feat(playerbots): staggered taxi take-off for bots (#1281)

* feat(playerbots): staggered taxi take-off for bots

Adds four new configurable settings to playerbots.conf:

- AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMinMs:   Min random delay before the 1st follower bot clicks the flight-master
- AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMaxMs:   Upper bound for the overall taxi delay window – larger spreads big raids
- AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapMs:        Fixed gap added per group-slot so bots never take off together
- AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapJitterMs:  Extra small randomness added to each gap so launches don’t look robotic

These options allow server owners to fine-tune how bots queue up and take off from flight masters, making their behavior appear more natural.

Closes #1017 : Bots use Flight master nearly the same time.

* fixed build errors

Was missing a header and variable declarations.

conf/playerbots.conf.dist

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #        COMBAT
 #        CHEATS
 #        SPELLS
+#        FLIGHTPATH
 #    PLAYERBOT RNDBOT SPECIFIC SETTINGS
 #        GENERAL
 #        LEVELS
@@ -495,6 +496,28 @@ AiPlayerbot.OpenGoSpell = 6477
 #
 ###################################################################################################
 
+####################################################################################################
+# FLIGHTPATH
+#
+#
+
+# Min random delay before the 1st follower bot clicks the flight-master (ms)
+AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMinMs = 350
+
+# Upper bound for the overall taxi delay window (ms) – larger spreads big raids
+AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMaxMs = 5000
+
+# Fixed gap added per group-slot so bots never take off together (ms)
+AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapMs = 200
+
+# Extra small randomness added to each gap so launches don’t look robotic (ms)
+AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapJitterMs = 100
+
+#
+#
+#
+###################################################################################################
+
 #######################################
 #                                     #
 # PLAYERBOT RNDBOT SPECIFIC SETTINGS  #

src/PlayerbotAI.cpp

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "CreatureData.h"
 #include "EmoteAction.h"
 #include "Engine.h"
+#include "EventProcessor.h"
 #include "ExternalEventHelper.h"
 #include "GameObjectData.h"
 #include "GameTime.h"
@@ -6279,3 +6280,23 @@ SpellFamilyNames PlayerbotAI::Class2SpellFamilyName(uint8 cls)
     }
     return SPELLFAMILY_GENERIC;
 }
+
+void PlayerbotAI::AddTimedEvent(std::function<void()> callback, uint32 delayMs)
+{
+    class LambdaEvent final : public BasicEvent
+    {
+        std::function<void()> _cb;
+    public:
+        explicit LambdaEvent(std::function<void()> cb) : _cb(std::move(cb)) {}
+        bool Execute(uint64 /*execTime*/, uint32 /*diff*/) override
+        {
+            _cb();
+            return true;           // remove after execution
+        }
+    };
+
+    // Every Player already owns an EventMap called m_Events
+    bot->m_Events.AddEvent(
+        new LambdaEvent(std::move(callback)),
+        bot->m_Events.CalculateTime(delayMs));
+}

src/PlayerbotAI.h

@@ -590,6 +590,9 @@ public:
     NewRpgStatistic rpgStatistic;
     std::unordered_set<uint32> lowPriorityQuest;
 
+    // Schedules a callback to run once after <delayMs> milliseconds.
+    void AddTimedEvent(std::function<void()> callback, uint32 delayMs);
+
 private:
     static void _fillGearScoreData(Player* player, Item* item, std::vector<uint32>* gearScore, uint32& twoHandScore,
                                    bool mixed = false);

src/PlayerbotAIConfig.cpp

@@ -331,6 +331,12 @@ bool PlayerbotAIConfig::Initialize()
     useFlyMountAtMinLevel = sConfigMgr->GetOption<int32>("AiPlayerbot.UseFlyMountAtMinLevel", 60);
     useFastFlyMountAtMinLevel = sConfigMgr->GetOption<int32>("AiPlayerbot.UseFastFlyMountAtMinLevel", 70);
 
+    // stagger bot flightpath takeoff
+    delayMin = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMinMs", 350u);
+    delayMax = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMaxMs", 5000u);
+    gapMs = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapMs", 200u);
+    gapJitterMs = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapJitterMs", 100u);
+
     LOG_INFO("server.loading", "Loading TalentSpecs...");
 
     for (uint32 cls = 1; cls < MAX_CLASSES; ++cls)

src/PlayerbotAIConfig.h

@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ public:
     uint32 useFlyMountAtMinLevel;
     uint32 useFastFlyMountAtMinLevel;
 
+    // stagger flightpath takeoff
+    uint32 delayMin;
+    uint32 delayMax;
+    uint32 gapMs;
+    uint32 gapJitterMs;
+
     std::string const GetTimestampStr();
     bool hasLog(std::string const fileName)
     {

src/strategy/actions/TaxiAction.cpp

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #include "Event.h"
 #include "LastMovementValue.h"
 #include "Playerbots.h"
+#include "PlayerbotAIConfig.h"
+#include "Config.h"
 
 bool TaxiAction::Execute(Event event)
 {
@@ -48,6 +50,36 @@ bool TaxiAction::Execute(Event event)
                 }
         }
 
+        // stagger bot takeoff
+        uint32 delayMin = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMinMs", 350u, false);
+        uint32 delayMax = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiDelayMaxMs", 5000u, false);
+        uint32 gapMs = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapMs", 200u, false);
+        uint32 gapJitterMs = sConfigMgr->GetOption<uint32>("AiPlayerbot.BotTaxiGapJitterMs", 100u, false);
+
+        // Only for follower bots
+        if (botAI->HasRealPlayerMaster())
+        {
+            uint32 index = botAI->GetGroupSlotIndex(bot);
+            uint32 delay = delayMin + index * gapMs + urand(0, gapJitterMs);
+
+            delay = std::min(delay, delayMax);
+
+            // Store the npc’s GUID so we can re-acquire the pointer later
+            ObjectGuid npcGuid = npc->GetGUID();
+
+            // schedule the take-off
+            botAI->AddTimedEvent(
+                [bot = bot, &movement, npcGuid]() -> void
+                {
+                    if (Creature* npcPtr = ObjectAccessor::GetCreature(*bot, npcGuid))
+                        if (!movement.taxiNodes.empty())
+                            bot->ActivateTaxiPathTo(movement.taxiNodes, npcPtr);
+                },
+                delay);
+            botAI->SetNextCheckDelay(delay + 50);
+            return true;
+        }
+
         if (param == "?")
         {
             botAI->TellMasterNoFacing("=== Taxi ===");