fix: no region verdict from frames that differ

The first runs showed it: beetle_psx reaches the game of the US disc on the Japanese and European BIOS, through a different licence screen, so its frames differ from the full run while the oracle says boots. The interim rule read those frames as a failure. A variant now boots on the same frames as the full run or by its oracle verdict, and otherwise has no answer.

scripts/region_check.py

@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ def outcome(records: dict[str, dict], entries: list[dict], region: str) -> dict:
     The `region:` claim is `confirmed` when the regions of what it opened
     hold the game's region, `contradicted` when none does, `unread` when it
     opened none. Each variant's result is its oracle verdict. While no
-    reference frame is known for the game, a variant is compared with the
-    full run instead: `as_full` when it samples the same frames, which is
-    what the oracle's reference frames will name.
+    reference frame is known for the game, a variant that samples the same
+    frames as the full run (`as_full`) boots, and one that does not stays
+    without an answer: frames that differ never make a verdict.
     """
     by_dest = {entry_dest(e): e for e in entries}
     full = records.get("full")
@@ -152,10 +152,12 @@ def outcome(records: dict[str, dict], entries: list[dict], region: str) -> dict:
             return None
         if item["verdict"] != "unknown":
             return item["verdict"] == "boots"
-        # No verdict: the interim rule, as the full run behaves, and only
-        # while the full run itself is not shown to fail.
-        if full_verdict in ("boots", "unknown") and "as_full" in item:
-            return item["as_full"]
+        # No verdict: the interim rule. The same frames as the full run is a
+        # boot, while the full run itself is not shown to fail. Other frames
+        # say nothing: the US disc reaches its game on the Japanese and
+        # European BIOS through another licence screen.
+        if full_verdict in ("boots", "unknown") and item.get("as_full"):
+            return True
         return None
 
     return {
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ def sentence(game_region: str, result: dict) -> str:
         return f"The {word} game has no run with its own BIOS yet."
     first = f"The {word} BIOS {'boots' if own else 'does not boot'} the {word} game"
     if others is None:
-        return first + "."
+        return first + ". The other regions' BIOS have no verdict yet."
     if others:
         return first + ", and so do the other regions' BIOS."
     return first + ", the other regions' BIOS do not."

tests/test_region_check.py

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class Outcome(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(rc.sentence("japan", result),
                          "The Japanese BIOS boots the Japanese game, the other regions' BIOS do not.")
 
-    def test_interim_rule_compares_with_the_full_run(self) -> None:
+    def test_interim_rule_counts_the_same_frames_as_a_boot_and_nothing_else(self) -> None:
         records = {
             "full": record("f", self.ALL, ["scph5501.bin"], [[0, "a"], [10, "b"]]),
             "own": record("o", ["scph5501.bin"], ["scph5501.bin"], [[0, "a"], [10, "b"]]),
@@ -117,10 +117,12 @@ class Outcome(unittest.TestCase):
         result = rc.outcome(records, self.ENTRIES, "north-america")
         self.assertEqual(result["judged_by"], "full_run_frames")
         self.assertTrue(result["own_boots"])
-        self.assertFalse(result["others_boot"])
+        # Other frames are no verdict: a US disc reaches its game on the
+        # Japanese BIOS through another licence screen.
+        self.assertIsNone(result["others_boot"])
         self.assertIsNone(result["pack_boots"])
         self.assertEqual(rc.sentence("north-america", result),
-                         "The US BIOS boots the US game, the other regions' BIOS do not.")
+                         "The US BIOS boots the US game. The other regions' BIOS have no verdict yet.")
 
     def test_no_interim_answer_when_the_full_run_fails(self) -> None:
         records = {"full": record("f", self.ALL, [], [[0, "a"]], "bios_error"),

wiki/tools.md

@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ claim: `confirmed` when its `region:` holds the game's region, `contradicted`
 when it does not, `unread` when the core opened none of them. Each variant's
 result is the oracle verdict of its record. While the oracle has no reference
 frame for a game, a variant counts as booting when it samples the same frames
-as the `full` run, and the outcome says it was judged that way. The system
+as the `full` run, and the outcome says it was judged that way. Other frames give no verdict: the US disc reaches its game on the Japanese and European BIOS through another licence screen. The system
 pages show each outcome as a sentence ("the Japanese BIOS boots the Japanese
 game, the other regions' BIOS do not") with links to the four records. A
 maintainer starts each run. Each core_probe run takes the host probe lock for itself and frees it before the next, so do not wrap the command in `flock`. Nothing runs by itself.