From 90142cb0dfb0d3d89de976f871e50889a476115a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kelsi <kelsihates2fa@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 15:12:19 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] docs: CHANGELOG, README editor section, fix dbc_to_csv build

- CHANGELOG: add World Editor section (12.5k+ lines, 6 modes, 30+ tools)
  and Novel Open Formats section (6/6 replacements, 309 test assertions)
- README: add World Editor section with build/run/CLI examples, format
  summary, and reference to FORMAT_SPEC.md
- Fix dbc_to_csv build: add extern/ to include path for nlohmann/json
  (broke when dbc_loader.cpp gained JSON DBC loading support)
---
 CHANGELOG.md   | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 CMakeLists.txt |  1 +
 README.md      | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 54 insertions(+)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 03d49042..47c9df3c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,37 @@
 - Extract reusable CatmullRomSpline module to `src/math/` with O(log n) binary search and fused position+tangent evaluation (PR #60)
 - Decompose TransportManager (1,200→500 LOC): extract TransportPathRepository, TransportClockSync, TransportAnimator; consolidate 7 duplicated spline parsers into `spline_packet.cpp` (PR #60)
 
+### World Editor (tools/editor/)
+- Standalone world editor for creating custom WoW zones (12.5k+ lines, 55 files)
+- 6 editing modes: Sculpt, Paint, Objects, Water, NPCs, Quests
+- 30+ terrain tools: procedural generators (hill, mesa, crater, canyon, island, ridge, dunes), thermal erosion, noise, mirror/rotate, stamp copy/paste with file persistence
+- Multi-select objects (Ctrl+Shift+Click), Select All (Ctrl+A), Select by Type (M2/WMO)
+- Time-of-day lighting with dawn/dusk/night transitions and color pickers
+- Texture eyedropper (Alt+Click), brush size presets + bracket keys
+- Object tools: snap to ground, align to slope, flatten terrain around buildings, scatter with auto-align
+- River/road path tool with click-to-set points and translucent preview ribbon
+- Quest chains with circular reference detection, inline editing, load/save
+- 631 creature presets across 8 categories with patrol path editing
+- Full undo/redo for ALL terrain operations (generators, transforms, paint)
+- Auto-save with configurable interval, unsaved changes quit confirmation
+- Zone rename, recent zones menu, adjacent tile export with edge stitching
+- Live open format validation (0-6 score) in File menu
+
+### Novel Open Formats (6/6 Blizzard format replacements)
+- ADT → WOT/WHM: terrain metadata + binary heightmap with alpha maps and doodad/WMO placements
+- WDT → zone.json: map definition with full placement arrays
+- BLP → PNG: texture override system
+- DBC → JSON: data tables via DBCFile::loadJSON()
+- M2 → WOM (WOM1): models with render batches, textures, materials
+- WMO → WOB (WOB1): buildings with material flags/shader/blendMode, doodad rotation
+- WCP (WCP1): content pack archive with categorized file list
+- Terrain stamps: portable terrain features saved as JSON
+- All formats documented in FORMAT_SPEC.md v1.1
+- Client auto-loads open formats from custom_zones/ and output/ directories
+- Batch convert: M2→WOM and WMO→WOB from filesystem or asset manifest
+- WCP Import & Load: one-click unpack + auto-open for editing
+- 309 test assertions across 81 test cases (DBC binary+JSON, WOB, WHM, WOT)
+
 ### Features
 - Spell visual effects system with bone-tracked ribbons and particles (PR #58)
 - GM command support: 190-command data table with dot-prefix interception, tab-completion, `/gmhelp` with category filter (PR #62)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 18178f57..df438a4a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1213,6 +1213,7 @@ add_executable(dbc_to_csv
 )
 target_include_directories(dbc_to_csv PRIVATE
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/extern
 )
 target_link_libraries(dbc_to_csv PRIVATE Threads::Threads)
 set_target_properties(dbc_to_csv PROPERTIES
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a7e2408f..29679351 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,6 +29,28 @@ Protocol Compatible with **Vanilla (Classic) 1.12 + TBC 2.4.3 + WotLK 3.3.5a**.
 - **Container builds**: Multi-platform Docker build system for Linux, macOS (arm64/x86_64 via osxcross), and Windows (LLVM-MinGW) cross-compilation.
 - **Release**: v1.8.9-preview — 530+ WoW API functions, 140+ events, 664 opcode handlers.
 
+## World Editor
+
+Standalone tool for creating custom WoW zones with novel open format exports.
+
+```bash
+# Build
+cmake --build build --target wowee_editor
+
+# Run
+./build/bin/wowee_editor --data Data
+
+# Batch convert assets
+./build/bin/wowee_editor --convert-m2 Creature/Bear/Bear.m2 --data Data
+./build/bin/wowee_editor --convert-wmo World/WMO/Stormwind/Stormwind.wmo --data Data
+```
+
+**6 editing modes** (Sculpt, Paint, Objects, Water, NPCs, Quests) with 30+ terrain tools, multi-select, time-of-day lighting, quest chains, and full undo/redo.
+
+**6 novel open format replacements** for all Blizzard proprietary formats: WOT/WHM (terrain), WOM (models), WOB (buildings), zone.json (map def), PNG (textures), JSON (data tables). See `tools/editor/FORMAT_SPEC.md` for full specifications.
+
+Exported zones auto-load in the wowee client from `custom_zones/` or `output/` directories.
+
 ## Features
 
 ### Rendering Engine