Document VAND GPS search graph

This commit is contained in:
2026-06-26 21:07:55 -05:00
parent d68a8745f0
commit 55f4087458
4 changed files with 343 additions and 14 deletions
+70 -6
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@@ -731,6 +731,60 @@ from `all.traffic_persistent`, which confirms that the displayed/player GPS path
is backed by the traffic lane graph even though `maxSpeed` and connection
probability patches did not affect route choice.
Later static work found the actual graph-search loop upstream of those result
records:
```text
route producer 0x44cc7c
packed-handle resolver 0x44e1a8
path search loop 0x44f054
path materializer 0x44eb68
heuristic distance helper 0x44f7bc
edge-cost callback 0x44f838
base provider filter 0x450b08
filtered provider filter 0x44ff68
```
`0x44f054` is an A*/Dijkstra-style open-list search. It validates packed start
and target handles, pushes the start node, repeatedly pops the lowest-priority
state, checks the target handle, traverses adjacent handles from the current
navigation segment, calls a provider filter through vtable slot `+0x08`, calls
edge cost through vtable slot `+0x10`, and records the predecessor/cost when a
neighbor improves.
Both the base and filtered cost providers use `0x44f838` for slot `+0x10`.
That function computes geometric distance between the current and neighbor
points and multiplies it by:
```text
provider[0x08 + ((neighborPoint[0x13] & 0x3f) * 4)]
```
The base provider constructor at `0x451158` initializes all 64 class
multipliers to `1.0`. The filtered provider constructor at `0x44b9b4` reuses the
same edge-cost function and mainly adds route masks/special zones. For normal
map routes, this means the live GPS edge cost is effectively geometric distance
over a compact navigation graph, not `lane.length / lane.maxSpeed`.
The packed handles resolved by `0x44e1a8` point into `VAND` navigation blobs
loaded from `base\worlds\03_night_city\_compiled\default\navigation_*.streamingsector`.
The 0x14-byte point record has:
- `+0x00`: adjacency/index field used by the search loop
- `+0x10`: 16-bit provider mask
- `+0x12`: small point metadata byte
- `+0x13`: packed route point class/flags; low six bits are the class used by
`0x44f838`
The helper `tools/analyze_vand_navigation.py` decodes these blobs from
streamingsector JSON. In the three extracted navigation samples, all blobs were
version 8, all point masks were `0x0003`, and the dominant classes were
`1`, `4`, `5`, and `3`. That matches the runtime edge-cost logs. This explains
why the earlier `all.traffic_persistent` patches changed vehicle simulation but
did not steer player GPS: the route chooser is walking the baked navigation
`VAND` graph, then later materializing/copying results that can be joined to
traffic lane hashes.
Static disassembly found a small traffic candidate scorer at `0x8d46cc`:
```text
@@ -779,12 +833,17 @@ RED4ext plugin was disabled. The hook is therefore disabled by default in source
(`kEnableGpsTrafficEdgeWeightPatch = false`) and the local installed DLL is
renamed to `EdgeWeightGPS.dll.disabled`.
The main takeaway is still valuable: traffic lane flags are available in native
route-side code, and `0x8d46cc` is an excellent landmark. It is not yet a safe
playable patch point. The next native work should avoid a full detour of this
hot scorer and instead look for either:
The main takeaway is still valuable, but narrower than first suspected:
traffic lane flags are available in native route-side endpoint/candidate code,
and `0x8d46cc` is an excellent landmark. It is not the city-wide graph-cost
function. The safer cost target is `0x44f838`, or a data patch against the
navigation `VAND` blobs it consumes. The next native work should avoid a full
detour of `0x8d46cc` and instead look for either:
- the broader search/expansion loop that feeds candidates into this selector
- a `0x44f838` edge-cost hook that classifies graph edges by spatial proximity
to highway/arterial corridors
- a navigation streamingsector patch that marks/weights selected `VAND` graph
points or edges
- an inline patch around the vanilla constants/branches if the selector proves
sufficient
- a safer result-stage rewrite only if upstream weighting cannot be patched
@@ -798,7 +857,12 @@ Better versions of this mod could:
`0x8d25xx` to `0x8d49xx` cluster
- replace the crashing `0x8d46cc` detour with a narrower inline patch or a
safer caller-side hook
- locate any native or baked edge-cost data not exposed in RTTI
- decode enough of the `VAND` graph to join navigation points to traffic lane
polygons and highway flags
- extract the full Night City navigation streamingsector set into workspace
storage and summarize it with `tools/analyze_vand_navigation.py`
- implement a bounded `0x44f838` edge-cost hook or `VAND` data patch using that
join, rather than traffic `maxSpeed`
- inspect `GPSOnly` connector lanes if a later native trace proves they are
consumed by the player GPS
- build district-specific presets if a real data-cost surface is found