Prefetch char.ini for characters present in area via playerlist

Store player data (charId, area) in an in-memory Map on the client,
updated by PR/PU packet handlers. Use this to eagerly load char.ini
when a player's character appears in our area or when switching areas,
eliminating the lazy-load delay on first IC message.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

4 files changed, 37 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/webAO/client.ts b/webAO/client.ts
index b7a15a4..95df67a 100644
--- a/webAO/client.ts
+++ b/webAO/client.ts
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ class Client extends EventEmitter {
   connect: () => void;
   loadResources: () => void;
   isLowMemory: () => void;
+  players: Map<number, { charId: number; area: number }>;
   charicon_extensions: string[];
   emote_extensions: string[];
   emotions_extensions: string[];
@@ -211,6 +212,7 @@ class Client extends EventEmitter {
     this.temp_packet = "";
     loadResources;
     isLowMemory;
+    this.players = new Map();
     this.charicon_extensions = [".png", ".webp"];
     this.emote_extensions = [".gif", ".png", ".apng", ".webp", ".webp.static"];
     this.emotions_extensions = [".png", ".webp"];
diff --git a/webAO/dom/areaClick.ts b/webAO/dom/areaClick.ts
index 1e41f4b..19953a5 100644
--- a/webAO/dom/areaClick.ts
+++ b/webAO/dom/areaClick.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { client } from "../client";
 import { updatePlayerAreas } from "./updatePlayerAreas";
+import { ensureCharIni } from "../client/handleCharacterInfo";
 /**
  * Triggered when an item on the area list is clicked.
  * @param {HTMLElement} el
@@ -14,5 +15,12 @@ export function area_click(el: HTMLElement) {
   document.getElementById("client_log")!.appendChild(areaHr);
   client.area = Number(el.id.substring(4));
   updatePlayerAreas(client.area);
+
+  // Prefetch char.ini for all characters present in the new area
+  for (const player of client.players.values()) {
+    if (player.area === client.area && player.charId >= 0) {
+      ensureCharIni(player.charId);
+    }
+  }
 }
 window.area_click = area_click;
diff --git a/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePR.ts b/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePR.ts
index aeb3969..e39103d 100644
--- a/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePR.ts
+++ b/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePR.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ function removePlayer(playerID: number) {
  */
 export const handlePR = (args: string[]) => {
   const playerID = Number(args[1]);
-  if (Number(args[2]) === 0) addPlayer(playerID);
-  else if (Number(args[2]) === 1) removePlayer(playerID);
+  if (Number(args[2]) === 0) {
+    addPlayer(playerID);
+    client.players.set(playerID, { charId: -1, area: 0 });
+  } else if (Number(args[2]) === 1) {
+    removePlayer(playerID);
+    client.players.delete(playerID);
+  }
 };
diff --git a/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePU.ts b/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePU.ts
index 0f51029..d8d9b44 100644
--- a/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePU.ts
+++ b/webAO/packets/handlers/handlePU.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { client } from "../../client";
 import { updatePlayerAreas } from "../../dom/updatePlayerAreas";
 import { AO_HOST } from "../../client/aoHost";
+import { ensureCharIni } from "../../client/handleCharacterInfo";
 
 /**
  * Handles a playerlist update
@@ -25,6 +26,18 @@ export const handlePU = (args: string[]) => {
       playerImg.src = `${AO_HOST}characters/${encodeURI(data.toLowerCase())}/char_icon${iconExt}`;
       const charName = <HTMLElement>playerRow.childNodes[1];
       charName.innerText = `[${args[1]}] ${data}`;
+      const charId = client.chars.findIndex(
+        (c: any) => c && c.name.toLowerCase() === data.toLowerCase()
+      );
+      if (charId >= 0) {
+        const player = client.players.get(Number(args[1]));
+        if (player) {
+          player.charId = charId;
+          if (player.area === client.area) {
+            ensureCharIni(charId);
+          }
+        }
+      }
       break;
     case 2:
       const showName = <HTMLElement>playerRow.childNodes[2];
@@ -33,6 +46,13 @@ export const handlePU = (args: string[]) => {
     case 3:
       playerRow.className = `area${data}`;
       updatePlayerAreas(client.area);
+      const puPlayer = client.players.get(Number(args[1]));
+      if (puPlayer) {
+        puPlayer.area = Number(data);
+        if (puPlayer.area === client.area && puPlayer.charId >= 0) {
+          ensureCharIni(puPlayer.charId);
+        }
+      }
     default:
       break;
   }