README: complete and playable, no prebuilt downloads, and servers, addons and settings as they are (#201)

The README now leads with the whole game being playable, keeps the two open fronts (the long
tail, and addons, options and performance), drops the downloads goal, and sends packaged builds
and server changes to forks, with GitHub's fork list linked.

Corrected against the code:
- A server that requires Warden is refused at the handshake (benilla-protocol
  world/session.rs), so the README asks for Warden off; vmangos ships with it off
  (mangosd.conf.dist.in, Warden.WinEnabled and Warden.OSXEnabled default to 0).
- `cargo run` builds the default `dev` feature, which keeps benilla-config/ at the repo root
  (benilla-app local_state.rs), so the addon folder is named there, not beside the binary.
- The named addons are the ones whose fixes landed: Questie (3e92b4f0), pfUI (0a3c0692),
  Bagnon (321bcbb3) and Bartender2 (a753a8b5).
- assets/ui holds adapters and the options, game menu, key bindings and script log windows
  benilla draws itself; the options window and the ESC menu follow the Classic Era client.
- The client reports enUS and reads the enUS DBC columns, so the install asked for is English.

Kept after checking: no third-party WoW crates in any manifest; on Linux, Wayland and X11 load
at run time, so ALSA, udev and pkg-config are the whole build-time list; localhost:3724 is the
default; WOW_USER and WOW_PASS log in from a plain clone. Every link resolves.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Sam Sung
2026-09-25 09:58:24 +07:00
committed by GitHub
co-authored by Claude Opus 5.5
parent eba558a5d2
commit a2629b623d
+63 -49
View File
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
<div align="center">
<h1>benilla</h1>
<p><b>A from-scratch World of Warcraft 1.12.1 client in Rust and <a href="https://bevy.org">Bevy</a></b></p>
<p><b>A complete World of Warcraft 1.12.1 client, written from scratch in Rust and <a href="https://bevy.org">Bevy</a></b></p>
<p>
<a href="https://discord.gg/wJSJx467G4"><img src="https://img.shields.io/discord/1529280129518538922?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white&label=discord&color=5865F2" alt="Discord"></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdCnpZNKxyb8"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/devlog-youtube-FF0000?style=for-the-badge&logo=youtube&logoColor=white" alt="YouTube devlog"></a>
@@ -8,65 +8,79 @@
</p>
</div>
benilla speaks the original 1.12.1 protocol, so it connects to any server the real client could,
and reads its game data at runtime from your own 1.12.1 install. Every file format and the network
protocol are implemented from scratch, with no original client code, no third-party WoW crates,
and no bundled game assets.
benilla plays the whole game: character creation, questing and professions, dungeons and raids,
battlegrounds and honor, groups, guilds, trade, mail and the auction house, on the stock 1.12
interface and with your addons. It connects to a 1.12.1 server over the original protocol and
reads the game's data from your own 1.12.1 install. Every file format, the network protocol and
the interface engine are written from scratch, with no original client code, no third-party WoW
crates and no bundled game assets.
## What works
## What's inside
- **Formats:** readers for the full asset stack (MPQ patch chain, BLP, DBC, ADT/WDT/WDL, M2, WMO),
wired into Bevy as an asset source.
- **World:** streamed terrain out to the horizon, portal-culled WMOs with interior lighting,
doodads and ground clutter, swimmable liquids, sky and weather, and the client's own day/night
lighting, fog and gamma passes.
- **Models:** GPU-skinned M2s with the full animation controller, a near feature-complete particle
system, ribbons, and animated gameobjects from doors to lifts.
- **Characters:** customization end to end, the armor texture composite, weapons with sheathing and
enchant glows, shapeshift forms, stealth and mounts.
- **Movement:** a WoW-feel controller, networked movement in both directions, the server-granted
modes from slow fall to roots, a follow camera with collision, boats, zeppelins and taxi flights.
- **Networking:** SRP6 auth through world-session crypto, the object mirror into the ECS, and live
wire coverage from movement and chat through spells, party, quests, mail, trade, vendors, bank,
loot, the auction house, PvP honor and battlegrounds.
- **UI:** a from-scratch FrameXML + Lua engine that runs the client's own stock interface off
your install's patch chain, from the login and character screens through the full HUD, the
classic windows (guild, macros and key bindings included), chat, nameplates, floating combat
text and tooltips; third-party addons load from a `benilla-config/AddOns/` folder beside the
executable (partial: AtlasLoot and Bagnon run).
- **Combat:** melee on the faithful swing law, ranged and Auto Shot, casting with GCD and
cooldowns, combo points, crowd control that really holds you, and the spell visual pipeline.
- **Audio:** music, ambience and SFX under the client's own selection and crossfade rules, with
interior and underwater transitions and zone reverb.
- **Formats:** readers for the whole asset stack (the MPQ patch chain, BLP, DBC, ADT, WDT, WDL, M2
and WMO), wired into Bevy as an asset source.
- **World:** terrain streamed out to the horizon, portal-culled buildings with interior lighting,
doodads and ground clutter, swimmable water, sky and weather, and the client's own day/night
lighting, fog and gamma.
- **Models:** GPU-skinned M2s with the full animation controller, particles, ribbons and the spell
visuals, and characters end to end: customization, the armor composite, weapons with their
enchant glows, forms, stealth and mounts.
- **Movement:** networked movement in both directions, the server-granted modes from slow fall to
roots, a follow camera with collision, boats, zeppelins and taxi flights.
- **Networking:** SRP6 auth through world-session crypto and the object mirror into the ECS,
covering the game from movement and chat through combat, spells, groups and raids, quests,
trade, mail, the auction house and battlegrounds.
- **Interface:** a FrameXML and Lua engine that runs the stock 1.12 interface off your install's
patch chain, and third-party 1.12 addons: Questie, pfUI, Bagnon, Bartender2 and most others
run. By choice, the options window and the ESC menu follow the Classic Era client's rather than
1.12's.
- **Audio:** music, ambience and effects under the client's own selection and crossfade rules,
with interior and underwater transitions and zone reverb.
## Where it's going
The format readers and the UI engine core are plain Rust with no Bevy in them, and the world
renderer runs with no game attached. [`docs/MAP.md`](docs/MAP.md) maps every crate and subsystem,
generated from the code.
benilla is done when a 1.12.1 player can do everything here that they could in the original
client, it looks and feels the same, and it runs from a download on Windows, Linux and macOS.
No dates; the order is what is likely, not a promise.
## Status
- The long tail of small features that separates a working client from a finished one.
Complete and fully playable. What is left:
- The long tail of small features that separates a working client from a finished one, tracked
as [issues](https://github.com/samwhosung/benilla/issues).
- Addons, options and performance, ongoing.
- Playable downloads for Windows, Linux and macOS. Linux first.
benilla is a faithful 1.12.1 client and the foundation people build on. There are no prebuilt
downloads: a packaged build, a particular server's changes or anything 1.12.1 never had belongs
in a fork, and forks are welcome. GitHub lists
[every public fork](https://github.com/samwhosung/benilla/forks).
Not planned: other expansions or client versions, Warden (anticheat).
## Running it
You need a **1.12.1 (build 5875) client install** for game data, a vanilla server to connect to,
stable Rust and a C compiler (the Lua is built from source; on macOS the Xcode command line
tools, on Linux the ALSA and udev development packages). Any 1.12.1 core works;
[vmangos](https://github.com/vmangos/core) is what development runs against, and cMaNGOS and
the rest speak the same protocol.
benilla builds and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. You need:
- **An English 1.12.1 client (build 5875)** for the game data. benilla only reads it.
- **A 1.12.1 server with Warden off.** [vmangos](https://github.com/vmangos/core) is what
development runs against, and it ships with Warden off; cMaNGOS and the other 1.12.1 cores speak
the same protocol.
- **Stable Rust and a C compiler**, because the client's Lua is built from source: on macOS the
Xcode command line tools, on Linux the ALSA and udev development packages and pkg-config, on
Windows the MSVC build tools that the Rust installer sets up.
```sh
WOW_DATA=/path/to/WoW/Data cargo run --release -p benilla
```
The server defaults to `localhost:3724`, the stock `realmd` auth port. Point `WOW_HOST`
at any IP or hostname, appending the auth port if yours is remapped
(`WOW_HOST=play.example.com:5000`). Credentials go in at the login screen, or set `WOW_USER` /
`WOW_PASS` to skip it.
`WOW_DATA` names the install's `Data` folder; a link to the install named `WoW` at the repo root
does the same. The server defaults to `localhost:3724`, the stock auth port. Point `WOW_HOST` at
another (`WOW_HOST=play.example.com`, or `play.example.com:5000` for a remapped port), or set it
from the Realmlist button on the login screen, which remembers it. Credentials go in at the login
screen, or set `WOW_USER` and `WOW_PASS` to skip it.
Settings, screenshots and addons live in `benilla-config/` at the repo root: a 1.12 addon goes in
`benilla-config/AddOns/`. [`docs/CONTRIBUTING.md`](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md) has the rest, from the
player build to the tests.
## Contributing
@@ -81,12 +95,12 @@ Early inspiration and file format guidance came from the
[warcraft-rs](https://github.com/wowemulation-dev/warcraft-rs) in particular.
benilla is an independent fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment.
It ships **no Blizzard content** — no art, models, sounds, maps, MPQ contents or FrameXML; you
provide your own legally obtained 1.12.1 client. The stock interface runs off your own install's
FrameXML at runtime; the handful of files under `crates/benilla-app/assets/ui/` are our own
adapters and developer frames, not copies of it.
It ships **no Blizzard content**: no art, models, sounds, maps, MPQ contents or FrameXML. You
provide your own legally obtained 1.12.1 client, and the stock interface runs off its FrameXML at
runtime. The few files under `crates/benilla-app/assets/ui/` are our own, not copies of it:
adapters over stock files, and the settings windows and script error log benilla draws itself.
World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Our own code is licensed under
[MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or [Apache 2.0](LICENSE-APACHE), at your option. The two vendored components
under `third_party/` — the kira audio engine, and a Lua 5.1 patched to the 1.12 client's dialect —
under `third_party/`, the kira audio engine and a Lua 5.1 patched to the 1.12 client's dialect,
keep their own upstream licenses, alongside each.