Players can hold natural-language conversations with NPCs that have a
persona, backed by the Anthropic Messages API (default model
claude-haiku-4-5, disabled by default).
- Personas come from hand-authored templates in Data/ai-personas.json
(matched by exact NPC name or class name walking the inheritance
chain) or from per-NPC personas set in game with [SetPersona and
persisted through world saves via a GenericPersistence module.
- A greeting near a persona NPC, or speaking its name, starts a
conversation; farewells, walking away, or two minutes of silence end
it. Speech is observed passively through EventSink.Speech, so bank,
guard, vendor and pet keywords are unaffected.
- Requests are dispatched with async/await: HTTP I/O runs off-thread
and continuations marshal back to the game loop through the
EventLoopContext, so the game thread never blocks on the network.
Replies are dropped if the session ended, the NPC was deleted, or
the player disconnected while the request was in flight.
- Cost controls: per-player cooldown and per-minute caps, a
server-wide concurrent request cap, bounded history and input/output
lengths - all configurable under aiConversation.* settings.
- Replies are sanitized and split into ~120-char chunks spoken at
~900ms intervals; failures retry once on 429/5xx/timeout, then fall
back to a canned in-character line.
- Staff commands: [SetPersona, [RemovePersona, [PersonaInfo (GM) and
[AIChat status|on|off|reload|end (Admin) with token usage stats.
- The API key is only read from an environment variable
(ANTHROPIC_API_KEY by default); ships with persona examples, a
feature README and unit tests for the pure logic.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GPKWo5V4JXt22nQtFnat41
Adds the four remaining named Stygian Abyss throwing artifacts as item definitions, completing the throwing artifact set (7/7 now defined in ModernUO).
## Added (stat-for-stat from ServUO)
- **Abyss Reaver** (Cyclone) — random Throwing +5..10 skill bonus, +25..35 damage, Exorcism slayer
- **Storm Caller** (Boomerang) — Hit Lightning / Hit Lower Defense, 20/20/20/20/20 elemental split
- **Banshee's Call** (Cyclone) — Hit Harm / Hit Life Leech, 100% cold, Velocity 35
- **Wind of Corruption** (Cyclone) — Hit Stamina Leech / Hit Lower Defense, 100% chaos, Fey slayer
## Acquisition — deferred (documented)
These are **`[add`-only for now**. Their OSI sources aren't in ModernUO yet:
- Abyss Reaver → the Into the Void quest (Agralem), deferred with the Abyss void-creature content.
- Storm Caller / Banshee's Call / Wind of Corruption → renowned/boss creatures (`WyvernRenowned`, `PrimevalLich`, etc.) that need a `BaseRenowned` framework port.
Per direction, the items are worth defining now; wiring their drops follows later.
## Notes
- Storm Caller's ServUO `WeaponAttributes.BattleLust = 1` is left as a `//TODO Implement BattleLust` — the attribute doesn't exist in ModernUO's `AosWeaponAttribute` set yet.
- The human Bow variant `WindOfCorruptionHuman` is archery, not throwing — intentionally out of scope.
Server builds clean.
Follow-up to the gargoyle Throwing work (#2510/#2512/#2514). Ports two Stygian Abyss creatures from ServUO so two of the throwing artifacts finally have a real OSI drop source instead of being `[add`-only.
## Changes
- **`Raptor`** and **`StoneSlith`** — ported stat-for-stat from ServUO. They **spawn automatically**: `Distribution/Data/Spawns/post-uoml/termur/TerMur.json` already contained Raptor/StoneSlith spawner entries referencing these class names, so no spawn-file edits were needed.
- **`RaptorClaw`** (Boomerang-based) and **`StoneSlithClaw`** (Cyclone-based) artifacts, dropped from each creature's `OnDeath` at ServUO's 0.5% rate (uncontrolled only).
- StoneSlith retains its `GraspingClaw` monster ability; both use `BleedAttack`.
## ModernUO idioms
Default range perception (16) / fight range, derived `GetSpeeds` (no `SetSpeed`), `[SerializationGenerator(0)]` codegen, collection-expression arrays.
## Documented omissions vs ServUO
Flagged as TODO in-code — all are content missing from ModernUO, not silent drops: Raptor's friend-spawn timer + its 25% `AncientPotteryFragments` drop; StoneSlith's `TailSwipe`, `DragonBlood`, and `SlithEye`/`TatteredAncientScroll`/`AncientPotteryFragments` drops; plus `HideType.Horned/Spined` and `PackInstinct.Ostard` (no ModernUO equivalents yet).
## Not included
The other three throwing artifacts (Storm Caller, Banshee's Call, Wind of Corruption) drop from renowned/boss creatures via a `BaseRenowned` artifact-list system that doesn't exist in ModernUO yet — a separate, larger effort. AbyssReaver stays with the (deferred) Into-the-Void quest.
Verified: server builds clean; throwing suite 14/14.
## Problem
Three coupled issues, each hiding the next:
1. **CI passed despite failing tests, with no test logs.** ([example run](https://github.com/modernuo/ModernUO/actions/runs/28639143286/job/84931544255) — the `Test` step produced zero output and the job went green.)
2. **Two `EmitsLowerStatReqWhenPassed` tests** fail with `KeyNotFoundException: '1060435'`.
3. Once CI actually ran the tests, **~337 UOContent tests failed** with `FileNotFoundException: tiledata.mul was not found` — the test bootstrap force-loaded copyrighted client data that CI doesn't have.
## Root causes & fixes
### 1. CI ran zero tests (`fix(ci)`)
The `Test` step ran `dotnet test --no-restore`, but the `Build` step only restores/builds `Application` — never the test projects. Without a restore, the test projects have no `project.assets.json`, so `Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk`'s targets aren't imported, they aren't recognized as test projects, and `dotnet test` runs the `VSTest` target against **zero** projects → no output, **exit 0**.
- Both jobs now run `dotnet test --logger trx --results-directory ./TestResults` (test projects restore and run) **plus a guard** that fails the job if no `.trx` is produced — a permanent backstop against silent zero-test passes.
### 2. Impossible OPL tests (`fix(ci)` + `test(opl)`)
#2501 deliberately emits `LowerStatReq` (`1060435`) **inline in each item**, not in `GetProperties`. A follow-up "fix" dropped the `lowerStatReq:` argument to make the tests compile but left the assertions expecting `1060435`.
- Removed the two impossible tests, then removed the **entire `Tests/PropertyList/` OPL attribute set** from #2501: these assert exact cliloc/value/order of OPL emission per item base — a one-time proof of the #2501 rewire, now a permanent tax on modding (any admin reorder/value change/added line reddens the build). The one non-trivial case (LowerStatReq) is what just broke, because the test was wrong. Inline emission stays covered by the `BaseArmor`/`BaseClothing` tests.
### 3. Tile-data-dependent tests crashed CI (`test(uocontent)`)
UOContent.Tests' collection-fixture constructor force-loaded `tiledata.mul` unconditionally. On CI (no client files) it threw, and xUnit failed **every test in the collection** with the same error — mostly collateral (packet/scheduler/spawner tests that don't need tile data).
- Mirror Server.Tests' graceful pattern: `TestServerInitializer` probes for `tiledata.mul` and only loads tile/multi data (and runs the tile-dependent configure steps) when present, exposing `TileDataLoaded` so the fixture no longer throws.
- Add a shared `TileDataRequirement.SkipIfMissing()` guard and apply it to exactly the **31** pathfinding/multi/AI tests that genuinely need real tile data (`[SkippableFact]`/`[SkippableTheory]`).
## Verification (all local)
| Scenario | Server.Tests | UOContent.Tests |
|---|---|---|
| **Client data absent (CI)** | 726 pass, 17 skip, **0 fail** | 469 pass, 32 skip, **0 fail** |
| **Client data present (dev)** | 726 pass, 0 skip, **0 fail** | 501 pass, 0 skip, **0 fail** |
- Full `dotnet test` exits **0**; TRX files produced; the no-test guard trips (exit 1) only when zero `.trx` are produced.
Phase 2 follow-up to #2510 — wires acquisition for the gargoyle Throwing content that Phase 1 deliberately left out.
## Changes
- **SA loot flavor (`IsStygian`)** — completes the dead loot path from the original PR: adds `SAWeaponTypes`/`SARangedWeaponTypes` pools + `isStygian` branches to `Loot.RandomWeapon`/`RandomRangedWeapon`, **and** the missing piece — computes `IsStygian` (`map == Map.TerMur`) in `LootPackEntry.Construct` and threads it through `LootPackItem.Construct`. Ter Mur creatures now roll SA gear + the three throwing weapons (Boomerang/Cyclone/SoulGlaive) from their normal `BaseWeapon`/`BaseRanged` loot entries. Conservative `TerMur`-only (not ServUO's extra `|| RandomBool()`).
- **Valkyrie's Glaive** — re-added as a self-contained Ter Mur stealable artifact at `(843, 665, 27)`, matching ServUO/OSI, with the previously-missing `ArtifactRarity => 5`.
## Deferred (documented)
The 5 host-dependent artifacts (Raptor Claw, Stone Slith Claw, Storm Caller, Banshee's Call, Wind of Corruption) are intentionally NOT included — their OSI drop sources (Raptor, StoneSlith, and the renowned/boss creatures + a `BaseRenowned` artifact-list system) don't exist in ModernUO yet, so re-adding the items now would leave them `[add`-only. They'll follow a dedicated SA-creatures effort.
## Notes
- No new tests: both changes are property/plumbing with RNG-driven output — no deterministic complex logic to assert (consistent with the repo's test-scope conventions).
- Verified: server + test project compile; throwing suite 14/14.
Supersedes #2376 (@jwvalentine). This is a reviewed, corrected, and scoped-down **Phase 1** of Joe Valentine's throwing implementation — his original commits are cherry-picked here with authorship preserved, plus a fix/scoping pass. Phase 1 lands only the **core gargoyle Throwing skill**; the incomplete content is excised for follow-up PRs (see below).
## What's included (core skill)
- `BaseThrown` combat mechanics on top of the existing skeleton: close-quarters penalty, below-min-range penalty, shield penalty, STR-scaled range, overthrow damage penalty.
- Base weapons: **Boomerang, Cyclone, SoulGlaive** (gargoyle-only), + blacksmith crafting (SA-gated).
- Two symmetric hooks on `BaseWeapon` (`ModifyHitChance`, new `ModifyDamage`) that are inert no-ops for every other weapon.
## Fixes over the original
- **Overthrow damage**: was dead code (the swing gate already guarantees you're within `MaxRange`, so the old `ComputeDamage` check never fired). Reimplemented as `finalDamage × 0.53` applied *after* all offensive bonuses via a new `ModifyDamage` hook, firing at the outer range ring.
- **`DefMaxRange`**: clamped to `[MinThrowRange, MaxThrowRange]` (uncapped before → e.g. range 13 at 200 Str) and guarded against a latent divide-by-zero.
- **Close-quarters mitigation** now uses `RawDex` (matches ServUO/OSI; deterministic under stat mods).
- **Return-throw timer** guarded against a deleted/unmapped thrower/target.
- Reverted the `MovingShot` change (it rebalanced archery — belongs in a separate PR).
- Kept only complex-logic tests (hit-chance/range/damage math); dropped property-value assertions.
## Excised for follow-up PRs (Phase 2/3)
7 named artifacts, the Into-the-Void quest + Agralem, GargishOutcast, the Bladeweaver vendor, and the SA loot tables — these were unwired/non-functional (loot never triggered, quest/creature never spawned) and will return properly wired. `StormCaller` also needs its missing Battle Lust, and the quest its correct void-creature target.
## Verification
- Build: 0 warnings / 0 errors.
- `UOContent.Tests`: **501/501** passing (the `ModifyDamage` hook causes zero regressions across all weapons).
- Full whole-branch review completed: no must-fix defects.
## Summary
Consolidates the duplicated inline AOS attribute → `ObjectPropertyList` emission that each item base copy-pastes into per-family `GetProperties(IPropertyList)` methods, mirroring the existing `AosSkillBonuses.GetProperties` precedent.
### Per-family `GetProperties(IPropertyList)`
- **`AosAttributes`** — the 24 common attributes in canonical cliloc-ascending order, with optional `damageBonus` / `hitChanceBonus` / `luckBonus` params so item-computed bonuses (e.g. `GetDamageBonus()`) stay out of the family type.
- **`AosWeaponAttributes`** — `UseBestSkill`, the `Hit*` block (1060416–1060430), `MageWeapon` (`30 - prop`), `SelfRepair`.
- **`AosArmorAttributes`** — `MageArmor`, `SelfRepair` (the always-direct members; `LowerStatReq`/`DurabilityBonus` stay inline since they're item-computed in armor but container-direct in clothing).
### Rewired all 6 `AosAttributes`-emitting item bases
`BaseJewel`, `BaseArmor`, `BaseClothing`, `BaseWeapon`, `BaseTalisman`, `Spellbook` now call the family methods instead of inlining the chain. Net: large dedup in `BaseWeapon`/`BaseArmor`/`BaseClothing`/`BaseTalisman`/`Spellbook`.
## Behavior change: tooltip line **order** (set preserved)
This is **not** a pure no-op refactor, and that's unavoidable. Today the families are emitted **interleaved in cliloc order**, and the relative order differs per item class — e.g. `BonusDex` (1060409) is emitted early in `BaseArmor` but **after** the `Hit*` block in `BaseWeapon`. No single emission order reproduces every class byte-for-byte, so consolidating into contiguous per-family blocks necessarily **de-interleaves**: lines regroup **specific → general** (family-specific, then common `AosAttributes`).
- The **set** of emitted `(cliloc, argument)` lines per item is preserved **exactly** — nothing dropped, added, or value-changed.
- Only the **order** of lines within a tooltip changes for `BaseArmor` / `BaseWeapon` / `BaseClothing`. `BaseJewel` / `BaseTalisman` / `Spellbook` were already canonical, so those are byte-identical.
## Tests
- **Golden set-invariance tests** per item base (`BaseArmor/Clothing/Jewel/Weapon/Talisman/Spellbook PropertiesTests`) — each was written to pass against current `main` **before** the rewire (locking the emitted-line set), then confirmed still passing after, proving no line is lost/added/changed.
- Family-level unit tests for each `GetProperties` (canonical order, computed-bonus folding, the `AosArmorAttributes` exclusions).
- `dotnet build` clean; full `UOContent.Tests` green. (Pre-existing `AccountPacket`/`GumpPacket`/`MobilePacket`/`ClientEnumerator` golden-test failures reproduce on unmodified `main` and are unrelated to this change.)
## Summary
Removes the dated `DynamicJson` JSON helper and migrates spawner JSON (de)serialization to a polymorphic `record SpawnerDto` hierarchy. `DynamicJson` was the last remaining consumer (regions moved off it in #1400).
The key correctness improvement: **System.Text.Json deserializes plain DTO records, never a live `Item`.** Previously, deserializing directly into an `Item` meant STJ constructed world-registered objects *before* the data was validated — a malformed/hand-edited spawn file could leave orphaned spawner Items in the world save. Now a parse failure is GC-only; `dto.ToSpawner()` constructs the spawner only from a fully-validated DTO and self-cleans on failure.
## What changed
- **New:** `SpawnerDto` (abstract) + `SpawnerDataDto` / `RegionSpawnerDto` / `ProximitySpawnerDto`, each marked with a reusable `[JsonDiscoverableType]` opt-in attribute. Auto-discovered at the `Configure` phase — no manual registration list (avoids the regions `Register<T>()` footgun), open to custom spawner subtypes.
- **Symmetric mapping:** `BaseSpawner.ToDto()` (export) ⇄ `SpawnerDto.ToSpawner()` (import). `ToSpawner()` deletes-and-rethrows on any failure, so the importer can never orphan an Item.
- **`SpawnerJsonSerializer`** wires `$type` polymorphism on the `SpawnerDto` root with loud collision/constructibility validation.
- **Import/export commands** rewired to the typed DTO path (reflection `FindTypeByName`/`CreateInstance` removed).
- **Data migration:** the 109 `Distribution/Data/Spawns/**` files moved from `"type"`→`"$type"` and legacy `homeRange`→`spawnBounds`. The runtime still *reads* legacy `homeRange` for external files. The `homeRange→spawnBounds` formula is proven equivalent to the runtime conversion (`BoundsEquivalenceTests`, hr=0/1/3/7).
- **Deleted:** `Projects/Server/Json/DynamicJson.cs`.
Sparse export output matches the legacy `ToJson` (nullable DTO properties + `WhenWritingNull`). Binary world-save serialization is untouched.
## Tests
- DTO round-trip per spawner type; sparse-default omission; legacy `homeRange` read; export/import file round-trip.
- `Import_MalformedFile_LeaksNoWorldItems` — proves a mid-array parse failure constructs zero world Items.
- `AllSpawnFilesLoadTests` — every migrated spawn file deserializes and builds.
- Duplicate-discriminator validation.
- UOContent.Tests 485/485, Server.Tests 710/710, build clean.
## Follow-up (not in this PR)
`Rectangle3DConverter.Write` (in `Projects/Server/`) omits `z1/z2` when `Start.Z == -128`, so a future server-side export of a `homeRange`-style spawner round-trips depth 256→255. Pre-existing and out of scope here (Server change); the migrated data reads correctly. Worth a separate small converter PR.
## Summary
House customization rejected ~40% of components — all classic/base tiles such as **sandstone** — for non-staff players. The pieces appeared briefly in the editor, then vanished before commit; only staff (GM+) could add them.
## Root cause
A data-convention mismatch introduced when housing.bin support was added (#2329).
- The OSI `housing.bin` encodes pre-AOS base pieces with the client **T2A** feature bit (`0x1`).
- `walls.txt` (and RunUO) encode the same pieces as `FeatureMask = 0` (always valid).
- `ComponentVerification.CheckValidity` validates against `ExpansionInfo.HousingFlags`, whose enum has no `0x1` bit, so base pieces failed `(HousingFlags & 0x1) != 0`.
- `HouseFoundation.Designer_Build` only enforces `ValidPiece` for `AccessLevel < GameMaster`, so staff bypassed validation while players had placements rejected — the server re-sends the design state and the client rebuilds the house from it, erasing the just-placed piece.
This only affects servers loading `housing.bin` from a UOP client; the old txt-only path (pre-#2329, like RunUO) was unaffected because base pieces are `0` there.
## Fix
Normalize the `housing.bin` feature mask to the housing-tier bits on load (`& HousingFlags.HousingEJ`). Base pieces collapse to `0` (always valid, exactly as `walls.txt` encodes them); `AOS`/`SE`/`ML`/... pass through unchanged. Both data sources now produce an identical validity table, matching RunUO behavior. `CheckValidity` and the `val != -1` anti-cheat guard are unchanged.
## Verification
- Parsed the real `housing.bin` from a 7.0.x client: sandstone (`0x345`) loads as `0x1` → `& HousingEJ` → `0` → valid; tier pieces (`0x40` SE, etc.) pass through; unregistered tiles stay `-1` → rejected.
- Confirmed OSI's own files disagree for the same pieces: `walls.txt` base `FeatureMask = 0` vs `housing.bin` `0x1`.
- `dotnet build` clean (0 warnings, 0 errors).
## Summary
Streamlines the SE-era archery ammo auto-recovery (recovering spent arrows/bolts after a miss). The mechanic was previously spread across four unrelated trigger points and a weapon-scoped timer that was divorced from the recovery state living on `PlayerMobile`. It also contained dead code.
### Problems fixed
- **Dead `!Warmode` gate** — `OnMiss` only runs from `OnSwing`, which requires warmode to fire, so the `if (!pm.Warmode)` branch that started the recovery timer could never trigger.
- **Scattered, divorced state** — banked ammo lived on `PlayerMobile.RecoverableAmmo` while the timer lived on the weapon (`_recoveryTimerToken`), and recovery was kicked off from four different places (`OnWarmodeChanged`, `PlayerMobile.OnDamage` kill, `BaseCreature.OnDamage` kill, `OnBeforeDeath`).
- **Per-player footprint** — every `PlayerMobile` carried a `RecoverableAmmo` field even though ~99% never miss with a bow (and most are offline).
### New design — `AmmoRecovery` side table
- All state (banked ammo + one repeating timer) is keyed by player in a static dictionary, so only players who actually miss carry any state. Transient by design — this was never serialized.
- **One feed point:** `OnMiss` banks the spent ammo type and starts the player's timer.
- **One drain point:** the timer self-gates and gathers ammo into the backpack only once the archer has disengaged — **alive, out of warmode, and not running** — otherwise it retries next tick, so banked ammo is never lost while online.
- **"Not running" allows standing still _or_ walking.** The `Direction.Running` bit is stale after a player stops, so it's paired with movement recency (`LastMoveTime`); only an *actively* running archer is blocked.
- Removed the redundant scattered triggers, the dead `!Warmode` branch, `RecoverableAmmo`, `RecoverAmmo()`, and the now-empty `OnWarmodeChanged` override. `PlayerMobile.OnDelete` calls `AmmoRecovery.Forget`.
### Behavior notes
- On death, banked ammo is **no longer flushed to the corpse** — it stays banked and is recovered after resurrection once the archer settles (player keeps it rather than dropping it to looters).
- `OnHit` immediate recovery (the ~40% arrow-to-defender behavior) is **unchanged**.
## Test plan
- [x] `dotnet build Projects/UOContent/UOContent.csproj -c Release` — succeeds, 0 warnings, 0 errors.
- [ ] In-game (SE era): miss bow shots, then disengage (drop warmode + stop) and confirm the "You recover N arrows/bolts" message and backpack contents; confirm recovery does **not** fire while running and **does** while walking/standing.
## Problem
Houses and boats (multis) were pathed correctly only by **delegation to the slow path**: `StepCache.TryGetMask` returns `Fallthrough_Multi` for any multi-covered cell, and `GetSuccessors` ran `CheckMovement` **8× per cell** (each re-resolving the tile stack via `GetStaticAndMultiTiles`) — a sustained per-step cost near every house/boat. There was also no automated test pinning multi pathfinding.
This branch is the full multi-pathfinding effort in phases on one branch.
## Phase 1 — characterization tests (the oracle)
Implementation-agnostic invariants: a cache-on≡cache-off whole-path invariant, a per-cell sweep vs `CheckMovement` over footprint+halo (incl. destination Z), hand-verified routing (around walls, demolish-reopens, foundation-redesign-honored), classic-house / foundation / boat fixtures, non-vacuity guards. These gate every later phase byte-for-byte.
## Phase 2 — live single-pass synthesizer
`StepProbe.ComputeMultiMaskAt` synthesizes a covered cell's full 8-direction `StepMask` in one pass (the existing surface/step logic over `GetStaticAndMultiTiles` instead of 8× `CheckMovement`). `GetSuccessors` routes `Fallthrough_Multi` cells through it. No new cache, no `.swb` change. **~1.5×**, zero added allocations.
## Phase 3 / 3.1 — warm per-`multiID` interior cache (airtight)
`MultiMaskCache` caches each fixed multi's local-frame `StepMask` for **interior** cells (cell + all 8 neighbours covered → terrain-neighbour-free → position-invariant), keyed by `multiID & 0x3FFF`, built lazily from the MCL. Interior cells become ~20 ns lookups.
The cache is gated on a **per-instance footprint-clean flag** (`BaseMulti.PathInteriorCacheState`): an instance whose whole footprint terrain is below its floor (`maxTerrain < minFloor`) serves from the cache; a **dirty** instance (terrain intrudes — a contrived/GM placement) **degrades to live-synth, never a wrong mask**. This closes a cross-instance soundness gap (the cached mask depends on neighbour terrain too) found in a holistic review. The gate resets whenever the footprint's world-terrain relationship can change — **location, map, or ItemID** (a boat's heading swaps the MCL).
**Boats are cached too.** Their per-`multiID` deck masks are movement-invariant (built once per heading), so a sailing boat never rebuilds them; only the cheap clean-flag rescan repeats per move (and only when pathed near). Narrow existing boats have little interior; wide galleons (`multi.mul`) would gain Castle-class. `HouseFoundation` (per-instance runtime `DesignState`) is the one type that stays on the live path.
## Verification
- `UOContent.Tests` **454/454**, `Server.Tests` **708/708**, 0 failures.
- The Phase-1 oracle (`MultiPathInvariantTests`, cache-on ≡ cache-off) stays **byte-identical** with the synthesizer + interior cache active.
- Tests pin: footprint-cleanliness (clean vs sunk), dirty/cluttered placement degrades to live-synth while still pathing, clean placement serves, and the gate resets on move/ItemID change.
## Performance (modernuo/ModernUO-Benchmarks#8, full-fixture)
Houses at **Green Acres** (flat staff region → clean footprints, the legit-placement case):
| Route | Slow path | Phase 3.1 (interior cache) | Speedup |
|-------|----------:|---------------------------:|--------:|
| `around_a` (29 steps) | 238.3 µs | **49.1 µs** | **4.85×** |
| `around_b` (29 steps) | 224.3 µs | **49.5 µs** | **4.53×** |
~130 of ~167 multi cells/route serve from the cache (~20 ns) vs 37 live-synth. Per-cell, the slow path's 8× `CheckMovement` grows with multi complexity (GuildHouse ~857 ns → Castle ~1,194 ns), the synthesizer is a flat ~780 ns, and the cache serve is ~20 ns — so big/tall multis (and wide galleons) gain most. Identical allocations throughout.
Fixes#1690. Addresses Blood Oath holistically — three bugs found while researching the spell against RunUO, ServUO, the UODemise/uo.com guides, and the archived UOGuide page.
## Bugs fixed
### 1. Expiry timing (the filed issue)
The `ExpireTimer` polled every 1s, so expiry and death/delete cleanup lagged up to ~1s. Replaced with a **single-shot** timer plus centralized `[OnEvent]` handlers on `PlayerDeathEvent`/`PlayerDeletedEvent`/`CreatureDeathEvent`/`CreatureDeletedEvent` — the oath now breaks immediately on death/delete of either party.
### 2. Duration formula
Used `/80` (the bugged in-game tooltip value) instead of the real OSI formula `((SpiritSpeak - Resist) / 8) + 8`. Confirmed by RunUO, ServUO, the emulator guides, and the code's own fixed-point comment. At GM Spirit Speak this changes duration from ~9.5s to 23s and makes Spirit Speak actually affect duration.
### 3. Damage reflection (`BaseCreature.Damage` vs `PlayerMobile.Damage`)
`BaseCreature.Damage` diverged: it attributed the reflected hit to the attacker itself (`from.Damage(amount, from)`) instead of the caster, reflected the bonused (not original) amount, used `×1.1` vs `×1.2`, lacked the caster-survival guard, and had no Publish 48 resist mitigation.
Unified both paths: reflect the **original** damage attributed to the **caster** at `×1.2`. Publish 48 resist mitigation now applies only to creature casters and is gated behind `Core.SA`.
## Internals
- Collapsed the parallel `_oathTable` into a single `_table` keyed by both participants → shared timer, so `RemoveCurse` resolves from either side (required by the event handlers).
- Extracted `GetDurationSeconds` and `ComputeReflectedDamage` as testable statics.
## Tests
13 new tests (duration formula, reflection mitigation, oath lifecycle, end-to-end event-driven removal). Full suite: **436/436 pass**.
## Summary
Fixes the pathfinding step-cache (`.swb`) prebake so it bakes **once** and skips when a valid cache already exists, instead of re-baking on every boot. The root cause was the staleness fingerprint hashing mutable in-memory tile data rather than the on-disk files. This PR makes the fingerprint a pure function of the client data files and separates dynamic multis (houses/boats) from the static cache.
> This branch builds on the `ConfigurePrompts` first-boot-prompt unification (commit `5df8d0bd`, also included here) — that commit accounts for the `ServerConfiguration.cs` and `dev-docs/server-lifecycle.md` changes in the diff.
## The bug
With `pathfinding.prebakeMaps` set, the cache re-baked on **every** boot. The `.swb` staleness fingerprint hashed the live `TileData.LandTable`/`ItemTable` flags, which the server patches at runtime (`ItemFixes`, `LOSBlocker`, `PotionKeg`, `CTF`) at nondeterministic lifecycle points (Initialize-phase methods share a priority; static ctors fire lazily). So a fingerprint stamped at runtime (`[PathBake`) never matched the one recomputed during startup `Initialize()`, and the cache rebaked every time.
## Changes
**1. Fingerprint the files, not the in-memory tables** (`fix`)
Hash `tiledata.mul` (cached, computed once) plus the per-map `.mul`/`.uop` files — never the runtime-mutated `TileData` tables. The fingerprint is now lifecycle-stable. Existing `.swb` files rebake once after deploy, then stay stable.
**2. Compute the fingerprint once per boot** (`refactor`)
`Configure()`'s `AutoLoadAtStartup()` already opens and fingerprint-validates a reader for every up-to-date `.swb`. `Initialize()` now skips baking any map that already has an open reader (`StepCache.HasLazyReader`) instead of recomputing the fingerprint a second time.
**3. Bake static-only; route multis to the live path** (`refactor`)
Multis (houses/boats) are dynamic, so they're no longer baked into the static chunk cache — they were tagged with `BuiltMultisVersion`, a non-persisted session counter, which made persisting them unsafe (false matches / wasted re-bakes).
- Chunks bake land + `statics.mul` only.
- At query time, any cell whose sector (or its 1-cell halo) contains a multi routes to `Fallthrough_Multi` → the existing live, multi-aware `CheckMovement` path. The halo prevents a cell proposing a walkable edge into a neighbouring wall; interior (multi-free) cells pay one sector lookup.
- Adds `Sector.HasMultis` (one engine accessor); `.swb` format → v9 (rejects old multi-baked files); new `Fallthrough_Multi` telemetry.
- Behaviour-preserving: multis use the same live path the engine used before the cache existed.
**4. Comment polish** (`style`) — no behaviour change.
## Testing
All green: **92** pathfinding (incl. a new fingerprint-stability test and a multi-halo fallthrough test), **423** UOContent, **708** Server.
## Follow-ups (not in this PR)
- **Background bake worker** — make `[PathBake` and the boot prebake non-blocking (game thread serves tile reads to an off-thread worker).
- **Per-multi MCL cache** — cache walkability in each multi's own frame (keyed by multiID, movement-invariant) so houses/boats get a fast path instead of the live fallback.
- **House-pathfinding equivalence tests** — the one area not yet covered by a dedicated automated test; multi pathing is currently correct by delegation to the live path.
## Summary
Adds authentic **T2A-era (pre-UO:Third-Dawn) packet-based crafting menus**, enabled via the **`t2aCraftMenus` server setting** (read once at startup; default **`!Core.UOTD`**, so a pre-UO:TD shard gets them automatically). When enabled, double-clicking a crafting tool opens the classic `0x7C`/`0x7D` item-list menu — skill- and material-filtered — instead of the modern gump, covering all 8 tool/skill crafts (blacksmithy, tailoring, tinkering, carpentry, alchemy, bowcraft/fletching, inscription, cartography). It is **not** a runtime/admin-flippable feature flag.
This is the **definitive, reconciled** branch and **supersedes**:
- **#2181** (Delphi — `T2A_CraftingMenus`): the original effort.
- **#2381** (Jack/UOLL — `t2a_crafting_menus`): the research-grounded superset (Delphi's base + 12 corrections), rebased onto current `main`.
Original authorship is preserved across the cherry-picked history: foundation commit **@Delphi79**, mechanic fixes **@jackuoll (Jack Ward)**, reconciliation/fixes/docs mine.
## How it was built
1. Cherry-picked Jack's 13 commits onto current `main` (superset of Delphi's; only 2 trivial FeatureFlags conflicts).
2. Applied targeted fixes (below) with tests.
3. Full convention audit, build, and test pass.
Grounded in independent historical research plus Jack's deep dive. Maintainer reference: `dev-docs/t2a-crafting.md`.
## Mechanics (highlights)
- Double-click tool → target resource → skill/material-filtered menu → craft. Resource pre-selection per skill; make-last by targeting the tool.
- **Stacked-gem jewelry:** target a gem stack → the **full stack** is consumed and the piece is named by count ("a 1000 diamond ring"); count persists (`BaseJewel` serialization **v4 → v5**, new `_gemCount`).
- **Tool-less inscription & cartography** (skill-list invoked; no pen/sextant); inscription consumes reagents+scroll on success and failure, mana only on success.
- **Tailoring matching-hue consumption:** targeting hued cloth/leather consumes only that hue. Crafted items take color from their **`CraftResource`** (not the dyed hue), so dyed leather/cloth don't tint the product; in T2A only colored ingots/ore color items (metal armor/shields).
- **Half-resources on failed non-scroll crafts** (pre-UO:TD).
- **Maker's mark** always prompted for exceptional items, via the shared `QueryMakersMarkGump`.
- Server-side menu infra changes are additive (`ItemListEntry.CraftIndex`, `Entries` setter, `HasSent`).
## Notable changes on top of the cherry-pick
- **Toggle is a startup server setting, not a feature flag.** Removed `ContentFeatureFlags.T2ACraftMenus` (and its admin-flippable plumbing); the value is read once via `ServerConfiguration.GetSetting("t2aCraftMenus", !Core.UOTD)` into `T2ACraftSystem.Enabled`. Since the default tracks the era and it can't be flipped at runtime, there's no incoherent "menus-on / UO:TD-era" state.
- **Stacked-gem consumption (B3a/B3):** consume the full `PendingGemCount` (was deliberately consuming 1 while naming by the stack), null-safe gem type, plain-piece fallback + message. New `T2AJewelGemCraftTests`.
- **Convention audit:** `new List<Item>()` → `PooledRefList<Item>` on the hue-aware consume path; removed dead code.
## Decisions & deviations
- `make-last` kept as **QoL** (post-T2A gump-era feature).
- `half-on-failure` (non-scroll) kept as a **reconstruction** (not OSI-confirmed).
- **Stacked-gem** behavior set per shard authority (overrides the "single gem" reconstruction).
- **Cooking** out of scope (no T2A crafting menu existed for it).
- **No colored items from dyed materials:** crafted color comes from the `CraftResource` type. Pre-AOS leather has no colored variant, so leather is always uncolored; weapons retain resource color only in AOS+ (unchanged, intended).
## Test plan
- Automated: `dotnet build ModernUO.slnx -c Debug` clean; `dotnet test Projects/UOContent.Tests` → **421 passed** (incl. 3 new jewelry tests).
- Manual (needs a running T2A shard + client):
- [ ] Each of the 8 skills opens the correct menu; empty-menu guard fires.
- [ ] Make-last repeats the last craft (jewelry re-prompts gem).
- [ ] Jewelry consumes the full targeted gem stack and names by count.
- [ ] Cartography consumes blank maps only with T2A enabled / maps+scrolls when disabled.
- [ ] Tailoring consumes only the targeted-hue material; crafted items are not tinted by dyed cloth/leather.
- [ ] Maker's-mark prompt on exceptional.
- [ ] Failed non-scroll craft consumes half resources.
- [ ] Inscription: reagents+scroll on success/failure, mana only on success.
- [ ] T2A disabled: gump crafting unchanged.
## Credits
Co-authored-by: @Delphi79
Co-authored-by: @jackuoll
## What
On **first boot** (right after map selection), offer to pre-bake the pathfinding `.swb` cache for the selected maps. This removes first-pathfind-after-boot latency and is now cheap — ~18 MB/facet after the v8 format work (the old ~565 MB is gone). The answer persists in `modernuo.json` as **`pathfinding.prebakeMaps`** (default **false**): asked exactly once, and skipped on headless/CI boots (redirected input) where operators can set the flag directly.
## How — a generic startup phase, not pathfinding hardcoded in the engine
The clean-console (pre-Serilog) prompt window is inside the engine startup, but UOContent isn't loaded until after `ServerConfiguration.Load`. So rather than coupling the engine to pathfinding, this adds a generic lifecycle phase:
- **`Main.cs`**: new `AssemblyHandler.Invoke("ConfigurePrompts")` — runs **after** `LoadAssemblies` (so content can participate) but **before** the first `logger.Information` (so console prompts aren't interleaved with the async console sink). The first log line moves below it. Any class can hook in with `public static void ConfigurePrompts()` and self-gate on first-boot state. No `ServerConfiguration` or pathfinding coupling added to the engine.
- **`PathCacheCommands.ConfigurePrompts()`**: the first-boot prompt (interactive-only, flag-absent-only); persists the answer.
- **`PathCacheCommands.Initialize()`** (`Invoke("Initialize")` phase, after the tile matrix loads — which the bake walks): when the flag is set, bakes any map whose `.swb` is **missing or stale** (tile-data fingerprint mismatch, via `StepCache.ComputeLiveFingerprint` / `TryReadFingerprintFromFile`). A fresh cache is a no-op, so only the first boot — or a post-client-update boot — pays the several-minute cost.
## Docs
Fixed the now-stale "~565 MB / ~1.5–2 GB / do not bake by default" section in `dev-docs/pathfinding.md` (it's 17.9 MB for Trammel, tens of MB for all six facets after v8), added a "First-boot pre-bake prompt" section, and added the `pathfinding.prebakeMaps` lever row.
## Verified
- `dotnet build UOContent -c Release` → 0 errors (rebased on #2474).
- Pathfinding/StepCache tests: **90/90 pass**.
- Bootstrap streamlining of the startup phases is intentionally left as a follow-up.
## Summary
Fixes two related pet-behavior bugs and the underlying design flaw behind both:
1. **Post-combat erratic** — after a pet killed its `all kill` target it milled around erratically at the kill site (or failed to return to the master) until the player issued `all follow`/`all stop`.
2. **`all stop` returns home** — a pet with a non-zero `Home` walked back toward that location on `all stop` (on ML; on non-ML the old `DoOrderStop` was a no-op, so the sighting there came from a residual `Stay`).
### Root cause
`ControlOrder` and the wild-creature `Home` field were overloaded to express several distinct ideas, mutated/read inconsistently across order transitions:
- `Home` doubled as the controlled-pet "stay anchor" (`HandleStayOrder` set `Home = Location`) but nothing cleared it when the pet left the staying state; `HandleStopOrder` was the only handler that never touched it.
- `DoOrderStop` had dropped RunUO's `Home = Location` re-anchor, so on ML it walked to a stale anchor.
- The post-combat fallback was a fragile `_lastPetOrder` hack in `DoOrderNone` that re-anchored a resumed `Stay` at the corpse.
- Controlled idle-wander bypassed the `CheckIdle()` rest gate that every non-controlled creature uses, so idling pets jittered every AI tick.
## Approach
Separate three concepts that were tangled together:
- **`ControlOrder`** — the active order (may be transient: Come/Attack/Drop).
- **Persistent command** (`PersistentOrder` ∈ `{None, Stay, Follow, Guard}`) — the standing directive a pet falls back to when a transient order completes. Runtime-only (not serialized; reset to `None` on load) and **derived from master proximity on login** (near → Follow, far → Stay).
- **Anchor** (`Home`) — a pure function of the persistent command, set only when that command changes (never on transient transitions or fallback-resume), so it can't go stale.
### Behavior
- **Stop** is resolved immediately from what the pet was doing: Attack/Come → resume the persistent command; Follow/Guard → cancel to idle where it stands; Stay → stay put.
- **Stay** holds its post (returns only if displaced, e.g. after a fight) — no shuffle.
- **Idle** (`None`) is a gentle wander routed through `CheckMove/CanMoveNow/CheckIdle`, so idling pets take the same 15–25s rest periods as other creatures, on both ML and non-ML.
- **Post-combat** the pet resumes its persistent command (a staying pet returns to its original post, not the corpse).
- **Release** without a spawner anchors where the pet stands instead of pathing to a stale anchor.
This restores the RunUO-intended behavior (verified against the RunUO reference) while fixing the ModernUO regressions.
## Tests
New `PetOrderTests` (13 deterministic xUnit tests) cover: anchor lifecycle, the full Stop truth table, report 1 (post-combat return to post), report 2 (no stale-anchor walk-home), frozen-Stay/gated-idle wiring, release fix, derive-on-login, and a non-ML spot-check. The subjective wander *feel* is covered by a manual-QA checklist in the implementation plan.
## Notes
- Engine project (`Projects/Server`) untouched; the one `BaseCreature.cs` change is the `ControlOrder` setter passing the previous order to `OnCurrentOrderChanged`.
- `DoOrderCome` keeps auto-converting to `Stay` on arrival, which under the new model cleanly means "come and hold near me."
- Commits in this PR are temporarily **unsigned** (the signing agent's passphrase cache expired mid-session); happy to re-sign / amend on request.
## Summary
Phase #3b (final roadmap item), stacked on #2470. Compacts the index trailer from 20 to 8 bytes/chunk.
Trammel: 19.2 MB → 17.9 MB. Roadmap total: 565 MB → 17.9 MB (−96.8%).
## Details
- Trailer stores `{ u32 packedKey = (ChunkX << 16) | ChunkY, u32 recordLength }` per chunk, in record write order; the file offset is dropped and reconstructed by cumulative recordLength from HeaderSize.
- No record reordering, no varint; fixed-stride, TryReadChunk unchanged.
- Also simplifies the accumulated `.swb` code comments across the stack.
- Format v8; v7 files rejected and re-baked once.
## Tests
v8 multi-chunk round-trip (cumulative offset reconstruction) + the v6/v7 suite; full pathfinding suite green; Release build clean.
## Summary
Phase #3a, stacked on #2469. Compresses each chunk record independently with libdeflate (random access preserved).
Trammel: 124.7 MB → 19.2 MB (−85%).
## Details
- Whole-record framing `[u32 UncompressedLen][payload]`; records that don't shrink (tiny Uniform) are stored raw, detected as payload length == UncompressedLen.
- Codec chosen by full-Trammel spike: libdeflate VeryHigh (16.5 MB, 1.83 µs/chunk decompress) over zstd L19/22 (17.4 MB) and managed Brotli q11 (16.4 MB) — best native ratio, fastest decompress, already the repo's packet codec (no new dependency).
- Reuses cached thread-static bindings: `Deflate.Maximum` for bake, `Deflate.Standard` for reads.
- Compression is bake-time only; decompression is one-time per chunk (LRU-cached).
- Format v7; v6 files rejected and re-baked once.
## Tests
v7 unit tests + the v6 suite run through the compression path; full pathfinding suite green; Release build clean.
## Summary
Phase #2 of the `.swb` step-cache size-reduction roadmap (after #2465, v5 uniform elision). Stores the 16 base directional Z arrays as masked residuals against each cell's own SourceZ and omits any array that matches its prediction. Lossless, byte-identical reconstruction.
Trammel: 231.9 MB → 124.7 MB (−46%).
## Details
- Predictor: `predict = mask bit ? SourceZ : 0` (matches the baker's 0 on unwalkable directions); residual `Z − predict` via unchecked two's-complement (byte-exact for all inputs); reconstruct `Z = predict + residual`.
- A `u16 ZArrayMask` flags which of the 16 base arrays differ from prediction; matching arrays are omitted and synthesized from mask + SourceZ at read.
- Serializer-layer only: StepChunk, the cache, the algorithm, and the baker are unchanged.
- Format v6; v5 files rejected and re-baked once.
## Tests
21 v6 unit tests; full pathfinding suite green; Release build clean.
## Issue
Fixes#2452. A player with 30 Ninjitsu reported that the Animal Form menu showed **every** form; selecting one above their skill (e.g. Dog, req 40) **consumed mana** and returned "you need at least 40 skill", and afterwards the **gump never reopened** — every recast silently re-attempted the unusable form and drained more mana.
## Root cause
Three linked bugs, all reproduced from the code:
1. **Gump not gated by skill.** `AnimalFormGump.BuildLayout` compared `Skill.Fixed` (which is `Value * 10`, so 30 skill → `300`) against the raw 0–100 `ReqSkill` (Dog = `40`). `300 >= 40` is always true, so all forms were shown. `Morph` itself correctly uses `.Value`.
2. **Mana charged on a no-skill cast.** `Morph` returns `MorphResult.NoSkill` for an under-skilled form, but both call sites (`OnCast`, `OnResponse`) only special-cased `MorphResult.Fail`; `NoSkill` fell through to the branch that deducts mana.
3. **Menu never reopened.** Per OSI ([uo.com](https://uo.com/wiki/ultima-online-wiki/skills/ninjitsu/), [uoguide](https://www.uoguide.com/Animal_Form)), casting while **standing still always opens the selection menu**, and casting while **moving** quick-transforms into the last selected form. ModernUO only opened the menu when `lastAnimalForm == -1`, so once any form was selected a stationary recast skipped the menu.
## Fix
- Add `AnimalForm.CanSelectEntry` (compares `Skill.Value` to `ReqSkill`, plus the talisman check) and use it for the gump's per-entry enable check.
- `OnCast`: standing still always opens the menu; moving quick-transforms into the last form. `NoSkill` no longer costs mana.
- `OnResponse`: handle `Success` / `Fail` / `NoSkill` explicitly so `NoSkill` costs no mana.
## Tests
Adds `AnimalFormTests`:
- `CanSelectEntry` rejects forms above skill, accepts forms at/below skill, and requires a talisman for talisman-gated forms.
- `Morph` returns `NoSkill` (without transforming) when under-skilled, and `Success` when sufficiently skilled.
Verified the gating test catches the regression (reintroducing `.Fixed` fails it). Full solution build is clean; the 5 new tests plus 284 other UOContent tests pass (the pathfinding/AI sequential tests were excluded only because they deadlock under concurrent local runs — they are unrelated to this change).
## Summary
Sub-project #1 of the `.swb` step-cache size-reduction roadmap (`dev-docs/pathfinding.md` § Future work). Adds **uniform-chunk elision** to the `StepCacheFile` format, bumping it **v4 → v5**.
A fully-uniform 16×16 chunk — no strata, **no swim layer**, all 19 base arrays constant (open ocean, Green Acres, void) — serializes to a **~28-byte record** (`KindUniform`) instead of ~5,393, and reconstructs **byte-identically** via `Array.Fill`. Non-uniform chunks use the existing v4 body (`KindFull`) with the swim-layer and strata trailers **fully preserved** — the Kind byte is just prepended.
## Calibrated result (measured, not projected)
Baked Trammel via `SaveToFile`:
| | |
|---|---:|
| Chunks | 114,688 |
| Uniform (swim-aware) → elided | 62.7% |
| Swim-layer chunks (stay Full) | 8.9% |
| Strata chunks (stay Full) | 1.8% |
| Baseline (full records) | 592.2 MB |
| **Actual v5 `.swb`** | **231.9 MB (−61%)** |
The residual is ~150 MB of non-uniform land Z-blocks (targeted by #2 predictive-Z) + ~81 MB of swim-layer trailers (#2/#3). #2 and #3 are separate follow-up PRs.
## Implementation
- `StepChunk.IsUniform()` — false if it has strata **or a swim layer**, else true only when all 19 base arrays are constant (the "all-same" check uses the SIMD-accelerated `ContainsAnyExcept`).
- `StepCacheFile` v5 — `Kind` byte (`KindFull=0`/`KindUniform=2`, 1 reserved); uniform write/read; `FormatVersion`/`MinSupportedVersion` → 5 (v4 files rejected on open and re-baked). No `StepCache`/algorithm/index changes; fingerprint logic untouched.
## Tests
7 `StepCacheFileV5Tests` (uniform round-trip + `<200 B` compactness, varied-full, swim-layer-full, strata-full, swim+strata combined, v4 version-gate rejection) + the existing StepCache/pathfinding suite — **70 pass**, including the prior `SwimLayer_RoundTrips`. An independent review verified write/read symmetry, cast round-tripping, swim/strata preservation, and the version gate (READY TO MERGE).
Fixes#2462
## Summary
Removes the per-object `VirtualHairInfo` heap wrapper for mobile/corpse hair. Hair is now stored **inline** on `Mobile` and `Corpse` as `int _hairItemId` / `int _hairHue` plus a lazily-allocated, **non-serialized** ephemeral `Serial _hairSerial` (in the high virtual-serial range) — and likewise for facial hair. The `VirtualHairInfo` class is deleted, with a **lossless** save migration.
This delivers three things:
1. **Fixes a hair-removal bug.** `Delta(MobileDelta.Hair)` is deferred (it enqueues; `ProcessDeltaQueue` runs later in the tick). The old `HairItemID = 0` setter nulled `_hair` *immediately*, so by the time `ProcessDelta` built the remove packet the equipped virtual serial was already gone — the old `??=` code then re-materialized a **fresh** serial (≠ the equipped one), so clients never removed the right entity, and it left a phantom ItemId-0 object behind. The serial now lives on the entity and **persists across removal**, so remove packets carry the correct serial.
2. **Lightens the entity.** No heap hair object; bald mobiles allocate nothing (the serial is minted lazily only when hair is present). This was the original reason `HairItemID`/`HairHue` exist.
3. **Removes `VirtualHairInfo` entirely**, keeping the high-range virtual serial behavior.
## How
- **Mobile** (manual serialization): inline `_hairItemId/_hairHue/_hairSerial` (+facial); lazy `HairSerial`/`FacialHairSerial`; `ProcessDelta` reads those. Serialization **v36 → v37** — the v30-v37 deserialize is unified, reading the legacy per-hair `VirtualHairInfo` version int only when `version < 37`. Setting item id to 0 clears the hue (matching the old object-nulling) while retaining the serial.
- **Corpse** (codegen serialization): decomposed to `[SerializableField] int _hairItemId/_hairHue` (+facial) + ephemeral serial; **v16 → v17** with `MigrateFrom(V16Content)`.
- **Lossless migration:** the loader validates exact byte length, and the old corpse hair is a presence-bool-gated block, so a tiny **migration-only** `LegacyHairInfo` reader (no runtime role) consumes the legacy `[bool][int ver][int itemId][int hue]` bytes. Frozen `Corpse.v14/v15/v16.json` are retyped to it; `v17.json` describes the new int fields.
- All consumers updated to discrete accessors: `OutgoingMobilePackets`, `CorpsePackets`, corpse subclasses (`MilitiaFighterCorpse`, `SchmendrickApprenticeCorpse`), and the packet test mirrors.
- `VirtualHair.cs` renamed to `OutgoingVirtualHairPackets.cs` (the only type left in it after `VirtualHairInfo` was removed).
## Test Plan
- [x] Full solution build: **0 warnings, 0 errors** (`TreatWarningsAsErrors`).
- [x] `Server.Tests`: **708 passed** (incl. new `RemoveHairUsesEquippedSerial` / `RemoveFacialHairUsesEquippedSerial` proving the serial survives removal + hue clears).
- [x] `UOContent.Tests` corpse/hair: **6 passed** (incl. `CorpseHairMigrationTests` asserting the legacy hair bytes are consumed exactly — the loader's length invariant).
- [x] Generated migration code inspected: V14/V15/V16 readers consume the legacy block byte-for-byte; serial never written to disk.
## Upgrade notes
- Old Mobile (v30–v36) and Corpse (v13–v16) saves load losslessly.
- Minor cosmetic-only change: `SchmendrickApprenticeCorpse` hair/facial-hair RNG draws shift order within each pair (same draw count); irrelevant for a quest NPC corpse.
## Summary
Closes the Cold-cache regression flagged in PR #2450. `StepCache.TryGetMask` no longer eagerly runs `BuildChunk` on the first miss for a chunk that isn't in a `.swb` lazy reader. Instead it returns `Fallthrough_NotBuilt` and the caller (`BitmapAStarAlgorithm`) takes the per-cell slow path. The chunk is only promoted to the bitmap fast path after the **second** miss within a 30-second window, filtering single-touch pass-throughs.
This makes BitmapAStar's worst-case (cold cache + short hops) collapse from **12–47× slower** than FastAStar to **roughly the same**, which is the floor the slow path can deliver. Steady-state warm performance (the actual deliverable) is unchanged from PR-5 — it was always the cache fast path.
## The pet-follow scenario this fixes
A mounted player at ~4 tiles/sec with a pet/hireable following will trigger an NPC pathfind every 100–300 ms. Each pathfind is 1–6 tiles. As the player crosses chunk boundaries (~4 sec/chunk), the pet's first pathfind in the new chunk under the previous behavior triggered a full ~700 µs `BuildChunk` for a chunk the player would leave shortly after. At 50–100 mobiles per shard, this exceeded the 8 ms tick budget. PR-5 BDN data showed scenarios 6–9 (2–8 tile NPC perception) at 2,300–3,700 µs Cold vs FastAStar's 80–200 µs.
Under the new gate:
- First miss → `Fallthrough_NotBuilt` → caller uses slow path (~30–50 µs short path). No `BuildChunk`. No allocation.
- Player keeps moving → chunk never gets a second touch within window → never promoted, no rot.
- NPC patrolling a fixed territory → repeatedly hits the same chunks → second touch within window → promote → cache fast path on subsequent calls.
## What changed
- **`CacheHitKind.Fallthrough_NotBuilt = 6`** + **`CacheStats.FallthroughNotBuilt`** counter. `IsHit=false`, so the caller routes to slow path.
- **`StepCache._chunkMissTracker`** — `Dictionary<long, ChunkMissState>` capped at 4096 entries. State is `(byte missCount, uint lastMissTickStamp)` keyed by chunk key. Window-expired entries reset count to 1; capacity overflow prunes window-old entries first.
- **`StepCache.MissPromotionThreshold`** (default `2`) and **`StepCache.MissPromotionWindowMs`** (default `30_000`) — tunable, can be wired through `ServerConfiguration` if shards want different policy. Setting threshold to `1` restores legacy eager-build behavior (used by tests that prime chunks via single `TryGetMask` call).
- **`StepCache.TryGetMask` miss branch** — try lazy reader first (file-loaded chunks bypass the tracker entirely; an `.swb` represents an explicit prior decision to keep the chunk warm). Otherwise consult the tracker.
- **`BitmapAStarAlgorithm.GetSuccessorsSlowPath`** now layers `IsBlockedByDynamic` on top of `CalcMoves.CheckMovement`. Previously the slow path only ran for `CanFly` creatures and rare cache fallthroughs — `CheckMovement` doesn't iterate same-cell mobiles, so the bitmap fast path's `IsBlockedByDynamic` was the only mobile-blocking check. Now first-touch pathfinds run through the slow path, so the gap had to close.
## Tests
50 pathfinding tests pass (was 47). New / updated:
- **`TryGetMask_FirstTouchOnUnbuiltChunk_DefersBuildAndReturnsFallthrough`** — single TryGetMask call returns `Fallthrough_NotBuilt`, no chunk built, no allocation.
- **`TryGetMask_SecondTouchWithinWindow_PromotesAndBuilds`** — second call inside the 30s window builds + serves.
- **`TryGetMask_SecondTouchAfterWindow_RestartsCounterAndDefers`** — second call outside the window restarts the count, returns Fallthrough again.
- **`TryGetMask_DistinctChunks_TrackedIndependently`** — counters are per-chunk; one touch on each of two adjacent chunks both stay in fallthrough.
- **`LazyReaderHit_BypassesMissTrackerOnFirstTouch`** — open `.swb` + first touch hits without consulting the tracker. Production with `.swb` loaded skips the gate entirely.
- **`MultisVersion_Bump_TriggersDirtyRebuild`** — updated to reflect the new 3-step flow (Fallthrough → Miss_NotBuilt → Miss_DirtyRebuild).
- Tests that prime chunks via a single `TryGetMask` call (multi-Z, Tier4, lifecycle, parity, BitmapAStar uses-cache) set `MissPromotionThreshold = 1` to opt into eager behavior.
## Expected BDN impact
The Cold column from PR-5's BDN should change as follows once the bench's submodule pointer is updated to this branch:
| # | Scenario | Cold (PR-5) | Cold (PR-6 expected) | FastAStar Cold |
|--:|-----------------|-------------:|---------------------:|---------------:|
| 2 | sewer corridor | 1,627 µs | ~36 µs | 36 µs |
| 4 | causeway | 1,533 µs | ~39 µs | 39 µs |
| 6 | pet 2-tile | 2,364 µs | ~80 µs | 81 µs |
| 8 | npc 5-tile | 3,708 µs | ~140 µs | 141 µs |
| 9 | npc 8-tile | 2,386 µs | ~200 µs | 197 µs |
WarmNoFile and LazyWarm rows should be unchanged — they were always cache-warm. The miss tracker only fires when neither resident chunks nor the lazy reader can satisfy the request.
## Future work (not in this PR)
- **Background-thread bake**: builds outside the game thread so even promoted chunks don't pay the 700 µs build cost on the main thread. Rule 10 (no Task.Run) applies, so this needs careful design — the bake is a pure data transform but main-thread synchronization on chunk-state transitions has to be threaded through. Defer to a follow-up.
- **Long-traverse BDN scenario**: a multi-Find benchmark simulating 50 pet repaths across chunk transitions. Requires restructuring the bench harness; the existing 10-scenario corpus + Cold provider already exercises the gate.
- **Swim sourceZ bake**: scenario 5 (sea serpent) shows 56 B alloc on warm paths because the cache's SourceZ is computed under default-walker rules. Swim creatures fall through to slow path. Independent of this PR.
## Summary
Creatures (pets following, monsters chasing, NPCs approaching) would **oscillate — "pace back and forth really fast"** at concave obstacles (reported at the Britain Inn L-desk: a pet at `(1493,1614,20)` never reaching its master at `(1494,1605,21)`) instead of routing around them.
**Root cause** (the A* pathfinder itself was correct): all goal-seeking funnels through `MoveTo` and `WalkMobileRange` → `MoveTowardsOrAwayFrom`, which step greedily via `DoMove(dir, badStateOk:true)`. `DoMove` returns `true` even when the direct step was blocked and the creature merely **auto-turned and sidestepped** (`MoveResult.SuccessAutoTurn`), and the caller then set `Path = null`, discarding the `PathFollower`. So at a concave obstacle a non-progressing sidestep was mistaken for progress and the creature never committed to a route. (AOS pet-follow runs at `CurrentSpeed = 0.1`, hence the "really fast" shuffle.)
## What changed
- **New centralized `BaseAI.ApproachTarget(target, run, range)` primitive.** A greedy step is committed only when it **fully succeeds (`MoveResult.Success`) and actually gets closer**; otherwise the creature commits to a **persistent `PathFollower`** that routes around the obstacle and is never discarded by a greedy step. The open-terrain fast path (one greedy step, no pathfinding) is preserved. `MoveTo`, `MoveTowardsOrAwayFrom`, and `MoveToWithCollisionAvoidance` all delegate to it — public signatures unchanged, so no AI-class call site changes.
- **Best-distance give-up + idle.** A creature that cannot reach a **stationary** in-range goal stops shuffling and idles after `ApproachGiveUpTicks` (40) ticks without lowering its closest-ever distance; a **moving** goal (active chase) never gives up. It resumes the moment the goal moves.
- **Pathfinder fix (required):** `BitmapAStarAlgorithm.IsBlockedByDynamic` now skips the dynamic mobile-block check **at the goal cell only** (`MoveImpl.Goal`). Previously A* returned `null` whenever the target mobile stood on the goal cell, so creatures could never pathfind *toward* another mobile — only toward empty ground. The follower stops within `range` short of it. Static/item blocking and all non-goal mobile blocking are unchanged.
## Tests
New AI-loop integration tests in `ApproachTargetTests.cs` drive the real `BaseAI` primitives against live Britain Inn map statics: exact-repro pet follow, open-terrain (asserts zero pathfinding), `MoveTo` chase (static + walking-away target), route-around-a-dynamic-wall, and walled-off give-up-and-idle.
- Pathfinding + AI subset: **52/52** pass.
- Full `UOContent.Tests`: **301/301** pass. (Note: the test host lingers on shutdown — a pre-existing infra quirk unrelated to this change; all tests complete and pass.)
- Full solution build: clean (0 warnings / 0 errors).
## Notes
- Branched off `main`; independent of the in-flight step-cache work.
- Out of scope (future work): proactive "SmartAI" look-ahead pathfinding so clever creatures plan a route before walking into the obstacle, rather than reacting after they hit it.
## Test Plan
- [X] In-game: order a pet to `follow`/`come` across the Britain Inn L-desk; confirm it routes around and reaches you instead of pacing.
- [X] Aggro a monster and kite it around a building/treeline; confirm it chases around obstacles.
- [X] Confirm open-terrain following/chasing feels unchanged (no extra latency).
- [X] Confirm a creature with a genuinely unreachable target idles rather than shuffling forever.
## Summary
Multi-Z cells (bridges, stairs, paver-over-ground, multi-floor structures) now carry **per-stratum walkability data** in the cache instead of falling through to the slow path. The data is computed at chunk-build time, persisted in the `.swb` file, and selected at query time by matching the request's `sourceZ` against each stratum's `zCenter` (within `StepHeight` tolerance).
This is the Tier 4 strata feature, deferred from PR #2447 / PR #2448 / PR #2449. Builds on PR #2449's lazy backing store and public bake helpers.
## Wire format change (v1 → v2)
`StepCacheFile.FormatVersion = 2`. `MinSupportedVersion = 2`. v1 `.swb` files are silently rejected at open time (treated as missing) and overwritten on the next `SaveToFile` / `BakeMap`. **No migration** — older files just get re-baked.
The `MinSupportedVersion` sentinel is the model going forward: bump the constant when an incompatible change lands; admins re-bake on the next deploy. No matrix of v1↔v2↔v3 migration logic to maintain.
## What changed
- **`StepProbe.ComputeStrataAt(map, x, y)`** — enumerates walkable standing-Zs at the cell (one per land surface plus one per walkable static), collapses Zs within `2*StepHeight`, runs `ComputeMaskAt` at each surviving Z. Returns `null` for single-Z cells (caller uses the chunk's main mask).
- **`StepChunk`** — replaces the old `MultiZCells` bitmap with a **strata storage pair**:
- `ushort[256] StrataOffsetByCell` (sentinel `NoStrata = 0xFFFF` = "no strata for that cell")
- `byte[] StrataData` packed: `u8 stratumCount`, then `count × 19-byte stratum`
- `sbyte zCenter, byte walkMask, byte wetMask, sbyte walkZ_N..NW (8), sbyte swimZ_N..NW (8)`
- `IsCellMultiZ` derives from `StrataOffsetByCell[cell] != NoStrata` — same semantics, single source of truth.
- **`StepCache.BuildChunk`** — populates strata for cells flagged multi-Z via `SetStrata`. Chunks with zero multi-Z cells pay zero strata overhead (offset array + data array stay null).
- **`StepCache.TryGetMask`** — for multi-Z cells, scans strata with `TryStratumHit`; returns the matching one with `HitKind=Hit`. Falls through to slow path only when no stratum matches the query `sourceZ`.
- **`StepCacheFile`** — v2 serialization with strata trailer per chunk + `recordLength` in index entry. Lazy reader sizes scratch per-chunk-record using the recorded length, growing on demand for multi-Z-heavy chunks. Patches `IndexOffset` on `w.Buffer` (BufferWriter's current backing array) since it grows during variable-size chunk writes.
## File layout v2
```
Header (48 bytes):
u32 Magic = 0x42575300 ('SWB\0')
u32 Version = 2
u32 MapId
u64 Fingerprint XxHash3 over LandTable + ItemTable flags + map files (mapX.mul/.uop, staidxX.mul, staticsX.mul)
u64 BakeTimestamp informational
u32 ChunkCount
u64 IndexOffset position where chunk index begins
Per chunk (variable size):
u16 ChunkX, ChunkY
u32 BuiltMultisVersion
u8 HasStrata 0 = no strata trailer; 1 = strata trailer follows
byte WalkMask[256], WetMask[256]
sbyte SourceZ[256], WalkZN..WalkZNW[256], SwimZN..SwimZNW[256]
// Strata trailer (only when HasStrata == 1):
u16 StrataOffsetByCell[256] // NoStrata sentinel = 0xFFFF
u32 StrataDataLength
byte StrataData[StrataDataLength]
Per multi-Z cell: u8 count, then count × Stratum (19 bytes)
Index trailer (20 × ChunkCount bytes):
per chunk: { u64 chunkKey, u64 fileOffset, u32 recordLength }
```
## Summary
Adds two pieces of pathfinding tooling on top of PR #2448's lazy `.swb` infrastructure:
- **`PathfindRecorder`** — admin-toggled JSONL telemetry capture; one record per `BitmapAStarAlgorithm.Find` call. Output format matches the BDN harness corpus, so production traffic can be captured and replayed in benchmarks without an adapter.
- **Public bake helpers on `StepCache`** — `ComputeLiveTileDataHash`, `TryReadTileDataHashFromFile`, `BakeMap`, `ClearResidentChunks`. Lets the benchmark project (and any future bake utility) drive cache fill + persist without exposing internal types.
The companion BDN harness update lives in [ModernUO-Benchmarks#kb/pathfinding-pr4-bench](https://github.com/modernuo/ModernUO-Benchmarks/tree/kb/pathfinding-pr4-bench): porting `Benchmarks/PathfindInGame/` from the `kb/ai_pathfinding` branch to the API shipped in #2446–#2448.
## What's in this PR
### `PathfindRecorder` (`PathfindRecorder.cs`)
- Holds a single `StreamWriter` open while recording; its internal buffer absorbs per-record writes without per-call `File.AppendAllText`.
- Single `bool` check on the hot path; cheap when disabled.
- Disabling flushes + disposes; an IO failure during write also disables the recorder.
- Server config:
- `pathfinding.recorder.enable` — bool, default `false`. Read on boot via `GetOrUpdateSetting`.
- `pathfinding.recorder.path` — default `<basedir>/Data/Pathfinding/recordings/pathfinds.jsonl`.
- Hooked into `BitmapAStarAlgorithm.Find` — runs once per call, does nothing when disabled.
- Admin command: `[PathRecord [on|off|flush|status]` (default `status`).
### Public cache helpers
- `static ulong StepCache.ComputeLiveTileDataHash()` — wraps the file module's hash function for staleness checks.
- `static bool StepCache.TryReadTileDataHashFromFile(string, out ulong)` — peeks at a `.swb` file's hash field (20 bytes).
- `int StepCache.BakeMap(int, string)` — walks every chunk in the map, populates resident set, saves. Offline / fixture use; blocks for many seconds on a full-map walk.
- `void StepCache.ClearResidentChunks()` — drops chunks + zeros counters but keeps lazy readers open. Lets benchmark loops measure "first query after boot" cost across iterations without the lazy-reader reopen overhead.
## Summary
Adds a binary disk format + lazy reader so the step cache can warm-start from a precomputed file without paying chunk-build cost on the first pathfind through a region. **Resident memory stays bounded by `MaxResidentChunks` regardless of file size** — opening a `.swb` reads only the header + chunk-offset index (~16 bytes per indexed chunk), and individual chunks are seeked + deserialized only when `ResolveMissingChunk` asks for them.
The lazy design (vs. an eager bulk load): a 250 MB bake on a RAM-constrained shard never materializes more than the LRU cap (~40 MB at the default 8192-chunk cap), and unwanted regions never enter memory at all.
Builds on PR #2447.
## What changed
- **`StepCacheFile`** — binary reader/writer module. Writer emits header → chunks (offsets recorded) → index trailer, then patches the header's `IndexOffset` field. Reader is `OpenForLazy(path)` returning a `LazyReader` that holds an open `FileStream` + offset dictionary.
- **`StepCacheFile.LazyReader`** — `TryReadChunk(chunkX, chunkY)` does a single seek + bulk read for one record. `Dispose` releases the underlying stream. Files are opened with `FileShare.Read | FileShare.Delete` so admin tooling can replace them.
- **TileData fingerprint via XxHash3.** The `.swb` header carries a hash of `LandTable + ItemTable` flags. Load rejects any file whose hash doesn't match the running server. Computed via `HashUtility.ComputeHash64` (engine-blessed hasher) — adds a `ReadOnlySpan<byte>` overload alongside the existing `ReadOnlySpan<char>` one for parity.
- **`StepCache.SaveToFile(path, mapId)`** — writes resident chunks for the given map.
- **`StepCache.TryOpenLazyReader(path, mapId)`** — opens the file, validates header, holds the reader for the map's lifetime.
- **`StepCache.ResolveMissingChunk`** — now consults the lazy reader before invoking the runtime baker. A loaded chunk whose `BuiltMultisVersion` doesn't match the live sector falls through to the baker (snapshot was made before a multi was added/removed in that sector).
- **`StepCache.Clear` closes lazy readers.** Test cleanup can delete `.swb` files cleanly.
- **Auto-load at startup.** `PathCacheCommands.Configure()` opens `Data/Pathfinding/<mapId>.swb` as a lazy reader for every map.
- **`[PathCacheSave`** / **`[PathCacheLoad`** — admin commands for the same workflow.
- **`pathfinding.maxResidentChunks` shard-tunable.** Read from `server.cfg` at boot via `ServerConfiguration.GetOrUpdateSetting` (default 8192 ≈ 40 MB). Small shards can tune down; large shards with substantial bakes can tune up to reduce eviction churn. Default is written back to `server.cfg` on first boot, matching the engine pattern used by other settings.
## File layout (v1)
```
Header (48 bytes):
u32 Magic = 0x42575300 ('SWB\0')
u32 Version = 1
u32 MapId
u64 TileDataHash XxHash3 over LandTable + ItemTable flags (HashUtility)
u64 BakeTimestamp informational
u32 ChunkCount
u64 IndexOffset file position where the chunk index begins
Chunk records (fixed size, ~5,393 bytes each, +32 if multi-Z):
u16 ChunkX
u16 ChunkY
u32 BuiltMultisVersion
u8 HasMultiZ
byte WalkMask[256], WetMask[256]
sbyte SourceZ[256], WalkZN..WalkZNW[256], SwimZN..SwimZNW[256]
[byte MultiZCells[32] when HasMultiZ == 1]
Index trailer (16 × ChunkCount bytes):
(u64 chunkKey, u64 fileOffset)
```
## Memory math
| Scenario | Disk file | RAM at boot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty / no `.swb` files | — | 0 | Silent; cache builds on demand. |
| Admin-curated towns (5K chunks) | 25 MB | 0 + per-query | Index ≈ 80 KB. Resident grows to the configured cap under steady-state queries. |
| Full-map bake (50K chunks) | 250 MB | 0 + per-query | Index ≈ 800 KB. Same configured cap. Cold areas never load. |
| All 5 maps fully baked | 1.25 GB | 0 + per-query | Index ≈ 4 MB total. Same configured cap. |
## Hash choice (FNV-1a → XxHash3)
The original draft used inlined FNV-1a-64. Switched to XxHash3 via `HashUtility`:
- ~30× faster on this workload (~30 GB/s SIMD vs ~2 GB/s byte-by-byte). Boot-time only, so absolute saving is microseconds — the real wins are elsewhere.
- Stronger collision resistance and distribution.
- Drops ~25 lines of inlined hash code; matches the rest of the codebase's hashing pattern.
- Hash is stable as long as `HashUtility`'s `xxHash3Seed` constant doesn't change (already marked `// DO NOT CHANGE THIS NUMBER`).
## Summary
Builds on PR #2446's cache-direct A*. The previous PR conservatively routed players + creatures with capability flags entirely through the slow path. This PR pushes that line: most mobile classes now use the cache, with the right rule set layered on top per-mobile, and the cache fast-path now does the dynamic items / mobiles check that PR #2446 had silently skipped.
## What changed
- **Non-GM players** now use the cache. Diagonal corner-cut applies the strict AND-rule (BOTH cardinal partners walkable) by reading the same source-cell mask byte the creature OR-rule reads — both rules are evaluable from one byte.
- **Creatures with `CanOpenDoors` / `CanMoveOverObstacles`** now use the cache. Reading `MovementImpl` confirmed those flags only affect dynamic items, never static tiles, so they were over-conservatively excluded before.
- **Swim creatures** now use the cache via a capability overlay. `StepProbe` bakes a second rule set (`canSwim=true, cantWalk=true`) producing `WetMask` + `SwimZ_*`. The algorithm composes `effectiveMask = (walkMask & !cantWalk) | (wetMask & canSwim)` per direction; walk Z preferred when both apply.
- **Dynamic-obstacle pass.** Cache fast-path now mirrors `MovementImpl`'s per-cell items + mobiles collision check (`GetItemsAt` / `GetMobilesAt` at the target cell, with `CanOpenDoors` / `CanMoveOverObstacles` / spell-field overrides). This closes a correctness gap from PR #2446 — the cache fast-path was silently skipping dynamic obstacles entirely.
- **`StepCache.TryGetMask` returns `StepMask` struct** instead of 11 out parameters. `HitKind` rolls into the struct with an `IsHit` accessor. Sets up wet/swim without ballooning the call site.
- **`StepChunk.MultiZCells` is lazy-init.** Most chunks are entirely single-Z; allocating the 32-byte bitmap up-front wasted ~256KB at full cap.
- **Admin commands.** `[PathCacheStats` (resident chunks + hit/miss/eviction counters) and `[PathCacheClear` (drop everything, zero counters).
- **Feature flag.** `bitmap_pathfinding_cache` (default true) gates the cache fast-path. Flipped off, every cell expansion routes to `MovementImpl` — equivalent to PR #2446's slow-path-only behavior. Safety net for shipping the new behavior.
`RequiresSlowPath` shrinks to just `CanFly` — flying creatures Z-jump arbitrarily, which the cache's static-Z model can't accommodate.
## Summary
Replaces `FastAStarAlgorithm` with `BitmapAStarAlgorithm`: one cache lookup per cell expansion (8-direction mask + per-direction destination Z) instead of 8 separate `MovementImpl.CheckMovement` calls. Adds the supporting cache infrastructure to back it.
Public API unchanged — `MovementPath` / `Mobile.Move` / `CalcMoves.Find` return the same shapes; the algorithm swap is internal.
## What's in this PR
- **`BitmapAStarAlgorithm`** — A* that issues one `StepCache.TryGetMask` call per cell expansion. Inline fallthrough to the per-cell slow path for multi-Z, off-map, source-Z mismatch, and non-default walkers.
- **`StepCache`** — singleton chunk store keyed by `(mapId, chunkX, chunkY)`. Lazily built on first query, invalidated by `Sector.MultisVersion` mismatch, memory-bounded by sampled probabilistic LRU.
- **`StepProbe`** — computes static-only walkability for a single cell, mirroring `MovementImpl.Check` minus the item / mobile collision phases.
- **`StepMask` / `StepChunk`** — value / storage types for the per-cell results.
- **`CacheEvictionTimer`** — periodic cap backstop (60s interval; early-returns when not over cap).
- **`Map.Sector.MultisVersion`** promoted to `public` so the cache can detect dynamic-static invalidations cheaply.
## Eviction strategy
Sampled probabilistic LRU (Redis-style). Per eviction, sample 5 random keys from a parallel `List<long>` kept in lockstep with the chunk dictionary; evict the oldest of the sample via swap-and-pop. O(1) per eviction regardless of resident count, so sustained cap pressure has no perpetual perf hit.
## Capability handling (interim)
Non-default walkers (non-GM players, creatures with `CanSwim` / `CanFly` / `CanOpenDoors` / `CanMoveOverObstacles`) route entirely through the per-cell slow path via `BitmapAStarAlgorithm.GetSuccessorsSlowPath`. The 2-pass design (cache + capability overlay + dynamic-obstacle pass) lands in the follow-up PR.
Adds an opt-in 'youngPlayerSystem.enabled' server setting (default true) that, when set to false, disables the Young player system server-wide:
- Account.Young and PlayerMobile.Young getters short-circuit to false.
- New characters no longer receive Young status or a NewPlayerTicket.
- All downstream Young checks (notoriety beneficial-action restriction, CheckYoungProtection, stealing penalties, YoungDeathTeleport, death-item movement, poison immunity, '(Young)' name suffix, CanLogout, renounce-young keyword/gump, BaseCreature.OnDeath fame penalty, OnLogin time-remaining message) become inert.
Setters are intentionally left untouched so serialized account/player flags round-trip cleanly when the setting is later re-enabled.
## Summary
Phase 3.3 of the message-interpolation cleanup. Eliminates the `rank.ToString().ToLower()` two-allocation pattern in ConPVP trophy-award messages.
- Adds `TrophyRank.LowerName()` extension returning a static lowercase string per enum value via switch expression.
- Updates 10 call sites across Tournament, KingOfTheHill, DoubleDom, CTF, BombingRun (2 each - cash and no-cash branches).
The handler now appends a static interned string directly into the packet buffer; no `ToString()` formatter and no `ToLower()` allocation per call. Source comment in BombingRun.cs ("There is no formatting flag for Lowercase, we may need a custom interface to get rid of it") is now resolved at the call-site level.
## Summary
Phase 3 PR B of the message-interpolation cleanup. Handles the multi-line restructure sites flagged in `dev-docs/string-handling-message-interp-audit.md` (Phase 2). Phase 3.1 (PR #2436) handled trivial sweeps; this PR handles sites that needed an `if/else` hoist or switch restructure to eliminate `string.Format` while preserving exact message text.
Each site previously allocated an intermediate `string.Format(...)` result before passing to the message handler, despite Phase 1 making the handler accept interpolated string handlers natively.
## Sites fixed
- **`Projects/Server/Mobiles/Mobile.cs:7911`** - Title/guild header was using `string.Format` with a conditional template (`"[{1}]{2}"` vs `"[{0}, {1}]{2}"`). Split into `if (title.Length <= 0)` / `else` with direct `$"..."` interpolation.
- **`Projects/UOContent/Engines/ConPVP/DuelContext.cs:1337`** - View-ladder rank text used `string.Format(text, from == pm ? "You" : "They")`. Split into `if (from == pm)` / `else` with direct `$"..."` interpolation in each branch.
- **`Projects/UOContent/Engines/ConPVP/DuelContext.cs:1463`** - Showladder text reused a single format string for both `LocalOverheadMessage` ("You ... are ...") and `NonlocalOverheadMessage` ("`{pm.Name}` ... is ..."). Each call now uses an inline `$"..."` directly; no shared template.
- **`Projects/UOContent/Engines/ConPVP/Gumps/ConfirmSignupGump.cs:518`** - The signup confirmation message used a `switch` expression assigning a literal format string to `fmt`, then `string.Format(fmt, from.Female ? "Lady" : "Lord", timeUntil)`. Converted to a `switch` statement where each case calls `_registrar.PrivateOverheadMessage(...)` directly with an inline `$"..."`. Lady/Lord branching is hoisted to a `title` local.
## Exempted
- **`Projects/UOContent/Engines/ConPVP/Participant.cs:138`** - The `nonLocalOverhead` format string is a parameter passed in by callers of `Participant.Broadcast`. Investigation found 5 call sites in `DuelContext.cs` (lines 782, 802, 1187, 1196, and three at 1535/1564/1608) that pass distinct literal format strings. Refactoring would require changing all 5 callers and the method signature - out of scope for this PR. Marked with a `// Phase 3 audit:` comment per the audit's exemption convention.
## Summary
Phase 3.1 of the message-interpolation optimization series. Fixes 9 of the 28 sites flagged in the Phase 2 audit (PR #2435):
| File | Fix |
|---|---|
| `Commands/StaffAccess.cs:88,99` | Drop redundant `.ToString()` on enum holes |
| `Commands/Handlers.cs:102` | `builder.ToString()` -> `builder.AsSpan()` |
| `World Saves/SaveCommands.cs:71-75` | Merge 3 concatenated `$"..."` into one literal |
| `Server/Items/Item.cs:4213` | Hoist nested ternary `$"..."` to if/else |
| `Engines/Factions/Mobiles/Guards/BaseFactionGuard.cs:140-150` | Convert switch expression to switch statement |
| `Mobiles/Monsters/LBR/Jukas/JukaLord.cs:85` | Restructure `string.Format(toSay.RandomElement(), ...)` into switch |
| `Misc/AttackMessage.cs:30-41` | Inline `AggressorFormat`/`AggressedFormat` constants |
No functional changes. Each site emits identical text; the only difference is that the message string is now built into a pooled char buffer instead of being allocated as a `string` first.
## Summary
Phase 1 of a multi-phase optimization to eliminate intermediate string allocations between `$"..."` interpolation and the packet text region for ModernUO's player-facing message APIs.
- Adds `[InterpolatedStringHandler]` overloads to every `Send*`/`Public/Local/Private/NonlocalOverheadMessage`/`Say`/`Emote`/`Whisper`/`Yell`/`SendLocalizedMessageTo` API in `OutgoingMessagePackets`, `Mobile`, and `Item`. Each overload is a 3-line shim that forwards `handler.Text` to the existing span-based path then calls `handler.Clear()` to return the rented `STArrayPool<char>` buffer (matches the established `SpanWriter.WriteAscii(ref RawInterpolatedStringHandler)` precedent).
- Converts `string text/args/affix/name` parameters to `ReadOnlySpan<char>` for consistency with the handler path. `lang` intentionally stays `string` (it's never interpolated and the `??= "ENU"` fallback stays cleaner).
- Adds `int charCount` overloads of the three `GetMaxMessage*Length` helpers so stackalloc sizing can avoid the redundant `ROS<char>` round-trip.
- Moves `Mobile` (17 methods) and `Item` (4 methods) message methods into new partial-class files (`Mobile.Messages.cs`, `Item.Messages.cs`) for organization.
No UOContent call sites change in this PR — existing `string`/`ROS<char>` calls compile unchanged via implicit conversion. Phase 2 (intermediate-string audit) and Phase 3 (cleanup PRs) follow.
## Files
- `Projects/Server/Network/Packets/OutgoingMessagePackets.cs` — `string` → `ROS<char>` for text params, `int charCount` length helpers added, class made `partial`
- `Projects/Server/Network/Packets/OutgoingMessagePackets.Interpolated.cs` (new) — 3 `ref RawInterpolatedStringHandler` extension overloads
- `Projects/Server/Mobiles/Mobile.cs` — message methods extracted (-262 lines)
- `Projects/Server/Mobiles/Mobile.Messages.cs` (new, 463 lines) — moved + ROS-converted methods + 25 handler overloads
- `Projects/Server/Items/Item.cs` — message methods extracted (-93 lines)
- `Projects/Server/Items/Item.Messages.cs` (new, 142 lines) — moved + ROS-converted methods + 4 handler overloads
- `Projects/Server.Tests/Tests/Network/Packets/Outgoing/MessagePacketTests.cs` — 3 new regression tests verifying byte-equivalence for the handler overloads
### Summary
- Add InteractiveTeleporter that teleports on double-click
- Add support to decorate command
- Add rope teleporters to the New Haven mines in the decoration file
## Summary
Converts `HouseRaffleManagementGump` from legacy `Gump` to `DynamicGump` with the static `DisplayTo` entry-point pattern.
The gump has paginated entries (up to 10 rows per page), conditional prev/next navigation buttons (vs. inactive image when at page boundary), and per-entry conditional layout (account-bearing vs. raw name). DynamicGump is the right choice.
Constructor is private; `DisplayTo` validates `from` / `NetState` / `stone.Deleted` before constructing. The list+sort runs eagerly in `DisplayTo` so paging math stays consistent across rebuilds.
Builder labels use `$"{value}"` interpolated-string-handler form for zero-allocation text.
Updates the caller in `HouseRaffleStone.ManagementEntry.OnClick`.
## Summary
Converts `RewardGump` and the inner `RewardConfirmGump` from legacy `Gump` to `DynamicGump` with the static `DisplayTo` entry-point pattern.
Both gumps have variable per-instance layout — the reward grid loops over `_rewards` and adds `AddItem(itemID, hue)` / `AddTooltip(tooltipID)` calls whose values are baked into the layout buffer per entry, so a cached static layout would be incorrect. DynamicGump is the right choice and avoids the placeholder dance for non-text values.
Constructors are private; `DisplayTo` validates `NetState`, null `rewards`/`onPicked`, and empty arrays before constructing.
Builder labels use `$"{value}"` interpolated-string-handler form for zero-allocation text.
## Summary
- Converts `HouseGumpAOS` from legacy `Gump` to `DynamicGump` with a private constructor and the static `DisplayTo` entry-point pattern.
- `AddPageButton`, `AddButtonLabeled`, and `AddList` helpers now write directly to the `DynamicGumpBuilder` via `ref` parameters.
- All internal re-display calls and the `HouseSign` / `ConfirmResizeHouseGump` callers route through `HouseGumpAOS.DisplayTo`.
- Field naming updated to underscore-prefix convention (`_house`, `_page`, `_from`, `_list`, `_hangerNumbers`, `_foundationNumbers`, `_postNumbers`, `_houseSigns`).
## Summary
- Converts the legacy pre-AOS `HouseGump` to `DynamicGump` with a private constructor and the static `DisplayTo` entry-point pattern.
- `HouseListGump` and `HouseRemoveGump` now route back through `HouseGump.DisplayTo` instead of constructing the gump directly.
- Updates the `HouseSign` caller accordingly.
Splits BarkeeperGump (DynamicGump) into two StaticGump<T> variants selected by body type — Human (modifiable appearance) and NonHuman (no appearance/gender controls). Each variant gets its own cached static layout via a CRTP base; dynamic per-instance text (rumor messages, keywords, tip message) is filled via slot placeholders in BuildStrings.
Moves PlayerBarkeeper, BarkeeperGump, and BarkeeperTitleGump into a dedicated Mobiles/Vendors/Barkeeper/ folder.
Pulls the Back button on the appearance-categories page out of the ModifyAppearance branch so non-human barkeepers no longer hit a dead end on that page.
BaseCreatures are deleted on death (Mobile.OnDeath calls Delete for non-players), so after save/restart the corpse's _owner reference resolves to null. CorpseNotoriety gated its entire creature branch on `target.Owner is BaseCreature`, falling through to player-corpse logic once the reference vanished. That made monster corpses turn red (body.IsMonster -> Murderer) and innocent NPC corpses turn grey (null is not PlayerMobile -> CanBeAttacked) on the next restart.
Snapshots the relevant owner state into CorpseFlag at corpse creation: OwnerWasBaseCreature, OwnerWasSummoned, OwnerWasAnimatedDead. Folds the standalone _murderer bool into CorpseFlag.Murderer for consistency with Criminal. CorpseNotoriety now consults the flags so the creature branch stays correct without a live mobile reference.
Bumps Corpse serialization to v16 with a MigrateFrom(V15Content) that maps the old Murderer bool onto the new flag. Pre-fix corpses already on disk decay within 7 minutes; their first post-restart color may be wrong, which is acceptable.
Also documents that the schema generator must be run after every version bump (`dotnet tool run ModernUOSchemaGenerator -- ModernUO.slnx`) since `dotnet build` does not emit migration JSON files.
## Summary
Migrates 14 ConPVP lobby/tournament gumps from legacy `Gump` to modern `DynamicGump`/`StaticGump<T>`. Layouts move into `BuildLayout(ref DynamicGumpBuilder)`, constructors become private, and validation moves into static `DisplayTo` entry points (empty-gump rule).
**Per-gump base type decisions:**
- `BeginGump` → `StaticGump<BeginGump>`: layout is fully fixed (no dynamic content). All other gumps below are `DynamicGump` because they bake dynamic player names, guild abbreviations, ruleset titles, arena names, tournament participant names, ladder rankings, or per-instance rule modifications. Per the cliloc/dynamic-text rule, dynamic content forces `DynamicGump`.
- `ReadyGump`, `ReadyUpGump` → `DynamicGump` (per-instance participant rosters).
- `AcceptDuelGump`, `AcceptTeamGump`, `ConfirmSignupGump` → `DynamicGump` (challenger/registrar/team names, dynamic rule modifications).
- `PickRulesetGump`, `RulesetGump` → `DynamicGump` (ruleset titles and option labels per instance).
- `ParticipantGump`, `DuelContextGump` → `DynamicGump` (player rosters/team labels).
- `LadderGump` → `DynamicGump` (ladder entries: ranks, levels, guild abbrs, names, wins/losses).
- `ArenaGump` → `DynamicGump` (arena names with active player names).
- `PreferencesGump` → `DynamicGump` (arena name list).
- `TournamentBracketGump` (~1k LOC) → `DynamicGump`. The whole gump is one type-switched view that re-renders on every button press across `Index`, `Rules_Info`, `Participant_List`, `Participant_Info`, `Round_List`, `Round_Info`, `Match_Info`, `Player_Info`. All branches bake per-instance content.
**Refresh-via-this conversions (the big perf wins):**
- `LadderGump`: page +/- now mutates `_page` and calls `from.SendGump(this)` instead of allocating a new `LadderGump`.
- `PickRulesetGump`: ruleset apply / flavor toggle now refreshes via `this`.
- `ParticipantGump`: increase/decrease team size, remove player, target failure all refresh via `this`.
- `DuelContextGump`: failed-start and add-participant refresh via `this`.
- `ConfirmSignupGump`: every signup-validation rejection branch in `OnResponse` and every `AddPlayer_OnTarget` rejection branch refreshes via `this` (was allocating a new gump per branch).
- `TournamentBracketGump`: every navigation button (back/forward, type change, page change, drill-down) mutates `_type`/`_object`/`_list`/`_page` and refreshes via `this`. Previously each click allocated a new 1k LOC gump.
All gumps are `Singleton`, use private constructors with static `DisplayTo` entry points that null-check `NetState` before allocation. External callers in `DuelContext`, `TournamentBracketItem`, `TournamentController`, `TournamentSignupItem`, and the cross-references between `AcceptDuelGump`/`ParticipantGump`/`AcceptTeamGump`/`ConfirmSignupGump` are all updated to use `DisplayTo`. Legacy `m_X` fields renamed to `_x` per coding standards.
