fix(D282): front-end menu nav always uses left stick, matching F10-overlay convention

Menus read the same stick_x/stick_y channel as in-level gameplay, and
naturalPitchMode (SOLITARE-style, default-on) routes that channel to
the right stick for continuous look. Since front.c's menu nav shares
the channel, it silently inherited the right-stick routing, which is
unintuitive on a modern pad/Deck outside a running stage. The gamepad
poll already computed an unused padMenuMode flag for shoulder-button
gating; reused it to always source stick_x/stick_y from the left
stick outside RUN_STAGE, regardless of naturalPitchMode. Port-layer
only, inert during gameplay -- verified via -level_09/-level_20
unregressed; in-menu feel needs a human controller playtest.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01KwZViAFaXua3PKgHHjNgvi

docs/dev/findings-index.csv

@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ D271,FIXED,"D236 wall, third pass —","FIXED-but-insufficient (src/game/bg.c #i
 D276,OPEN,"D236 wall, eighth pass —","REFRAMED — oml=0xc81049d8/fmt=3 is the primary suspect now, not D269's CI8 pair; 0x0c184b50 unattributed; wall still open, see D236"
 D279,?,"Backfilled — this label was consumed by an undocumented partial session (2026-09-14 ~23:00) that left artifacts in scratch/ (d279_run.log, d279_imgmap_run.log,…",undocumented — artifacts only
 D281,OPEN,"Game.AllUnlocked (D257) still breaks audio, and can also break right-mouse aim, when enabled before any save has ever been written (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-0…","OPEN — user-reported regression, not root-caused; mitigation is user-facing guidance only (release notes:"
-D282,OPEN,"QoL ask (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15):","OPEN — not designed; QoL, port-only."
+D282,FIXED,"QoL ask (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15):","FIXED (port/src/input.c, #ifdef not needed —"
 D283,OPEN,"Steam Deck first-run preset (D-unnumbered in port/src/video.c/main.c, videoApplySteamOSDefaults()) did not apply for a user who added the game via Steam in Des…","OPEN — mechanism understood, root cause (Desktop-vs-Game-Mode STEAMOS env var difference) unverified on real hardware; user-facing workaround documented in README/release notes."
 D280,?,"D236 wall, ninth pass —","REFRAMED again — no fix; next steps in detail section, see D236"
 D275,?,"D236 wall, eighth pass —","done — probes live, uncommitted; see D276 for what they found"

docs/dev/findings.md

@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ covers D24–D69; the log continues in §H (D32 procedure, D70–D121).
 | D276 | **D236 wall, eighth pass — the true painter of the visible weave, at confirmed weave pixels, is a fully-opaque IA8 blocky-noise texture sampled with a fixed, identical 2×-wrapped UV window and low fog — NOT either of D269's named CI8 classes.** Multi-point pixel attribution + per-vertex fog (D275's `GE_D270PIX` list extension) at 4 pixels picked directly off the reproduced weave screenshot found the D269 OPA/XLU classes absent at 2 of them; the dominant front-most class there (`oml` low bits coincide with the XLU class but `fmt=3`/IA, not CI8) decodes to blocky gray static, matches D267's already-dumped-but-dismissed "seq 113" texture, and reproduces D265's original "all cards sample u:0..64/v:0..16" observation to the exact texel — that lead was reframed away from prematurely in D269's second pass. A third class (`0x0c184b50`, CI8) is present everywhere with erratic z/w (`-0.04..0.99`) and high fog when it does land normally — flagged as the possible real "tree" layer, with its own likely occlusion/billboard bug, meaning D236 may have two separate root causes, not one. | REFRAMED — `oml=0xc81049d8`/`fmt=3` is the primary suspect now, not D269's CI8 pair; `0x0c184b50` unattributed; wall still open, see D236 |
 | D279 | **Backfilled — this label was consumed by an undocumented partial session (2026-09-14 ~23:00) that left artifacts in `scratch/` (`d279_run.log`, `d279_imgmap_run.log`, `d279_g110.png`, `d279_g220*.png`, `d279_gray_1500.png`) but no written conclusion; the logs carry no D279-tagged lines, so its exact probe/finding cannot be reconstructed from the tree.** Next available label after it: D280. | undocumented — artifacts only |
 | D281 | **`Game.AllUnlocked` (D257) still breaks audio, and can also break right-mouse aim, when enabled before any save has ever been written (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15) — a distinct regression from D259, which only fixed the all-zero-slot volume case.** User's empirical workaround: complete a level normally first (e.g. Dam on Agent, which writes a real save), THEN enable `All unlocked`; enabling it on a completely fresh install (no save yet) still reproduces both symptoms. Not root-caused this session — D259's `geEepromPatchAllCheats` all-zero-slot seeding was verified against exactly the "fresh eep" case, so either that fix doesn't cover every code path a truly-first-launch toggle can hit (e.g. a race between the F10 toggle taking effect and the very first save-slot creation/read), or there's a second, independent mechanism. The right-mouse-aim symptom is new information with no prior lead — cross-ref D211/D194 (aim-mode sensitivity/mode family) for where a save-state-dependent aim regression could originate. | OPEN — user-reported regression, not root-caused; mitigation is user-facing guidance only (release notes: don't enable until a save exists, treat as experimental). |
-| D282 | **QoL ask (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15): front-end menu navigation (main menu, file select, mission-select map) currently requires the RIGHT analog stick — matches N64 default control schemes but is unintuitive on a modern controller/Steam Deck, where the left stick is the expected primary-navigation input.** Distinct from the F10 options overlay, which is already left-stick/D-pad navigable (`port/src/optionsoverlay.c`). Scope: front-end menu input in `src/game/front.c` (or wherever N64 stick reads are gated by the active `controldef`) — likely wants a port-layer input remap for these menu contexts specifically, not a general control-scheme change. | OPEN — not designed; QoL, port-only. |
+| D282 | **QoL ask (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15): front-end menu navigation (main menu, file select, mission-select map) currently requires the RIGHT analog stick — matches N64 default control schemes but is unintuitive on a modern controller/Steam Deck, where the left stick is the expected primary-navigation input.** Distinct from the F10 options overlay, which is already left-stick/D-pad navigable (`port/src/optionsoverlay.c`). Scope: front-end menu input in `src/game/front.c` (or wherever N64 stick reads are gated by the active `controldef`) — likely wants a port-layer input remap for these menu contexts specifically, not a general control-scheme change. **M-141: root cause found + fixed, port-only.** `front.c`'s menu-nav code reads `joyGetStickX/Y` — the same emulated N64 "Control Stick" channel (`stick_x`/`stick_y`) that in-level gameplay uses. `port/src/input.c`'s gamepad poll routes that channel to the LEFT physical stick by default, but `naturalPitchMode` (D194/D238's SOLITARE-style scheme, **default-on**) reroutes it to the RIGHT stick for continuous look — and since menus share the channel, they silently inherited that reroute too. The poll already computed an unused `padMenuMode` flag (`current_menu != GE_MENU_RUN_STAGE/GE_MENU_INVALID`, previously only gating shoulder-button weapon-cycle edges); moved it earlier and added a `padMenuMode` branch that always sources `stick_x`/`stick_y` from the left stick outside a running stage, regardless of `naturalPitchMode` — matching the F10 overlay's existing left-stick convention (`optionsoverlay.c`). Zero effect on in-level control feel (the branch is inert whenever `current_menu == GE_MENU_RUN_STAGE`). Verified: build green; `-level_09`/`-level_20` unregressed (1100+ frames each, no crash) — bare `-level_XX` launches skip the front end entirely, so this only proves the gameplay path (unaffected) stays clean. **In-menu feel not interactively verified this session** (no physical gamepad available in this environment) — needs a human playtest with a controller to confirm the menu now navigates on the left stick as expected. | FIXED (`port/src/input.c`, `#ifdef` not needed — port-layer-only file), feel unconfirmed. |
 | D283 | **Steam Deck first-run preset (D-unnumbered in `port/src/video.c`/`main.c`, `videoApplySteamOSDefaults()`) did not apply for a user who added the game via Steam in Desktop Mode and switched to Game Mode afterward — resolution stayed at some non-native value instead of the Deck's native 1280×800 (v0.2.1 user testing, 2026-09-15).** Root mechanism, confirmed by code inspection: the preset only applies when `getenv("STEAMOS")` is truthy AND no `ge007.ini` exists yet (`main.c:126-129`, before `configLoad()`); once any ini exists, it always wins over the preset on every future launch (by design, so user F10 changes persist). **Leading hypothesis (not verified on real hardware in this environment):** SteamOS's Desktop Mode (a normal Plasma/X11 session) likely does not export the same `STEAMOS` env var that the Game Mode/gamescope session does, so a Desktop Mode test-launch (a natural step when adding a non-Steam game via its file browser) creates `ge007.ini` with ordinary Linux defaults *before* the user ever reaches Game Mode — permanently skipping the preset for that install, since the ini already exists on the first real Game Mode launch. This exact caveat was already known internally (`docs/HANDOFF.md`: "a Deck that already has an ini needs `-fresh` or F10 to pick the preset up") but was never surfaced in user-facing docs (README/release notes) — same class of gap as the stale D230 release-notes reference. **Workaround (lighter than `-fresh`, which also wipes the save):** F10 → Resolution → 1280×800 manually; takes seconds, no data lost. | OPEN — mechanism understood, root cause (Desktop-vs-Game-Mode `STEAMOS` env var difference) unverified on real hardware; user-facing workaround documented in README/release notes. |
 | D280 | **D236 wall, ninth pass — fog math VERIFIED N64-faithful (±2 truncation over all 2505 verts of `0xc81049d8`; D276 owed step #1 closed), the IA8 noise class VISUALLY confirmed as the weave's painter (`GE_D278C` collapse: band HF 14.8→2.9, no trees appear without it — first unconfounded test), full census at both confirmed weave points (only 3 real classes; two log entries are probe artifacts), D276's depth-race read INVERTED (`0x0c184b50` tree cards are in FRONT of the noise quad, z/w smaller=closer), `0xc8102078` ruled out as trees (terrain, 1.4M tris), and `0x0c184b50` shown to barely instantiate under deterministic `-level_36` boot (~4 tris vs 720 free-run) with CPU-baked bimodal fog 25/255. **No quick win for trees** — remaining work is CPU-side instantiation/room-streaming, not a port fix. | REFRAMED again — no fix; next steps in detail section, see D236 |
 | D275 | **D236 wall, eighth pass — probe upgrades:** `GE_D270PIX` extended from a single point to a semicolon-separated list (each line now tagged `pix=(x,y)` + D274's reliable `addr=`); `GE_D270KEEPOML` gained a "kept N tris" counter so a black A/B capture is diagnosable (tick-misaligned vs. a genuine render-interaction bug). Mechanical groundwork for D276; the class-isolation A/B itself is still owed. | done — probes live, uncommitted; see D276 for what they found |

port/src/input.c

@@ -1094,7 +1094,25 @@ unsigned inputComputePad(int idx, signed char *stick_x, signed char *stick_y)
         int rx = SDL_GameControllerGetAxis(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_AXIS_RIGHTX);
         int ry = SDL_GameControllerGetAxis(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_AXIS_RIGHTY);
 
-        if (naturalPitchMode) {
+        /* D282: front-end menus (main menu, file select, mission-select map)
+         * share this same stick_x/stick_y channel with in-game look/movement.
+         * naturalPitchMode (SOLITARE, default-on) routes that channel to the
+         * RIGHT stick for continuous look -- fine in a level, unintuitive in
+         * a menu, where the left stick is the expected primary-navigation
+         * input on a modern pad/Deck (matches the F10 overlay's own
+         * left-stick nav, optionsoverlay.c). Outside a running stage, always
+         * source stick_x/stick_y from the left stick, regardless of
+         * naturalPitchMode -- a menu-context input remap only, no game-logic
+         * change and no effect on in-level control feel. */
+        int padMenuMode = (current_menu != GE_MENU_RUN_STAGE &&
+                           current_menu != GE_MENU_INVALID);
+
+        if (padMenuMode) {
+            int px = scaleAxis(lx);
+            int py = -scaleAxis(ly);       /* SDL up = negative -> N64 up = positive */
+            if (px) sx = px;
+            if (py) sy = py;
+        } else if (naturalPitchMode) {
             /* D194/D238: SOLITARE swaps stick roles -- left stick becomes
              * digital-step movement (same analog-for-movement tradeoff as
              * the keyboard remap above), right stick becomes continuous
@@ -1142,8 +1160,6 @@ unsigned inputComputePad(int idx, signed char *stick_x, signed char *stick_y)
         if (SDL_GameControllerGetButton(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_BUTTON_B) ||
             SDL_GameControllerGetButton(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_BUTTON_Y))
             button |= GE_CONT_B;
-        int padMenuMode = (current_menu != GE_MENU_RUN_STAGE &&
-                           current_menu != GE_MENU_INVALID);
         {
             int lbNow = SDL_GameControllerGetButton(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_BUTTON_LEFTSHOULDER);
             int rbNow = SDL_GameControllerGetButton(pad, SDL_CONTROLLER_BUTTON_RIGHTSHOULDER);