder work done (2026-07-06, session 2):

• Loop-guard added (EMIT_CAP=2): halt a run once any single line is re-emitted a 3rd time — a semantic guard tied to the oracle (vs. a blind step limit), and it classifies the scene LOOPED instead of spewing garbage. The 3 zero-state spinners (SC0010/SC0600/SC0200) now terminate cleanly in <12k steps and their emitted lines are all valid.
• SP0062 "stray" was a measurement artifact, not a bug — the precise offset-based oracle shows it CLEAN (220/220, natural exit). Offset-match ⟹ text-match (VM decodes each string at the same offset the extractor did), so CLEAN is trustworthy.
• 0x71 (label-def) folded into the no-op marker set — structural, no runtime effect.
• Sweep + single-scene diff harness added to vm0.py: --sweep [N] (coverage table over all SC/SP), --scene NAME (detailed diff for one script), plus load_oracle/subsequence_status.

op 0x90 investigated in depth — it is input chrome, NOT a correctness hole (full evidence: vm-map/opcodes.toml op 0x90 details). Kelebek left it "ukn"; corpus analysis resolves it: 0x90 x y w h tgt_a tgt_b tgt_c (argc 7) is a cursor/input hotspot hit-test that branches per interaction outcome and falls through to pc+1 when nothing matches (design-confirmed: enc.len 15 lands the next instr on the fall-through statement). It occurs ONLY in a shared ADV-chrome subroutine that is byte-identical in all 301 ADV scripts — exactly 8 sites each (5 immediate-rect buttons at (684..772, 572) toggling G[0x6c9..0x6cd] + 3 local-operand keyed forms), zero scene-specific use. Headless (no cursor/input) ⇒ fall through ⇒ vm0's stub is already correct, proven safe by all 279 CLEAN scenes (which contain these same 8 sites). op 0x97 (argc 5, no targets) is its companion register-hotspot call. So 0x90 stays as fall-through in A1 with confidence; it is modelled as a live hotspot test only in A2 (Godot input backend), confirming target→state mapping via Frida.

The 12 EMPTY scenes — state-gated interactive screens, not a model failure. Traced SC0830: it exits early because G[0xaba5c]==1 gates the content; past that gate the dialogue sits behind the ADV input-wait loop (the hotspot-polling chrome above), so with no seeded state and no input the scene exits or spins before reaching text. Unlocking them = seed per-scene state + supply input → Phase A2/B, not an A0 model fix.

⚠ Honest scope of the 95.9%: the subsequence oracle proves no-garbage / in-order, not a complete path — inherent to a subsequence oracle run headlessly (interactive/state-gated branches take the no-input path by design). That anti-garbage guarantee is exactly what A0 set out to prove.

Confirmed by this run: the classified no-op markers (0x1f4/0x1f5/0x1d5/0x1bc/0x1bf + tentative 0x21b/0x1d2/0x258, now + 0x71) are safe as no-ops for ADV flow; call-script is stubbable; effectful ops (draw-texture/create-texture/play-voice/0x1f7/0x202/0x203/…) stub cleanly.

✅ A0 COMPLETE. Success criteria met: RECOVER unit test green (pointer/array/control-flow model proven); 282 ADV scenes emit clean in-order subsequences with zero garbage; coverage number recorded; no-op-marker assumption confirmed at scale; op 0x90 (the last big control-flow unknown) resolved as input chrome whose fall-through stub is correct headless. Next = A1 — port the model to the C# VM core, differential-test against vm0.py. 0x90/0x97 stay stubbed (correct headless); the interactive input path + per-scene state seeding land in A2 (Godot backend) alongside the real hotspot model.

A1 — Port the validated model to C# ✅ DONE (2026-07-06)

Reimplement the A0 execution model as the runtime VM core in C# (the language decision from the roadmap; GDScript is too slow for the loop). A0 is the reference: differential-test C# against the Python prototype's traces on the same scenes. Port the container parser too (or load via a shared spec). Deliverable: headless C# VM reproducing A0's results.

Result: engine/ .NET 8 solution (Age.Engine classlib w/ Model/Vm/Sys4/Hosting seams + Age.Cli + xUnit tests). RECOVER passes; the C# trace is byte-identical to vm0.py --trace across all 297 SC/SP scenes (offsets+halt+steps). (Historical: this parity held while call-script was stubbed; once call-script execution landed [2026-07-07], vm0.py was retired from oracle duty and TraceDiffTests removed — see the call-script EXECUTION section.) Version-neutral Script contract enforced (VM core never references Sys4). Spec/plan: docs/superpowers/{specs,plans}/2026-07-06-a1-csharp-vm*.md.

A2 — Godot ADV backend (one scene, with visuals)

Wire the C# VM's effectful ops to Godot: show-text/message window (+ furigana via display-furigana), set-font, wait-for-input, choices, play-voice/play-bgm, and create-texture/set-texture/ draw-texture/draw-string for the background + sprites. Convert the scene's AGF art with the on-disk AGF2BMP2AGF.exe. Resolve just-enough call-script/state so the scene's setup runs (or hand-set the preconditions). Deliverable: the chosen scene playable in Godot — bg + dialogue + a choice + voice — matching A0's text.

A2a — Interactive dialogue loop ✅ DONE (2026-07-06)

Godot 4.7 (.NET, S:/Godot/Godot_v4.7-stable_mono_win64) project in godot/ referencing Age.Engine in-process. VM gained one hook (IHost.WaitForInput, opcode 0x72); suspend/resume via a worker thread + blocking SemaphoreSlim in GodotAdvHost, UI marshalled with CallDeferred. Plays SC0000 page-by-page, pauses at wait-for-input, resumes on click/Enter. Headless self-test (--headless -- --selftest) asserts the emitted 186-line offset sequence == build/vm0-trace.json; A1 engine tests stay 7/7. (Historical: the selftest was later rewritten [2026-07-07] to run a SYNTHESIZED scene through the plumbing and match a live headless run — full call-script handling, no vm0/frozen golden — see the call-script EXECUTION section.) Toolchain: godot --headless --path godot --import → dotnet build godot/Himegari.csproj → godot --headless --path godot [-- --selftest]. Spec/plan: docs/superpowers/{specs,plans}/2026-07-06-a2a-godot-dialogue*.md. Next = A2b: background via AGF2BMP2AGF.exe, play-voice/play-bgm, choices → VM globals, just-enough call-script/state (unlocks richer scenes).

A2b-Background — FIRST-PASS RENDER LANDED (2026-07-06)

Resolution solved (docs/asset-resolution-re.md: resId → files[section_base(scene)+resId]) and wired into a live render. Shipped: Age.Engine/Sys4/ResourceMap.cs (loads build/asset-index.json + build/asset-sections.json; Resolve(scene,resId) → AssetEntry; TexturePath → pre-converted BMP); GodotAdvHost implements create/set/draw-texture (slot → TextureRect composited behind the dialogue in a _stage layer); IHost.DrawTexture + VM dispatch extended to pass the destination x/y (draw-texture args 7/8); project.godot window = 800×600; convert_agf.py searches all archives + --scene batch. Engine 8/8, C# --selftest still byte-matches the vm0 trace (VM behaviour unchanged). Works end-to-end: the VM executes set-texture(resId) → ResourceMap resolves across archives → BMP loads → composite; the full-screen event-CG layer (EV052*) renders correctly as the opening plays.

Known first-pass limitations (all one subsystem = graphics geometry/blend, the next chunk):

1. Only the full-screen layer is correct. Sprites/effects and BG* backgrounds routed through the CG-load subroutine (label_12649) derive width/height/position from native ops we still stub — 0x208 (get-texture-size) + the sprite position/registration/animation chain — so their dst/size are garbage (backgrounds land off-center, e.g. BG030A dst=(300,300); sizes come out 0x0). Only the immediate full-screen draws ((0,0) 800×600) render right.
2. No alpha/blend. AE* full-screen fade/flash effects draw opaque and instant (a static grey/white sheet over the CG) instead of alpha-animating. No chromakey either (sprites would show green boxes — moot until they position).
3. Slot model is an approximation. We use one TextureRect per slot, replace-on-draw. (⚠ Earlier this line claimed "the game blits onto slot 0 as an immediate-mode canvas" — DISPROVEN 2026-07-08: the engine is RETAINED — draw-texture binds a retained object by handle (gfx_object_bind_draw), objects have distinct handles + per-object source slots, composited each frame. See engine-re.md "opening render path is RETAINED".)
4. AGF is pre-converted to BMP offline (convert_agf.py --scene); a runtime C# AGF decoder is deferred.

Next chunk — graphics-geometry/blend subsystem: implement 0x208 (host returns the slot's real image dims) + the sprite position/registration ops so geometry is correct; add alpha/additive blend for fades + green chromakey; likely move to a proper canvas/blit compositor. Fixes sprites, background placement, and fades together. (Superseded: the id-specific plan in docs/superpowers/plans/2026-07-06-a2b-background.md.)

A2b-Audio — WIRED, plays end-to-end (2026-07-06)

Audio wired, OGG plays natively in Godot (no Frida, no decode/geometry work). KEY FINDING — the two audio ops use DIFFERENT addressing (the initial "unified manifest" assumption was WRONG for BGM):

• play-voice → per-scene manifest files[base+id], offset 0 (same as set-texture).
• play-bgm → DIRECT LITERAL NAME id → BGM{id:03d}.OGG (DATA3), NOT the manifest.

Shipped: IHost.PlayBgm/PlayVoice; VM dispatch routes play-bgm(0xbf)/play-voice(0xc4) (both argc 1); the three non-Godot hosts (CaptureHost, test RecHost/CountHost) no-op them so --selftest + engine 8/8 stay byte-identical (audio ops still pc+1, step count unchanged); ResourceMap.BgmPathById(id) (direct name) for BGM + ResourceMap.AudioPath(AssetEntry) (manifest Resolve) for voice; Main loads via AudioStreamOggVorbis.LoadFromBuffer into two AudioStreamPlayer nodes (BGM Loop=true; voice Loop=false, interrupt-on-new). Headless run: 0 OGG-load failures, selftest byte-parity OK.

BY-EAR VALIDATED (2026-07-06, systematic-debugging). User confirmed voices play on their lines (play-voice med→HIGH). Two reports root-caused:

• BGM off-by-one → FIXED (real root cause, resolver changed for BGM only). Real game plays BGM005 for play-bgm 0x5 and BGM008 for 0x8; we mis-played BGM006/009 because we resolved BGM via the manifest (files[5]=BGM006). BGM is actually addressed by direct name BGM{id:03d}.OGG. Proof: play-bgm 0x23 → BGM035.OGG, a real standalone track (the BGM set skips 030-034) that the manifest mis-resolved to a graphics entry (files[35]=EV049AA.AGF). Voices are NOT off-by-one — the manifest interleaves graphics/ voice (files[35]=EV049AA, [36]=MAN999, [37]=EV052CA, [38]=SYL0001), so id-1 would land voices on .AGF (silent) but they play ⇒ voice offset is exactly 0. So the fix is BGM-specific; voices/textures unchanged. Corrects the earlier "Frida-confirmed play-bgm 5→BGM006" record (a mis-attribution).
• Lily silent = correct, form-gated (NOT a bug). Her lines use a 3-way dispatch on form flags G[0xa57](A)/G[0xa58](B)/G[0xa59](C): exactly one is 1 in the real game (her current form), else the line jmps past with no voice. Our harness seeds no globals → all zero → every Lily line skipped. Proven by seeding: audio SC0000.BIN 0xa57=1 → 35 LILA clips fire in order (form B→LILB, C→LILC). Left unseeded by user choice (no dummy state); Lily stays silent until real cross-scene state flow (Phase B) exists.

Diagnostic tool added: Age.Cli audio <SCENE.BIN> [0xADDR=VAL ...] — runs a scene and dumps executed play-bgm/play-voice ops in order (BGM direct-name, voice manifest), optional global seeding. Used for all of the above. Watch-items: BGM looping is whole-file for now (Eushully OGGs may carry LOOPSTART/ LOOPLENGTH Vorbis comments — refine later); play-sound-effect(0xb4, argc 2) left stubbed (arg roles unconfirmed).

A2b-Geometry — 0x208 keystone + blit compositor (2026-07-06)

Spec/plan: docs/superpowers/{specs,plans}/2026-07-06-a2b-graphics-geometry*.md. Shipped & verified: the CG-load subroutine (SC0000.asm label_12649) computes all sprite/background geometry in bytecode (add/sub/div/lookup-array); the only missing native primitive was 0x208 = get-texture-size(slot) → (out_w, out_h). Implemented as a real VM op (IHost.GetTextureSize, writes the two output globals); non-Godot hosts return (0,0) so trace/selftest parity holds (engine 11/11, --selftest byte-identical). Replaced the TextureRect-per-slot approximation with a faithful 800×600 immediate-mode blit compositor (Main.BlitSlot: _screen.BlitRect(src rect → dst) in execution order, one displayed TextureRect; source dims read from the pre-converted BMP header on the VM thread via BmpHeader.ReadDims, so the bytecode's geometry math sees real sizes synchronously). New diagnostics: Age.Cli gfx <SCENE> (headless numeric oracle — dumps per-draw resolved file + computed geometry) and godot … -- --shot <png> [--shot-page N] (page-gated screenshot capture). The opening event-CG sequence renders correctly — full-screen CG at (0,0) with dialogue over it (verified by screenshot, SC0000 pages 1/3).

Slot-0 seed (bug found & fixed via the gfx oracle + user eyeball): slot 0 is the primary/screen surface (800×600), normally created by engine-boot init the single-scene harness skips. Cold, 0x208 measured 0×0, and the anchor-preserve math (base' = center − (w_new/2, h_new)) then wrote a corrupted (−400,−600) into the persistent base globals — so the first CG was grey and CG2 inherited the corruption. Fix: seed _slotDims[0] = (800,600) (and record create-texture(w,h) dims) so the first CG's anchor stays an identity. This is the faithful stand-in for the skipped boot-time primary-surface creation.

Post-opening bg/sprite drift — ✅ RESOLVED (2026-07-07): native gfx ops + missing INIT2 boot state. ⚠ Corrects an earlier wrong "state-divergence-only" verdict here. Symptom (screenshot Screenshot 2026-07-06 211353.png): everything blits through slot 0 as an immediate-mode canvas; the anchor-preserve base globals accumulate drift across differently-sized textures (BG030A→(300,500), next→(450,100), →(800,350)… marching bottom-right; the background ends up pinned off-centre / bottom-right with the rest of the screen grey). Root cause = the stubbed native op 0x215 collapsing every draw onto slot 0 (its return drives label_12649's slot-select).

The canonical decode + verdict now lives in docs/engine-re.md (op 0x215 section) — don't duplicate it here. In brief: 0x215's real handler FUN_0042a0b0 (Ghidra) writes cmd-type 5 into the current gfx-object record and returns a std::map::find over an engine-internal command-buffer registry (populated by sibling gfx ops like 0x1a2). That return is native command-buffer state, not the VM global bank → seeding story-state cannot fix it. So this is (b) a genuine native op, not (a) the Phase-B state-divergence problem. The prior conclusion in this doc — grounded in a 2/s capture_gfx_objects.py poll of the object-record array — was wrong: it observed the wrong structure (not the lookup map) and can't rule out transient records.

Resolution had TWO halves (canonical decode in docs/engine-re.md, op 0x215 + "The render drift's SECOND half"; don't duplicate here):

1. Native gfx ops (b): all 14 command-buffer ops (0x1a2,0x1f7,0x1fa,0x1ff,0x202,0x203, 0x212,0x213,0x215–0x21a) reversed + implemented against a host-side GfxState (VM execution state; engine/Age.Engine/Model/GfxState.cs). 0x215 now returns distinct per-object slots.
2. Missing system-boot state (a): the CG handle array G[0x62455..] is set by boot script INIT2 (via entrypoint SYSTEM4.BIN), which a cold single-scene run skips → all CGs collapsed onto object 0. Supplied via Age.Cli gfx --boot and Godot --boot (run INITCONFIG/INIT2/INIT through GameSession first). So the drift needed BOTH — not story flags, and not native-ops-alone.

Result: with --boot, the opening event CGs render correctly — screenshot-verified live in Godot (--path godot -- --boot; the CGs that were entirely missing now fill the frame). Residual (deferred, not regressions): AE* fade/flash effects draw opaque (alpha/blend deferred — a white "explosion" glow that should fade stays); some object-slot CGs start with a zero anchor (cold gfx objects vs the real game's warm ones — default object geometry is confirmed (0,0) in gfx_object_init_default, so not a missing default). Next visual chunk = alpha/blend + effect fading (0x202/0x203 already store the packed color) + per-frame compositing. NOTE the two-boot gap: our Phase-B --boot runs data *INIT scripts; this added the system boot — a "full boot" should run both.

A2b — Scene completeness gauge (opcode coverage tracker, 2026-07-07)

To stop guessing how "done" a rendered scene is, tools/scene_opcode_coverage.py histograms a scene's static opcodes and classifies each against the C# VM: impl (VM has a handler arm — real or a deliberate no-op like set-font), safe-noop (no arm, but opcodes.toml marks it noop_headless — a statement / block marker, correct to skip), or GAP (no arm and effectful → the VM silently pc+1s past it). The implemented set is parsed from VirtualMachine.cs's case arms (single source of truth, no drift); output is build/scene-opcode-coverage/<SCENE>.md. This makes a half-rendered scene legible: "N ops still stubbed", not "something's wrong and we thought everything ran."

SC0000 baseline: 129 distinct opcodes / 16257 instrs. Instruction-weighted the VM already covers ~94.8% (impl 12368 + safe-noop 3053); the holes are 68 GAP opcodes / 836 instrs (5.1%). The GAP list clusters into concrete backlog buckets (drives the rendering roadmap below):

• ADV on-screen text — draw-string(0x204)×205 + 0x7a text-param×205 (1:1 paired). Dialogue text is currently surfaced via IHost.ShowText → Godot Label; the engine's native glyph/window draw path is unmodeled (cosmetic for now, but it owns text layout/speed).
• Unmodeled gfx-range cluster — 0x21c–0x243 + 0x2bd/0x2bf (e.g. 0x220×66, 0x22f×34, 0x228×33, 0x21e×25): siblings of the 0x212–0x21a command-buffer family we implemented, not yet reversed → the biggest single rendering unknown (likely sprite/effect/blend geometry). RE these next before more compositor work.
• Timing — sleep(0xc8)×20: animation pacing; fades/effects can't animate (only snap) until this exists.
• Audio/SFX — play-sound-effect(0xb4)×24 + 0xb5/0xb6/0xc2/0xd9 (channel/volume/stop control) — stubbed.
• Scene coroutine — 0x7b×6 / 0x7c×2 / 0x140×1: the scene-coroutine framework backlog (multi-object scene setup routes through it; see the "SECOND latent gap" note in the status memory).
• Misc VM-support ops — a long tail (0x75-0x77, 0x85/0x88/0x8b, 0x93/0x94, 0x197-0x1a4, 0x1c7-0x1cf, 0x1fd, 0x20a/0x20c/0x20e, …), 1–2 sites each; mixed markers vs effectful — triage per-op as the VM reaches them.

Re-run per scene (scene_opcode_coverage.py SC0240 …) to gauge any target. The tracker also cross-checks opcodes.toml metadata against VM behavior — it already surfaced 0x259 (script-entry marker) missing its noop_headless flag (now reconciled).

A2b — Sprite transform/animation subsystem, opening slice (2026-07-07)

Spec docs/superpowers/specs/2026-07-07-gfx-animation-subsystem-design.md; plan docs/superpowers/plans/2026-07-07-gfx-animation-subsystem.md; RE in docs/engine-re.md ("0x21c–0x243 sprite transform / ANIMATION cluster"). First slice of the 0x21c–0x243 cluster the completeness gauge flagged.

Implemented (VM records, engine 50/50, full parity — sweep 284 exit/13 STEP-LIMIT unchanged): the four opening-path anim ops — 0x21e set-anim-transform-norm / 0x220 set-anim-transform-abs (per-object transform channel: target vec3 + 2 params + enable), 0x234 anim-start (animate toward a target vec3 over the clock), 0x238 set-anim-clock (GLOBAL, non-blocking duration). GfxState gained the per-object anim channel + a global clock (passive — non-Godot hosts read none of it, so trace parity holds); RenderObject.AnimState carries it to the compositor. RE correction: the clock is global 1-operand (not per-object), and anim-start carries the target — the set_anim_clock handler's own comment confirms the wall-clock design ("drive animation in the host's per-frame loop while the VM is parked at wait-for-input").

Compositor (Godot): a per-handle wall-clock alpha tween over the global clock + an alpha-aware BlitLayer (3rd vec component = opacity), plus --shot-settle <frames> to capture mid-tween. Non-regressing: SC0000 opening page 2 is pixel-identical to baseline at settle 3 and 300; Godot selftest OK.

Tracker delta (scene_opcode_coverage.py SC0000): GAP 68→64 ops (836→741 instrs), impl 49→53, correctly-handled 60→65/129 (50.4%).

⚠ Honest scope — the opening AE* explosion does NOT visibly animate from this chunk. The opening's AE* effect (AE001D → AE002B → AE003B) is a sleep-paced sequence of RETAINED-object loads/draws — verified 2026-07-08 from native code + the raw bytecode (NOT our gfx oracle, which mis-reported these as "slot 0"; see engine-re.md "opening render path is RETAINED"). draw-texture binds a retained object by handle (gfx_object_bind_draw@0x47e870); the SC0000 CG loader supplies handle = CG_array[G[0x62450]] (the INIT2 handle array G[0x62455..]) and a per-object working slot G[0x62452], with sleep (0x64/0x3e8/0x2ee) between steps. Our VM executes the whole load/draw/sleep burst instantly (no timing, no per-frame present), so we only ever see the final retained state; the intermediate AE* frames never get a frame to display. This per-object alpha channel is the correct foundation for retained-sprite animation (character fades/scales via the handle system), but the opening explosion needs frame-pacing — modeling the scene-coroutine / sleep 0xc8 timing (0x7b/0x140/0xc8, still GAP) so the burst is not collapsed. That is the clearly-scoped next chunk for the visible opening animation, and a genuinely different subsystem than the transform/alpha channel landed here. (Correction: an earlier draft of this note called it "immediate-mode slot-0 blits" — wrong; the engine is retained, per the native draw-texture → gfx_object_bind_draw bind.)

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Risks / open questions for A0

• Pointer/lvalue semantics — the main modeling risk; RECOVER is the litmus test.
• Initial global state — a scene may assume preconditions from earlier flow (SCJUMP/prior scenes). Mitigation: default-zero globals + set the few a scene reads early; the subsequence oracle tolerates a shortened path.
• Runtime vs static dialogue order — static dialogue.jsonl is file-order (all lines); runtime is execution-order (branch taken). Hence subsequence, not equality; pick linear scenes to tighten it.
• Hidden effect in a "stub" — a stubbed effectful op that actually gates control flow could skew output. Watch for divergence; promote a stub to a real handler if a scene needs it.

Immediate next action

Build tools/vm0.py and get the RECOVER unit test green (pointer/array/control-flow correctness), then run the first linear ADV scene against the dialogue oracle. That single result tells us whether the whole VM approach executes correctly — the load-bearing question behind option 3.

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✅ call-script EXECUTION (2026-07-07) — subroutines now run in the C# VM

Spec docs/superpowers/specs/2026-07-07-callscript-vm-execution-design.md; plan docs/superpowers/plans/2026-07-07-callscript-vm-execution.md. Enabled by the native-RE finding that call-script <id> is a raw SYS4INI file index (docs/engine-re.md).

Shipped (engine 25/25 green):

• IScriptProvider (Hosting) + Sys4ScriptProvider (Sys4): id → build/callscript-names.json → name → Paths.Scripts() → Sys4Loader.Load, cached. Injected into the VM so Vm never references Sys4.
• ExecFrame refactor of VirtualMachine: per-script state (script, pc, locals, intra-call stack, per-frame emit-guard) moved into ExecFrame, run by a recursive RunFrame. Globals/Emitted/Steps stay VM-level (shared). Emitted lines now carry their source script name.
• call-script executes: loads the child, runs it as a nested frame sharing globals, returns to the caller at pc+1. exit/exit-script and empty-stack ret return from the frame (top frame → HALT). Depth-capped (VmOptions.CallDepthCap=64; native limit 38). Shared globals are the return channel; per-call locals are discarded on return.
• Product paths (Age.Cli run/play/sweep, GameSession.RunScene) inject the provider. trace + the audio/gfx diagnostics stay provider-less (base-ISA oracle / built against stub behavior).

Design decision (refines the spec): a VM with no provider falls back to the prior stub (host.CallScript(id); pc+1), not a halt. This keeps every existing base-ISA test byte-identical (they construct provider-less VMs) and needs no golden-fixture regeneration; vm0.py retires from oracle duty gracefully — trace/TraceDiffTests/WaitForInputTests stay on the stub path as the base-ISA guard, with zero lockstep maintenance.

Validation: 6 new tests (fake-provider unit tests: return-to-caller, callee exit returns not halts, shared-global visibility, per-frame local isolation, unresolved-id halt, no-provider stub; integration: ADDILL executes ADDILLSUB+CALCREVISE and reaches its own exit; BUNKI's top-level ret returns cleanly). Corpus sweep (execution on): 284/297 exit clean, 13 STEP-LIMIT, 0 depth-cap, 0 unresolved, 0 crashes. The 13 STEP-LIMITs are input/state-gated ADV scenes (SC0000 etc.): executing subroutines makes their global-writes drive caller loops that headless can't break (no input; WaitForInput is a no-op) — the known state-divergence, not a call-script bug (loops hit STEP-LIMIT, not the depth cap → recursion is bounded correctly).

✅ Godot wired + testing approach corrected (2026-07-07, follow-up). The provider is now injected everywhere — no path runs with call-script disabled:

• Godot play path gets Sys4ScriptProvider, so subroutines execute live on screen (and the headless input-wait loops break on real player input, which is why headless-only scenes STEP-LIMIT).
• Testing principle (user-directed): synthesize test data; never disable a feature to keep a real scene matching a frozen number. New Age.Engine/Sys4/ScriptAssembler (code+strings → Script; also Phase-D modding-assembler groundwork). SyntheticSceneTests runs an assembled scene (show-text
  • wait-for-input + real nested call-script + shared-global return) with full handling and asserts its exact output. WaitForInputTests reworked onto a synthesized two-page scene. RecoverTests keeps its ISA-litmus role with call-script handling ON via a no-op subroutine double (isolates the ISA from the real subroutines' state deps). TraceDiffTests retired (it matched the C# VM to vm0.py's stubbed trace; vm0 is off oracle duty and we don't gate handling to keep it matching).
• Godot --selftest rewritten: was "run SC0000 stubbed, match vm0-trace(186)"; now runs a synthesized scene through the Godot thread/semaphore/CallDeferred plumbing and asserts it matches a live headless run of the same scene — full handling, no frozen golden, no vm0 dependency. Verified: godot --headless -- --selftest → "threaded host matches headless (3 lines, full handling)".

Verified live in Godot (2026-07-07): added --scene <NAME> to the frontend and a scene-end report of the call-scripts executed as nested frames (collected thread-safely — Godot drops GD.Print from the VM background thread). SC0240 executes 29 call-scripts (RESETLAND, SETEN, ADDEN, RENDERMAP, SETOBJ, DRAWOBJ, CALCREVISE, LOOK) live in the real runtime; SC0000 renders the opening event CG (windowed).

Remaining follow-ups: optionally give the audio/gfx CLI diagnostics a provider (they still run provider-less); engine-level diagnostics (the next pivot — the engine, not the frontend, should surface script/scene execution + call-script dispatch); decision→scene (scene chaining) rides this same loader once the SCJUMP decision→scene-id native hop is reversed.