From a2629b623dea42a2f2b37b298dcdd595c0530f64 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sam Sung <51686767+samwhosung@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:58:24 +0700 Subject: [PATCH] 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) --- README.md | 112 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------ 1 file changed, 63 insertions(+), 49 deletions(-) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 9d73c9d0..d0d295c1 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@

benilla

-

A from-scratch World of Warcraft 1.12.1 client in Rust and Bevy

+

A complete World of Warcraft 1.12.1 client, written from scratch in Rust and Bevy

Discord YouTube devlog @@ -8,65 +8,79 @@

-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.