Marker geometry now reacts to npc.selected: 2.5x base radius (vs 1.5x),
saturated yellow with cyan tinge, and full alpha. Marker rebuild also
fires on selection change so the highlight appears immediately rather
than only after the next placement.
Auto-save was gated on terrainEditor.hasUnsavedChanges() so a session
where the user only edited NPCs or quests would lose data on crash.
Added autoSavePendingChanges_ flag flipped by every objectsDirty_ = true
site (and markObjectsDirty), cleared by quickSave. Auto-save now fires
on either dirty signal.
Many WoW instances (Dire Maul, Blackrock Depths, etc.) are WMO-only
maps with no ADT terrain tiles. The editor now handles these:
- loadWMOInstance(): reads WDT, detects WDTF_GLOBAL_WMO flag, loads
the root WMO path from MWMO chunk, places it as an object with
correct position/rotation from MODF chunk
- Automatic fallback: when loadADT fails to find tiles, tries
WMO-only loading before showing error
- Load dialog: "Find Tile" detects WMO-only instances and shows
"WMO-only instance — click Load to open" instead of "not found"
- Camera positioned near the WMO for immediate editing
- Blank terrain floor generated as ground reference
- Zone manifest gains audio fields: musicTrack, ambienceDay,
ambienceNight, musicVolume, ambienceVolume
- Serialized to/from zone.json under "audio" key
- Info panel: collapsable "Zone Audio" section with text inputs for
music/ambience paths and volume sliders
- Preset selector: Elwynn Forest, Durotar, Darkshore, Dungeon, None
- ZoneManifest stored persistently on EditorApp so audio settings
survive between exports (was recreated each save)
- Custom zones can now specify their own background music and ambient
soundscapes via zone.json
- Flatten Ground: flattens terrain to object height with smooth falloff
around placed buildings/structures (undoable). Button in object panel
- Scatter auto-align: checkbox enables terrain snapping + slope alignment
for scattered objects (trees snap to ground and lean with hillsides)
- Batch convert now falls back to asset manifest when filesystem dir is
empty — converts M2/WMO from game data without filesystem extraction
- Public terrain editor wrappers: beginGeneratorUndo, endGeneratorUndo,
markDirty, stitchChunkEdges, getChunkVertexWorldPos
New features:
- Align to Slope: rotates objects to match terrain surface normal at
their position (trees on hillsides lean naturally). Works with
multi-select. Available in object panel and right-click context menu
- Batch Convert Assets: File menu option to recursively convert all
M2→WOM and WMO→WOB files in a data directory to open format
- Import & Load: one-click WCP unpack + auto-open the imported zone
- sampleTerrainNormal() for slope detection via height differencing
- Zone load error toasts for missing/corrupt files
- ObjectPlacer::loadFromFile() now resets uniqueIdCounter_ and clears
selectedIndices_ to prevent ID collisions on repeated loads
- Zone rename validates against path traversal and special characters
(rejects slashes, dots, colons, control chars, empty strings)
- UI shows error toast for invalid zone names
Bug fixes:
- ObjectPlacer::clearAll() now resets uniqueIdCounter_ to 1
- NpcSpawner::clearAll() added with idCounter_ reset (was manual clear)
- clearAllObjects() uses NpcSpawner::clearAll() instead of manual clear
- Quest panel has terrain-loaded guard (prevents crash before loading)
Features:
- Zone rename: editable map name field in Info panel (press Enter)
- Load objects/creatures/quests from both output/ and custom_zones/
directories (WOT zones from custom_zones now get their NPCs loaded)
- Auto-save toast notification when auto-save fires
- Edit > Auto-Save Settings: enable/disable toggle, interval slider
(60-900s), countdown timer display
- Zone manifest now scans output directory for all exported ADT tiles
and includes them in zone.json (adjacent tiles no longer orphaned)
- Auto-save interval and enabled state exposed via EditorApp accessors
- Ctrl+A selects all placed objects, context menu has Select All item
- selectAll() added to ObjectPlacer, works with multi-select transforms
- Recent Zones submenu in File menu (last 8 loaded zones, deduplicated)
- Minimap: selected objects shown as white dots with gold ring outline
vs yellow dots for unselected objects
- Help panel updated with Ctrl+A and Ctrl+Shift+Click documentation
- Multi-select: Ctrl+Shift+Click adds objects to selection, transforms
(move/rotate/scale/delete) operate on all selected objects at once
- Time-of-day slider (0-24h) with automatic sun angle, light color,
ambient, fog, and sky color transitions (dawn/day/dusk/night)
- View > Sky/Lighting menu: color pickers for light/ambient/fog, fog
distance sliders, preset buttons (Dawn/Noon/Dusk/Night)
- loadADT prefers WOT/WHM open format from custom_zones/output dirs
- Selection count display when multiple objects selected
- setSkyPreset now delegates to setTimeOfDay for consistency
- All terrain generators now undoable: crater, mesa, hill, voronoi,
dunes, detail noise, thermal erosion, canyon, island, ridge, road,
river, perlin noise — all wrapped with recordGeneratorUndo/commit
- Unsaved changes warning on quit: Save & Quit / Quit / Cancel dialog
- createNewTerrain clears quest editor and path capture state
- recordGeneratorUndo/commitGeneratorUndo helper methods snapshot all
256 chunks before/after any generator operation
- File > Project submenu: New/Save/Load project, add zones
- "Add Current Zone to Project" captures loaded map/tile info
- Project path editable in the menu
- Zone count shown for quick reference
- Foundation for multi-zone custom expansion workflow:
create project → add zones → edit each → export all as WCP
- File > Export Open Format (.wot/.whm) menu item for standalone export
- Every zone export (Ctrl+S, Export Zone) now also writes .wot/.whm
alongside the ADT/WDT — dual format output
- Export package now contains: ADT + WDT + WOT + WHM + JSON files
- Both Blizzard-compatible (for existing servers) and open format
(for wowee-native loading and redistribution)
- File > Export Content Pack (.wcp) saves zone + packs into WCP archive
- Auto-saves zone first, then bundles into the novel WCP format
- WCP is a custom format unique to wowee (not MPQ, not CASC)
- Output: output/MapName.wcp ready for distribution
- Toast notification on success/failure
- File > Generate Complete Zone: runs the full procedural pipeline
in one click: noise → smooth (3 passes) → recalc normals →
height-based auto-paint (sand/grass/rock/snow) → slope-based
cliff paint (rock on steep faces)
- Creates a fully textured, natural-looking zone from flat terrain
- Removed stale quickGenerate checkbox from New Terrain dialog
- NPC placement now only updates cheap marker geometry (no M2 reload)
- Full M2 rebuild only triggers when PLACED OBJECT count changes
(not NPC count — NPCs use markers, not M2 instances for now)
- Split lastObjectCount_ into lastObjCount_ + lastNpcCount_ to track
objects and NPCs independently
- Prevents the destructive clear+reload cycle that caused GPU crashes
when rapidly placing multiple NPCs
Root cause of GPU crashes (VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST): every NPC placement
triggered a full clear+reload of ALL M2 models. After several cycles
the GPU state corrupted, causing vertex explosions and device lost.
Fixes:
- NPC placement now only updates cheap marker geometry (no M2 reload)
- Full M2 rebuild only happens when object COUNT changes (not every click)
- clearAllObjects() properly resets viewport, placer, spawner, markers,
and history in one call with vkDeviceWaitIdle fence
- New Terrain uses clearAllObjects() for consistent reset
- Clear All menu item calls clearAllObjects()
- M2 vertex validation: rejects models with NaN/infinite/extreme
vertex positions before GPU upload (prevents vertex explosions)
- NPC marker building extracted to updateNpcMarkers() method
(can be called independently without M2 rebuild)
- New Quest mode (key 6) with full quest creation panel:
- Title, description, required level
- Quest giver / turn-in NPC ID linkage
- Up to 4 objectives: Kill, Collect, Talk, Explore, Escort, Use Object
- Rewards: XP and gold
- Quest chain support via nextQuestId linking
- Quest list showing all created quests with level and objective count
- Save quests to JSON (included in Export Zone package)
- Foundation for campaign system: create quest chains across NPCs,
link objectives to placed creatures, build storylines
- Info panel now shows M2 renderer stats: model count, instance count,
draw call count — visible in real-time to diagnose NPC rendering issues
- When placing NPCs: if models=0/instances=0, the model failed to load
If models>0 but draws=0, it's a culling/frame-sync issue
If draws>0, the model IS rendering but may be too small to see
- "Center on Terrain" (Home key or View menu): resets camera to center
of loaded tile at 300 units altitude with 45-degree downward pitch.
Essential for recovering when camera gets lost in empty space.
- Toast confirmation on center action
- "Fly To" button on selected objects and NPCs: moves camera 30 units
above the selected item for quick navigation on large zones
- Export now generates README.txt with zone summary: map name, tile
coords, object/NPC counts, and file listing
- Complete export package: zone.json + WDT + ADT + objects.json +
creatures.json + README.txt
- Zone manifest (zone.json): generated on export with map name, map ID,
tile list, biome, creature flag, and file paths. This is what the
wowee client will read to discover and load custom zones.
- Export workflow now produces a complete loadable zone package:
zone.json + MapName.wdt + MapName_X_Y.adt + creatures.json
- ZoneManifest class with save/load (JSON format)
- Custom map IDs start at 9000+ to avoid conflicting with retail maps
- New Terrain dialog shows helper text for map name format
- Import Heightmap: File > Import Heightmap loads RAW 8/16-bit grayscale
files (129x129 or 257x257) and maps to terrain heights with configurable
scale. Supports standard terrain editor heightmap formats.
- Toast notifications: non-intrusive green popup at bottom center for
user feedback (save confirmations, import results, errors)
- Toasts fade out after 3 seconds with alpha animation
- Auto-save now shows toast on save
- Quick-save (Ctrl+S) shows toast confirmation
- Erode brush mode: simulates water erosion by moving height downhill
based on slope, creating natural drainage patterns and gullies
- NPC JSON loader: File > Load NPCs parses saved creatures.json back
into the spawn list (round-trip save/load now works)
- Auto-save: every 5 minutes when unsaved changes exist, exports the
full zone (ADT + WDT + creatures) to the output directory
- Sculpt mode now has 6 brush types: Raise/Lower/Smooth/Flatten/Level/Erode
- Noise Generator in Sculpt panel: applies procedural value noise
with configurable frequency, amplitude, octaves, and seed
to create hills/valleys across entire tile instantly
- Sky/Lighting presets: View > Sky menu with Day (blue sky, high sun),
Dusk (orange, low sun), Night (dark blue, moonlight)
- Viewport clear color and light direction now configurable at runtime
- Noise uses smoothstep interpolation with octave fractal layering
- Terrain normals recalculated after height changes (smooth lighting
on sculpted terrain instead of flat-shaded appearance)
- Ghost preview and brush indicator cleared when switching modes
(prevents stale model instances or circles persisting)
- File > Clear All resets undo history and selections
- Normal computation uses finite differences from neighbor heights,
handles both outer (9x9) and inner (8x8) vertex grid positions
- Object scatter tool: place N copies of selected M2/WMO in a radius
with random rotation and scale range (Min/Max Scale slider)
- Camera bookmarks: F5 saves current position, View > Load Bookmark
to jump back — useful for working on different parts of a large zone
- Shortcut hints shown at bottom of Object panel
(G=move, R=rotate, T=scale, Del=remove)
- DragFloatRange2 for min/max scale in scatter UI
- Scatter tool: place N creatures in a radius around cursor position
with random rotation and uniform disk distribution
- File > Add Adjacent Tile: creates and exports a blank tile N/S/E/W
of current (foundation for multi-tile zone editing)
- Scatter UI: count slider (1-30), radius slider (10-200)
- Scatter places all copies with same stats/behavior as template
- Ctrl+S quick-saves entire zone (ADT + WDT + creatures.json) to output/
- File > Export Zone dialog saves all data to chosen directory
- exportZone() bundles ADT, WDT, and NPC spawns in one operation
- Info panel shows cursor world coordinates for placement debugging
- Info panel shows NPC count alongside object count
- Save state indicator: "Saved" (green) vs "* Unsaved (Ctrl+S)" (yellow)
- File menu reorganized: Quick Save + Export Zone replaces separate ADT/WDT
- Ctrl+Z in Object/NPC mode undoes last placement (50-deep stack)
- "Snap Ground" button raycasts straight down to place object on terrain
- Useful for objects placed too high or moved off terrain surface
- Undo stack adjusts indices when objects are removed mid-stack
- Raycast AABB now uses actual min/max vertex heights per chunk
instead of fixed ±200 padding (fixes misses on sculpted terrain)
- Right-click context menu opens correctly (deferred popup via flag
since ImGui::OpenPopup must be called within ImGui frame)
- Keyboard shortcuts: G=Move, R=Rotate, T=Scale, X/Y=axis lock,
Escape=deselect, Delete works in any mode for objects/NPCs
- Delete key now removes selected NPC in NPC mode too
Standalone wowee_editor tool for creating custom WoW zones.
This is a rough initial implementation — many features work but
M2/WMO rendering still has issues (frame sync, texture layout
transitions) and needs further polish.
Terrain:
- Create new blank terrain with 10 biome types (Grassland, Forest,
Jungle, Desert, Barrens, Snow, Swamp, Rocky, Beach, Volcanic)
- Load existing ADT tiles from extracted game data
- Sculpt brushes: Raise, Lower, Smooth, Flatten, Level
- Chunk edge stitching prevents seams between tiles
- Undo/redo (100-deep stack, Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Shift+Z)
- Save to WoW ADT/WDT format
Texture Painting:
- Paint/Erase/Replace Base modes
- Full tileset texture browser (1285 textures from manifest)
- Per-zone directory filtering and search
- Alpha map editing with 4-layer limit (auto-replaces weakest)
Object Placement:
- M2 and WMO model placement with full manifest browser (11k M2s, 2k WMOs)
- M2Renderer + WMORenderer integrated (loads .skin files for WotLK)
- Ghost preview follows cursor before placing
- Ctrl+click selection, right-click context menu
- Transform gizmo (Move/Rotate/Scale with axis constraints)
- Position/rotation/scale editing in properties panel
NPC/Monster System:
- 631 creature presets scanned from manifest, categorized
(Critters, Beasts, Humanoids, Undead, Demons, etc.)
- Stats editor: level, health, mana, damage, armor, faction
- Behavior: Stationary, Patrol, Wander, Scripted
- Aggro/leash radius, respawn time, flags (hostile/vendor/etc.)
- Save creature spawns to JSON
Water:
- Place water at configurable height per chunk
- Liquid types: Water, Ocean, Magma, Slime
- Rendered as translucent colored quads
- Saved in ADT MH2O format
Infrastructure:
- Free-fly camera (WASD/QE, right-drag look, scroll speed)
- 5-mode toolbar: Sculpt | Paint | Objects | Water | NPCs
- Asset browser indexes full manifest on startup
- Editor water/marker shaders (pos+color vertex format)
- forceNoCull added to M2Renderer for editor use
- AssetManifest::getEntries() and AssetManager::getManifest() exposed
Known issues:
- M2/WMO rendering may not display on first placement (frame index
sync between update/render was misaligned — now fixed but untested
end-to-end)
- Validation layer errors on shutdown (resource cleanup ordering)
- Object placement on steep terrain can miss raycast
- No undo for texture painting or object placement yet
