RustRaptor/PLAN.md

Rust rewrite milestones

The independent Rust engine is the default launcher on branch codex/rust-rewrite. Its source, mods, schemas, tests and documentation live in RustRaptor/. The retained C++ checkout is optional reference material. Original catalog/reference assets remain ignored; authored mod images and sounds are tracked in Git.

The registered game has three sectors with nine waves each. Archive slots are asset containers, not five independent campaigns.

Implemented

• Checked asset decoders, typed namespaced registries and original content registration.
• Independent integer simulation at 70/3 Hz; deterministic RNG and SDL2 input/interpolated indexed rendering.
• Original / Scale2x / Scale3x / Scale4x modes, joined terrain filtering, sharp bitmap text and separate derived cache.
• Rust MUS, GENMIDI FM synthesis and digital DSP mixing, with native PCM comparisons.
• Menus, shop, equipment, mission selection, pilot slots, atomic saves, read-only legacy import and original AGX cinematics.
• Local mods, dependencies/conflicts, explicit overrides/priority/hashes, bounded deterministic Rhai hooks and transactional commands.
• In-game enable/disable and pending changes, save mismatch confirmation and backups, schemas, validation CLI and scripted Aurora example.
• Optional source-hashed HD loader/setting; a complete reviewed light-player banking sequence and selected enemy/boss/equipment/projectile/effect artwork with original fallback.
• C++/Rust replay recording and comparison tools, synthetic tests and local-original-data checks.

Validation and remaining work

1. Playable first mission: fresh pilots win through the boss at difficulties 1 and 2 using deterministic input and predictive steering. The complete 1,889-step original demo matches all captured native gameplay fields. Wider ordinary playtesting remains useful.
2. Complete game coverage: all 27 waves complete at each of four difficulties under an assisted fixture; all original weapons, training/campaign progression, legacy import and cinematics have checks. These fixtures do not establish exhaustive native parity or every menu/save route.
3. Mod API version 1: dependencies, overrides, script limits/errors, atomic enable/disable and incompatible saves have regressions. The bundled mission, weapons and enemies validate and have controlled playthroughs.
4. Visual treatment: complete sampled sprite sequences, palette shadows and joined terrain pass local checks; the desktop renderer has SD/HD 1080p measurements. The base-game HD remaster is partial. Rust is the default at the user's request; finishing every reference comparison is not a prerequisite to playing it.

See validation instructions and HD coverage for the evidence and its limits. Online mod distribution, an editor, total conversions, external MIDI/SoundFonts and additional desktop targets remain outside scope.

New content

Iron Coast has six individual mission mods, a campaign assembly, three individual weapon mods, three shared enemy mods, five distinct stage-boss mods and an original FM soundtrack package. New stages mix authored units with original enemies and their native movement paths. Each authored unit and mission supplies SD/HD artwork and synthesized sound effects; definitions, scripts, images, sounds and music are tracked together in Git. Dependency behavior, objectives and controlled playthroughs are documented in Iron Coast.