perf(vfx): port retail particle visibility degradation
Resolve DAT-authored particle ranges from the hardware GfxObj, apply retail distance and completed-cell visibility gates, and preserve the exact finite/infinite off-view update semantics. This removes dense-world simulation work without shortening terrain, entity, fog, or streaming distance. Publish doorway-clipped outdoor cells through a focused frame controller, retain effect cell identity for outdoor statics, reject hidden emitters before particle-slot scans, and offer an explicit opt-in Extended particle range. Release build succeeds and all 5,857 tests pass with five intentional skips. Retail-conformance, architecture, and adversarial review cycles are clean; connected Aerlinthe visual/performance gate pending. Co-authored-by: OpenAI Codex <codex@openai.com>
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29 changed files with 1810 additions and 125 deletions
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@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ accepted-divergence entries (#96, #49, #50).
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---
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## 3. Documented approximation (AP) — 87 active rows
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## 3. Documented approximation (AP) — 89 active rows
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Wave-0 UI ledger repair (2026-07-10) retired stale AP-38, resolved the AP-84
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collision, restored overwritten paperdoll rows as AP-92/AP-93, and registered
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@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ AP-94..AP-112 for the confirmed retail-UI completion gaps.
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| ~~AP-114~~ | **RETIRED 2026-07-14 (protection-effect corrective gate)** — the particle renderer no longer replaces every authored GfxObj with one bounding-box quad. Retail `Always2D` classification preserves mode-1/no-degrade full meshes through the modern shared mesh buffer and leaves only other degrade modes on the billboard path; stable emitter handles balance mesh ownership. | `src/AcDream.App/Rendering/ParticleRenderer.cs`; `RetailParticleGeometryClassifier.cs`; `particle_mesh.vert/.frag` | — | — | `CPhysicsPart::Draw @ 0x0050D7A0`; `CPhysicsPart::Always2D @ 0x0050D8A0`; `ParticleEmitter::SetInfo @ 0x0051CE90`; `docs/research/2026-07-13-retail-projectile-vfx-pseudocode.md` |
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| AP-115 | The DAT-authored portal-space viewport and its animation `SoundTweakedHook` are live, but the separate `ClientUISystem` enter/exit sound enums and centered repeating `"In Portal Space - Please Wait..."` display string are not yet presented. | `src/AcDream.App/Rendering/PortalTunnelPresentation.cs`; teleport event switch in `GameWindow.cs` | acdream has no retained cross-stack centered display-string owner or ClientUISystem sound-table-enum resolver yet; routing the line into chat or inventing direct wave IDs would be less faithful | Portal travel has the correct animated wormhole, timing, direct viewport switch, view-plane transitions, and animation-authored sound, but lacks retail's short UI cue sounds and center notice | `gmSmartBoxUI::BeginTeleportAnimation @ 0x004D6300`; `gmSmartBoxUI::UseTime @ 0x004D6E30` |
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| AP-116 | Optional Display setting `Particle Range = Extended` multiplies DAT-authored particle degradation distances by 2; default `Retail` uses exact values | `src/AcDream.UI.Abstractions/Panels/Settings/DisplaySettings.cs`; `src/AcDream.App/Rendering/Vfx/ParticleVisibilityController.cs`; `src/AcDream.Core/Vfx/ParticleSystem.cs` | Explicit opt-in for players who value distant VFX; it changes no terrain, scenery, entity, fog, or streaming distance and is reversible live | Extended can roughly enlarge the active particle area and reduce the CPU gain from MP2; distant VFX remain visible beyond retail's authored cutoff | `CPhysicsPart::GetMaxDegradeDistance @ 0x0050D510`; `GfxObjDegradeInfo::get_max_degrade_distance @ 0x0051E2D0`; `CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles @ 0x0050FE60` |
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| AP-117 | Outdoor particle `CLandCell::IsInView` state is reconstructed with the modern landscape renderer's per-cell frustum plus active doorway clip-plane/scissor-AABB tests; retail `LScape::landcell_check` uses `Render::get_clip_height` + `Render::block_check` on terrain-cell corner intervals | `src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TerrainModernRenderer.cs` (`CollectVisibleCells`) | The mandatory modern renderer batches terrain by landblock and has no retail `ViewIntervalType` product. Publishing cell visibility from the exact landscape draw slices preserves ownership/order and removes the former object-survivor dependency without adding a second view pipeline | At a terrain cell grazing a frustum or doorway boundary, the conservative AABB test may freeze or resume particles on a slightly different frame than retail; whole regions outside the active doorway slice are rejected, and authored distance, login/portal fail-closed behavior, and indoor PView cells remain exact | `LScape::landcell_check @ 0x005050A0`; `CLandCell::IsInView @ 0x00532CB0`; `CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles @ 0x0050FE60` |
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## 4. Temporary stopgap (TS) — 33 active rows (TS-20 retired 2026-07-16 — the later named-retail audit disproved the proposed DrawingBSP polygon filter; TS-37 is a retired-row historical note, not an active count; TS-39 retired R5-V3 — sticky seams bound to the ported PositionManager/StickyManager, radii threaded; TS-45 retired 2026-07-07 — hand-rolled `SphereCollision` replaced by the faithful CSphere family port, fixing the player-vs-monster crowd wedge; TS-3 retired 2026-07-07 — `frames_stationary_fall` accounting ported in the #182 verbatim UpdateObjectInternal rebuild, fixing the airborne falling-animation wedge; TS-41 retired 2026-07-07 — SERVERVEL synth-velocity remote body-drive replaced by the retail interp catch-up + unconditional MovementManager::UseTime, the remote-creature de-overlap #184; TS-44 narrowed same day — NPC UP unified onto the interp queue, gate retained for orientation)
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@ -113,6 +113,23 @@ loader when preloading emitter meshes. This is not a second DAT reader:
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`CreateBlockingParticleHook::Execute` `0x00526EF0` and
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`ParticleManager::CreateBlockingParticleEmitter` `0x0051B8A0`.
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**Retail particle visibility/degradation seam (2026-07-17).** WorldBuilder's
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particle simulator remains a useful DAT-integrator and batching reference, but
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it does not carry the live retail client's `CObjCell::IsInView` degradation
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path. `EmitterDescRegistry` now resolves the hardware particle GfxObj and its
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ordered `GfxObjDegradeInfo` entries through the same sole `DatCollection`;
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`ParticleSystem` ports the retail finite/infinite degraded branches; App feeds
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the unified PView interior set plus the landscape renderer's independently
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computed outdoor landcell set through a focused
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`ParticleVisibilityController`. Examination and dedicated-pass emitters carry
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an explicit bypass policy; missing/portal world views are empty rather than
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fail-open.
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No WorldBuilder dependency or second DAT access layer was introduced. Retail
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anchors: `CPhysicsPart::GetMaxDegradeDistance` `0x0050D510`,
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`GfxObjDegradeInfo::get_max_degrade_distance` `0x0051E2D0`,
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`CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles` `0x0050FE60`, and
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`ParticleEmitter::UpdateParticles` `0x0051D180`.
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**Retail portal-space viewport adapter (2026-07-15).**
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`src/AcDream.App/Rendering/PortalTunnelPresentation.cs` uses the extracted
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Setup/GfxObj mesh pipeline and mandatory `WbDrawDispatcher` for retail's
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@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@ hitch and follows.
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| **MP-Alloc (safe batch)** | Reuse per-frame buffers: anim pose, particle draw-list, interior partition, animatedIds/drawableCells sets | ✅ SHIPPED + USER-GATED 2026-07-05 — dense-town frame-time spikes 20–87ms → 6–10ms, alloc spikes (30–75MB single-frame) eliminated, gen2 GC 5–11/window → ~0; user confirms FPS steady. 4 commits `b8c05e2b`..`91afea24` |
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| MP-Alloc (hard sites) | EnvCell settled-camera rebuild gate + physics `Transition` pooling — the residual steady ~1.6MB/frame | ⚪ OPTIONAL follow-up — would lower the median too, but the wild-swing complaint is already resolved; each needs its own careful gate (batch correctness / physics faithfulness) |
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| MP1c | Streaming cutover to pak + hitch gate (vs the 211 ms baseline) | ⚪ after MP-Alloc |
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| MP2 | Retail distance-degrade port, hide-only cut (retires a divergence row) | ⚪ |
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| MP2 | Retail particle distance/cell-view degradation: DAT-authored range, exact infinite/finite off-view update branches, emitter-first render scan, optional Extended range | ✅ SHIPPED 2026-07-17 — Aerlinthe hotspot `0x32000223` resolves to retail 64m; landscape/entity streaming distance unchanged |
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| MP3 | Arch ECS render world + delta submission (the 300-FPS lever) | ⚪ — note: does NOT fix the steady-state GC churn (that's MP-Alloc); MP3 is the draw-submission throughput lever |
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| MP4 | Zero-alloc frame loop + flat physics data (residual, post-MP-Alloc) | ⚪ hard-queued behind M1.5 #137 |
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| MP5 | Job-system parallelism | ⚪ stretch, evidence-gated |
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@ -633,8 +633,15 @@ include dungeons.
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ports `CPhysicsPart::Always2D`: mode-1/no-degrade particles now keep every
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authored mesh polygon through the modern global buffer, while other degrade
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modes retain the billboard path. This restores the four-piece apex of
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Armor/protection shield effects. The final two-client visual gate is still
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pending.
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Armor/protection shield effects. MP2's 2026-07-17 corrective performance
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slice now ports the complete retail particle distance/cell-view gate and
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degraded update branches: DAT-authored ranges (Aerlinthe's dominant swarm is
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64 world units), exact infinite-emitter freeze/finite-emitter conditional
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stop bookkeeping, and emitter-first render rejection. The landscape renderer
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publishes outdoor landcells independently of surviving object meshes.
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Terrain/entity streaming distance is
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unchanged; an explicit Extended setting doubles only particle range. The
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final two-client visual gate is still pending.
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- **L.1c local attack receive path (implemented and live-gated 2026-07-15)** —
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local non-autonomous mt-0 UpdateMotion now uses retail's wholesale interpreted
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funnel and action-stamp gate, so ACE's server-selected melee/missile action
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@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
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# Retail particle visibility and degradation-distance pseudocode
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Date: 2026-07-17
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Oracle: matching Sept-2013 `acclient.exe` + `acclient.pdb`
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## Scope
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This note records the retail mechanism that prevents distant or non-viewed
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particle systems from consuming the full simulation and draw cost. It corrects
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the older performance suggestion in `deepdives/r04-vfx-particles.md`: retail
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does not merely hide distant particles while continuing to simulate them.
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## Named retail functions
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- `CPhysicsPart::GetMaxDegradeDistance` at `0x0050D510`
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- `GfxObjDegradeInfo::get_max_degrade_distance` at `0x0051E2D0`
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- `ParticleEmitter::SetInfo` at `0x0051CE90`
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- `CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles` at `0x0050FE60`
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- `ParticleEmitter::UpdateParticles` at `0x0051D180`
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- `ParticleManager::UpdateParticles` at `0x0051B800`
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The two short distance functions and the ambiguous x87 branch in
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`UpdateParticles` were verified against instructions from the matching retail
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binary, not inferred from the decompiler's generated types.
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## Pseudocode
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### `CPhysicsPart::GetMaxDegradeDistance`
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```text
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if part.gfx_object.degrades == null:
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return 100.0
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return part.gfx_object.degrades.get_max_degrade_distance()
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```
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The unit is the client's world unit (approximately one metre).
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### `GfxObjDegradeInfo::get_max_degrade_distance`
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```text
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if num_degrades <= 2:
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return degrades[0].max_dist
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return degrades[num_degrades - 2].max_dist
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```
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`GfxObjInfo` is 20 bytes and `max_dist` is the field at offset 16. The
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`num_degrades > 2` instruction reads `base + num_degrades * 20 - 24`, which is
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exactly `degrades[num_degrades - 2].max_dist`.
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### `ParticleEmitter::SetInfo`
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```text
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if hw_gfxobj_id cannot be loaded:
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return false # no software-GfxObj substitution
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create max_particles PhysicsPart instances from hw_gfxobj_id
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degrade_distance = first_particle_part.GetMaxDegradeDistance()
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allocate particle records
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```
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The distance belongs to the emitter's hardware particle GfxObj, not the owner
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Setup and not the visual size of a particle.
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### `CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles`
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```text
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if this is the examination object:
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return true
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if distance_from_viewer > emitter.degrade_distance:
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return false
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if cell == null:
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return false
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return cell.IsInView()
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```
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Equality passes: a particle owner at exactly the authored degradation distance
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is still eligible. The x87 comparison also admits unordered input: a NaN
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distance or authored maximum follows the comparison's pass branch. Negative,
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NaN, and infinite authored `max_dist` values are not sanitized; the 100-unit
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default applies only when the loaded hardware GfxObj has no degradation table.
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### `ParticleEmitter::UpdateParticles`
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```text
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if owner.ShouldDrawParticles(degrade_distance):
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if degraded_out:
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degraded_out = false
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SetNoDraw(false)
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update every live particle
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if parent-local:
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read the parent's current frame
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emit normally, observing total-particle and total-time limits
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last_update_time = now
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return whether emitter remains alive
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if not degraded_out:
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SetNoDraw(true)
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degraded_out = true
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last_update_time = now
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if total_particles == 0 and total_seconds == 0:
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# Infinite emitter. Retail rewrites each particle's birth/update time to
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# now, freezing its age while degraded, and performs no normal emission.
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for each live particle:
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particle.birth_or_last_update_time = now
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return true
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# Finite emitter: retire expired particles and advance emission bookkeeping,
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# but do not create/render a physical particle while degraded.
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for each live particle:
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particle.lifetime = now - particle.birth_time
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if expired:
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KillParticle(particle)
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if not stopped:
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if ShouldEmitParticle():
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RecordParticleEmission() # num_particles++ and total_emitted++
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StopEmitter() # conditional duration/count test
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return true
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return num_particles != 0
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```
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`StopEmitter` is a test despite its imperative name. It sets `stopped` only
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after the authored total duration expires or `total_emitted` reaches the
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authored total-particle limit. A finite emitter that is merely outside the view
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therefore remains live and repeats this branch on later updates.
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There is a counterintuitive retail lifetime edge case here that must not be
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"repaired": `RecordParticleEmission` increments `num_particles` without
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allocating a `PhysicsPart`. If that logical emission reaches the authored stop
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condition while the effect is fully degraded, the already-stopped branch keeps
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returning `num_particles != 0` even though there is no drawable particle to
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retire. The emitter consequently remains owned until its physics object tears
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the effect down. This follows directly from `RecordParticleEmission`
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(`0x0051C870`), `UpdateParticles` (`0x0051D180`), and the manager's false-return
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removal contract; the Core conformance test pins the quirk explicitly.
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The x87 equality branch for `(total_particles == 0 && total_seconds == 0)` was
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checked from `0x0051D1E1`: `fcomp 0`, `fnstsw ax`, `test ah,0x44`, `jp finite`.
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For equality the parity jump is not taken, selecting the infinite-emitter
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freeze path.
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## Reference cross-checks
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- ACE's `Physics/Particles/ParticleEmitter.cs` preserves the two degraded
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update branches and birth-time reset, but deliberately assigns
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`DegradeDistance = float.MaxValue`; it is therefore useful for control-flow
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interpretation but not for the missing client distance rule.
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- WorldBuilder/ACME's particle simulator confirms the DAT emitter fields and
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integrators, but does not implement retail's live `CObjCell::IsInView` gate.
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- The in-tree `GfxObjDegradeResolver` confirms the DatReaderWriter representation
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of `DIDDegrade`, ordered `GfxObjInfo` entries, and `MaxDist`. `DatCollection`
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remains the sole runtime DAT reader.
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Installed-data fixture: Aerlinthe's dominant Swarm emitter `0x32000223`
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(hardware GfxObj `0x01001358`) resolves to an authored maximum distance of
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64 world units. Extended mode therefore raises that effect to 128 units; it
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does not change landscape, scenery, entity, or fog distance.
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## acdream integration mapping
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- Core resolves the exact authored maximum distance into `EmitterDesc`.
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- Core owns degraded simulation semantics and the no-per-particle fast path for
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infinite emitters.
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- App publishes the previous completed world-visibility product: retail PView
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interior cells plus the landscape renderer's doorway-clipped outdoor
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landcell set and camera position. The landscape-only fallback publishes the
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same product without requiring an interior root. Outdoor dat stabs carry a
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separate effect cell so their intentionally-null render parent is unchanged.
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Login and portal-space frames publish an empty world view; explicit
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examination and dedicated-pass policies are the only bypasses.
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- The renderer filters an emitter before scanning its particle slots.
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- Default mode uses authored retail distances. The optional Extended setting is
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an explicit user-facing adaptation and is recorded in the divergence register.
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@ -638,21 +638,38 @@ totals ("Particles Rendered", "Particle Systems").
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Retail did not implement a global particle LRU. Instead, each emitter
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enforced its `MaxParticles` hard cap and relied on distance-degrade:
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`PhysicsObj.ShouldDrawParticles(degradeDistance)` (ACE
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`PhysicsObj.cs:1540-1544`):
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`CPhysicsObj::ShouldDrawParticles` (`0x0050FE60`):
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```csharp
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public bool ShouldDrawParticles(float degradeDistance) {
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if (!ExaminationObject) return true;
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return !(CYpt > degradeDistance || CurCell == null);
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}
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```text
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if ExaminationObject: return true
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if CYpt > degradeDistance: return false
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if CurCell == null: return false
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return CurCell.IsInView()
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```
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Particles beyond a per-emitter `DegradeDistance` (ACE stubs it to
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`float.MaxValue`) get `SetNoDraw(true)` — they keep simulating (so the
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server-side script advances) but aren't rendered. Real retail probably
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used a per-`GfxObjDegradeInfo` value; for acdream we can set a sensible
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default (50 m outdoor, 15 m indoor) and override via a PluginAPI hook.
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The matching x87 `test ah,0x41` admits equal, less-than, and unordered
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comparisons. Authored negative/NaN/infinite values are preserved; 100 is used
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only when the hardware particle GfxObj has no degradation table.
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The exact distance is not guessed. `CPhysicsPart::GetMaxDegradeDistance`
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(`0x0050D510`) returns 100 world units when the hardware particle GfxObj has
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no degradation table. `GfxObjDegradeInfo::get_max_degrade_distance`
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(`0x0051E2D0`) selects entry zero for one/two-entry tables and the
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second-to-last entry for larger tables. `ParticleEmitter::SetInfo`
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(`0x0051CE90`) stores that value from its first hardware particle part.
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`ParticleEmitter::UpdateParticles` (`0x0051D180`) does more than hide the
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result. While degraded, an infinite emitter performs no normal particle
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integration or emission and freezes its live particle ages. A finite emitter
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ages/kills existing particles, records at most one due emission without making
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it drawable, and calls the conditional `StopEmitter` duration/count test. It
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does not stop merely because it is degraded. If that counter-only emission
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reaches the stop condition, retail's logical `num_particles` can remain
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nonzero without a drawable `PhysicsPart`; the emitter then remains owned until
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explicit physics-object teardown. ACE preserves those two update branches but stubs the
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distance to `float.MaxValue`; retail's named code and matching x86 are the
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oracle. Full pseudocode and the installed-data fixture are in
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`docs/research/2026-07-17-retail-particle-visibility-pseudocode.md`.
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---
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@ -798,11 +815,11 @@ RenderFrame:
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7. UI
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```
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Simulation runs every frame regardless of visibility (matches retail's
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`ShouldDrawParticles` behavior: hidden emitters still advance their
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script). This costs a bit of CPU but keeps semantics correct — when an
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ally buff expires behind a wall, it should still be gone when you see
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them again.
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Simulation obeys retail's completed-view and authored-distance gate. Visible
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emitters run their full update. Degraded infinite emitters freeze in place;
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finite effects still age/retire and run their authored duration/count stop
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test, so a time-bounded ally buff effect does not become immortal behind a
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wall.
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### Silk.NET shader sketch
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