Three-tier rollout per the 2026-04-25 retail @help dump showing the
full ACE command surface. Tier 1 + most of Tier 2 in one commit.
TIER 1 - @ as / equivalent
ACE accepts both / and @ as verb prefixes (per its own help text:
"Note: You may substitute a forward slash (/) for the at symbol
(@)."). ChatInputParser now normalises @ to / for the verb-match
phase and re-enters parsing. Critical: for verbs we don't recognise
(@acehelp, @tele, @die, @version, @loc-on-server, @nonsense, ...),
the original @ is kept in the message text so ACE's CommandManager
intercepts the message server-side. If we substituted / there too,
ACE would treat it as plain Talk and broadcast it.
Result: @a hi / @tell Bob hi / @help / @clear / @reply / @retell
all route exactly like their / counterparts. @acehelp / @tele /
@version / @die etc. pass through to the server intact.
TIER 2 - client-only commands
- /retell <msg> (also @retell): resend to the last person you
tell'd. Mirrors retail @retell. ChatVM tracks
LastOutgoingTellTarget on each OnSelfSent(Tell, ...) entry —
SenderGuid==0 distinguishes outgoing echo from inbound whispers,
same way LastIncomingTellSender already worked. ChatInputParser
takes a new optional lastOutgoingTellTarget param.
- /framerate (also @framerate): prints "Framerate: 144.2 FPS"
into chat. Wired via a new ChatVM.FpsProvider Func<float>
callback set by GameWindow at construction (closes over
_lastFps). Falls back to "(provider unavailable)" if no
callback is wired (tests / pre-live).
- /loc (also @loc): prints "Location: (123.4, 567.8, 60.0)" into
chat. Wired via ChatVM.PositionProvider Func<Vector3> closing
over GetDebugPlayerPosition() in GameWindow. ACE has a server-
side @loc too; client wins here (instantaneous + uses the local
interpolated position).
ChatPanel.TryHandleClientCommand grew @ aliases for /help /clear
/framerate /loc and the new EqAny helper for case-insensitive
multi-string matching. Help text rewritten to reference the
/ <-> @ equivalence and point at @acehelp / @acecommands for ACE's
full command list.
TIER 3 - automatic (no code)
Most retail @-commands (@allegiance motd, @afk, @die, @lifestone,
@corpse, @marketplace, @pkarena, @emote/@emotes, @fillcomps,
@permit, @consent, @squelch, @unsquelch, @messagetypes, @age,
@birth, @day, @endurance, @pklite, @version, @filter, @unfilter,
@loadfile, @log, @marketplace, ...) are server-side ACE commands.
Tier 1's passthrough takes care of them automatically — they
arrive via Talk, ACE recognises the @ and intercepts, replies via
SystemChat (which our 0xF7E0 wiring renders as [System] lines).
DEFERRED
- @saveui / @loadui / @lockui: ImGui layout save/load, ~1 hr
standalone task. Filed for follow-up.
- @title <text>: rename chat window. ImGui window-id complications.
- Toggle-style @framerate (FPS overlay on/off): print-once is
simpler and matches retail's most-common usage.
30 new tests:
- ChatInputParserAtPrefixTests: 11 covering @-prefix recognition,
unknown-@ passthrough, /retell and @retell.
- ChatVMRetellAndProvidersTests: 8 covering LastOutgoingTellTarget
tracking, FpsProvider/PositionProvider callbacks, no-provider
fallback.
- ChatPanelInputTests: +3 (/framerate, @loc, @acehelp passthrough).
Solution total: 1063 green (243 Core.Net + 160 UI + 660 Core),
0 warnings.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Phase J follow-up after a 2026-04-25 trace where typing /help
produced two identical "Unknown command: help" lines (ACE fires the
text via both GameMessageSystemChat 0xF7E0 and a paired
CommunicationTransientString 0x02EB), and the server's WeenieError
0x0026 trailer rendered cryptically as "WeenieError 0x0026".
Three small changes:
1. WeenieErrorMessages: add 0x0026 ThatIsNotAValidCommand ->
"That is not a valid command." Plus 0x0414 / 0x050F that Phase J
already added are now covered by tests too.
2. ChatLog.OnSystemMessage dedup. Track last system text + arrival
time; if a second identical text shows up within 1 second,
suppress. ACE's two-path send (gag warnings, command errors,
etc.) collapses to a single chat line. Long bursts of repeated
text still skip the duplicates without resetting the timer.
3. Client-side /help and /clear in ChatPanel. Intercepted BEFORE
the parser passes to the server bus:
- /help, /?, /h (case-insensitive) -> render local cheat-sheet
listing acdream's slash prefixes via ChatLog.OnSystemMessage.
Avoids the round-trip to ACE that produced the duplicate
"Unknown command: help" lines AND gives users discoverability.
- /clear, /cls -> drains the chat log so the panel starts empty.
New ChatVM.ShowSystemMessage() + ChatVM.Clear() expose the
minimum surface the panel needs to dispatch client-only feedback
without coupling the panel to ChatLog directly.
12 new tests:
- 3 WeenieErrorMessages template adds (0x0026 / 0x0414 / 0x050F).
- 4 ChatLog dedup cases (immediate dup, different text, triplet,
bookended-by-different-text).
- 5 ChatPanel client-command cases (/help, 3 alias variants,
/clear).
Solution total: 1033 green (243 Core.Net + 130 UI + 660 Core),
0 warnings.
Acceptance: type /help in chat -> local help banner appears, no
server round-trip, no "Unknown command: help" duplicates. Type
/clear -> chat tail empty. Welcome banner + WeenieError-templated
"You are not in an allegiance!" / "You do not belong to a
Fellowship." continue rendering once each.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Six fixes from the 2026-04-25 live verify session.
1. ServerMessage (0xF7E0) wired to ChatLog. ACE's
GameMessageSystemChat - used for the login banner "Welcome to
Asheron's Call ... powered by ACEmulator ... type @acehelp" plus
any future server broadcast - rides opcode 0xF7E0. The parser
shipped in I.5 but the WorldSession.ServerMessageReceived event
was never subscribed by GameWindow, so the welcome line was
silently dropped. Subscribed now; same wave wires the missing
EmoteHeard / SoulEmoteHeard / PlayerKilledReceived events that
I.5 also left orphan.
2. Drop optimistic /say echo + plumb local-player-guid into ChatLog.
ACE's HandleActionTalk broadcasts a HearSpeech back to the sender
too, so we were double-printing every /say (own optimistic +
server echo). New ChatLog.SetLocalPlayerGuid() pushes the chosen
character guid in (mirrors VitalsVM pattern); OnLocalSpeech
detects own-guid match and substitutes Sender="" so the formatter
's IsOwnSpeaker path renders "You say, ..." instead of
"+Acdream says, ...". Single line per /say.
3. IsOwnSpeaker check now applies to ChatKind.Channel too. Empty/
"You" sender -> "[Allegiance] You say, \"text\"" instead of the
"[Allegiance] says, \"text\"" double-space hole that Phase I.6's
OnSelfSent left when echoing legacy ChatChannel sends.
4. Long-form slash aliases: /general /allegiance /patron /vassals
/monarch /covassals /fellowship /fellow /lookingforgroup
/roleplay /rp /tr /gen, plus /s as alias for /say. Retail muscle
memory expected these; the prior parser only recognized /g /a /p
/v /m /cv /lfg /role and friends, so "/patron hello" fell
through as /say with the literal "/patron" prefix.
5. WeenieError templates filled in for the codes the user hit:
- 0x0414 YouAreNotInAllegiance -> "You are not in an allegiance!"
- 0x050F YouDoNotBelongToAFellowship -> "You do not belong to a Fellowship."
Replaces the cryptic "WeenieError 0x0414" / "0x050F" lines.
6. @ command pass-through: ACE handles @help / @acehelp / @tele etc.
server-side by intercepting Talk text with @ prefix; the user's
message isn't broadcast and ACE replies via SystemChat. Drop the
optimistic /say echo so the chat shows only the server's response
(the SystemChat wiring from #1 surfaces it as [System] {help}).
Tests:
- 11 long-form-alias Theory cases on ChatInputParser.
- 3 own-guid-substitution cases on ChatLog (own match, different
guid, pre-login fallback).
- Existing PrefixSubstring test refactored to "/genio" since the
previous "/general" stub is now a real verb.
Solution total: 1021 green (243 Core.Net + 125 UI + 653 Core),
0 warnings, 0 errors. +14 tests.
Acceptance: at login, [System] Welcome to Asheron's Call appears.
Single "You say, \"hi\"" per /say. /allegiance with no allegiance
shows [Allegiance] You say, ... + [System] You are not in an
allegiance!. /patron / /vassals / /monarch route correctly.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Three follow-up fixes from the 2026-04-25 live verify session.
1. CRITICAL: BuildTell wire field order. Our outbound layout was
[target_name, message] but ACE's GameActionTell.Handle reads
[message, target_name] (verified against
references/ACE/.../GameActionTell.cs:17-18 verbatim). Result: every
/tell since Phase I.3 has been failing with WeenieError 0x052B
(CharacterNotAvailable) because ACE was looking up the message
text as the recipient name. Swapped the field order in
ChatRequests.BuildTell so message is written first; updated the
pinned BuildTell test to expect the corrected layout. The
WorldSessionChatTests round-trip continues to pass since SendTell
delegates to BuildTell.
2. Retail-style FormatEntry. The user asked for the canonical retail
strings:
/say (own): You say, "text"
/say (incoming): Name says, "text"
/tell (own echo): You tell Caith, "text"
/tell (incoming): Caith tells you, "text"
channel: [Trade] +Acdream says, "text"
/shout (own): You shout, "text"
/shout (incoming):Name shouts, "text"
Discriminators: SenderGuid == 0 distinguishes our own outbound
echoes (set by OnSelfSent) from real incoming whispers (carry the
sender's player guid). Sender == "" or "You" distinguishes our own
/say echoes (OnLocalSpeech substitutes "You" when the wire sender
is empty per holtburger client/messages.rs:476-487).
ChatEntry gains a new ChannelName slot so Channel-kind entries
render with the friendly room name ("Trade") instead of "ch 3".
Falls back to "ch {ChannelId}" when ChannelName isn't populated
(legacy ChatChannel inbound or older callers).
3. Suppress optimistic Channel echo. The user saw duplicates per
/trade /lfg in the live trace:
[ch 0] Trade: hello <-- our optimistic
[ch 3] +Acdream: [Trade] hello <-- ACE's TurbineChat broadcast
ACE's TurbineChatHandler at Network/Handlers/TurbineChatHandler.cs
broadcasts EventSendToRoom to ALL recipients in the room including
the sender, so the canonical echo always arrives via 0xF7DE. Drop
the optimistic OnSelfSent for Turbine kinds in GameWindow's
SendChatCmd handler; trust the server. Legacy ChatChannel paths
(Fellowship / Allegiance / Patron / Monarch / Vassals / CoVassals)
keep the optimistic echo because the legacy 0x0147 broadcast may
not always come back to the sender.
Inbound TurbineChat also stops embedding "[Trade] " into the
message text — passes the friendly name out-of-band via the new
channelName parameter on ChatLog.OnChannelBroadcast.
11 tests updated for the new format strings (8 in ChatVMTests, 1 in
ChatVMCombatTests, 1 BuildTell, plus the format additions cover
incoming/outgoing variants per kind). Solution total: 1007 green
(243 + 114 + 650), 0 warnings.
Tells should now actually deliver. Channel echoes show as
[Trade] +Acdream says, "hello" without the duplicate.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Adds a second real panel behind ACDREAM_DEVTOOLS=1. Shows the tail
of ChatLog (last 20 entries by default) formatted per ChatKind:
"Caith: hello" — LocalSpeech
"Regal says distantly: hi" — RangedSpeech
"[ch 7] Caith: g'day" — Channel
"[Tell] Regal: psst" — Tell
"[System] Your spell fizzled!" — System
"[Popup] A door stands..." — Popup
Why now: proves the D.2a IPanelRenderer contract survives beyond a
single progress-bar panel. ChatPanel exercises Text() + Separator()
on a variable-length list where VitalsPanel was a fixed three-widget
layout. No renderer primitives needed to grow — the contract held,
which is the whole point of the abstraction layer.
Files:
- src/AcDream.UI.Abstractions/Panels/Chat/ChatVM.cs (new)
Snapshots ChatLog tail every frame. Cheap at default 500-entry
cap. Per-kind formatting lives here (not in the panel) so the
D.2b retail-look swap inherits plain-text fallbacks.
- src/AcDream.UI.Abstractions/Panels/Chat/ChatPanel.cs (new)
IPanel implementation. Separator + N Text lines. "(no messages
yet)" fallback when the log is empty.
- src/AcDream.App/Rendering/GameWindow.cs
Registers the ChatPanel alongside VitalsPanel in the devtools
init block. Uses the existing GameWindow.Chat field already
fed by H.1's wire layer + GameEventWiring.WireAll.
- tests/AcDream.UI.Abstractions.Tests/ChatVMTests.cs (new)
12 tests covering tail selection, display-limit bounds, every
ChatKind's formatting, null-log + zero-limit guards, no stale
caching across appends.
Also fixes one stale "Hexa.NET.ImGui" mention in VitalsPanel's xmldoc
(pivoted to ImGui.NET in 55aaca7; doc needed a trailing update).
Build: 0 warnings, 0 errors. Tests: 23 UI.Abstractions (up from 11,
all Core + Core.Net still green), 0 failures.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
