Major improvements:
- Load TaxiPathNode.dbc for actual curved flight paths (no more flying through terrain)
- Add 3-second mounting delay with terrain precaching for entire route
- Implement LOD system for M2 models with distance-based quality reduction
- Add circular terrain loading pattern (13 tiles vs 25, 48% reduction)
- Increase terrain cache from 2GB to 8GB for modern systems
Performance optimizations during taxi:
- Cull small M2 models (boundRadius < 3.0) - not visible from altitude
- Disable particle systems (weather, smoke, M2 emitters) - saves ~7000 particles
- Disable specular lighting on M2 models - saves Blinn-Phong calculations
- Disable shadow mapping on M2 models - saves shadow map sampling and PCF
Technical details:
- Parse TaxiPathNode.dbc spline waypoints for curved paths around terrain
- Build full path from node pairs using TaxiPathEdge lookup
- Precache callback triggers during mounting delay for smooth takeoff
- Circular tile loading uses Euclidean distance check (dx²+dy² <= r²)
- LOD fallback to base mesh when higher LODs unavailable
Result: Buttery smooth taxi flights with no terrain clipping or performance hitches
Load BLP texture data during prepareTile() and upload to GL cache in
finalizeTile(), eliminating file I/O stalls on the main thread. Reduce
ready tiles per frame to 1. Fix camera sweep to snap Z to ramp surfaces.
Change hearthstone action bar slot from spell to item.
Enrich online inventory from local DB when server data is incomplete, add
resolveOnlineItemGuid fallback for sell/equip/use, use async enqueueTile for
initial terrain load, improve walk/run animation fallbacks, clear target on
loot close, and broaden equipability detection to include armor/subclass.
Use getRemainingTileCount (pending + readyQueue) and processAllReadyTiles
to prevent loading screen from exiting before tiles are finalized. Auto-select
realm and character when only one is available.
Centralizes all coordinate conversions in core/coordinates.hpp with
proper canonical WoW coords (+X=North, +Y=West, +Z=Up). Fixes critical
tile calculation bug that was loading wrong surrounding tiles during
terrain streaming, and fixes position sync sending ADT-raw format
instead of canonical coordinates to the server.
- Loading screen stays visible until all terrain tiles finish streaming;
character spawns only after terrain is loaded and Z-snapped to ground
- Reduce tree trunk collision bounds (5% of canopy, capped at 5.0) and
make all small/medium trees, bushes, lily pads, and foliage walkthrough
- Add jump input buffering (150ms) and coyote time (100ms) for responsive jumps
- Fix fence orientation by adding +180° heading rotation
- Increase terrain load radius from 1 to 2 (5x5 tile grid)
- Add hearthstone callback for single-player camera reset
- Increase WMO render distance from 1500 to 3000 units for better city loading
- Increase M2 render distance from 500 to 1000 units
- Increase terrain load radius from 4 to 6 tiles (~3200 units)
- Add raycast-based camera collision that zooms in when obstructed by walls/objects
- Move spawn point outside chapel to road near Stormwind gate
- Add ground height smoothing to prevent stumbling on uneven terrain
