Add: Experiments section in profile preferences - #11946

Brief overview of PR changes/additions

Adds an Experiments (unsupported) card to the Advanced page of profile preferences. It has one checkbox for each experiment in the profile's whitelist (Host::mValidExperiments), so scripts no longer have to call setConfig("experiment....", true) to try one.

• List source: the card is built from the Host's whitelist, now returned sorted by Host::getValidExperiments(). Each known experiment gets a translatable label and description (with //: translator comments). An experiment without a label still shows up under its raw key. Every checkbox's tooltip shows the key scripts use.
• Group rules: the dialog uses the same grouping as Host. That grouping is now one static helper, Host::experimentGroup(), which setExperimentEnabled() also uses.
  • Ticking experiment.rendering.originalish unticks experiment.rendering.more-transparent and vice versa. The description says so ("Turning this on turns off: ...").
  • experiment.3dmap.modernmapper and experiment.3d-player-icon are in different groups, so both can be on.
• Applying changes: toggles go through the dialog's existing instant-apply path into Host::setExperimentEnabled(). The 3D view swap that setConfig() used to do for the modern mapper now lives in Host::setExperimentEnabled(). It runs the same way whether the change comes from Lua, from the dialog, or from a profile/package import. The swap is a no-op unless a 3D view is open on the other renderer.
• Sync with Lua: the dialog re-reads the experiments when it is re-activated, like the other live-synced settings. A setConfig() from a script while the dialog is open shows up when you return to the dialog.
• Builds without the 3D mapper: every current experiment only affects the 3D map. Builds without INCLUDE_3DMAPPER (e.g. the linux-lowspec preset) hide the card, and search skips it.

Motivation for adding to Mudlet

Experiments could only be switched on from a script. That made it hard for players to find them and try them out, and we want people to test the new 3D mapper.

Screenshots

The new card on Preferences → Advanced, with every experiment off:

"Modern 3D mapper" and "Original level shading" ticked. Each description in the rendering group names the experiment it turns off:

The 3D map on the modern renderer right after ticking "Modern 3D mapper" in the dialog (taken headless on Xvfb, cropped to the 3D scene):

Other info (issues closed, discussion etc)

Persistence: no new mechanism was added. Experiments are already saved with the profile: XMLexport writes <experiment key="..." enabled="yes"/> and XMLimport reads them back through setExperimentEnabled(). Storing them anywhere else (e.g. the global Mudlet.ini) would have created a second source of truth, out of step with the profile-scoped Lua API. The new test test_aTickedExperimentIsSavedWithTheProfileAndReadBack ticks an experiment in the dialog, saves the profile, and checks the saved XML. It then clears the experiment and loads the XML back to confirm the experiment returns.

Tests:

• New ctest case: SettingsExperimentsTest, added to the existing functional_settings_tests group (no new binary). It covers:
  • one labelled checkbox per whitelisted experiment on the Advanced page
  • a script toggle shows in the dialog
  • a tick switches the experiment on the Host
  • group exclusivity
  • two experiments from different groups both stay on
  • the save/load round trip
  • ticking the modern mapper swaps an open (hidden) 3D view to the modern renderer, and unticking swaps it back
  • Result: 9/9 on offscreen. Before the dialog change, 6 of the original 8 cases fail. A mutation of the group-exclusivity handler is caught. The renderer-swap case fails when the recreate3DView() call is removed. It keeps the map dock hidden so no GL context is created, which the leak-detection job requires.
• Lua specs in Other_spec.lua:
  • The sorted experiment list from getConfig() (fails on development).
  • A guard that the modern mapper and the player icon can both be on.
  • Result: 6217/0.
• Full ctest: passes, apart from CommandLineSpellCheckTest, which fails on this machine only because no en_US dictionary is available in the build dir.
• Manual check, headless on Xvfb with a demo map:
  • With the legacy 3D view open, ticking "Modern 3D mapper" in the dialog switched to the modern renderer.
  • setConfig("experiment.3dmap.modernmapper", false) switched it back.
  • Installing a host package with the experiment on, while the 3D view was open, swapped renderers without a crash.

The DCO sign-off from the human maintainer is still pending: they will add Signed-off-by after building and testing the change themselves.

Test case: open a profile, then Preferences → Advanced → "Experiments (unsupported)". Open the 3D map and tick "Modern 3D mapper": the 3D view switches renderer. Run lua setConfig("experiment.3dmap.modernmapper", false) and return to the dialog: the box is unticked. Tick "Original level shading" and then "Darken other levels": the first one unticks. Save and reopen the profile: the ticked experiments are still on.

Assisted-by: Claude:Opus 5.5

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https://claude.ai/code/session_01NL8qdhrqWbWpL59XwmN6pJ

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