Dual encoding for category (int 0..6 OR token
"production"/"music"/"audio"/"engineering"/"art"/
"voice"/"special"). lines[] serializes as a plain JSON
string array — directly editable to add, remove, or
reorder credit lines without binary tooling. The string-
array round-trip preserves all whitespace and special
characters byte-identically since nlohmann::json escapes
them on export and unescapes on import.
All 3 presets (wotlk/quest/starter, 12 credit blocks
across 44 lines total) byte-identical roundtrip OK.
CLI flag count 1211 -> 1213.
Novel replacement for the embedded credit-roll text
vanilla WoW carried inside the cinematic-renderer blob
(the post-cinematic credits that scroll up the screen
after each expansion intro). Each entry binds one
credits category (Production / Music / Voice Acting /
etc.) for one cinematic to its ordered list of credit
lines.
First catalog with a variable-length STRING array
payload — previous variable-length formats used int
arrays (WCMR waypoints / WCMG mutex spells / WPTT
rank-spells / WBAB rank chains / WRPR unlocked items +
recipes). The lines[] field serializes as count +
(length + bytes)* per line, mirroring how strings work
elsewhere in the catalog set just lifted into a per-
entry array.
Seven category enum values cover the full credit
taxonomy: Production / Music / Audio / Engineering /
Art / Voice / Special. Three preset emitters:
makeWotLKIntro (5 blocks for the WotLK Arthas/Terenas
cinematic with the actual canonical music credits —
Brower/Duke/Stafford/Hayes), makeQuestCinema (3-block
template for per-quest cinematics), makeStarterRoll
(4-block generic template).
orderHint sorts blocks within a single cinematic so
the renderer can render Production -> Direction ->
Music -> Voice -> Special Thanks in canonical order
without depending on entry order in the binary.
Validator's most novel checks combine string + grouping
constraints unique to credit rolls: per-cinematic
orderHint slot uniqueness — two blocks at the same
(cinematicId, orderHint) would render in non-
deterministic order due to the std::sort being stable
but content-order undefined. Per-line: empty lines
warn (would render as blank, intentional spacers
should use a placeholder character), lines >80 chars
warn (text-buffer wrap at the canonical 80-char
credit-renderer width).
Format count 111 -> 112. CLI flag count 1206 -> 1211.
