Quick Start Guide

Current Status

Wowee is a native C++ World of Warcraft client focused on online multiplayer. It speaks the Vanilla 1.12 (including Turtle WoW 1.18), TBC 2.4.3 and WotLK 3.3.5a protocols.

Implemented today:

• SRP6a authentication + world connection
• Character creation/selection and in-world entry
• Vulkan 1.3 rendering pipeline (terrain, water, sky, M2/WMO, particles)
• Core gameplay plumbing (movement, combat/spell casting, inventory/equipment, chat)
• Blizzard’s FrameXML interface, loaded from your extracted game data
• Keyboard and mouse, or a game controller
• Transport support (boats/zeppelins) with active ongoing fixes

For a more honest snapshot of gaps and current direction, see docs/status.md.

Build And Run

1. Clone

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Kelsidavis/WoWee.git
cd WoWee

2. Build

The desktop build needs SDL3 and a Vulkan 1.3 driver (MoltenVK on macOS). Package lists are in the README’s Quick start.

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --parallel

3. Provide WoW Data (Extract + Manifest)

Wowee loads assets from an extracted loose-file tree indexed by manifest.json.

If nothing is extracted yet, the client opens its asset builder instead of the login screen. Choose your World of Warcraft folder, build, then reopen the client. The builder is also on the login screen under more options → add or rebuild assets…, and is built as the standalone wowee_assets. See docs/asset-manager.md.

To extract from a terminal instead:

# WotLK 3.3.5a example
./extract_assets.sh /path/to/WoW/Data wotlk

The client looks for data in WOW_DATA_PATH if set, then in the per-user data directory (~/Library/Application Support/Wowee/Data on macOS, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Wowee\Data on Windows, ~/.local/share/wowee/Data on Linux) when it holds an extraction, then in ./Data/. To override:

export WOW_DATA_PATH=/path/to/extracted/Data

4. Run

./build/bin/wowee

Connect To A Server

1. Launch ./build/bin/wowee
2. Pick a server from the Server list (ChromieCraft is listed), or choose Somewhere else… and enter the address and port under more options
3. Enter account credentials
4. Log in, pick realm, pick character, enter world

For local AzerothCore setup, see docs/server-setup.md.

Useful Controls

• W/S: Move forward/back
• A/D: Turn (strafe while right mouse is held)
• Q/E: Strafe
• Mouse: Look/orbit camera
• Tab: Target nearest enemy
• 1-9,0,-,=: Action bar slots
• B: Bags
• C: Character
• P: Spellbook
• N: Talents
• L: Quest log
• M: World map
• O: Social window
• Enter: Chat
• /: Chat slash command
• Escape: Game menu (Key Bindings, Video, Sound, Interface)
• F1: Performance HUD (debug builds only)

A controller also works: left stick moves, right stick looks, face buttons and D-pad are action slots, and Back turns the right stick into a pointer. Its buttons are listed in the Key Bindings panel.

Troubleshooting

Build fails on missing dependencies

Use BUILD_INSTRUCTIONS.md for distro-specific package lists.

Client cannot connect

• Verify auth/world server is running
• Check host/port settings
• Check server logs and client logs in logs/wowee.log

Missing assets (models/textures/terrain)

• Run the asset builder (it opens by itself when nothing is extracted), or re-run ./extract_assets.sh ...
• Verify a manifest.json exists under Data/expansions/<expansion>/
• Or export WOW_DATA_PATH=/path/to/extracted/Data