M2 GPU instancing
- M2InstanceGPU SSBO (96 B/entry, double-buffered, 16384 max)
- Group opaque instances by (modelId, LOD); single vkCmdDrawIndexed per group
- boneBase field indexes into mega bone SSBO via gl_InstanceIndex
Indirect terrain drawing
- 24 MB mega index buffer (6M uint32) + 64 MB mega vertex buffer
- CPU builds VkDrawIndexedIndirectCommand per visible chunk
- Single VB/IB bind per frame; shadow pass reuses mega buffers
- Replaced vkCmdDrawIndexedIndirect with direct vkCmdDrawIndexed to fix
host-mapped buffer race condition that caused terrain flickering
GPU frustum culling (compute shader)
- m2_cull.comp.glsl: 64-thread workgroups, sphere-vs-6-planes + distance cull
- CullInstanceGPU SSBO input, uint visibility[] output, double-buffered
- dispatchCullCompute() runs before main pass via render graph node
Consolidated bone matrix SSBOs
- 16 MB double-buffered mega bone SSBO (2048 instances × 128 bones)
- Eliminated per-instance descriptor sets; one megaBoneSet_ per frame
- prepareRender() packs bone matrices consecutively into current frame slot
Render graph / frame graph
- RenderGraph: RGResource handles, RGPass nodes, Kahn topological sort
- Automatic VkImageMemoryBarrier/VkBufferMemoryBarrier between passes
- Passes: minimap_composite, worldmap_composite, preview_composite,
shadow_pass, reflection_pass, compute_cull
- beginFrame() uses buildFrameGraph() + renderGraph_->execute(cmd)
Pipeline derivatives
- PipelineBuilder::setFlags/setBasePipeline for VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT
- M2 opaque = base; alphaTest/alpha/additive are derivatives
- Applied to terrain (wireframe) and WMO (alpha-test) renderers
Rendering bug fixes:
- fix(shadow): compute lightSpaceMatrix before updatePerFrameUBO to eliminate
one-frame lag that caused shadow trails and flicker on moving objects
- fix(shadow): scale depth bias with shadowDistance_ instead of hardcoded 0.8f
to prevent acne at close range and gaps at far range
- fix(visibility): WMO group distance threshold 500u → 1200u to match terrain
view distance; buildings were disappearing on the horizon
- fix(precision): camera near plane 0.05 → 0.5 (ratio 600K:1 → 60K:1),
eliminating Z-fighting and improving frustum plane extraction stability
- fix(streaming): terrain load radius 4 → 6 tiles (~2133u → ~3200u) to exceed
M2 render distance (2800u) and eliminate pop-in when camera turns;
unload radius 7 → 9; spawn radius 3 → 4
- fix(visibility): ground-detail M2 distance multiplier 0.75 → 0.9 to reduce
early pop of grass and debris
Drop PROT_EXEC from warden module mmap when using Unicorn emulation
(not needed — module image is copied into emulator address space). Use
MAP_JIT on macOS for the native fallback path.
Add --listfile option to asset_extract and SFileAddListFileEntries
support for resolving unnamed MPQ hash table entries from external
listfiles.
WoW archives contain mixed-case variants of the same path (e.g.,
ARMLOWERTEXTURE vs ArmLowerTexture) which created duplicate directories
on case-sensitive Linux filesystems. Now mapPath() lowercases the entire
output. Also keeps TextureComponents and ObjectComponents directory
names instead of abbreviating them (item/texturecomponents/ instead of
item/texture/) so filesystem paths match the WoW virtual paths used in
manifest lookups.
The string-column auto-detector in both tools had two gaps that caused small
integer fields (RaceID=1, SexID=0/1, BaseSection, ColorIndex) to be falsely
classified as string columns, corrupting the generated CSVs:
1. No boundary check: a value of N was accepted as a valid string offset even
when N landed inside a longer string (e.g. offset 3 inside "Character\...").
Fix: precompute valid string-start boundaries (offset 0 plus every position
immediately after a null byte); reject offsets that are not boundaries.
2. No diversity check: a column whose only non-zero value is 1 would pass the
boundary test because offset 1 is always a valid boundary (it follows the
mandatory null at offset 0). Fix: require at least 2 distinct non-empty
string values before marking a column as a string column. Columns like
SexID (all values are 0 or 1, resolving to "" and the same path fragment)
are integer fields, not string fields.
Both dbc_to_csv and asset_extract now produce correct column metadata,
e.g. CharSections.dbc yields "strings=6,7,8" instead of "strings=0,1,...,9".
- Add build.ps1/bat, rebuild.ps1/bat, debug_texture.ps1/bat (Windows equivalents
of existing bash scripts, using directory junctions for Data link)
- Fix asset extractor: StormLib is not thread-safe even with separate handles per
thread. Serialize all MPQ reads behind a mutex while keeping CRC computation and
disk writes parallel. Previously caused 99.8% extraction failures with >1 thread.
- Add SFileHasFile() check during enumeration to skip listfile-only entries
- Add diagnostic logging for extraction failures (first 5 per thread + summary)
- Use std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() instead of hardcoded /tmp/ in
character_renderer.cpp debug dumps
- Update debug_texture.sh to use $TMPDIR fallback and glob for actual dump filenames
Remove HDPackManager, expansion overlay manifests, and BLP size-comparison
logic. Assets now resolve through a single manifest with a simple override
directory (Data/override/) for future HD upgrades.
Extracts each expansion's assets as a CRC-compared overlay against a
base manifest, storing only files that differ. Auto-detects overlay mode
when a base manifest already exists. Adds --as-overlay, --full-base
flags and manifest merge for partial extractions.
Expansion overlays allow each expansion to supplement the base asset data
via an assetManifest field in expansion.json, loaded at priority 50 (below
HD packs). The asset extractor gains --reference-manifest for delta-only
extraction. Also fixes CharSections field indices (VariationIndex=4,
ColorIndex=5, Texture1=6) across all DBC layout references.
Replace hardcoded WotLK protocol constants with a data-driven architecture
supporting Classic 1.12.1, TBC 2.4.3, and WotLK 3.3.5a. Each expansion
has JSON profiles for opcodes, update fields, and DBC layouts, plus C++
polymorphic packet parsers for binary format differences (movement flags,
speed fields, transport data, spline format, char enum layout).
Key components:
- ExpansionRegistry: scans Data/expansions/*/expansion.json at startup
- OpcodeTable: logical enum <-> wire values loaded from JSON
- UpdateFieldTable: field indices loaded from JSON per expansion
- DBCLayout: schema-driven DBC field lookups replacing magic numbers
- PacketParsers: WotLK/TBC/Classic parsers with correct flag positions
- Multi-manifest AssetManager: layered manifests with priority ordering
- HDPackManager: overlay texture packs with expansion compatibility
- Auth screen expansion picker replacing hardcoded version dropdown
