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>
Erik