fix(particlesys): Prevent accumulation of particle systems in headless mode

[Caball009]

• Follow up for fix(particlesys): Simplify ParticleSystemManagerDummy setup #2740

#2740 removed function GameClient::updateHeadless, which ensured that particle systems wouldn't accumulate and take up a lot of memory unnecessarily. This works when ParticleSystemManagerDummy overloads the init function, but that's not possible with retail compatibility.

This PR adds a dummy overload for createParticleSystem, so that no particle systems get created in headless mode.

I tested > 2500 short replays and did not see a mismatch because of this change.

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR fixes a memory accumulation issue in headless mode introduced when GameClient::updateHeadless was removed: in RETAIL_COMPATIBLE_CRC builds, ParticleSystemManagerDummy can no longer override init() to skip template loading (needed for CRC correctness), so particle systems created during replays were never cleaned up. The fix makes createParticleSystem virtual in the base class and adds a dummy override that immediately returns nullptr, short-circuiting all particle system creation without affecting template loading.

• createParticleSystem is conditionally marked virtual only under RETAIL_COMPATIBLE_CRC, and all existing call sites already null-check the return value, so the change is safe throughout the engine.
• The #else (non-retail) branch formatting diverges slightly from the surrounding codebase pointer style (Type* vs Type *).

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — the change is surgical and all existing call sites already null-check the return value of createParticleSystem.

The virtual override cleanly short-circuits particle system creation in headless retail mode, and every engine call site that invokes createParticleSystem already guards against a nullptr result, so no downstream breakage is possible. The non-retail path is untouched in behavior.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
Core/GameEngine/Include/GameClient/ParticleSys.h	Adds a virtual createParticleSystem override to ParticleSystemManagerDummy under RETAIL_COMPATIBLE_CRC that returns nullptr, preventing particle system accumulation in headless mode without disturbing template loading needed for CRC compatibility. Minor pointer-style inconsistency introduced in the #else branch.

Sequence Diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant Caller
    participant TPSM as TheParticleSystemManager<br/>(ParticleSystemManagerDummy)
    participant PSM as ParticleSystemManager

    Note over TPSM: RETAIL_COMPATIBLE_CRC mode

    Caller->>TPSM: createParticleSystem(sysTemplate, createSlaves)
    Note over TPSM: virtual override — returns nullptr immediately
    TPSM-->>Caller: nullptr (no system created, no accumulation)

    Note over PSM: Non-retail mode

    Caller->>PSM: createParticleSystem(sysTemplate, createSlaves)
    Note over PSM: init() no-op → no templates loaded<br/>sysTemplate == nullptr → early return
    PSM-->>Caller: nullptr

Loading

_{Reviews (3): Last reviewed commit: "bugfix(particlesys): Prevent accumulatio..." | Re-trigger Greptile}