Darker / technical investigation

Research reports

The notes behind the viewers: file formats, disassembly, native-code checks and findings from playtesting. Reports retain their original updates and qualifications; some describe an early result followed by later corrections.

Overview and development

The project’s direction, evidence inventory and the earlier builds.

Build provenance and source-organization cluesdocs/build-provenance.md Darker demo archaeologydocs/demo-releases.md Reconstruction directiondocs/reconstruction-direction.md Reconstruction evidence and remaining workdocs/reconstruction-evidence-inventory.md

Executable and controls

Unpacking, hidden commands and the input handlers.

Command-line options: manual and executabledocs/command-line-options.md Darker executable: first-pass investigationdocs/executable-first-pass.md Executable unpacking and the first internal mapdocs/executable-unpacking.md Flight controls: executable versus manualdocs/flight-controls.md The STAR THREE hidden command promptdocs/hidden-commands.md

Worlds and models

Map structure, drawing instructions, colours and object states.

Animated geometry and linked model statesdocs/model-animation-and-states.md Assembled 3D city viewerdocs/city-scene.md First static city-model extractiondocs/model-bytecode.md Model colours, Gouraud shading and destruction linksdocs/model-colours.md Model components, landing structures and pointer sharingdocs/model-components-and-aliases.md Printed-map named locationsdocs/named-locations.md Resource containers and the city layoutdocs/resources-and-city.md Ships, the energy tower and atlas selectiondocs/ships-and-towers.md Type-12 beacons and radar coveragedocs/small-beacon-radar.md

Flight and combat

Movement, charging, damage and weapon definitions.

Angular flight helpers and impact arithmeticdocs/flight-angular-and-impact.md Executable gameplay definitionsdocs/gameplay-definitions.md Flight physics and energy beacons: first logic passdocs/flight-physics-and-charging.md Player collisions, streetlight destruction and shieldsdocs/player-collision-and-damage.md Weapon identities, firing and impact behaviourdocs/weapon-behaviour.md

Missions and saved state

Script execution, vehicle routes, supply pads and state carried between missions.

Combined supply movement, script and message tracedocs/combined-supply-cycle.md Convoy route investigation: 04_009 / 7 (level 80)docs/route-convoy-discrepancy.md Embedded mission setup: translated effects and checksdocs/mission-native-setup.md Mission exit, progress and map-state commitdocs/mission-exit-state.md Mission scripts and scenario setup: first structural passdocs/mission-scripts.md Mission text sections and script conditionsdocs/mission-message-sections.md Normal DARKER.SAV format and editordocs/save-file-format.md Object completion and mission objective countersdocs/object-completion.md Object update order and late-frame context switchesdocs/mission-update-order.md Partial failures, shared blackout and final-mission beacon choreographydocs/blackout-missions.md Per-object mission script schedulerdocs/mission-scheduler.md Persistent cell-state fields: first native checkdocs/persistent-cell-state.md Real selection, failure/reload and city persistencedocs/city-retry-and-selection.md Reserve activation and script contextsdocs/mission-activation.md Scenario object identities and model keydocs/scenario-object-identities.md Setup callbacks and geometry-triggered context entrydocs/mission-callbacks.md Supplementary scripts: supply sequences and city power failuredocs/supplementary-scripts.md Supply pad approach, docked state and departuredocs/supply-pad-motion.md Supply-pad map correspondencedocs/supply-pad-locations.md Vehicle routes and map-state eventsdocs/vehicle-routes-and-events.md

Music and sound

Hardware arrangements, FM synthesis and sound sources.

Ambient sound locations and identified effectsdocs/ambient-sounds.md Audio extraction: first playable exportsdocs/audio-investigation.md Combined audio for effect recipesdocs/combined-effect-audio.md Music hardware variantsdocs/music-hardware-variants.md Reconstructed FM sound effectsdocs/sound-effects.md

Cockpit, images and text

Instrument drawing, sprites, presentations and formatted text.

Dynamic cockpit inspection and HUD consumersdocs/dynamic-hud.md Explosion, smoke and flame recipesdocs/effect-recipes.md Masked HUD components and formatted multilingual textdocs/hud-and-formatted-text.md Mission text, named places, stills and animation framesdocs/mission-text-and-imagery.md Procedural cockpit graphics: ring, attitude and enlarged contactsdocs/procedural-hud.md Script-linked presentations, proportional fonts and cockpit layoutsdocs/presentations-and-interface.md Sprite atlas and remaining HUD extractiondocs/interface-sprites-and-hud.md