mod-gold-rush/CHANGELOG.md

# Changelog

All notable changes to `mod-gold-rush` will be documented in this file.

## [Unreleased — hallsworth fork]

### Added
- Per-zone resource nodes. `GoldRush.ZonePool` entries can now carry their own
  node and bonus pools (`ZoneName|NodeEntries|BonusEntries`) instead of every
  hotspot drawing from one global list -- an event in Un'Goro spawns Un'Goro-
  appropriate herbs/ore, Sholazar spawns Northrend resources, etc. `gold_rush.conf.dist`
  ships with all ~57 valid WotLK 3.3.5a open-world zones pre-populated (see
  `docs/zone-specific-resources-spec.md` for how each zone's resource list was
  derived and verified). New `GoldRush.BonusChancePercent` (default 15) config
  controls how often a spawn pulls from a zone's rarer bonus pool instead of its
  normal one. A zone left without node/bonus data still falls back to the
  global `GoldRush.NodeEntries` pool exactly as before.

### Fixed
- Herb/ore categorization no longer guesses from display-name keywords. The old
  `SplitByCategory()` matched "lotus"/"clover"/"thorn"/"bloom" for herbs and
  "vein" for ore, which only worked for the original Northrend default pool and
  silently fell back to the unsplit pool for almost every v2 zone (Outland/Classic
  ore uses "Deposit", not "Vein"; most herb names match no keyword). Replaced with
  a static ID→category lookup table built from the DB-verified entry IDs in
  `docs/zone-specific-resources-spec.md`, with the old keyword check retained only
  as a fallback for entries not in the table. See
  `docs/herb-ore-category-fix-spec.md`.
- Event start/end announcements no longer crash the server. `StartEvent()` and
  `EndEvent()` both used `ChatHandler(nullptr).SendWorldText(...)` to broadcast
  server-wide -- `ChatHandler::SendWorldText` assumes a real session and calls
  `GetSession()->SendPacket()` unconditionally, so a null session was an
  immediate null-pointer crash. Confirmed via a symbolized backtrace against a
  captured coredump on the live server (two crashes within ~24h). Replaced with
  `sWorldSessionMgr->SendServerMessage(SERVER_MSG_STRING, text)`, the session-free
  broadcast path the built-in `.announce` GM command uses.
- Bot routing is no longer a silent no-op. `Engine::ChangeStrategy` dispatches on the
  first character of the strategy name and ignores anything without a `+`/`-`/`~`/`?`
  prefix, so the bare `"new rpg"` calls did nothing. Now sends `"+new rpg"`, and only
  to the non-combat engine, which is the only engine `AiFactory` ever adds it to.
- Temporary node lifetime is no longer 1000x too long. The `respawnTime` argument to
  `Map::SummonGameObject` reaches `GameObject::SetRespawnTime(int32)`, which is in
  seconds; the module was passing milliseconds, turning a 20-minute event into a
  ~14-day one. Nodes never expired on their own.
- A config reload during a live event no longer orphans its gameobjects. `LoadConfig`
  cleared the tracked node list without despawning, leaving nodes in the world with
  nothing left to remove them.
- Nodes are placed on real ground. Spawns previously reused the anchor's exact Z for
  every scattered X/Y, so on sloped terrain they floated or sank. Placement now probes
  ground height, rejects cliffs and lower floors, requires line of sight to the anchor,
  and retries a few times before giving up on a node.

### Added
- `GoldRush.RetryMinutes` (default 5), `GoldRush.GraceMinutes` (default 15) and
  `GoldRush.MinPlayersOnline` (default 1).

### Changed
- The scheduler no longer collapses to a fixed retry poll on an empty server. Previously
  every failed attempt overwrote the rolled Min/MaxInterval with a hard-coded 5 minutes
  and stayed there, so the first player to log in got an event announced on top of them
  within one retry window. It now holds while the world is below `MinPlayersOnline`, and
  waits `GraceMinutes` once the world repopulates before running. GM-forced starts
  (`.goldrush start` / `teststart`) bypass both checks.
- Node scatter uses a square-root radius so points spread evenly across the disc
  instead of bunching near the anchor.
- `DespawnHotspotNodes` resolves the map once instead of per node, and warns if the
  map cannot be resolved.
- Dropped the redundant `SetRespawnTime` / `SetSpawnedByDefault` calls after
  `Map::SummonGameObject`, which already does both.

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- Standalone repository documentation in `README.md`.
- Initial `CHANGELOG.md` for tracking module releases.
- Clear documentation that `mod-playerbots` is a required dependency.
- Added a compatibility section describing the AzerothCore + Playerbots
  expectations for this module.

### Changed
- Loosened Gold Rush hotspot selection so events can fall back to eligible
  live-player zones when configured hotspots are unavailable.
- Improved GM messaging for zone eligibility failures.
- Allowed zone-based fallback when an exact configured sub-area anchor is not
  available.

### Fixed
- Fixed `GoldRush.NodeEntries` parsing so configured node IDs are actually
  loaded from `gold_rush.conf`.
- Fixed startup behavior where Gold Rush could appear to have no valid node
  entries even when configuration values were present.
- Fixed `teststart` and scheduler flows that were overly strict about allowed
  zones.