Army Men original demo recovery, 2026-10-19

User authorization scratch/license-acceptance-authorization-20261018.json supersedes the old licence-decision hold. Accepted in guest remains false. This checkpoint recovers original assets only; no Windows executable, emulator, build or browser ran, and no input was delivered. Root owns runtime scheduling and TODOS/STATUS. Other review holds and public deployment restrictions remain.

Recovered original bytes

Evidence directory on this host: /home/user/wine-assembly/scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-recovery. Its payload/ contains all 187 original files, 43,721,065 bytes. Each path, size and SHA-256 equals the retained 20261015 acquisition manifest. Original archive, wrapper, licence and readme are retained separately from Git.

Reproduce using the new acquisition-only script:

node tools/recover-army-men-authorized.js /home/user/wine-assembly NEW_ABSOLUTE_DIRECTORY

The script requires a new destination, verifies exact outer and inner hashes, uses explicit embedded ZIP extraction, CRC-tests both layers, and verifies the complete output set. It retains diagnostic logs and a receipt on failure. The source is the original https://archive.thedatadungeon.com/army_men_1998/distributions/1998-09-14_microsoft_windows_demo/a.zip.

Fresh admission was 2,849,222,656 bytes free; projected archive, extracted allocation and evidence cost 89,351,825 bytes, in addition to the required 2 GiB +128 MiB reserve (2,281,701,376 bytes). Final free was 2,768,031,744. This historical receipt is not the next allocation's admission. Syntax and real recovery verification passed; no emulator compatibility claim follows.

Next normal installer route, awaiting root runtime grant

1. Freshly pin current canonical wasm and all physical runtime sources plus these originals. Recheck free bytes after reserving outputs. Do not use the historical 937466db module pins or run the old controller unchanged.
2. Mount the original setup manifest under C:\ARMYMEN, empty arguments, cwd C:\ARMYMEN, original SETUP.EXE. Historical setup manifest is scratch/runs/20261015-army-men-original-setup/docs/re-notes/army-men-setup-manifest.json; preserve its case-collision duplicate handling. Use --vfs-tree, --exe-guest-path=C:\ARMYMEN\SETUP.EXE, --args=, --no-build, explicit current --wasm, --no-threads, --capture-launch, --save-vfs, --reg-export, bounded log and screenshot outputs.
3. The normal historical bootstrap generated windows/temp/_ins576._mp, 648,704 bytes, SHA-256 48141f38085b79f09e6e34d6c835ca3fefe970141b6f8435cf70ee7046c028c0. That generated file is currently absent. Capture it again through setup; inspect actual receipt/header, complete VFS and registry timing before a separately reviewed child replay. Historical handoff had empty args and cwd c:\armymen, 246 captured files. Do not invent this state or launch ArmymenDemo.exe to skip the installer. Prior bootstrap cleanup warning remains a known limitation even though it exited zero.
4. On the original child's freshly reviewed Welcome screen, normal Next was historically at (415,394) in 640x480. Re-observe before clicking. Wait at least five seconds after the genuine Software License Agreement appears: the old immediate capture had an incompletely painted text control. Inspect the fresh Yes control, send one ordinary mouse click and retain actual input receipt plus before/after evidence. Historical dialog has Yes control ID6, but this is identification only, not a direct command.
5. Stop at the next stable screen or first failure. Only a delivered click and observed guest transition establish acceptance. Installation, normal game launch and player control are later, separate proof stages.

Proposed first allocation is bootstrap only: 30s guest, 45s controller, 60s hard process-group deadline, 2 MiB log cap, 192 MiB output reserve, fresh admission above 2 GiB +128 MiB after reserve, stop at 2 GiB +64 MiB. This generates evidence for the child stage without granting an automatic retry. All original/source/module hashes and owned group absence must be checked on exit. Current runtime grant is still required.

Readme's later game controls are Numpad8 forward, Numpad2 backward, Numpad4/6 turn and Space/left mouse fire; it recommends Boot Camp first. These are future gameplay criteria, not an authorized shortcut around normal setup.

Root-granted current bootstrap result

One bootstrap ran on 2026-10-19 at 00:10:41–00:10:42 UTC with current root HEAD 3be2f9678cf5f1fb20b362cabbebdc38bf68692e, canonical module 93818216116a49fbc2b52074a80254d5f8aebdef753b7f22b34d90be84c323c6. The new tools/army-men-authorized-bootstrap.js records the actual bounded command and physical pins; the exact executed copy is retained as controller.js. It used all 187 safe case-unique original mounts (no duplicates existed in this manifest) and original NE header offset3584. No original bytes changed.

The normal WinExec/ShellExecute handoff produced the expected _ins576._mp, 648,704 bytes, SHA-256 48141f38085b79f09e6e34d6c835ca3fefe970141b6f8435cf70ee7046c028c0, PE i386, header offset128. Actual receipt gives empty args, cwd c:\armymen, guestExe c:\windows\temp\_ins576._mp, and 246 files. Capture directory contains these 246 files plus launch.json. Full final VFS has 246 files. Registry export SHA-256 is 46ff1eea835bb0633ae74b5bb23a4f22c625f8bcda53a76d9c50bdcd5ad2ea3e; it is end-of-bootstrap state, not an asserted launch-time registry snapshot. The genuine child was not launched. No guest input or acceptance occurred.

Exit0, no signal or guard; output log79,059 bytes. All 3,224 physical runtime pins, original/mounted files and canonical wasm remained unchanged. Owned process group was absent. The historical thread 1 window cleanup failed: unreachable warning recurred and is preserved; exit0 is not installation success. Reviewed final640x480 PNG is uniformly teal, with no installer UI or gameplay. No runtime retry was made.

Admission free2,765,135,872 minus192MiB output reserve exceeded2GiB+128MiB. Controller's sampled minimum was2,765,103,104 before rapid final exports; independent postcapture free2,671,403,008 is the later disk reading. Both are retained rather than representing the sampled minimum as a full-run floor. Output allocation including hardlinked mounts was132MiB, below192MiB.

Evidence is scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-bootstrap/: original manifest, physical pins, executed controller, launch/terminal receipts, full log, registry, capture and finalVFS, reviewed PNG and capture-review.json with every captured/final path hash. No candidate result is fabricated for this unregistered game. Next requires root review and a separate child allocation; use the newly captured original child and exact receipt, not the absent old remote tree. The prior licence authorization remains valid for the later ordinary visible Yes action.

Authorized child licence accepted; stopped at destination

Root independently checked all247 capture entries and prior process absence, then granted one90/105/120-second child allocation with4MiB log/192MiB output bounds. On2026-10-19 00:15:20–00:16:09 UTC, the exact captured child ran with empty args, cwd c:\armymen, all246 captured VFS files and the authentic end-of-bootstrap registry. Actual HEAD was afba00f721802b6e125979d8d32b32b4edea5665; canonical module remained93818216 as pinned above. The preflight's inherited mountFiles187/setupHeader fields describe the original bootstrap provenance; the actual child mount is246 files, as controller.js and the complete artifact seal show.

Fresh Welcome was visually reviewed. Ordinary Next (415,394) was delivered at batch1435052. After a5.5-second settling wait the captured populated Software License Agreement visibly identified The3DO Company / Army Men Demo. The normal Yes button at (415,394) was clicked once at batch2606714; the reviewed after image shows Choose Destination Location. Army Men acceptedInGuest is now true. The next destination Next was not clicked. The controller was quit normally there; installation and gameplay remain unattempted. No silent install, direct command, memory edit or game bypass.

The first attempted ctl command used unsupported verb click:415:394 and was rejected locally, without guest input. Correct click 415,394 then delivered Next once. Both actual normal clicks are recorded in input receipts and full guest log. acceptance.json records the reviewed guest transition and explicitly supersedes the automatic false default in raw postflight.json; that initial controller field was not a review of guest state. The committed controller now leaves acceptance null pending review. Its executed copy is retained unchanged in evidence, and it was not rerun for this metadata fix.

Exit0, no signal/guard; owned process group absent, all3224runtime pins, 187 originals, captured mounts/original capture and wasm unchanged. No child cleanup warning or crash was found; the bootstrap warning remains separately preserved. Admission2,667,089,920 minus201,326,592 reserve exceeded required 2,281,701,376. Minimum including final free sample was2,615,853,056. Log55,175 bytes. Final VFS and registry were exported, but registry SHA is unchanged from bootstrap: the observed acceptance is not proof of persistent acceptance after restart. A new process may show the terms again.

Evidence scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-child/ preserves reviewed welcome/licence/after/final PNGs, both delivered input receipts, full log, physical/original pins, exact executed controller, final VFS and registry, acceptance.json and521-artifact hash seal (the seal itself is the522nd file). Original licence SHA-256: a3befa2602aa870d65fd059a14619590684e803b56bc66820529da1f76512dfa. Runtime released for root scheduling. No installation/gameplay claim.

Prepared next installation allocation (not granted or run)

The saved VFS/registry does not preserve the live Choose Destination dialog. Restart the authentic captured installer child from the reviewed bootstrap receipt, re-observe Welcome, click normal Next, wait for populated terms, then select the still-authorized ordinary Yes again. Observe destination anew and use its default location through normal Next; inspect each later setup-type, program-folder or DirectX choice before any action. Do not invent its sequence or paths from the truncated destination label. Stop at first failure or the completed installer/normal launch offer. Do not automatically launch the game. If setup itself starts a new process, capture that original handoff for review.

Measured original payload43,721,065 bytes, current child input45,748,330 bytes, post-licence VFS47,995,155 bytes. A conservative prospective complete VFS adds another full original payload (about92MB). Budget two such exports (finalVFS and possible captured handoff), conservatively charge45.75MB for the hardlinked input mount, and allow16MiB for logs/screens/metadata: about246MB total. Propose 256MiB output reserve,4MiB log cap, same90/105/120s bounds and 2GiB+128MiB admission after reserve /2GiB+64MiB stop. This is a bounded planning estimate, not an asserted installer expansion size; actual growth must be monitored and stopped at the cap. No payload/build copies are needed. Fresh source-time free2,614,083,584 minus268,435,456 reserve gave2,345,648,128, only63,946,752 above admission. Recheck on grant; any shortfall stops before guest launch and is not permission to lower the reserve or delete evidence.

Installation replay stopped by disk guard

Root granted the proposed continuation after integration. One replay ran 00:18:11–00:18:33 UTC, actual root6ec42569900771668810f9b95f252624447fdd6d, same93818216 canonical module. Fresh initial free2,611,773,440 minus256MiB reserve passed admission; after pinning/mounting preflight free2,611,142,656 also passed. All3227 physical runtime files,187 originals and246 captured mounts were pinned before execution. Original child/args/cwd and real end-of-bootstrap registry remained unchanged.

Fresh Welcome PNG was inspected and one normal Next (415,394) was delivered at batch1255392. The log reached Software License Agreement and populated terms. During the5.5-second settling wait the disk guard fired at 00:18:33.097 UTC, minimum2,101,018,624 below2,214,592,512 stop. It killed the owned group immediately; terminal SIGKILL, no survivors. The subsequent licence PNG request returned ECONNREFUSED because the process was already gone. No Yes click occurred in this replay, no destination action and no installation action. Earlier observed licence acceptance remains true.

This run exported no final registry/VFS because of guard termination. Log16,044 bytes; mount/output allocation47,075,328 bytes including hardlinked originals, far below256MiB cap. All source/original/mount/capture/module pins were unchanged. At00:19:10 free bytes had recovered to2,609,987,584 without cleanup or retry. The transient loss is unassigned: timing/recovery does not establish a platform or guest cause. No platform-process action was taken. Root now holds runtime pending disk recovery; no unchanged automatic retry.

Evidence scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-install/ contains exact executed controller, preflight/physical pins, launch/process receipts, reviewed Welcome, delivered Next receipt, complete log, guard/postflight, review.json distinguishing prior acceptance from this replay, and full artifact seal. tools/army-men-authorized-install.js preserves this bounded recipe. No installation or gameplay completion is claimed.

Single extra-reserve retry also guard-stopped

After root restored headroom and the other native lane released, root granted one retry with an additional512MiB transient reserve. Output reserve remained 256MiB; admission required free minus768MiB above2,281,701,376, and stop floor rose to2,751,463,424. Other90/105/120s and4MiB limits stayed unchanged. tools/army-men-authorized-install-reserve.js ran once in a new directory. Initial free3,177,222,144 passed; prelaunch pin/mount receipt free3,176,595,456 also passed. Root6ec425699 and canonical93818216 were unchanged.

Welcome was freshly reviewed, normal Next delivered at batch1056861, populated licence reviewed after5.5s settle, then normal Yes delivered at batch2252451. Reviewed destination.png shows Choose Destination Location: acceptance is observed again in this replay, separately from prior evidence. Before the next action, disk guard fired at00:22:34.234 UTC with minimum 2,608,390,144 below the raised2,751,463,424 stop. SIGKILL terminal, owned group absent. Destination Next then returned ECONNREFUSED and was not delivered. Installation has still not started. No further retry was made.

All3227 runtime pins,187 originals,246 mounts and original capture/module remained unchanged; log18,477 bytes, no finalVFS or registry export. At 00:22:54 free2,493,841,408 was lower again after the owned group had exited. No cause is assigned from that timing. Root was notified; no platform-process action, evidence deletion or other runtime was performed. The higher guard kept this execution above the original2GiB floor, but did not prevent the transient headroom loss from terminating the run.

Evidence scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-install-reserve/ retains three reviewed screens, delivered Next/Yes receipts, empty failed destination receipt (explained in review.json), exact controller/launch/preflight, full log, guard/postflight, separate replay acceptance review and artifact seal. Both disk-stopped runs and the original accepted child run remain intact. Runtime released, no installation/gameplay claim.

Root subsequently corrected reserve scheduling:512MiB is an admission buffer, not an addition to the hard stop; raising both made that buffer unavailable for absorbing transient usage. The extra-reserve run's observed minimum2,608,390,144 stayed above the original2,214,592,512 hard stop and2GiB. Its actual raised-guard termination remains unchanged evidence, not a pass.

Prepared (not run) tools/army-men-authorized-install-buffer.js uses a new run directory, still admits only if free minus768MiB exceeds2,281,701,376, keeps256MiB output cap/4MiB log/90-105-120s bounds, and returns the hard stop to the original2,214,592,512. This implements root's explicit correction; it does not change the original floor. A fresh root grant and admission are required. Navigate reviewed original Welcome/settled licence/default destination and subsequent observed installer choices, stopping on failure or completion/launch offer, without launching the game. No automatic retry.

Corrected-buffer run reached Setup Complete

Root granted one corrected-buffer run; immediate free3,167,379,456 exceeded required3,087,007,744. Actual HEAD f7c0829cb10617455dd05df39dc7fa0f80a3cbb2, same93818216 module,3228 runtime pins. Preflight00:23:55 free3,166,765,056, outputs256MiB plus512MiB admission buffer, original hard stop2,214,592,512. This run is separate from both stops.

Four ordinary clicks followed freshly inspected original screens: Welcome Next batch809445; settled populated licence Yes2025678; default destination Next2549523; default program folder Army Men Demo Next3043201. Actual file-copy progress was observed, followed by a reviewed Setup Complete screen stating setup had finished installing Army Men. We stopped at its Finish offer by normal controller quit: Finish was not clicked and the game was not launched. No VFS-backed executable handoff occurred.

Exit0, no signal/guard, group absent. Minimum free2,407,358,464 stayed above the original floor despite transient usage. Log96,656 bytes; all3228 physical runtime pins,187 original files,246 input mounts/capture and module remained unchanged. Full final VFS (433 files) and registry were exported. Reviewed completion and actual installed bytes support installation progress/completion reported by setup; no post-Finish cleanup, game startup or gameplay is claimed.

Installed directory is C:\Program Files\The 3DO Company\Army Men Demo. Its166 files total40,952,601 bytes:165 match the original acquisition hashes at their relative paths, and the remaining generated uninst.isu is37,515 bytes, SHA-256 c5573fbc13d646c7fe40520da78e661aa36f8d4b4eb0c7bd2b54c57a1ed1acaf. Installed armymendemo.exe is770,560 bytes and matches original dea8303de872789553f3190ad64e80bf3c0528a5d9d3cb18ad85e0c40664078c. Final registry SHA-256: f9cb15d55aba37c096a4886b3c1968777281b40665f2d1e0281b127aa5745c6b.

Read-only normal launch preparation: the actual generated windows/start menu/programs/army men demo/army men demo.lnk, parsed with the production shell-link parser, targets C:\Program Files\The 3DO Company\Army Men Demo\ArmyMenDemo.exe, working directory C:\Program Files\The 3DO Company\Army Men Demo, empty args, showCmd1. Actual App Paths registry agrees with target and directory. For a separately granted startup use this installed EXE/guest path/cwd, empty args, complete exported finalVFS and its real registry; verify every installed/state hash first and freshly pin current runtime/module. Do not launch the source-directory EXE or synthesize registration. Finish remains unperformed; any resulting setup-finalization limitation must be explicit. No game runtime is authorized by this preparation and fresh disk admission is required before another allocation.

Evidence scratch/runs/20261019-army-men-authorized-install-buffer/ contains all reviewed screens and delivered clicks, full physical/source/launch/guard receipts, final433-file VFS/registry, installation-review.json, installed-manifest.json and full artifact seal. Both previous guard terminals remain intact. Root independently reviewed completion and process absence.