Recent work brings the existing launcher closer to a practical playtest installation: original-game setup, installable content packs, versioned runtime updates, faster repeat launches and local save backups. The rebuilt native host reaches the original live menu and exits normally, and a full local first-install preparation test has completed. Windows signing and the replacement hosted setup remain pending; this is a development update, not a new download announcement.
Launcher and installation
- Continued the existing Windows launcher rather than introducing a separate replacement. The current local preview is version 1.0.17.
- Added an installation flow for an existing supported MW3 installation or user-provided installation media and patch. Supported input identities are checked before preparation. Players supply their own game files.
- Separated the installed application, player settings, content packs and prepared runtime. Installed play no longer depends on developer checkout paths or the developer's asset preparation directories.
- Added a source-based native preparation pipeline. It builds the required game components locally from the player's admitted files, using the packaged preparation tools. Generated game code and original media are excluded from the source distribution.
- Added resumable preparation, bounded input validation, runtime layout checks and activation only after preparation succeeds. Preparation errors now include the child process exit code to make failed installations easier to diagnose.
- Rebuilt the native host from the selected rendering sources and built a new launcher setup. The rebuilt host played the intro, reached the original live menu and closed normally with exit code zero in an isolated local check.
- A full first-install preparation test completed after resuming its preserved work: 37,201 translated bodies, the remaining startup and heap components, SDK-free linking, complete runtime validation and atomic activation. It did not reuse a previously installed game-code module. This local result does not replace testing the final signed package on a clean Windows PC.
Content packs and third-party creators
- Extended Mods & Packs and Install Pack to accept prepared content through root-manifest .mw3pack archives. The supported contracts cover mech resources, environment resources and mission lighting, soundtrack content, HUD artwork and menu artwork.
- Added pack builders and launcher readers for these content types. Prepared resources can be consumed without repeating the developer's source-image conversion work on a player's PC.
- Added bounded archive validation, declared file hashes, safe path checks, duplicate and collision rejection, staged installation and retained previous versions for rollback. A failed import preserves the installed version.
- Enabled packs compose in a defined priority order. Mech collections resolve whole chassis records; shared mech textures have a separate ownership role. Turning content off removes its bindings from the launch configuration.
- Third-party creators can use the same supported pack formats and import flow. Packs must match an implemented payload contract and compatible native host. An arbitrary archive does not automatically add a new engine capability, and file hashes do not establish publisher trust.
- Prepared mission lighting is carried by the environment packs for Training and Operations 1 through 4. This includes the selected time-of-day and dynamic-lighting configuration rather than requiring players to reproduce developer settings manually.
- Packaged the current HUD and menu artwork and added soundtrack pack support. Cinematic pack validation and deployment hooks were also added, but the cinematic upgrade itself remains deferred.
- Alternate mech liveries are selected through texture and model pack resources. Native support reads the original actor's material identity to select a complete matching livery; incomplete or unknown optional matches retain the original rendering path.
Updates without reinstalling the game
- Added versioned runtime updates using a signed .mw3update metadata file and its companion ZIP. Players import the metadata through Settings & Steam, Game Updates, then prepare and install with the game closed.
- Updates validate signatures, archive hashes, original input identities and the resulting runtime before activation. A previous installed runtime can be selected for rollback.
- Unchanged generated game code can be reused when its exact identity matches the new version. A host or tool update does not automatically require rebuilding every unchanged game component.
- Content updates continue to use .mw3pack imports. The runtime update mechanism and Windows publisher signing are separate protections.
- Manual download and import is the current delivery route. An automatic public update feed is not configured. Changes to the launcher application itself still use a setup upgrade, which retains existing settings, original files and packs.
Startup and save management
- Added successful-verification receipts for unchanged installed content and a cache for composed environment resources. Missing, modified or corrupt inputs are checked again; incomplete or damaged composed outputs are rebuilt.
- In one local prepare-only comparison using the installed packs, startup preparation fell from 172.47 seconds cold to 2.01 seconds warm. This measures preparation on that system, not total game loading time or a performance promise for other PCs.
- Added visible startup progress and one warning that first startup can take an extended time depending on system specifications. Removed the duplicate warning.
- Added Save Backups under Settings & Steam. Back Up Now creates a local .mw3save.zip containing supported pilot, campaign, configuration and native player-settings files.
- Restore Selected and Load Backup File validate the complete archive before changing player files. A safety backup is created before restoration, unrelated saves are retained, and failed writes roll back applied changes.
- Backups require the game to be closed and remain local. After restoring, players launch normally and use the game's Load Game menu; this feature does not inject a mission into a running session.
Rendering, materials and model follow-up
- Corrected sky backdrop classification and expanded exact sky registrations across Training and the operation environment banks. Follow-up repairs keep distant textured terrain on its surface-lighting path and admit the untextured lower horizon without classifying ordinary distant terrain as sky.
- Added capture-adapter regression checks for registered sky, distant terrain, lower-horizon geometry, mixed depths and invalid inputs. These fixtures isolate the reported defects; final live appearance across missions still needs playtesting.
- Continued fixture lighting and shadow integration, material and normal-map preparation, surface diagnostics and the Mod Tools map/export workflow. These changes extend rendering and authoring support without claiming complete native campaign validation.
- Recorded replacement-model fit and attachment follow-up, including Orion height and collar work and restored Annihilator neck covers. Local asset corrections remain separate from original gameplay logic and from distribution eligibility.
Checks and remaining release work
The complete launcher fixture suite passed, including save restoration, safety-backup undo, malformed archive rejection and runtime-update checks. Thirty-five focused launcher Python tests passed, alongside preparation and signature-framing tests. The save-backup window was inspected without modifying actual player saves. The rebuilt native host's live-menu and normal-exit check and the full local first-install preparation run provide separate execution evidence.
Windows publisher-signing support now covers staged executable files, the setup and its uninstaller. Certificate-only attachment support was checked against an already Microsoft-signed tool DLL and reconstructed it byte for byte with a valid timestamped signature. That interoperability test does not mean the new game runtime or installer is already signed.
The old hosted setup was removed while its signed replacement is being prepared. The new setup remains local and unsigned, and has not been uploaded. Remaining release work is authenticated signing, final signature and preparation checks, clean-PC installation testing and verified publication of the replacement under Setup.
Formal gameplay acceptance remains 131 of 144. No new whole-game fidelity, Training completion or campaign-completion credit is claimed. Original media, replacement assets, generated game code, saves and signing credentials are excluded from this source commit and public development summary.
The source repository is currently private; GitHub links require collaborator access.