ModernUO/Projects/UOContent
Kamron Batman 2935eafe24
feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589)
## Summary

Phase 3 of the anchored-time work: **every actively-written delta-time value in the engine now stores an anchored timestamp** — absolute on the wire, shifted forward by the downtime at load. Remaining time survives restarts (as delta did), and unlike delta, the bytes do not change on every save, so an idle world serializes identically save after save.

The answer to "is it possible everywhere": **yes** — including the one case that looked impossible.

## The GenericPersistence problem, solved

`GenericPersistence` bins (`Virtues.bin`, `StealableArtifacts.bin`, …) are raw payloads with no idx header, so they have no anchor of their own — anchored reads there would silently apply zero shift. But the anchor is a property of the **save**, not the file: every file in one save shares one `World.SaveStartTime`, and `Persistence.Load` reads **all** entity indexes (phase 1) before **any** persistence payload (phase 2). So the idx v5 header stamps a save-wide `World.LoadTimeShift`, and generic persistence readers inherit it. No file-format change, no per-bin header, old bins unaffected.

## Converted

- **Item v10 → v11**: `LastMoved` — previously whole-minute delta, rewritten every save for every item, the single largest source of idle-save churn — and `DecayResetTime` (retiring the TODO from #2583). **Mobile v37 → v38**: the three stat-gain stamps. **BaseCreature v20 → v21**: `SummonEnd`.
- **17 code-generated classes** (`[DeltaDateTime]` → `[AnchoredDateTime]`, version bump + `MigrateFrom` each): the five field spells, TransientItem, VirtueContext (×7 fields), PuzzleChestSolutionAndTime, BaseCamp, BaseBoat, RentedVendor, PlayerVendor, Ethics Player, Sheep, StarRoomGate, ChampionSpawn (×3), Corpse (`TimeOfDeath`, v19). The `MigrateFrom` bodies were generated from each class's current migration schema and are compiler-verified; VirtueContext's save-flagged nullables fall back to the same defaults the old deserialize left in place. Corpse's six migrations moved to a new `Corpse.Migrations.cs`.
- **Hand-written sites**: StealableArtifacts (v2), VendorInventory (v1), ML quest objectives (persistence v3) — each gated on its own version.

**Not converted, deliberately**: the ~25 read-only `ReadDeltaTime` sites in legacy version fallbacks and migration replays — they decode existing old bytes and must never change. `[DeltaDateTime]`/`WriteDeltaTime` remain available for them.

## Verification

- Build 0 errors / 0 warnings; **837 + 708 tests green**.
- Schema regeneration produced exactly the 17 expected new `vN.json` files (all `AnchoredTime` rule args), nothing else touched.
- **New acceptance tests** pin the point of the whole effort: serializing the same item at two save times **5 hours apart produces byte-identical output**, and `LastMoved`/`DecayResetTime` round-trip **exactly** at sub-minute precision (the old minutes encoding destroyed both properties).

## Notes for review

- `LastMoved` grows from a 1–3 byte encoded minutes value to 8-byte ticks per item — the price of byte-stability; it repays itself in incremental-save behavior since unchanged items now produce unchanged bytes.
- BaseEscortable-style semantics are unchanged: anchored shift preserves *remaining* time exactly, the same contract delta provided, so no gameplay-visible behavior changes — deadlines simply stop being consumed by downtime that delta already protected against, now with stable bytes.

## Enforcement

`WriteDeltaTime` is now `[Obsolete]` (interface + implementation). With the repo's warnings-as-errors, any new delta-time write — hand-written or emitted by a still-unconverted `[DeltaDateTime]` field — fails the build, with the migration instructions in the message. That the full solution still builds with **zero warnings** is itself the proof no active delta writer survived the conversion. `ReadDeltaTime` deliberately stays un-attributed: its remaining callers decode existing old bytes and are correct forever; its XML docs now state the legacy-decode-only contract.
2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
..
Accounting perf(login): run password hashing on a parked worker thread (#2566) 2026-08-09 00:13:34 -07:00
Assistants chore: Use var everywhere (#2294) 2025-12-27 16:47:28 -08:00
Commands perf: Sleep the event loop when idle. Fixes networking micro-stalls. Adds event loop instrumentation. (#2559) 2026-08-09 13:24:59 -07:00
Compression feat: Implements new robust/pluggable backup/archive system. (#2388) 2026-03-22 19:51:20 -07:00
Configuration fix: Streamlines insurance. Insurance only executes when enabled. (#2550) 2026-07-26 09:47:49 -07:00
Console feat: Adds console commands (#1714) 2024-03-30 09:40:43 -07:00
Context Menus fix: Moves ContextMenu out of core, streamlines code, fixes bugs (#1873) 2024-07-20 21:33:23 -07:00
Engines feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Gumps fix: harden idle-sleep scheduling against bad config and misattributed saves (#2567) 2026-08-09 22:05:18 -07:00
Holiday Stuff perf: Migrate Veteran Reward gumps to DynamicGump/StaticGump (#2415) 2026-04-25 20:09:27 -07:00
Items feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Migrations feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Misc refactor: fold hand-written serializable property setters into field hooks (#2587) 2026-08-22 18:20:39 -07:00
Mobiles feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Multis feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Network feat: make the blocklist and manual allowlist opt-in; cut the ban subsystem's on-loop cost (#2577) 2026-08-13 23:22:35 -07:00
Regions fix: Fixes criminals having guards called on them (#2348) 2026-03-13 17:35:47 -07:00
Skills fix: Removes unnecessary dictionary removal guards (#2565) 2026-08-08 11:50:01 -07:00
Special Systems feat: Add zero-alloc interpolation handler to ValueStringBuilder, replace all StringBuilder usage (#2387) 2026-03-22 14:23:44 -07:00
Spells feat: convert all delta-time serialization to anchored time (#2589) 2026-08-22 19:34:43 -07:00
Systems/JailSystem fix: Bumps deps. Updates copyrights (#2353) 2026-03-05 19:36:54 -08:00
Targets chore: Use var everywhere (#2294) 2025-12-27 16:47:28 -08:00
Text fix: Bumps deps. Updates copyrights (#2353) 2026-03-05 19:36:54 -08:00
Utilities perf(login): run password hashing on a parked worker thread (#2566) 2026-08-09 00:13:34 -07:00
World Saves perf(messages): mechanical interpolation cleanups (#2436) 2026-05-03 18:26:49 -07:00
Module.cs fix: Fixes sending packets and sidesteps a major issue with stackalloc and PGO in .NET 8 (#1607) 2023-11-21 12:18:20 -08:00
UOContent.csproj feat: adopt serialization generator v4 (field-side linkage, anchored timers) (#2586) 2026-08-22 17:54:02 -07:00