- inventory_screen: extract renderClassRestriction() and
renderRaceRestriction() from two identical 40-line blocks in quest
info and item info tooltips. Both used identical bitmask logic,
strncat formatting, and player-class/race validation (-49 lines net)
- world_map: add why-comment on AreaTable.dbc fallback field indices —
explains that incorrect indices silently return wrong data and why
the WotLK stock layout (ID=0, Parent=2, ExploreFlag=3) is chosen
as the safest default
- Name kHalfMinutesPerDay (2880) replacing 8 bare literals across
time conversion, modulo clamping, and midnight wrap arithmetic.
Add why-comment: Light.dbc stores time-of-day as half-minutes
(24h × 60m × 2 = 2880 ticks per day cycle)
- Replace hardcoded 3.14159f with glm::two_pi<float>() in sun
direction angle calculations (2 occurrences)
- terrain_manager: extract kRand16Max (65535.0f) from 8 duplicated
random normalization expressions — 16-bit mask to [0..1] float
- terrain_manager: add static_assert verifying packed alpha unpacks
to full alpha map size (ALPHA_MAP_PACKED * 2 == ALPHA_MAP_SIZE)
- camera_controller: name kCameraClipEpsilon (0.1f) with why-comment
preventing character model clipping at near-minimum distance
- vk_pipeline: extract kColorWriteAll constant from 4 duplicated RGBA
bitmask expressions across blend mode functions, with why-comment
- frustum: name kMinNormalLenSq epsilon (1e-8) with why-comment —
prevents division by zero on degenerate planes
- dbc_loader: add why-comment on DBC field width validation — all
fields are fixed 4-byte uint32 per format spec
- pin_auth: replace 0x30 hex literal with '0' char constant, add
why-comment on ASCII encoding for server HMAC compatibility
- vk_context: name FNV-1a hash constants (kFnv1aOffsetBasis/kFnv1aPrime)
with why-comment on algorithm choice for sampler cache
- transport_manager: collapse redundant if/else that both set
looping=false into single unconditional assignment, add why-comment
explaining the time-closed path design
- transport_manager: hoist duplicate kMinFallbackZOffset constants out
of separate if-blocks, add why-comment on icebreaker Z clamping
- entity: expand velocity smoothing comment — explain 65/35 EMA ratio
and its tradeoff (jitter suppression vs direction change lag)
- weather: remove duplicate setZoneWeather(15) for Dustwallow Marsh —
second call silently overwrote the first with different parameters
- weather: replace duplicate static RNG in getRandomPosition() with
shared weatherRng() to avoid redundant generator state
- starfield: extract day/night cycle thresholds into named constants
(kDuskStart/kNightStart/kDawnStart/kDawnEnd/kFadeDuration)
- skybox: replace while-loop time wrapping with std::fmod — avoids
O(n) iterations on large time jumps
- Fix move constructor and move assignment: set other.ownsSampler_ to
false after transfer (was incorrectly set to true, leaving moved-from
object claiming ownership of a null sampler)
- Fix destroy(): reset ownsSampler_ to false after clearing sampler
handle (was set to true, inconsistent with null handle state)
- Extract finalizeSampler() from 3 duplicated cache-or-create blocks
in createSampler() overloads and createShadowSampler() (-24 lines)
- Add SPIR-V alignment why-comment in vk_shader.cpp
- Name portal spin wrap value as kTwoPi constant
- Name particle animTime wrap as kParticleWrapMs (3333ms) with
why-comment: covers longest known emission cycle (~3s torch/campfire)
while preventing float precision loss over hours of runtime
- Add FBlock interpolation documentation: explain what FBlocks are
(particle lifetime curves) and note that float/vec3 variants share
identical logic and must be updated together
- renderer: remove no-op assignment (mountAnims_.stand = 0 when already 0)
- renderer: add why-comments on blacksmith WMO ID 96048 (ambient forge
sounds) with TODO for other smithy buildings
- terrain_renderer: replace 1e30f sentinel with numeric_limits::max(),
name terrain view distance constant (1200 units ≈ 9 ADT tiles)
- social_handler: add missing LFG case 15, document case 0 nullptr
return (success = no error message), add enum name comments
- character_renderer: extract duplicated fallback texture creation
(white/transparent/flat-normal) into createFallbackTextures() — was
copy-pasted between initialize() and clear()
- wmo_renderer: replace magic 8192 with kMaxRetryTracked constant,
add why-comment explaining the fallback-retry set cap (Dalaran has
2000+ unique WMO groups)
- quest_handler: add why-comment on reqCount=0 fallback — escort/event
quests can report kill credit without objective counts in query response
- spell_handler.cpp: replace goto-done with do/while(false) for pet
spell packet parsing — bail on truncated data while always firing
events afterward
- water_renderer.cpp: replace goto-found_neighbor with immediately
invoked lambda to break out of nested neighbor search loops
The while(true) loop retried av_read_frame after seeking to the start
on error. A corrupt file where read fails but seek succeeds would loop
forever, blocking the main thread. Bounded to 500 attempts with a
warning log on exhaustion.
If generateNormalHeightMapCPU threw (e.g., bad_alloc), the pending
counter was never decremented, causing shutdown() to block forever
waiting for a count that would never reach zero. Added try-catch to
guarantee the decrement. Also strengthened the increment from relaxed
to acq_rel so shutdown()'s acquire load sees the count before the
thread body begins executing.
std::future::get() re-throws any exception from the async task. The 6
call sites in the render pipeline (terrain/WMO/M2 workers + animation
worker) and 2 floor-query sites in camera_controller were unguarded,
so a single bad_alloc in any worker would terminate the process with
no recovery. Now wrapped in try-catch with error logging.
8 rand() calls in weather.cpp used C rand() which defaults to seed 1.
Weather intensity rolls, cycle durations, and particle Y positions were
identical on every launch. Replaced with a file-local mt19937 seeded
from random_device, matching the RNG already present in getRandomPosition.
All 8 rand() calls for animation time offsets and variation timers in
m2_renderer.cpp used C rand() which defaults to seed 1 without srand(),
producing identical sequences every launch. Trees, torches, and grass
all swayed in sync. Replaced with std::mt19937 seeded from
random_device. Same fix for 4 mount idle fidget/sound timer sites in
renderer.cpp which mixed rand() with the mt19937 already present.
Final sweep across mpq_manager, application, auth_screen, wmo_renderer,
character_renderer, and terrain_manager. All now use the unsigned char
cast pattern. No remaining bare ::tolower/::toupper or std::tolower(c)
calls on signed char in the codebase.
tavernTrackIndex was initialized to 0 but never modified, so the player
always heard TavernAlliance01.mp3. Added post-increment to rotate
through the 3 available tracks on each tavern entry.
vmaCreateBuffer return value was silently discarded in both loadTerrain
and loadTerrainIncremental. If allocation failed (OOM/fragmentation),
the chunk proceeded with a VK_NULL_HANDLE UBO, causing the GPU to read
from an invalid descriptor on the next draw call. Now checks the return
value and skips the chunk on failure.
Stormwind WMO collision takes 25+ seconds to fully load. The warmup
ground check couldn't detect the WMO floor because collision data
wasn't finalized yet. Player spawned and immediately fell through
the unloaded WMO floor into the terrain below (Dun Morogh).
New approach: suspendGravityFor(10s) after world entry. Gravity is
disabled (Z position frozen) until either:
1. A floor is detected by the collision system (gravity resumes instantly)
2. The 10-second timer expires (gravity resumes as fallback)
This handles the case where WMO collision loads during the first few
seconds of gameplay — the player hovers at spawn Z until the floor
appears, then lands normally.
Also fixes faction language for chat (ORCISH for Horde, COMMON for
Alliance) and adds SMSG_MESSAGECHAT diagnostic logging.
Camera Stiffness (default 20, range 5-100): controls how tightly the
camera follows the player. Higher values = less sway/lag. Users who
experience motion sickness can increase this to reduce floaty camera.
Camera Pivot Height (default 1.8, range 0-3): height of the camera
orbit point above the player's feet. Lower values reduce the
"detached/floating" feel that can cause nausea. Setting to 0 puts the
pivot at foot level (ground-locked camera).
Both settings saved to settings file and applied via sliders in the
Gameplay tab of the Settings window.
M2 renderer: move 3 per-frame local containers to member variables:
- particleGroups_ (unordered_map): reuse bucket structure across frames
- ribbonDraws_ (vector): reuse draw call buffer
- shadowTexSetCache_ (unordered_map): reuse descriptor cache
Eliminates ~3 heap allocations per frame in particle/ribbon/shadow passes.
UI polish:
- Nameplate hover tooltip showing level, class (players), guild name
- Bag window titles show slot counts: "Backpack (12/16)"
Player report: CMSG_COMPLAIN packet builder and reportPlayer() method.
"Report Player" option in target frame right-click menu for other players.
Server response handler (SMSG_COMPLAIN_RESULT) was already implemented.
M2 renderer: skip bone matrix computation for instances beyond 150 units
(LOD 3 threshold). These models use minimal static geometry with no visible
skeletal animation. Last-computed bone matrices are retained for GPU upload.
Removes unnecessary float matrix operations for hundreds of distant NPCs
in crowded zones.
Water renderer: add per-surface AABB frustum culling before draw calls.
Computes tight AABB from surface corners and height range, tests against
camera frustum. Skips descriptor binding and vkCmdDrawIndexed for surfaces
outside the view. Handles both ADT and WMO water (rotated step vectors).
Equipment: removed the visibleItemLayoutVerified_ gate from
updateOtherPlayerVisibleItems(). The default WotLK field layout (base=284,
stride=2) is correct and should be used immediately. The verification
heuristic was silently blocking ALL other-player equipment rendering by
queuing for auto-inspect (which doesn't return items in WotLK anyway).
Follow: auto-follow now uses run speed (autoRunning) instead of walk speed.
Also uses squared distance for the distance checks.
Commands: /quit, /exit aliases for /logout; /difficulty normal/heroic/25/25heroic
sends CMSG_CHANGEPLAYER_DIFFICULTY.
Inspect: CMSG_INSPECT was writing full uint64 GUID instead of packed GUID.
Server silently rejected the malformed packet. Fixed both InspectPacket and
QueryInspectAchievementsPacket to use writePackedGuid().
Follow: was a no-op (only stored GUID). Added client-side auto-follow system:
camera controller walks toward followed entity, faces target, cancels on
WASD/mouse input, stops within 3 units, cancels at 40+ units distance.
Party commands:
- /lootmethod (ffa/roundrobin/master/group/nbg) sends CMSG_LOOT_METHOD
- /lootthreshold (0-5 or quality name) sets minimum loot quality
- /raidconvert converts party to raid (leader only)
Equipment diagnostic logging still active for debugging naked players.
Other players previously appeared partially naked — only chest, legs, feet,
hands, cape, and tabard rendered. Now renders full equipment:
- Helmet M2 model: loads from ItemDisplayInfo.dbc with race/gender suffix,
attaches at head bone (point 0/11), hides hair geoset under helm
- Weapons: mainhand (attachment 1) and offhand (attachment 2) M2 models
loaded from ItemDisplayInfo, with Weapon/Shield path fallback
- Wrist/bracer geoset (group 8): applies when no chest sleeve overrides
- Belt/waist geoset (group 18): reads GeosetGroup1 from ItemDisplayInfo
- Shoulder M2 attachments deferred (separate bone attachment system)
Also applied same wrist/waist geosets to NPC and character preview paths.
Minimap: batch 9 individual vkUpdateDescriptorSets into single call.
Mail: change money/COD fields from uint32 to uint64 in CMSG_SEND_MAIL and
SMSG_MAIL_LIST_RESULT for WotLK 3.3.5a. Classic keeps uint32 on the wire.
Fixes money truncation and packet misalignment causing mail failures.
Other-player capes: add cape texture loading to setOnlinePlayerEquipment().
The cape geoset was enabled but no texture was loaded, leaving capes blank.
Now mirrors the local-player path: looks up ItemDisplayInfo.dbc, finds cape
texture candidates, applies via setGroupTextureOverride/setTextureSlotOverride.
Zone toasts: suppress duplicate zone toast when the zone text overlay is
already showing the same zone name. Fixes double "Entering: Stormwind City".
Network: enable TCP_NODELAY on both auth and world sockets after connect(),
disabling Nagle's algorithm to eliminate up to 200ms buffering delay on
small packets (movement, spell casts, chat).
Rendering: track material and bone descriptor sets in M2 renderer to skip
redundant vkCmdBindDescriptorSets calls between batches sharing same textures.
- Replace count()+operator[] double lookups with find() or try_emplace()
in gameObjectInstances_, playerTextureSlotsByModelId_, onlinePlayerAppearance_
- Add Entity::isUnit() helper; replace 5 dynamic_cast<Unit*> in per-frame
UI rendering (nameplates, combat text, pet frame) with isUnit()+static_cast
- Add constexpr kInv255 reciprocal for per-pixel normal map generation loops
in character_renderer and wmo_renderer
Spline parsing: remove Classic format fallback from the WotLK parser. The
PacketParsers hierarchy already dispatches to expansion-specific parsers
(Classic/TBC/WotLK/Turtle), so the WotLK parseMovementBlock should only
attempt WotLK spline format. The Classic fallback could false-positive when
durationMod bytes resembled a valid point count, corrupting downstream parsing.
Preload DBC caches: call loadSpellNameCache() and 5 other lazy DBC caches
during handleLoginVerifyWorld() on initial world entry. This moves the ~170ms
Spell.csv load from the first SMSG_SPELL_GO handler to the loading screen,
eliminating the mid-gameplay stall.
WMO portal culling: move per-instance portalVisibleGroups vector and
portalVisibleGroupSet to reusable member variables, eliminating heap
allocations per WMO instance per frame.
Spline auto-detection: try WotLK format before Classic to prevent false-positive
matches where durationMod float bytes resemble a valid Classic pointCount. This
caused the movement block to consume wrong byte count, corrupting the update mask
read (maskBlockCount=57/129/203 instead of ~5) and silently dropping NPC spawns.
Terrain latency: bound WMO liquid group loading to 4 groups per advanceFinalization
call. Large WMOs (e.g., Stormwind canals with 40+ liquid groups) previously loaded
all groups in one unbounded loop, blowing past the 8ms frame budget and causing
stalls up to 1300ms. Now yields back to processReadyTiles() after 4 groups so the
time budget check can break out.
- Hoist DBC field index lookups before loops in game_handler (7 DBC iteration loops)
- Cache getSkybox()/getPosition() calls instead of redundant per-frame queries
- Merge textureHasAlphaByPtr_ + textureColorKeyBlackByPtr_ into single map
- Add constexpr for DEG_TO_RAD, reciprocal constants, physics delta
- Add reserve() for WMO/M2 collision grid queries and portal BFS
- Frustum plane normalize: inversesqrt instead of length+divide
- M2 particle emission: inversesqrt for direction normalization
- Parse creature display IDs from query response
- UI: show spell names/IDs as fallback instead of "Unknown"
Squared distance optimizations across 30 files:
- Convert glm::length() comparisons to glm::dot() (no sqrt)
- Use glm::inversesqrt() for check-then-normalize patterns (1 rsqrt vs 2 sqrt)
- Defer sqrt to after early-out checks in collision/movement code
- Hottest paths: camera_controller (21), weather particles, WMO collision,
transport movement, creature interpolation, nameplate culling
Container and algorithm improvements:
- std::map<string> → std::unordered_map for asset/DBC/MPQ/warden caches
- std::mutex → std::shared_mutex for asset_manager and mpq_manager caches
- std::sort → std::partial_sort in lighting_manager (top-2 of N volumes)
- Double-lookup find()+operator[] → insert_or_assign in game_handler
- Add reserve() for per-frame vectors: weather, swim_effects, WMO/M2 collision
Threading and synchronization:
- Replace 1ms busy-wait polling with condition_variable in character_renderer
- Move timestamp capture before mutex in logger
- Use memory_order_acquire/release for normal map completion signaling
API additions:
- DBC getStringView()/getStringViewByOffset() for zero-copy string access
- Parse creature display IDs from SMSG_CREATURE_QUERY_SINGLE_RESPONSE
Add [[nodiscard]] to VkShaderModule::loadFromFile, Shader::loadFromFile/
loadFromSource, AssetManifest::load, DbcLoader::load — all return bool
indicating success/failure that callers should check.
Suppress with (void) at 17 call sites where validity is checked via
isValid() after loading rather than the return value (m2_renderer
recreatePipelines, swim_effects recreatePipelines).
terrain_manager: replace bare 4096/2048/0x80/0x7F with named constants
ALPHA_MAP_SIZE, ALPHA_MAP_PACKED, ALPHA_FILL_FLAG, ALPHA_COUNT_MASK
— documents the WoW alpha map RLE format.
character_renderer: replace bare 256/512 texture sizes with
kBaseTexSize/kUpscaleTexSize for NPC skin upscaling logic.
The findMemType/findMemoryType helper in auth_screen, loading_screen,
and vk_context returned 0 on failure — a valid memory type index.
Changed to return UINT32_MAX and log an error, so vkAllocateMemory
receives an invalid index and fails cleanly rather than silently
using the wrong memory type.
Add [[nodiscard]] to VkBuffer::uploadToGPU/createMapped and
VkContext::initialize/recreateSwapchain so callers that ignore
failure are flagged at compile time. Suppress with (void) cast at
3 call sites where failure is non-actionable (resize best-effort).
Add kDarkRed, kSoftRed, kHostileRed, kMediumGray to ui_colors.hpp and
replace 31 inline ImVec4 literals across game_screen, character_screen,
inventory_screen, and performance_hud. Also replace local color aliases
in performance_hud with shared constants.
Wrap string-to-number conversions in try-catch where input comes from
external sources (realm address port, last_world.cfg, keybinding config,
ADT tile filenames) to prevent crashes on malformed data.
- Add kBrightGold, kPaleRed, kBrightRed, kLightBlue, kManaBlue, kCyan to ui_colors.hpp
- Replace 61 inline ImVec4 color literals across game_screen, inventory_screen,
talent_screen, and world_map with named constants
- Remove const_cast in character_renderer render loop by using non-const iteration
Fix toLowerInPlace() which was accidentally self-recursive (would stack
overflow on any Lua string lowering). Remove 30 redundant
if(addonEventCallback_) wrappers around pure fireAddonEvent blocks.
Extract color constants in performance_hud.cpp (24 inline literals).
Replace ~37 remaining C-style casts with static_cast across 16 files.
Extract named color constants (kColorRed/Green/Yellow/Gray) and dialog
window flags (kDialogFlags) in game_screen.cpp, replacing 72 inline
literals. Normalize keybinding_manager.hpp to #pragma once.
- Extract guidToUnitId(), getQuestTitle(), findQuestLogEntry() helpers
to replace 14 duplicated GUID-to-unitId patterns and 7 quest log
search patterns in game_handler.cpp
- Remove duplicate #include in renderer.cpp
- Remove commented-out model cleanup code in terrain_manager.cpp
- Replace C-style casts with static_cast in auth and transport code
Request 2 queues from the graphics family when available (NVIDIA
exposes 16, AMD 2+). Upload batches now submit to queue[1] while
rendering uses queue[0], enabling parallel GPU transfers without
queue-family ownership transfer barriers (same family).
Falls back to single-queue path on GPUs with only 1 queue in the
graphics family. Transfer command pool is separate to avoid contention.
processReadyTiles was calling advanceFinalization with a step limit of 1
but a single step (texture upload or M2 model load) could take 1060ms.
Replace the step counter with an 8ms wall-clock time budget (16ms during
taxi) so finalization yields to the render loop before causing a visible
stall. Heavy tiles spread across multiple frames instead of blocking.
