Arx Fatalis demo: original local-media preparation

Source-only lane NEW-GAME-ARX-FATALIS-DEMO-20261007. No guest launch, installation, gameplay or release qualification yet. Current-main registry, public desktop list, task history and retained run names were checked before selection; no Arx entry or prior player-control qualification was found.

Original local source: test/binaries/win98-games-a-d/Arx_Fatalis-demo-D3D-Glide/. 17 regular files total164,537,198 bytes, read in place. Setup.msi SHA256 dabbf8e13cbdab342621712bb85fdb863e0122e1b9e4c3bf073cfc3dde2b9a5d; bin/ARX.exe SHA256 ebd3e2b3b14b678ea70e7aed58daf2ba5eb4d6681a3ea294e603228f84d27aa7. The MSI reports ProductName Arx Fatalis, ProductVersion1.0.0 and product code {96443F45-13E2-11D6-AC87-00D0B7A9E540}. These identify installer metadata, not an independently verified executable version or license.

Exact static installation closure

The repository's tools/msi-tables.js decoded File/Media/Component/Directory and Registry tables; 7z l -slt listed each original cabinet without extracting. 12 MSI file rows map to C:\Program Files\JoWood\Arx Fatalis:

All source members/loose files exist. The three large PAKs are not installed; they remain compressed. Selective extraction would require182,718,870 additional bytes (about174.25MiB), plus small metadata. Do not duplicate existing loose payload or unpack all original media. MSI source-directory mapping uses bin, while target misc contains font/logo. Preserve original bytes: stale MSI FileSize values say33 for ARX.exe,194572 for LOC.pak and1640420 for data2.pak; these do not justify truncating or replacing the original loose files.

MSI Registry sets HKLM Software\Arkane Studios\Installed Apps\arx fatalis, value Folder to [INSTALLDIR]. Action_EAX_install (type114, condition NOT Installed, sequence6650) references .\autorun\redist\EAXUnified.exe, which is absent in the supplied tree. This installer-side dependency remains explicit; no claim of a complete successful original installer. ARX imports DDRAW, DINPUT, WINMM, COMCTL32, KERNEL32, USER32, GDI32, COMDLG32, ADVAPI32, SHELL32, OLE32 and original Athena.dll. Athena directly imports KERNEL32, USER32 and OLE32; dynamic audio/device requirements remain runtime-unknown.

Next: review a bounded selective three-CAB extraction/byte-hash receipt and faithful12-file layout, then local-only manifest/registry recipe and ordinary menu/new-character/world input route. No engine changes or runtime grant are implied by this inventory. No fabricated saves, config overrides or EAX success.

Detailed receipts (ignored local evidence): scratch/wt-diehard-20261007/scratch/arx-fatalis-preparation/install-plan.json, msi-tables.json and three SetupN.cab.listing.txt files.

2026-10-07: static installation and first bounded browser observations

The three exact CAB members were decoded and rehashed successfully (182,718,870 bytes). Twelve original installed files were materialized as hardlinks, 188,916,135 logical bytes, with saved loose-file hashes and compressed-member receipt hashes checked before and after linking. Host originals were never written. The private browser manifest uses the MSI target directory, working directory and original Folder registry value. No EAX custom action, configuration or save was fabricated.

The first browser baseline exposed a missing harness allowlist entry for the real test/binaries/tlbs/stdole2.tlb; it stopped after window creation, without proving that warning caused the startup wait. The corrected second run fetched that original 15,088-byte type library successfully (SHA256 db456130e4b131aff27a6a3179464a28c9452f06eb6f2081d2aea38128d31895). Its actual served WASM was 8eb283c1b595afe336c3e2407f722e19d47aad0739784de4864ba699c8b5712f, 1,719,085 bytes: the retained earlier runtime baseline, not a claim of latest-main compilation. Private JS includes the validated thread-zero-timeout fix. Chrome ran headful with the established SwiftShader flags.

All twelve files mounted; original ARX Fatalis window creation occurred. Four personally reviewed captures, through approximately 259 seconds, retained one renderer window HWND65537 at x0/y0, 940×710, visible:false. The host reported running/Worker true; those page mirrors do not establish the owning CPU's progress or wait state. No menu appeared, and no guest input was sent. The original 300-second deadline closed browser/server at 11:57:20.648Z, Chrome exited0, both PIDs disappeared, and HTTP streams drained with zero errors. A final capture requested after the guard was not executed.

OLE32/SHELL32 are listed as app-local native candidates, absent from this original media; the loader reported its existing builtin fallback. Neither that fallback nor the missing installer EAX action has been established as the cause. Do not force the hidden window visible or seed state. Next work is original startup-path inspection and bounded owning Worker evidence after CreateWindow; another unchanged quiet launch would not identify the boundary.

Evidence: scratch/wt-diehard-20261007/scratch/arx-fatalis-preparation/browser-attempt2/{finding,identity,cleanup,validation}.json, four PNG/state pairs and command log. Validation SHA256 c1b72ea582b1e61ba4d6a6ef5459b8f86d433a1c58d2d537266ffa915b17e00c covers15 artifacts. No gameplay, input-response, audio or FPS qualification.