benilla-plus

A fork of benilla, the from-scratch World of Warcraft 1.12.1 client in Rust and Bevy by samwhosung. Read the original benilla README →

TL;DR, launching it (Windows, PowerShell). You need Rust (the right version installs itself on the first build) and your own WoW 1.12.1 install:

$env:WOW_DATA = 'C:\path\to\WoW\Data'   # your 1.12.1 install's Data folder; benilla only reads it
$env:WOW_HOST = 'logon.example.com'     # the server's realmlist address; default localhost
cargo play                              # builds and runs the optimized client

The first build takes several minutes. cargo play is short for cargo run --profile play -p benilla.

Upstream benilla tracks the 1.12.1 client exactly, so changes that go beyond it are scattered across forks. This fork tries to bring them together in one place: work from other forks (credited in each section below) and its own, in four areas:

1. Turtle WoW support: log in, create characters and play on Turtle WoW servers.
2. Enhanced graphics: an optional modern look (shadows, modern fog, volumetric light, water, weather) and HD assets.
3. Gameplay features: modern quality of life the 1.12 client never had.
4. DLSS 5 Neural Rendering (experimental): NVIDIA's neural renderer applied to the world, on RTX cards.

Everything else (formats, networking, the stock interface, addons, audio) is upstream benilla, merged in regularly.

Want to modernize 1.12.1? This is the place. New graphics, private-server support, quality-of-life features: anything that goes beyond the original client is welcome here as an issue or a pull request. This repository is maintained and will stay open source.

Fixing benilla itself? Bugs and changes that make benilla more like the real 1.12.1 client belong in upstream benilla: open the pull request there, and it reaches this fork with the next merge.

Questions? Find me as Dzoziz on the benilla Discord.

Enhanced graphics

An optional modern look: realtime sun and moon shadows, lit interiors and flickering torch light, a modern sky and fog with volumetric light shafts, bloom and per-zone colour grading, enhanced water, rain and wind, and render distance up to 1497 yards.

Pick a Graphics Preset (Classic / Low / Medium / High / Ultra) in the options, or switch each feature yourself under Options → Advanced Graphics. Classic keeps the original 1.12 image.

Based on https://github.com/pkuzic/benilla-everwood_graphics

HD models and textures

benilla loads HD asset packs such as Project Reforged from your install's patch chain, like the game does: higher-resolution character skins and overlays (VanillaHelpers' larger character atlas, at any power-of-two size) and HD models. Install the pack into your WoW folder as its instructions say; benilla needs no extra setting.

Gameplay features

Things the 1.12 client never did, built into benilla instead of patched in with a DLL. Each one is off by default, so out of the box benilla plays exactly like 1.12.

Spell queue

The 1.12 client waits for the server to confirm every cast before it lets you start the next one, so each cast costs you a full round trip on top of its cast time. On 150 ms of latency, that is 150 ms lost on every cast. Players have fixed this with nampower, a DLL injected into the game; benilla does the same thing natively.

Turtle WoW support

benilla plays on Turtle WoW: logging in, creating characters (including Turtle's races), the auction house and transmog all work against Turtle's servers. Point it at your own Turtle WoW install; benilla reads the game data from it and never writes into it.

Turtle's login server only accepts its own client build, so set it before launching:

$env:WOW_LOGIN_BUILD = 7272

Without it, benilla presents the stock 1.12.1 build (5875), as for any vanilla server.

Initial work from https://github.com/jhinzuo2/benilla-twow

DLSS 5 Neural Rendering (experimental)

benilla can run NVIDIA's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering (NGX Feature 18) over the world view. It is not the DLSS upscaler: the image stays at native resolution and the network re-renders the lit scene. It is off unless you build for it. It enhances the lit world, including its realtime shadows and ambient occlusion; the interface, spell effects, water and fog are drawn on top of its output unchanged.

Based on https://github.com/AlrikOlson/bevy_dlss5

Requirements

• Windows and an NVIDIA RTX GPU (40 or 50 series), Vulkan
• The NVIDIA DLSS SDK (tested with 310.4.0 and 310.9.1), at build time only, named by DLSS_SDK
• The Feature-18 runtime, nvngx_dlssnr.dll. It is not in the public SDK; NVIDIA ships it with games that support DLSS 5, so copy it from one you own. distribute it; you provide it yourself.
• MSAA off (gxMultisample 1, the default). With MSAA on, Neural Rendering turns itself off and says so in the log

Running it

$env:DLSS_SDK = 'C:\path\to\DLSS-SDK'                  
$env:WOW_DLSSNR_DLL = 'C:\path\to\nvngx_dlssnr.dll'   
cargo run -p benilla --features dlss

DLSS_SDK is read only when building with --features dlss, and WOW_DLSSNR_DLL only when running such a build. A normal build or cargo run needs neither, and never links or loads anything from NVIDIA.

Tested on Windows 11 with an RTX 4070.

Comparing: press Ctrl+Alt+N in game to switch between Neural Rendering and the raw image (in the default dev build; a --no-default-features player build leaves it out).

Known limitations

• The parameters for Feature 18 are not in NVIDIA's public SDK, so the tuning values are our own.
• Foliage motion vectors leave out wind sway, which can show as smearing on swaying trees and grass.

Licence

Same as upstream benilla: MIT OR Apache-2.0. No original client code and no game assets are included; you provide your own client.