SamandClaude Fable 5.1
4ad347cec0
- the raid and reputation panes are the reference's own files: two manifest lines replace our `RaidFrame.xml` (83 of 84 frame names were already the reference's; the tear-off pullouts arrive) and one replaces our `ReputationFrame.xml`; the raid swap surfaced a loader defect (a font object inherited one level down was the 26 unexplained warnings), rehomed `RaidFrame_LoadUI` and two popup dialogs, and reproduces one reference DEFECT: an emptied lockout list keeps its last row painted (1874); the reputation swap moved the WATCH BAR out of `ActionBar.xml`, where it would have shadowed the chain's own, and exposed an ENGINE gap: `CollapseFactionHeader`/`ExpandFactionHeader` fire `UPDATE_FACTION` (`0x4d5dab`) and ours fired nothing, so with the stock pane repainting on that event alone, a fold painted nothing and the header kept its minus — invisible while our own file repainted itself (1875) - a wanted poster is a questgiver on the wire as a creature is, and benilla never asked about one; the RE round came back in two halves: the reference DOES send `CMSG_QUESTGIVER_STATUS_QUERY` for a GameObject, gated on `GAMEOBJECT_FLAGS` bit 2, seen in 20 of 62 sniffed sessions — and it can never render the answer (the status handler's typemask excludes a GameObject, its status slot lies past the object's end, and no poster, sign or plaque carries attachment 18); vmangos DOES answer, so the sweep gains a GameObject arm on the reference's own gate and the apply side refuses a non-unit guid, without which a gold `!` would hang over a poster no 1.12 client draws; two shipped claims fall with it (`0x5eb3c0` is the FULL re-query sweep; a status never suppresses a GameObject's minimap dot), and `WOW_PROBE_GOQUEST` at the Goldshire wanted poster reads the server's 1 then 5, both refused (1872) - the money entry comes off the chain: Trade, Mail and Auction switch to the reference's `MoneyInputFrameTemplate` and its verbs, and our `BenillaMoneyInput_*` kit retires — it was the exact answer while benilla fired `OnTextChanged` synchronously inside `SetText`, and the engine now raises it deferred and coalesced, matching `0x77d3e0` (1831), so the reference's `expectChanges` guard works and our bracket flag was a duplicate; most of the 430 deleted lines are verbatim art — all three windows carried an inline copy of the template's three edit boxes, AuctionFrame a whole second copy; one visible change: TradeFrame now makes the reference's own `MoneyInputFrame_SetMode(this, "compact")` call, which tightens the trade money boxes (Gold 58→56 wide, Silver's offset 26→22, Copper's 16→11), and two stale claims in the kit's comments are corrected, and a verb nothing called goes (1882) - the `UIFrameFlash` family is transcribed — six FrameXML names from `UIParent.lua`, which we do not load — unblocking SpellBookFrame and HelpFrame, which called it into silence; re-arming a flashing frame is a RETURN and `-1` flashes forever (1879); UIParent is recounted — `UpdateNameplates` and the `*_Show`/`*_Hide` family around it are FrameXML, not engine, missed by a survey that skipped the LoadOnDemand addons — so its engine surface is four verbs, not a wall: `GetLocale` answers `enUS`, `IsMacClient` answers nil (the whole verb on the PC build), and `CheckReadyCheckTime` and `RequestBattlefieldPositions` are the two it waits on (1880); and `BasicControls.xml` comes off the chain by pure deletion — ours differed by nothing but line-wrapping and one comment — with `FailedAddOnLoad` and `UIParentLoadAddOn` moving to `UIParent.xml`, their reference home, below their four callers (1881) Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Important
Issues and pull requests are closed here. benilla is a solo project developed in a private tree; this repo is its export, published as squashed snapshots, so a PR here has nothing to land on. The best way to contribute is to join the Discord and report the bugs you find. Questions and ideas are welcome in the same place.
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.
What works
- 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 and PvP honor.
- UI: a from-scratch FrameXML + Lua engine driving the built-in interface, 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, see below). - 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.
Where it's going
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.
- Battlegrounds and meeting stones, then the long tail of small features that separates a working client from a finished one.
- Addons, options and performance, ongoing.
- The no-brainer fixes from VanillaFixes, SuperWoW and the like.
- Playable downloads for Windows, Linux and macOS. Linux first.
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, and stable Rust. Any 1.12.1 core works; vmangos is what development runs against, and cMaNGOS and the rest speak the same protocol.
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.
Early inspiration and file format guidance came from the wowemulation-dev community, and 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 interface code under
crates/benilla-app/assets/ui/ is ours, written to the client's own layout and API names so that
the windows look right and 1.12.1 addons find the names they expect.
World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Our own code is licensed under MIT or Apache 2.0, at your option.