Narrow the collision header to two fields plus a third used by five levels

Range measured: all 27 levels that carry collision, reading the 0x40-byte
header each.

Method: read +0x00, +0x04 and +0x08, then check +0x08..+0x40 for zero.

Result:

  u32@+0x00 is 0x40 on 27 of 27 -- the header is self-sizing
  u32@+0x04 is the payload size, 20 distinct values across the disc
  bytes +0x08..+0x40 zero on 22 of 27

Five levels carry a large non-zero word at +0x08:

  level  7  1248048        level 12  2541616
  level  9  1766832        level 13  3376592
                      level 14  4060640

So the header is not two fields and 56 bytes of padding: there is a third field
most levels leave at zero and five use. Whether it is a size, an offset or a
second block's length is not established, and nothing measured here separates
those readings. Exposed as CollisionHeader::field_08.

Correction: the collision header was previously described as self-describing
across its full 0x40, which is true for 22 levels and overstates the case for
the other five.

Still not decoded: the payload. It contains ascending u32 runs on levels 0 and
2 -- level 0 at +280 with deltas 12, 12, 12 then a jump, level 2 at +13868 with
deltas 204, 204, 200, 196 -- but irregular deltas fit neither a flat table nor a
simple stride, and level 1's apparent run is a byte-shift false positive.
Nothing about the payload is asserted.
This commit is contained in:
2026-10-12 02:49:25 +02:00
parent 51348b214d
commit 5610d173b0
2 changed files with 49 additions and 0 deletions
+38
View File
@@ -1331,3 +1331,41 @@ be small on most levels and is not a count at all.
`gc_formats::sky` parses the header and the sub-objects, and the gated test
asserts the sphere is finite, the radius positive where it is positive at all,
the dimensions non-zero, and the sub-object list non-empty on every level.
## The collision header is two fields, plus a third on five levels
**Range measured:** all 27 levels that carry collision, reading the 0x40-byte
header each.
**Method:** read `+0x00`, `+0x04` and `+0x08`, then check `+0x08..+0x40` for
zero.
**Result:**
- `u32@+0x00` is `0x40` on **27 of 27** -- the header is self-sizing.
- `u32@+0x04` is the payload size, 20 distinct values across the disc.
- **Bytes `+0x08..+0x40` are zero on 22 of 27**, but five levels carry a large
non-zero word at `+0x08`:
| level | `+0x08` |
|---|---|
| 7 | 1,248,048 |
| 9 | 1,766,832 |
| 12 | 2,541,616 |
| 13 | 3,376,592 |
| 14 | 4,060,640 |
So the header is not simply "two fields and 56 bytes of padding" -- there is a
third field that most levels leave at zero and five use. Whether it is a size,
an offset or a second block's length is not established; nothing measured here
separates those readings. It is exposed as `CollisionHeader::field_08`.
**Correction to the framing description.** The collision header was previously
described as self-describing across its full 0x40, which is true for 22 levels
and overstates the case for the other five.
**Still not decoded:** the payload. It contains ascending `u32` runs on levels
0 and 2 -- level 0 at `+280` with deltas 12, 12, 12 then a jump, level 2 at
`+13868` with deltas 204, 204, 200, 196 -- but the irregular deltas fit neither
a flat table nor a simple stride, and level 1's apparent run is a byte-shift
false positive. Nothing about the payload is asserted.