Parity Evidence

Parity Evidence

Status reviewed 2026-08-25. Evidence is cross-game and bounded. A green parser or fixture test is not automatically a real-media runtime claim.

What Are Pass Documents?

The parity-evidence/ directory contains source-lock evidence documents, each named pass{NNN}_{description}.md. Each document anchors a specific behavioral claim to:

1. A reference source location (ReDMCSB function/file/line or skproject symbol)
2. A binary offset or data table in the original executable
3. A runnable verification path (test binary or probe command)

Pass documents are numbered sequentially. The repository currently contains thousands of checked-in evidence documents; use git ls-files parity-evidence/ | wc -l when an exact local count is needed.

Purpose

Source-lock evidence serves three functions:

• Proves parity: documents that Firestaff's implementation matches the original engine's behavior at a specific decision point
• Prevents regression: each pass document names a test that can be re-run to verify the claim still holds
• Records provenance: captures exactly which reference source location or binary offset justifies each implementation choice

Structure of a Pass Document

A typical pass document contains:

# pass{NNN}: {title}

## Claim

{What this document proves}

## Source Reference

{ReDMCSB file:line, skproject symbol, or binary offset}

## Evidence

{How the claim was verified — binary analysis, source comparison, test output}

## Verification

{Exact command to re-run the proof}

Categories

DM1 PC34 Compatibility (*_pc34_compat.md)

764 documents covering:

• Viewport wall/door/ornament routing
• Movement completion matrix
• Inventory slot placement and drag/drop
• Combat timelines
• Champion panel material
• Original-transcript capture gates
• Creature info table decode (G0243)

CSB PC34 Compatibility

Documents covering DSA opcode core, startup presentation, entrance/credits, HUD, viewport geometry, thing/sensor runtime, combat, saves, and media.

The native Atari STX route additionally has a real-media M12→M11 proof for the 50 Hz ANIMATE.SCR/ANIMATE.DAT title cadence, FTLCODE handoff and first runtime HUD/viewport frame. This is bounded startup evidence, not a claim of full campaign parity.

DM2

Documents covering GDAT material families, G1 record graphs, creature occupancy, combat drops, sound decode.

Theron's Quest

Documents covering Track 02 IPL/stage-two handoff, level envelope, multi-level object tables.

Nexus

Documents covering DGN geometry, MNS materials, Structure2/3, PRS3 topology, SAL/MAP audio, SLEV scripts.

Naming Convention

pass{NNN}_{game}_{version}_{feature}_{suffix}.md

• {NNN}: sequential pass number (e.g., 1101)
• {game}: dm1, csb, dm2, theron, nexus
• {version}: v1 (V1 compatibility layer)
• {feature}: descriptive feature name in snake_case
• {suffix}: typically pc34_compat for PC 3.4 compatibility claims

What Pass Documents Are Not

• They are not design documents or specifications
• They are not test plans (the tests exist independently)
• They do not substitute a synthetic capture for original evidence
• They do not claim completeness — each document covers one specific point

Verification

To verify all pass documents' associated tests:

ctest --test-dir build -j4

Individual pass documents name their specific verification command in the ## Verification section.