Crusader_Decomp/docs/psx/prealpha.md

Crusader 2 Pre-Pre Alpha (PlayStation) Recon

Scope

• Target disc tree: E:\emu\psx\Crusader 2 Pre-Pre Alpha
• Active Ghidra program for this pass: /psx/prealpha/SLUS_002.68
• Comparison baseline: retail PlayStation Crusader: No Remorse findings in docs/psx/psx.md
• Goal of this pass: identify concrete differences from the released PSX build and record any interesting early-build leftovers visible in the executable and disc layout.

Immediate Conclusions

• This pre-alpha does not currently look like a fully distinct Crusader 2 executable identity.
• The executable still carries direct Crusader: No Remorse branding and other No Remorse-facing UI text.
• The level-loader code is already very close to the retail PSX loader: it still embeds all seven \LSETn\L prefixes and the same threshold split at map indices 10/20/30/40/50/60.
• The disc content is dramatically reduced compared with retail: only 3 shipped level bundles, 1 XA file, no shipped movie .STR files, and no LICENSEA.DAT or ZZZ.ZZZ root files.
• The executable still retains content/system references that do not match the current unpacked pre-alpha disc, including \AUDIO\TALK1.XA;1 and a LoadExec helper for MENU.EXE, ENGINE.EXE, and PSX.EXE.
• Current safest read: this build looks more like an earlier trimmed branch of the No Remorse PSX code/content pipeline than a clearly rebranded or content-rich standalone Crusader 2 PSX build.

Disc Tree Differences From Retail PSX

Top-level inventory contrast from the unpacked trees:

Area	Retail Crusader: No Remorse	Pre-pre alpha	Current read
SLUS_002.68 size	675,840 bytes	667,648 bytes	pre-alpha executable is smaller by 8,192 bytes
.WDL files	66	7	heavy content reduction
.STR files	33	0	no shipped movie streams in the pre-alpha tree
.XA files	2	1	only MULTI8.XA remains
LSET folders	LSET1 through LSET7	LSET1 only	only L0.WDL, L1.WDL, L2.WDL shipped
MOVIES/ contents	populated	empty	folder exists but no .STR payloads
root extras	LICENSEA.DAT, ZZZ.ZZZ present	both absent	pre-alpha root is much leaner

Pre-alpha top-level tree at this point:

• AUDIO/MULTI8.XA
• FMV.BIN
• LEGAL.SCR
• LSET1/L0.WDL
• LSET1/L1.WDL
• LSET1/L2.WDL
• MENUS/M13.WDL
• MENUS/M21.WDL
• MENUS/M5.WDL
• SLUS_002.68
• SPEC_A.WDL
• SYSTEM.CNF

Important contrast with retail:

• retail ships 62 level bundles across LSET1..LSET7
• this pre-alpha tree currently ships only 3 level bundles in LSET1
• retail ships 33 movie streams; this pre-alpha has an empty MOVIES/ folder
• retail ships MULTI8.XA and TALK1.XA; this pre-alpha tree currently exposes only MULTI8.XA

Executable Findings

1. Executable identity still says No Remorse

The strongest branding strings in /psx/prealpha/SLUS_002.68 still point at the first game, not a visible Crusader 2 identity.

Relevant strings:

• 80061d08: Crusader: No Remorse (save#
• 80010944: This is no time to show Remorse! ... Are you sure you want to Quit?

Negative checks from this pass:

• no recovered Crusader II string
• no recovered Regret string
• no recovered alternate save-title branding

Current safest read:

• at least at the executable/UI-string layer, this pre-alpha still looks branded as a No Remorse derivative rather than a separately named sequel build

2. The level loader is already essentially retail-shaped

Function 80038084 was renamed in Ghidra during this pass to wdl_resource_bundle_load_by_index.

Why the rename is justified:

• the function loads one of seven hardcoded level-path prefixes based on map-index thresholds
• it appends the decimal map index and the shared extension tail to form the final level path
• it also loads \SPEC_A.WDL during the same setup path

Direct evidence:

• 80010de0..80010e30 contains the contiguous prefix table:
  • \LSET1\L
  • \LSET2\L
  • \LSET3\L
  • \LSET4\L
  • \LSET5\L
  • \LSET6\L
  • \LSET7\L
• 80010e34 contains \SPEC_A.WDL
• the decompiled threshold ladder in wdl_resource_bundle_load_by_index still splits on 9, 0x13, 0x1d, 0x27, 0x31, and 0x3b, which is the same practical 10/20/30/40/50/60 bucket logic previously closed in the retail PSX note

Important contrast with the disc tree:

• the code still expects the full seven-folder retail-style layout
• the current pre-alpha disc only ships LSET1/L0..L2

This is one of the strongest current signs that the executable pipeline was still aligned with a much larger planned content set than the media actually present in this build.

3. Mission and passcode scaffolding are still close to retail No Remorse

Recovered strings show that the pre-alpha executable still preserves the same visible mission/passcode UI scaffolding seen in the retail PSX work.

Relevant strings:

• 800101a4..80010340: Mission Briefing ^Mission 1 through Mission Briefing ^Mission 15
• 80060b70: Congratulations! You have completed your mission. The passcode for the next mission is:
• 80060bd4: the alternate completion message without the visible passcode line
• 80060b50: BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZ0123456789

Current read:

• the same 15 mission-facing text slots are still present
• the same consonant/digit passcode alphabet is still present
• this does not look like a radically different mission-shell rewrite

This pushes the current pre-alpha closer to early/reduced No Remorse PSX branch than to already content-diverged sequel shell.

4. Audio and movie state looks incomplete relative to both retail code and the current disc

The pre-alpha tree contains only one XA file:

• AUDIO/MULTI8.XA

But function 80045648 still contains the two-path XA switch logic:

• param 0 selects \AUDIO\MULTI8.XA;1
• nonzero selects \AUDIO\TALK1.XA;1

That function was annotated in Ghidra during this pass because the current unpacked disc does not contain TALK1.XA.

Interesting consequence:

• the executable still expects a second XA stream family that is absent from the current pre-alpha disc tree

Movie side status is even more reduced:

• MOVIES/ exists but is empty
• no .STR files are present in the pre-alpha tree
• the main executable did not yield FMV or MDEC strings in this pass
• FMV.BIN still exists on disk, but the current main executable looks less movie-facing than retail at the string level

Current safest read:

• the audio/movie pipeline was not fully stripped from code expectations, but the shipped pre-alpha disc content is notably incomplete compared with retail

5. A split-executable LoadExec path still exists

Function 80046aac was not renamed yet, but it was comment-annotated in Ghidra during this pass.

That helper selects one of three executable paths:

• cdrom:\ENGINE.EXE;1
• cdrom:\MENU.EXE;1
• cdrom:\PSX.EXE;1

Then it performs a PSX LoadExec(...) handoff after shutting down active systems.

Important contrast with the current pre-alpha disc tree:

• none of ENGINE.EXE, MENU.EXE, or PSX.EXE exist in the unpacked root
• only SLUS_002.68 is present as the obvious boot executable

Current safest read:

• this build still preserves a real split-executable chainload helper from an earlier architecture or earlier content-layout plan
• the current unpacked disc no longer matches that design literally

I did not yet promote a stronger functional name for 80046aac because the surviving call sites were not fully classified in this pass.

6. Content-name tables remain close to retail rather than showing obvious sequel-only replacements

The nearby item/ammo/gun tables are broadly familiar from the retail PSX note.

Recovered examples:

• ammo table still includes JL-2 AMMO, AR-7 AMMO, GL-303 AMMO, RP-22 AMMO, SG-A1 AMMO
• item table still includes INHIBITOR, CREDITS, SCI PLANS, BLAST PAC, DET PAC, DATA LINK, LAND MINE, SPIDER BOMB, MEDICAL KIT, ENERGY CUBE, FUSION PAC, CHEMICAL BATTERY, FISSION BATTERY, FUSION BATTERY, GRAVITON GENERATOR, IONIC GENERATOR, PLASMA GENERATOR
• gun table still includes RP-16, RP-22, RP-32, SG-A1, AC-88, PA-31, EM-4, PL-1, UV-9, GL-303, AR-7, JL-2, JL-9

Current read:

• the visible catalog tables are still basically in the retail No Remorse family
• this pass did not surface any obviously new Crusader 2-specific naming layer in the executable text

7. Developer-facing PSYQ graphics/debug strings are still present

This is not necessarily unique to the pre-alpha, but it is worth preserving because it may help later graphics-focused passes.

Recovered strings include:

• ResetGraph(%d)...
• SetGraphReverse(%d)...
• SetGraphDebug:level:%d,type:%d reverse:%d
• LoadImage
• StoreImage
• MoveImage

The recovered function SetGraphDebug simply stores the requested debug level and prints the diagnostic line when nonzero.

Current practical value:

• if later PSX rendering work needs debug/graphics control anchors, these strings and helpers are already easy to relocate in the pre-alpha database

Interesting Build-Level Implications

The combined disc-plus-executable picture currently supports a fairly specific interpretation.

Most likely current model:

1. the pre-alpha executable is still largely a No Remorse-derived PSX codebase
2. the content payload is heavily reduced compared with retail
3. some earlier architectural leftovers survived into this build, especially the split-LoadExec helper and the missing-file TALK1.XA path
4. the loader still expects a much larger planned level inventory than the current disc actually ships

That does not yet prove there is no meaningful Crusader 2 gameplay/content divergence hidden deeper in the WDL data or untyped runtime tables. It does mean the first clean static answer is: this build is still much closer to unfinished No Remorse PSX branch with reduced assets than to an already distinctively rebranded sequel executable.

Ghidra Updates From This Pass

Applied in the live /psx/prealpha/SLUS_002.68 database:

• renamed 80038084 to wdl_resource_bundle_load_by_index
• added a disassembly comment at 80046aac documenting the LoadExec targets MENU.EXE, ENGINE.EXE, and PSX.EXE
• added a disassembly comment at 80045648 documenting the MULTI8.XA vs TALK1.XA selection and the current missing-file mismatch

Highest-Value Next Steps

1. Decompile and classify the callers around 80046aac so the surviving MENU.EXE / ENGINE.EXE / PSX.EXE path can be labeled as boot flow, frontend transition, or dead leftover with less ambiguity.
2. Compare the pre-alpha L0.WDL, L1.WDL, and L2.WDL structure against the retail LSET extractor results to see whether they are just reduced No Remorse maps or genuinely divergent content/layout revisions.
3. Diff the pre-alpha SPEC_A.WDL and MENUS/*.WDL files against the retail PSX note to see whether the menu/front-end assets changed more than the executable strings did.
4. Trace the mission-briefing and passcode consumers directly in /psx/prealpha/SLUS_002.68 to see whether the pre-alpha still uses the same mission ordering and password-generation rules as retail.
5. Search the pre-alpha executable for early script/event-dispatch tables or type/resource tables that differ from the retail PSX resource-stream model, especially around the WDL loader outputs.
6. Inspect FMV.BIN separately in Ghidra or as raw data to determine whether it still contains movie-system code/data even though the current disc ships no .STR files.
7. Run a first asset-focused comparison pass on the three shipped pre-alpha maps in the public renderer/export tooling once the bundle/resource bindings are stable enough to avoid the earlier invalid direct-bundle hypothesis.