ghost: capture local player transform from the body item, not the UBT hook

The self-check cube (skate3_ghost_draw_local) appeared on a nearby NPC
because OnLocalSkaterTick read the world from the UpdateBoneTransforms
hook's pack-owner entity, and UpdateBoneTransforms fires for NPC skaters too
- the last writer won, often an NPC.

Local-player capture now happens in OnFrameSceneBuilt (the same per-frame
body-item heuristic the ghost models use): resolve the body item's OWNING
entity via the ctx->entity store and read its world matrix (entity+416),
falling back to the body root-bone translation. The UBT-based capture and
hook call are removed.

docs/releases.md

@@ -50,12 +50,37 @@ Per-platform notes:
 | Platform | Build machine | Command |
 |---|---|---|
 | Linux | any Linux with the toolchain (README: Ubuntu 24.04 + Clang 20) | `./tools/release/release.sh` |
-| Windows | a **Windows** machine (MSVC/clang-cl + Windows SDK, D3D12) | run the same script on Windows (`--os windows`) |
+| Windows | a **Windows** machine (Visual Studio MSVC + Windows SDK, D3D12) | `tools\release\windows-build.cmd` (see below) |
-| macOS | an **Apple Silicon/Intel Mac** (Homebrew LLVM + MoltenVK, per README) | run the same script on macOS |
+| macOS | an **Apple Silicon/Intel Mac** (Homebrew LLVM + MoltenVK, per README) | `./tools/release/release.sh` |
 
 Cross-compiling Windows/macOS from a Linux box is not practical for this
-stack (D3D12 on Windows, Cocoa/MoltenVK on macOS need their native SDKs), so
+stack (D3D12 needs the Windows SDK, Cocoa/MoltenVK need a Mac), so each
-each platform's release is built on that platform.
+platform's release is built on that platform.
+
+### Windows build
+
+On a Windows box, the known build issues (multiple Windows SDKs, Git Bash
+`%LIB%` mangling, missing submodules) are handled by the launcher:
+
+```bat
+tools\release\windows-build.cmd --tag v2.0.2-mp1 --upload
+```
+
+It loads the MSVC environment (`vcvarsall.bat x64 <SDK>`), sets
+`MSYS2_ARG_CONV_EXCL=*` so Git Bash doesn't corrupt `%LIB%`, initializes the
+submodules (including the self-heal), and runs `release.sh`. Config via env:
+
+- `VCVARSALL` — path to `vcvarsall.bat` (default: VS 18 Community x64).
+- `WINSDK` — Windows SDK version (default `10.0.26100.0`; try `10.0.22621.0`
+  if yours differs — a broken SDK default is what causes `kernel32.lib`
+  `LNK1104`).
+- `GITBASH` — path to Git for Windows `bash.exe`.
+
+`release.sh` now auto-detects the Title Update package (repo root or
+`game/`), falls back to PowerShell `Compress-Archive` when `zip` is missing,
+and no longer requires `python3` for the upload JSON parsing. The Windows
+build also needs the game dump (`game/default.xex` + `EAWebkit.xex`) and the
+TU package present on that box (build-time only, never shipped).
 
 ## Option B — automated via Forgejo Actions (optional)
 

src/native/skate3_native_ghost.cpp

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "skate3_native_ghost_net.h"
 #include "skate3_native_ghost_relay.h"
+#include "skate3_native_entity.h"
 #include "skate3_native_guest_read.h"
 #include "skate3_native_palette.h"
 
@@ -738,9 +739,16 @@ void GhostNetworkLoop() {
     RoomSet(room_buf, room_len, room_str.c_str());
     {
       std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
+      // A non-empty room cvar is the user's explicit choice: sync it into
+      // the active room. An EMPTY cvar means "server auto-assigns" - keep
+      // the code the relay handed back on HELLO. Overwriting the assigned
+      // code with the empty cvar every 25 ms is what made the room code
+      // flicker in and out of the multiplayer menu.
+      if (room_len != 0) {
         std::memcpy(g_room, room_buf, kGhostMaxRoomLen);
         g_room_len = room_len;
       }
+    }
 
     if (sock == GHOST_INVALID_SOCKET) {
       sock = GhostSocketCreate(/*allow_broadcast=*/true);
@@ -894,24 +902,7 @@ void GhostNetworkLoop() {
 
 }  // namespace
 
-// ---- capture (sim thread; hook in skate3_native_render.cpp) ------------------
+// ---- capture (per built frame; see OnFrameSceneBuilt) ----------------------
-void OnLocalSkaterTick(uint8_t* base) {
-  if (!Enabled()) {
-    return;
-  }
-  const uint32_t entity = skate3::native_palette::CurrentPackOwner();
-  if (entity == 0) {
-    return;
-  }
-  float world[16];
-  if (!ReadEntityWorld(base, entity, world)) {
-    return;
-  }
-  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_mu);
-  std::memcpy(g_local_world, world, sizeof(g_local_world));
-  g_local_valid = true;
-  g_local_time = NowSec();
-}
 
 namespace {
 // Identity rows for a bone (column-vector affine [R|t]): the safe padding
@@ -981,6 +972,33 @@ void OnFrameSceneBuilt(uint8_t* base,
   g_local_pose_count = rows;
   g_local_pose_valid = true;
   g_local_pose_time = NowSec();
+
+  // Local player's world transform for the self-check cube / the wire
+  // pos/rot. Resolve the body item's OWNING ENTITY (ctx -> entity store)
+  // and read its world matrix - the reliable player signal. The previous
+  // UBT-hook capture could pick an NPC skater (UpdateBoneTransforms fires
+  // for them too), which put the cube on a nearby NPC.
+  float world[16];
+  bool have_world = false;
+  if (body->ctx != 0) {
+    skate3::native_entity::CtxInfo info;
+    if (skate3::native_entity::LookupCtx(body->ctx, &info) && info.entity != 0 &&
+        ReadEntityWorld(base, info.entity, world)) {
+      have_world = true;
+    }
+  }
+  if (!have_world) {
+    // Fallback: the body item's root bone translation (the player's pelvis
+    // world position); identity rotation is fine for a debug cube.
+    std::memset(world, 0, sizeof(world));
+    world[0] = world[5] = world[10] = world[15] = 1.0f;
+    world[12] = body->bones[3];
+    world[13] = body->bones[7];
+    world[14] = body->bones[11];
+  }
+  std::memcpy(g_local_world, world, sizeof(g_local_world));
+  g_local_valid = true;
+  g_local_time = NowSec();
 }
 
 void EnsureNetworkThread() {

src/native/skate3_native_ghost.h

@@ -31,13 +31,12 @@ struct FrameScene;
 
 namespace skate3::native_ghost {
 
-// ---- host-side capture (called from skate3_native_render.cpp) -------------
-void OnLocalSkaterTick(uint8_t* base);
-
 // ---- host-side pose capture (called from BuildFrameScene pre-publish) -----
 // Snapshot the local player's skater skeleton (the highest-bone-count
 // skinned non-ropa character item near the camera) as the pose this client
-// broadcasts. Called every built frame; gated internally on the enable cvar.
+// broadcasts, plus the local player's world transform (resolved from that
+// item's owning entity). Called every built frame; gated internally on the
+// enable cvar.
 void OnFrameSceneBuilt(uint8_t* base, const skate3::native_scene::FrameScene& scene);
 
 // ---- network thread lifecycle -------------------------------------------------

src/skate3_native_ghost_dialog.cpp

@@ -45,7 +45,19 @@ void GhostDialog::Toggle() {
 
 void GhostDialog::SyncBuffersFromCvars() {
   const std::string room = REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_room);
+  if (!room.empty()) {
     std::snprintf(room_input_, sizeof(room_input_), "%s", room.c_str());
+  } else {
+    // Auto-assigned room: the active code comes from the connection, not the
+    // (empty) cvar - surface it in the input so the user can see/copy it.
+    skate3::native_ghost::Status st;
+    if (skate3::native_ghost::GetStatus(&st) && st.room_len > 0) {
+      std::snprintf(room_input_, sizeof(room_input_), "%.*s",
+                    int(st.room_len), st.room);
+    } else {
+      room_input_[0] = '\0';
+    }
+  }
   const std::string server = REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_server);
   std::snprintf(server_input_, sizeof(server_input_), "%s", server.c_str());
   const std::string name = REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_name);
@@ -92,8 +104,21 @@ void GhostDialog::OnDraw(ImGuiIO& io) {
     ImGui::SetKeyboardFocusHere(-1);
   }
   ImGui::SameLine();
+  // Copy the ACTIVE room (the one this player is actually in), which for an
+  // auto-assigned room lives in the connection state, not the cvar.
   if (ImGui::Button("Copy")) {
-    ImGui::SetClipboardText(REXCVAR_GET(skate3_ghost_room).c_str());
+    skate3::native_ghost::Status st;
+    if (skate3::native_ghost::GetStatus(&st) && st.room_len > 0) {
+      char buf[skate3::native_ghost::kGhostMaxRoomLen + 1] = {};
+      std::memcpy(buf, st.room, st.room_len);
+      ImGui::SetClipboardText(buf);
+      copy_feedback_ = true;
+    }
+  }
+  if (copy_feedback_) {
+    ImGui::SameLine();
+    ImGui::TextDisabled("copied");
+    copy_feedback_ = false;
   }
   ImGui::TextDisabled("Empty = the server assigns one; share it with friends.");
 

src/skate3_native_ghost_dialog.h

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class GhostDialog final : public rex::ui::ImGuiDialog {
 
   bool visible_ = false;
   bool synced_ = false;
+  bool copy_feedback_ = false;
   char room_input_[16] = {};
   char server_input_[128] = {};
   char name_input_[skate3::native_ghost::kGhostMaxNameLen + 1] = {};

src/skate3_native_render.cpp

@@ -473,9 +473,6 @@ extern "C" REX_FUNC(sub_827A52C8) {
   __imp__sub_827A52C8(ctx, base);
   if (skate3::native_render::Enabled()) {
     skate3::native_palette::OnBoneTransforms(base, parts, count);
-    // Ghost multiplayer: capture the local player's world transform (the
-    // pack-owner entity at this point is the player's SkaterPresEntity).
-    skate3::native_ghost::OnLocalSkaterTick(base);
   }
 }
 

tools/release/release.sh

@@ -78,14 +78,46 @@ if [ ! -f "$GAME_ROOT/default.xex" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# ---- helpers (Windows Git Bash lacks zip/python; provide fallbacks) ---------
+json_id() {  # read JSON on stdin, print the value of "id"
+  if command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    python3 -c "import sys,json
+try: print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))
+except Exception: print('')"
+  elif command -v python >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    python -c "import sys,json
+try: print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))
+except Exception: print('')"
+  else
+    grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -1 | cut -d: -f2
+  fi
+}
+
+make_zip() {  # make_zip <zipname> <dir>
+  if command -v zip >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    (cd "$(dirname "$2")" && zip -r "$(basename "$1")" "$(basename "$2")")
+  elif command -v 7z >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    7z a -tzip "$1" "$2" >/dev/null
+  elif command -v powershell >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    powershell -NoProfile -Command "Compress-Archive -Path '$2' -DestinationPath '$1' -Force"
+  else
+    echo "ERROR: no zip tool found (install zip, 7z, or use PowerShell)"; exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# ---- build ------------------------------------------------------------------
 TU_ARGS=""
 if [ -n "$TU" ]; then
   if [ ! -f "$TU" ]; then echo "ERROR: title update package not found: $TU"; exit 1; fi
   TU_ARGS="-DSKATE3_TITLE_UPDATE_PACKAGE=$TU"
+elif [ -n "$(ls "$REPO"/TU_12K2276_* "$GAME_ROOT"/TU_12K2276_* 2>/dev/null | head -1)" ]; then
+  TU="$(ls "$REPO"/TU_12K2276_* "$GAME_ROOT"/TU_12K2276_* 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
+  echo "==> Using title update package: $TU"
+  TU_ARGS="-DSKATE3_TITLE_UPDATE_PACKAGE=$TU"
 fi
 
 echo "==> Release $TAG ($EXT)  preset=$PRESET  game=$GAME_ROOT"
-echo "==> Configure (extra args: ${CMAKE_ARGS:-none})"
+echo "==> Configure"
 cmake --preset "$PRESET" -DSKATE3_GAME_DATA_ROOT="$GAME_ROOT" $TU_ARGS $CMAKE_ARGS
 echo "==> Generate recompiled code"
 cmake --build --preset "$PRESET" --target generate-all --parallel
@@ -116,7 +148,7 @@ if [ -f "$OUT/game/default.xexp" ]; then
 fi
 cp README.md "$STAGE/"
 rm -f "$NAME.zip"
-zip -r "$NAME.zip" "$STAGE"
+make_zip "$NAME.zip" "$STAGE"
 rm -rf "$STAGE"
 echo "==> Packaged: $NAME.zip ($(du -h "$NAME.zip" | cut -f1))"
 sha256sum "$NAME.zip"
@@ -132,15 +164,11 @@ if [ "$UPLOAD" = 1 ]; then
   RELEASE_ID="$(curl -s -X POST "$INSTANCE/api/v1/repos/$REPO_FULL/releases" \
     -H "$AUTH" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d "{\"tag_name\":\"$TAG\",\"name\":\"Skate 3 Recomp $TAG\",\"target_commitish\":\"main\"}" \
-    | python3 -c "import sys,json
+    | json_id)"
-try: print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))
-except Exception: print('')")"
 
   if [ -z "$RELEASE_ID" ]; then
     RELEASE_ID="$(curl -s "$INSTANCE/api/v1/repos/$REPO_FULL/releases/tags/$TAG" -H "$AUTH" \
-      | python3 -c "import sys,json
+      | json_id)"
-try: print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))
-except Exception: print('')")"
   fi
   if [ -z "$RELEASE_ID" ]; then
     echo "ERROR: could not create/find release '$TAG'"; exit 1
@@ -148,9 +176,14 @@ except Exception: print('')")"
 
   curl -s -X POST "$INSTANCE/api/v1/repos/$REPO_FULL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets" \
     -H "$AUTH" -F "attachment=@$NAME.zip" -F "name=$NAME.zip" \
-    | python3 -c "import sys,json
+    | if command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 || command -v python >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        PY=python3; command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 || PY=python
+        "$PY" -c "import sys,json
 try:
     a=json.load(sys.stdin); print('Uploaded asset', a.get('name'), a.get('size'), 'bytes')
 except Exception as e: print('upload response parse failed:', e)"
+      else
+        echo "Upload request sent (no python to parse the response)"
+      fi
   echo "==> Done: https://git.mithraic.cloud/$REPO_FULL/releases/tag/$TAG"
 fi

tools/release/windows-build.cmd

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+@echo off
+rem One-click Windows release build for skate3recomp-multiplayer.
+rem
+rem Fixes the known Windows build issues documented in /mnt/archive/Issues.txt
+rem (and mirrored in docs/releases.md):
+rem   1. stable Windows SDK so kernel32.lib resolves (vcvarsall with an SDK
+rem      version instead of the broken default),
+rem   2. Git Bash %LIB% mangling (MSYS2_ARG_CONV_EXCL=*),
+rem   3. missing rexglue submodules (git submodule update --init + self-heal).
+rem
+rem Usage (from a normal cmd.exe / PowerShell prompt):
+rem   tools\release\windows-build.cmd [--tag vX.Y.Z] [--upload]
+rem
+rem Config via environment variables:
+rem   VCVARSALL   path to vcvarsall.bat (default: VS 18 Community x64)
+rem   WINSDK      Windows SDK version (default 10.0.26100.0; try 10.0.22621.0
+rem               if yours is different)
+rem   GITBASH     path to Git for Windows bash.exe
+setlocal
+
+if "%VCVARSALL%"=="" set "VCVARSALL=%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat"
+if "%WINSDK%"==""    set "WINSDK=10.0.26100.0"
+if "%GITBASH%"==""   set "GITBASH=%ProgramFiles%\Git\bin\bash.exe"
+
+if not exist "%VCVARSALL%" (
+  echo [ERROR] vcvarsall.bat not found: %VCVARSALL%
+  echo         Set VCVARSALL to your Visual Studio install, e.g.
+  echo         "%%ProgramFiles%%\Microsoft Visual Studio\17\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat"
+  exit /b 1
+)
+if not exist "%GITBASH%" (
+  echo [ERROR] Git Bash not found: %GITBASH%
+  echo         Install Git for Windows or set GITBASH.
+  exit /b 1
+)
+
+echo [1/3] Loading MSVC environment (x64, SDK %WINSDK%)
+call "%VCVARSALL%" x64 %WINSDK%
+if errorlevel 1 (
+  echo [ERROR] vcvarsall failed. Try a different WINSDK, e.g.
+  echo         set WINSDK=10.0.22621.0
+  exit /b 1
+)
+
+rem Prevent Git Bash from converting/corrupting the MSVC environment.
+rem MSYS2_ARG_CONV_EXCL protects command-line ARGUMENTS; the actual
+rem kernel32.lib LNK1104 is caused by MSYS rewriting the %LIB% ENVIRONMENT
+rem variable (backslashes + semicolons), which requires MSYS2_ENV_CONV_EXCL.
+set "MSYS2_ARG_CONV_EXCL=*"
+set "MSYS2_ENV_CONV_EXCL=*"
+
+if "%LIB%"=="" (
+  echo [WARN] LIB is empty after vcvarsall - try a different WINSDK
+  echo        e.g.  set WINSDK=10.0.22621.0
+)
+echo       LIB=%LIB%
+
+rem Convert the repo path to forward slashes for Git Bash (%~dp0 is
+rem tools\release\ with a trailing backslash; ..\.. reaches the repo root).
+set "REPO=%~dp0..\.."
+set "REPO=%REPO:\=/%"
+
+echo [2/3] Initializing submodules (rexglue SDK + nested)
+"%GITBASH%" --login -c "cd '%REPO%' && git submodule update --init --jobs 4 && bash tools/ci/init-submodules.sh"
+if errorlevel 1 (
+  echo [ERROR] submodule init failed.
+  exit /b 1
+)
+
+echo [3/3] Building release
+"%GITBASH%" --login -c "cd '%REPO%' && bash tools/release/release.sh %*"
+exit /b %errorlevel%
+endlocal