MapInfo requests not implemented

[sorokya]

Noticed while testing with reoserv that the client keeps characters loaded when they walk out of view.

The original game client will unload NPCs, and Characters data when they go out of view of the player.

This creates the buggy effect where players always get stuck at the edge of the screen when walking out of view.
This also means that players walking into view will be invisible until you refresh the game.

Should be fixable by

• Unloading/Removing characters/npcs when they go out of view
• Implementing the MapInfo Request and MapInfo Reply handler

"Requesting MapInfo about nearby characters and/or npcs"
client_packet(MapInfo, Request)
{
	short player_ids[] // can ommit if only requesting npcs
	break              // can ommit if only requesting players
	char npc_indexes[] // can ommit if only requesting players
}

"Requesting MapInfo about a character"
client_packet(CharacterMapInfo, Request)
{
	short player_ids[] // reads to end
}

"Requesting MapInfo about a npc"
client_packet(NPCMapInfo, Request)
{
	char num_npcs // game server ignores this
	break
	char npc_indexes[] // reads to end
}

"MapInfo for characters and/or npcs"
server_packet(MapInfo, Reply)
{
	char num_entities
	break // omitted if not sending back characters
	struct CharacterMapInfo characters[num_entities] // omitted if not sending back characters
	struct NPCMapInfo npcs[] // reads to end
}

The original client

• sends a MapInfo_Request when the walk_reply packet contains player_ids or npc_indexes it doesn't know about.
• sends either a CharacterMapInfo_Request or NPCMapInfo_Request when a character or npc walks into view and it doesn't know about it

[ethanmoffat]

I thought these packets contained redundant data, so I wasn't entirely sure why they were needed. In eoserv, when another player walks into or out of view, the server sends that data in PLAYERS_AGREE/AVATAR_REMOVE. NPCs are also handled in walk packets via APPEAR_REPLY/NPC_PLAYER. EndlessClient has a caching mechanism for character/npc renderers that removes stale renderers for objects that aren't there anymore, so I don't think things that are out of view continue doing work to be rendered.

Are these MapInfo packets implemented in vanilla eoserv? Also remind me what you renamed to MapInfo, iirc it was the _AUTOREFRESH packets

[sorokya]

I thought these packets contained redundant data, so I wasn't entirely sure why they were needed. In eoserv, when another player walks into or out of view, the server sends that data in PLAYERS_AGREE/AVATAR_REMOVE. NPCs are also handled in walk packets via APPEAR_REPLY/NPC_PLAYER.

ah yes I renamed the “appear” family to MapInfo. I think the players_agree/avatar_remove being used for players walking in and out is only an eoserv behavior. GameServer does not do this.

EndlessClient has a caching mechanism for character/npc renderers that removes stale renderers for objects that aren't there anymore, so I don't think things that are out of view continue doing work to be rendered.

the behavior I observed is they stay on the outer edge of the players view because reoserv doesn’t send avatar_remove packets (unless it’s a warp or someone logging out)

Are these MapInfo packets implemented in vanilla eoserv? Also remind me what you renamed to MapInfo, iirc it was the _AUTOREFRESH packets

no eoserv doesn’t implement them. It’s the ones labeled as auto refresh in eoserv.

[ethanmoffat]

Hmm ok. I'll have to look into implementing those families then. I haven't tested against GameServer for a lot of the in-game stuff yet, I think the client gets disconnected pretty quickly once you get past the welcome packets.

[ethanmoffat]

This still needs to be implemented in etheos, but is handled/tested client-side. Thanks @sorokya!

[sorokya]

The client still doesn't clear out players/npcs on the edge of the screen. Can track in this issue or raise a separate one.

From PR description:

This still doesn't fix the issue of removing out of view characters/npcs from the map. I'm not exactly sure what triggers it in the official client but it seems like if something is on the very edge of the screen (12 tiles away) it will be dropped from view when the map re-renders.

I wasn't sure where the best place to implement this behavior was though. Up for suggestions if you have any. This of course can be handled in a separate PR.

[sorokya]

The client still doesn't clear out players/npcs on the edge of the screen. Can track in this issue or raise a separate one.

From PR description:

This still doesn't fix the issue of removing out of view characters/npcs from the map. I'm not exactly sure what triggers it in the official client but it seems like if something is on the very edge of the screen (12 tiles away) it will be dropped from view when the map re-renders.

I wasn't sure where the best place to implement this behavior was though. Up for suggestions if you have any. This of course can be handled in a separate PR.

Raised separate issue #157

[ethanmoffat]

Yeah, separate issue IMO. This one was specifically "MapInfo requests not implemented" - which is done now