sacred_k/docs/auto-attack.md

# Auto-attack (`src/mods/autoattack.cpp`)

Goal (user, 2026-10-15): once an enemy was targeted, by a left click or by
casting an art at it, the hero keeps attacking it with the weapon between
casts. Left click stays the normal attack; right click casts slot 0.

## What the game does (order log, 2026-10-15)

Orders logged in `cCreature::ReceiveOrder` (`0x52e400`) for the hero, with
the hero's fields per tick:

| Order | Caller | Fields |
|---|---|---|
| left click on an enemy: `cmd 7` | `0x617abb` | +0x18 target id, +0x1c / +0x20 its position |
| art: `cmd 0x105` | `0x6172f9` (`SendCreatureOrder`) | +0x10 target id, +0x18 / +0x1c ground point, +0x28 0x64, +0x2c 1, +0x30 art id |
| walk: `cmd 4` | `0x6172f9` | see docs/wasd.md |
| hit by an enemy: `cmd 5` | `0x4ea478` | +0x8 attacker id, +0x10 the hero, +0x2c 1.0f (every ~0.5 s) |

One left click is one swing: hero +0x150 goes 0x10000 (idle) -> 0x10003
(attack) -> 0x20003 -> 0x10000 within about a second; +0xfc 0 -> 4 ->
0x20004 -> 0 at the start. An art: 0x10001 -> 0x10008 -> 0x20008 -> 0 ->
0x10000. Low word of +0x150: current action (0 none, 1 art, 3 attack, 6
dying), high word its phase. `cCreature::IsAlive` (`0x548ef0`): +0xfc != 9,
+0x150 != 6, health +0x4d8 != 0.

Holding the left button on an enemy (measured): one attack order, then +0x150
stays 0x10003 for as long as the button is held (9 s in the test), no further
orders. At the end of each swing (after the hit, `0x4e6584`) the attack code
calls `cMouseCursor::IsButtonHeld` (`0x655ab0`, cursor word bit 8) at
`0x4e65c6` (attacker in esi, target creature in ebp; measured: the only
caller answered "held" during a held attack): held -> the next swing starts
right away, otherwise recovery (+0x152 = 2) and idle. (`0x4f665a`, a similar
check in another creature update, is not reached by the hero.) Re-sending
the attack order after the hero went idle took ~1.45 s per swing (0.36 s
wind-up, 0.64 s attack, 0.43 s recovery).

## The mod

- An attack order or an art order whose target is hostile
  (`cCreature::IsHostileTo` `0x548dd0`, faction relation) sets the combat
  target. (First version: "not an ally", which included NPCs: clicking a
  trader made auto-attack talk to it again and again, reopening its window
  with new stock.) any walk order (mouse, WASD, stop) clears it, as
  does the target's death.
- Each engine tick, if the hero is idle (+0x150 low word 0), no mouse button
  is held (engine +0x54 & 0x10), input is not blocked (0x4000) and no skill
  key is held, it sends the attack order a left click sends. After sending it
  waits up to 5 ticks for the swing to start.
- The end-of-swing button check (`call` at `0x4e65c6`) is redirected: it
  also answers "held" when the hero hits its auto-attack target, the target
  is alive and no skill key is held. Swings then chain like
  with a held button; the tick only restarts the attack after casts.
- Self / ally arts pointed at an enemy lose their target
  (`src/mods/arttarget.cpp`) and therefore do not start auto-attack.

## Next target, and auto-attack after arts (2026-10-16)

User requests: when the target dies, go on with the next enemy close by;
after a melee art always auto-attack, after a ranged art only with a ranged
weapon.

Measured with a temporary log (distance hero → target when the hero started
the swing or cast, battlemage with a staff):

- +0x150 low word: 1 walking (also walking up to a target), 3 weapon attack,
  4 casting a spell. The "1 art" above was the walk up; 8 (seen after it on
  2026-10-15) is presumably a combat move. Names in `game/engine/orders.h`.
- Weapon swings started at 117..149 after walking up from up to 1382: the
  game's contact distance (`0x4dbaa0`, mean of both body radii by object
  type; heroes 110 with a weapon, 80 without).
- Spells (Blitzschlag 0x21, art 5) started at once from 647..803: no walk-up.
  Their cast limit, if any, is beyond that.

Rules (`autoattack.cpp`):

- Close range = `ContactDistance(hero, hero) + 100` (≈ 210) with a melee
  weapon; 600 with a ranged one (TODO: measure a ranged hero). Ranged weapon =
  weapon class (`0x546df0`) 6 throwing, 7 bow, 12 crossbow, 13 pistol.
- The target died: the nearest living hostile creature within close range
  (`game::NearestHostile`) becomes the target, else auto-attack stops.
- An art order (not a buff / ally / corpse art) is watched until the hero
  starts it (action 4 or 8). It is melee if the hero walked first, ranged if
  it starts farther away than contact distance + 100, else as remembered for
  that art (default melee). Melee: auto-attack its enemy target, or the
  nearest enemy close by. Ranged: the same with a ranged weapon; with a melee
  weapon only an enemy already in close range (the art's target if it is,
  else the nearest), otherwise auto-attack stops. Until the art starts, no attack orders are sent.

## Bow speed and arts that start differently (2026-10-18)

User: auto-attack after spells not fully reliable; with a ranged weapon it
does not reach full speed; bow arts (Spinnenpfeil) do not start it.

Measured (order log + a log of every `cMouseCursor::IsButtonHeld` caller):

- A shot with a bow is action 5. Before the next shot the game checks the
  button at `0x4def52` (shooter esi, target creature edi): held and the target
  hostile -> it shoots again. A held button fired 2 s without new orders;
  auto-attack sent one order per 0.67 s. `0x4def89` right after retargets to
  the creature under the cursor when held.
- Several arts (0x42f, 0x3ee) never showed action 4 or 8, so the cast watch
  waited its 5 s and auto-attack stopped. Arts ordered during a swing or cast
  were taken as started by that action.

Now:

- `0x4def52` is redirected like the melee swing end (`SwingContinues`):
  "held" for the auto-attack target. `0x4def89` is left alone.
- An art counts as started when its cooldown rises (`GetArtCooldown`
  remaining above the value at the order, which follows regeneration). Arts
  without a cooldown entry: the hero went into a new action other than
  walking or idle.