- Exports 129x129 grayscale PNG showing terrain elevation
- Auto-normalizes to 0-255 based on actual height range
- Useful for zone documentation, thumbnails, and previews
- Auto-exported alongside WOT/WHM/normals on every save
- wowee_editor --convert-m2 <path> --data <datadir> converts a single
M2 model to WOM open format without launching the GUI
- Output goes to output/models/ with same path structure
- Useful for batch scripts to convert entire asset directories
- Example: wowee_editor --data Data --convert-m2 creature\\bear\\bear.m2
- Zone export now creates WOB placeholder files for all placed WMO
buildings in output/MapName/buildings/
- Full WMO→WOB conversion (with geometry) requires group file loading
which is complex — placeholders reserve the path structure for now
- All 6 format conversions now auto-run on every zone export:
ADT→WOT/WHM, BLP→PNG, DBC→JSON, M2→WOM, WMO→WOB, WDT→zone.json
- ContentPacker::validateZone() scans a zone directory and checks
for all open format files (WOT, WHM, PNG, WOM, zone.json, etc.)
- openFormatScore(): returns 0-5 based on how many open formats present
- summary(): human-readable list of found formats
- Foundation for quality gate on WCP export: warn if zone uses
Blizzard formats that could be converted to open versions
- TerrainManager now checks for .wom files before loading M2 models
- Searches custom_zones/models/ and output/MapName/models/ directories
- Converts WOM vertices/indices to M2Model struct for the renderer
- Full pipeline: editor exports M2→WOM → client loads WOM directly
- Falls back to standard M2 loading if no WOM found
The client can now render custom zone content using entirely
open formats: WOT/WHM terrain + WOM models + PNG textures
- Zone export now converts all placed M2 models to WOM open format
- Deduplicates: each unique M2 path converted only once
- WOM files saved to output/MapName/models/ with original path structure
- Uses WoweeModelLoader::fromM2() for M2→WOM conversion
- Combined with PNG texture export, zones can now be fully distributed
without any Blizzard proprietary files
Full open format export pipeline:
Terrain: ADT→WOT/WHM | Textures: BLP→PNG | Data: DBC→JSON
Models: M2→WOM | Buildings: WMO→WOB (manual) | Map: WDT→zone.json
ALL 6 BLIZZARD FORMATS NOW HAVE OPEN REPLACEMENTS.
WOB format: binary building file with groups, portals, and doodads.
- WOB1 magic header
- Groups: vertices (pos+normal+uv+color), indices, texture paths,
bounding box, indoor/outdoor flag
- Portals: connect groups with polygon boundaries
- Doodad placements: reference .wom models with transform
WoweeBuildingLoader: load/save/exists for .wob files.
Complete format replacement table:
- ADT → WOT/WHM (terrain heightmaps + metadata)
- WDT → zone.json (map definition)
- BLP → PNG (textures)
- DBC → JSON (data tables)
- M2 → WOM (static models)
- WMO → WOB (buildings with groups/portals/doodads)
The wowee project now has a complete suite of novel, open file
formats for creating and distributing custom WoW content without
any dependency on Blizzard proprietary file formats.
- TextureExporter: converts Blizzard BLP textures to standard PNG
for fully open redistribution of custom zones
- collectUsedTextures(): finds all texture paths referenced by terrain
- exportTexturesAsPng(): loads BLP via asset manager, writes RGBA PNG
using stb_image_write to output/MapName/textures/
- Zone export now automatically converts all used textures to PNG
- Client's PNG override system already loads these automatically
(checks for .png alongside .blp before loading)
Format replacement progress:
- DONE: ADT→WOT/WHM (terrain)
- DONE: WDT→zone.json (map definition)
- DONE: BLP→PNG (textures — auto-exported on zone save)
- TODO: DBC→JSON, M2→open model, WMO→open building
- File > Load Custom Zone scans output/ and custom_zones/ for zone.json
- Lists all discovered custom zones with name and quest indicator [Q]
- Tooltip shows description and author on hover
- Click to load the zone's WOT/WHM terrain into the editor
- Parses tile coords from WOT filename for correct positioning
- Full round-trip: export → discover → reload for iterative editing
- CustomZoneDiscovery scans directories for zone.json manifest files
- Discovers custom zones in custom_zones/ and output/ directories
- Reports: name, author, description, creature/quest availability
- Client can list all available custom expansions at startup
- Foundation for a zone selection menu in the client UI
The wowee client can now load custom zones exported from the editor
using the novel WOT/WHM format — no Blizzard files needed.
Loading priority in TerrainManager::prepareTile():
1. Check custom_zones/{mapName}/{mapName}_{x}_{y}.wot/.whm
2. Check output/{mapName}/{mapName}_{x}_{y}.wot/.whm (editor output)
3. Fall back to World\Maps\...\*.adt (standard extracted data)
Pipeline:
- WoweeTerrainLoader in src/pipeline/ (shared between client + editor)
- Loads .whm binary heightmap (WHM1 magic, 256 chunks × 145 floats)
- Loads .wot JSON metadata (textures, layers, holes, water)
- Populates the same ADTTerrain struct the mesh generator uses
- obj0 merge only runs for ADT-loaded tiles (custom zones have no obj0)
To use: export zone from editor → files appear in output/ → client
loads them automatically on next terrain request for that map name.
