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.
Stride 4 was wrong — the raw dump shows entries at 284, 288, 292 which
are slots 0, 2, 4 with stride 2 (slot 1=NECK is zero because necks are
invisible). Stride 2 with base 284 correctly maps 19 equipment slots.
Added WARNING-level log when item query responses trigger equipment
re-emit for other players, to confirm the re-emit chain works.
The falling-through-world issue is likely terrain chunks not loading
fast enough — the terrain streaming stalls are still present.
RAW FIELDS dump shows equipment entries at indices 284, 288, 292, 296, 300
— stride 4, not 2. Each visible item slot occupies 4 fields (entry +
enchant + 2 padding), not 2 as previously assumed.
Field dump evidence:
[284]=3817(Reinforced Buckler) [288]=3808(Double Mail Boots)
[292]=3252 [296]=3823 [300]=3845 [312]=3825 [314]=3827
With stride 2, slots 0-18 read indices 284,286,288,290... which interleaves
entries with enchant/padding values, producing mostly zeros for equipment.
With stride 4, slots correctly map to entry-only fields.
PLAYER_VISIBLE_ITEM_1_ENTRYID = PLAYER_FIELD_INV_SLOT_HEAD(324) - 19*2
= 286. The previous value of 408 landed far past inventory slots in
string/name data, producing garbage entry IDs (ASCII fragments like
"mant", "alk ", "ryan") that the server rejected as invalid items.
Derivation: 19 visible item slots × 2 fields (entry + enchant) = 38
fields immediately before PLAYER_FIELD_INV_SLOT_HEAD at index 324.
PLAYER_VISIBLE_ITEM_1_ENTRYID for WotLK 3.3.5a is at UNIT_END(148) + 260
= field index 408 with stride 2. The previous default of 284 (UNIT_END+136)
was in the quest log field range, causing item IDs like "Lesser Invisibility
Potion" and "Deathstalker Report" to be read as equipment entries.
This was the root cause of other players appearing naked — item queries
returned valid responses but for the WRONG items (quest log entries instead
of equipment), so displayInfoIds were consumable/quest item appearances.
The heuristic auto-detection still overrides for Classic/TBC (different
stride per expansion), so this only affects the WotLK default before
detection runs.
Also filter addon whispers (GearScore GS_*, DBM, oRA, BigWigs, tab-prefixed)
from chat display — these are invisible in the real WoW client.
Extract domain-specific logic from the monolithic GameHandler into
dedicated handler classes, each owning its own opcode registration,
state, and packet parsing:
- CombatHandler: combat, XP, kill, PvP, loot roll (~26 methods)
- SpellHandler: spells, auras, pet stable, talent (~3+ methods)
- SocialHandler: friends, guild, groups, BG, RAF, PvP AFK (~14+ methods)
- ChatHandler: chat messages, channels, GM tickets, server messages,
defense/area-trigger messages (~7+ methods)
- InventoryHandler: items, trade, loot, mail, vendor, equipment sets,
read item (~3+ methods)
- QuestHandler: gossip, quests, completed quest response (~5+ methods)
- MovementHandler: movement, follow, transport (~2 methods)
- WardenHandler: Warden anti-cheat module
Each handler registers its own dispatch table entries via
registerOpcodes(DispatchTable&), called from
GameHandler::registerOpcodeHandlers(). GameHandler retains core
orchestration: auth/session handshake, update-object parsing,
opcode routing, and cross-handler coordination.
game_handler.cpp reduced from ~10,188 to ~9,432 lines.
Also add a POST_BUILD CMake step to symlink Data/ next to the
executable so expansion profiles and opcode tables are found at
runtime when running from build/bin/.
Entity storage: std::map<uint64_t, shared_ptr<Entity>> → unordered_map for
O(1) entity lookups instead of O(log n). No code depends on GUID ordering.
Player skills: std::map<uint32_t, PlayerSkill> → unordered_map.
DBC ID cache: std::map<uint32_t, uint32_t> → unordered_map.
Warden: apiHandlers_ and allocations_ → unordered_map (freeBlocks_ kept
as std::map since its coalescing logic requires ordered iteration).
Contacts: handleFriendStatus() did 3 separate O(n) find_if scans per
packet. Consolidated to single find_if with iterator reuse. O(3n) → O(n).
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.
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.
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).
Add kCastGreen (interruptible cast bar, 5 uses) and kQueueGreen
(queue status / talent met, 7 uses across game_screen + talent_screen).
Remove commented-out renderQuestMarkers call (replaced by 3D billboards).
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).
- Move itemKeys/spellKeys/thrKeys to shared kItemSetItemKeys/
kItemSetSpellKeys/kItemSetThresholdKeys in ui_colors.hpp, removing
5 identical local definitions across game_screen and inventory_screen
- Widen totem timer snprintf buffer from 8 to 16 bytes (defensive)
- Promote kStatTooltips to constexpr
Deduplicate class/race bitmask arrays (3 copies each → 1 shared) and
socket type definitions (3 copies → 1 shared). Eliminates ~80 lines of
repeated struct definitions across game_screen.cpp and inventory_screen.cpp.
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.
- 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
Add colors::kTooltipGold to ui_colors.hpp and replace 14 inline
ImVec4(1.0f, 0.82f, 0.0f, 1.0f) literals in inventory_screen.cpp
for item set names, unique markers, and quest item indicators.
Add getInventorySlotName() and renderBindingType() to ui_colors.hpp,
replacing 3 copies of the 26-case slot name switch (2 inventory_screen
+ 1 game_screen) and 2 copies of the binding type switch. Removes ~80
lines of duplicate tooltip code.
Extract getEnchantmentNames() to share a single SpellItemEnchantment.dbc
cache between both renderItemTooltip overloads, replacing two identical
19-line lazy-load blocks with single-line references.
Extract renderSettingsInterfaceTab() (108 lines) from
renderSettingsWindow(). 6 of 7 tabs now have dedicated methods;
only Video remains inline (shares init state with parent).
Extract renderSettingsGameplayTab() (162 lines) and
renderSettingsControlsTab() (96 lines) from renderSettingsWindow().
5 of 7 settings tabs are now in dedicated methods; only Video and
Interface remain inline (they share resolution/display local state).
Extract renderSettingsAudioTab() (110 lines), renderSettingsChatTab()
(49 lines), and renderSettingsAboutTab() (48 lines) from the 1013-line
renderSettingsWindow(). Reduces it to ~806 lines.
Move 98 lines of auto-attack leash range, melee resync, facing
alignment, and hostile attacker orientation into a dedicated method.
update() is now ~180 lines (74% reduction from original 704).
Move 131 lines of taxi flight detection, mount reconciliation, taxi
activation timeout, and flight recovery into a dedicated method.
update() is now ~277 lines (61% reduction from original 704).
Move entity movement interpolation loop (distance-culled per-entity
update) into its own method. update() is now ~406 lines (down from
original 704, a 42% reduction across 3 extractions).
Move 164 lines of timer/pending-state logic into updateTimers():
auction delay, quest accept timeouts, money delta, GO loot retries,
name query resync, loot money notifications, auto-inspect throttling.
update() is now ~430 lines (down from original 704).
Move socket update, packet processing, Warden async drain, RX silence
detection, disconnect handling, and Warden gate logging into a separate
updateNetworking() method. Reduces update() from ~704 to ~591 lines.
Add registerWorldHandler() that wraps handler calls with an IN_WORLD
state check. Replaces 8 state-guarded lambda dispatch entries with
concise one-line registrations.
Add registerHandler() using member function pointers, replacing 120
single-line lambda dispatch entries of the form
[this](Packet& p) { handleFoo(p); } with concise
registerHandler(Opcode::X, &GameHandler::handleFoo) calls.
Add helpers for common dispatch table patterns: registerSkipHandler()
for opcodes that just discard data (14 sites), registerErrorHandler()
for opcodes that show an error message (3 sites). Reduces boilerplate
in registerOpcodeHandlers().
Extract shared M2+skin loading logic into Application::loadWeaponM2(),
replacing duplicate 15-line blocks in loadEquippedWeapons() and
tryAttachCreatureVirtualWeapons(). Future weapon loading changes only
need to update one place.
Add writePackedGuid() to Packet class for read/write symmetry. Remove
now-redundant UpdateObjectParser::readPackedGuid and
MovementPacket::writePackedGuid static methods. Replace 6 internal
readPackedGuid calls, 9 writePackedGuid calls, and 1 inline 14-line
transport GUID write with Packet method calls.
