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Add detailed log for retail debugger patch attempts in CRUSADER.EXE

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This commit introduces a comprehensive document outlining the various executable-patching attempts aimed at revealing the hidden retail usecode debugger within the CRUSADER.EXE file. The document serves multiple purposes, including preserving negative evidence, recording patch shapes and their rationales, and ensuring that runtime outcomes are linked to specific patch generations.

Key sections include:
- Ground rules for patching and validation processes.
- A table of stable facts regarding the debugger's structure and behavior.
- A detailed attempt log documenting each patch's shape, mechanical and runtime results, and verdicts.
- Root-cause findings from failed paths, providing insights into the challenges faced during the patching process.
- Current live candidates for further testing and exploration.

This documentation is intended to streamline future patching efforts and improve the understanding of the underlying mechanics of the debugger.
This commit is contained in:
Marco 2026-03-25 17:36:16 +01:00
commit 7310c4fe96
13 changed files with 1008 additions and 1959 deletions
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crusader_decompilation_notes.md
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@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Recent verified batch: [docs/ne-segment1.md](docs/ne-segment1.md) now carries th
| [docs/far-call-targets.md](docs/far-call-targets.md) | Top-104 most-called far-call targets (Tiers 1-5, ranks 1-104), supporting functions discovered, analysis gaps and seg043 reconciliation |
| [docs/crusader-disasm-reference.md](docs/crusader-disasm-reference.md) | Local auxiliary disassembly corpus at `K:/ghidra/crusader-disasm`: handwritten notes, shape tables, map dumps, opcode lists, intrinsic/function dumps, and the safe reuse rules for porting into `CRUSADER.EXE` |
| [docs/ne-hole-filling-priorities.md](docs/ne-hole-filling-priorities.md) | Ranked `CRUSADER.EXE` hole-filling tracker: NE-side unclear lanes, the verified raw-side knowledge that can close them, and the recommended order for old-to-new porting passes |
| [docs/retail-debugger-patch-attempts.md](docs/retail-debugger-patch-attempts.md) | Chronological log of retail `CRUSADER.EXE` debugger-unlock patch attempts, byte-level designs, runtime failures, root-cause findings, and the current live candidate |
| [docs/scummvm-crusader-reference.md](docs/scummvm-crusader-reference.md) | ScummVM Ultima8/Pentagram Crusader integration survey: USECODE/event tables, FLEX/resource formats, world/map loaders, HUD/media, and RE follow-up priorities |
| [docs/pentagram-crusader-reference.md](docs/pentagram-crusader-reference.md) | Pentagram-source Crusader/U8 reference: direct Crusader USECODE parser and VM evidence, U8 usecode docs, runtime-confidence limits, and cross-checks against the ScummVM note |
| [docs/usecode-roundtrip-ir.md](docs/usecode-roundtrip-ir.md) | ScummVM-to-binary USECODE cross-walk, owner-loaded class-layout and header/event-count reconciliation, conservative IR v0 plan, and the generated class-event/body-window outputs that now ground reversible `_BOOT`, `SURCAM*`, and environmental family decompile artifacts plus repeated-family regression checks |