Glossary

From The Battle for Wesnoth Wiki

Use the following list to demystify the various (mostly wesnoth specific) terms and acronyms you may run into.


Gaming Terms

ability 
A special game rule or capability applied to all units of the given unit type - for example every Elvish Shaman has the ability "heal". (See AbilitiesWML for creating abilities.)
campaign
A sequence of scenarios with a connecting storyline. (MainlineCampaigns, Guide_to_UMC_Content, CampaignWML)
creeping biggerism
the tendency for sprite artists to make new sprites bigger and more detailed than the existing ones, leading to issues of scale.
era
A set of factions available in multiplayer. You can download additional eras from the add-on server. (EraWML)
faction
A set of units available to be plated as a side in multiplayer games. (multiplayer_side WML tag)
fog of war
A scenario option; enemy units are displayed only when close to player's units
mainline
A campaign, multiplayer map, era, faction, image, or other resource that ships with the Wesnoth distribution. The opposite of "UMC".
scenario
A sequence of turns played on one map. (ScenarioWML)
shroud
A scenario option; the whole map is black at the beginning, only parts already "discovered" by the player are visible.
team color (TColor, TC)
A unit graphic done so that color of some unit part (e.g. clothes) reflects the team where unit belongs (Team Color Shifting)
trait
A random minor modification of a unit; it makes a unit different from other units of the same type. (the trait tag)
UMC
"User-Made content" or "User-Maintained Content", campaigns and other material that does not ship with the game but is available for download from the Wesnoth add-on server.
Wescamp
The (former) project for translating unofficial user-made campaigns
zone of control (ZoC)
game rule; when a unit moves to a hex adjacent to enemy unit, it usually cannot move further.
zone-locked
said of a unit that has entered an enemy ZoC and therefore cannot move further (often just "zoced" for short).

Wesnothian Acronyms

  • AI - Artificial Intelligence (An 'AI side' is a side controlled by the computer)
  • AMLA - After Maximum Level Advancement
  • AoH - Age of Heroes
  • BfM - Battle for Meridia
  • BfW - Battle for Wesnoth (the name of the game)
  • BWH - Been suggested before. We think it's a good idea. Hope to add it eventually.
  • CABD - Can Already Be Done, e.g., you can already create custom unit abilities via WML.
  • CtH - Chance to Hit (also C2H)
  • CtBH - Chance to Be Hit (also C2BH)
  • CtK - Chance to Kill (also C2K)
  • CtBK - Chance to Be Killed (also C2BK)
  • FoW - Fog of War (i.e. fog)
  • FFA - Free For All (playing a map with >2 players without teams)
  • FPI - Frequently Posted Idea (read the Post from the Ideas Forum)
  • HANE—EtH - Hexes Are Not Evil - Embrace the Hex
  • HAPMA - Hexes Are Possibly Miles Across
  • HP - Hit points
  • IIRWIIR - It Is Ready When It Is Ready
  • IPF - Image Path Function
  • KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid: Applies to coding, not game rules (although indirectly it does): see WesnothPhilosophy
  • MAI - Micro AI: see: Micro_AIs
  • MP - Multiplayer or Movement Points
  • MUB - Massive Unit Blobs
  • N3T - No 3-Teams; A belief stating that contests between three equal and opposing forces are inherently unbalanced
  • OAB - Options Are Bad; In reference to gameplay, not user interface options. Mostly used by Turin.
  • OFWRA - Old Flame War Revival Alert; In other words, we have discussed this before and have no interest in discussing it again, especially if it got ugly
  • OOS - Out Of Sync - an error generated by Wesnoth. OOS errors occur when game data for one player is different/incompatible from the others
  • PoD - Paths of Daggers, the name of a 2v2 multiplayer map.
  • RiPLIB - Reduction in Power when Leveling Is Bad: means that when a unit upgrades, at least one of its options should be strictly superior to the original unit. Reference 1 / Reference 2
  • RNG - Random Number Generator
  • RPG - Role Playing Game - 1) Wesnoth's experience system. 2) An "RPG-style" game on the MP server means the primary focus will be walking your leader-units through a scripted storyline involving map exploration and lots of WML.
  • RTS - Real Time Strategy Game - as opposed to a turn-based game like Wesnoth
  • SLF - StandardLocationFilter
  • SP - Single Player (Campaigns)
  • SSF - StandardSideFilter
  • SUF - StandardUnitFilter
  • TBS - Turn Based Strategy Game, like Wesnoth
  • ToD - Time of Day
  • TWP - The Wesnoth Philosophy: WesnothPhilosophy
  • UAPEB - Units Are Possibly Entire Battalions
  • UMC - User Made Campaign or User Made Content (any add-on not packaged with Wesnoth)
  • WICOT - WML is capable of this (the requested feature is already possible to script, so no need to hard-code it in C++)
  • WINR - Wesnoth Is Not Realistic
  • WIN_ - Wesnoth Is Not... (Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, medieval Europe, an RPG, a wargame, a war simulation, Fire Emblem, etc.)
  • WML - Wesnoth Markup Language: ReferenceWML
  • XP - Experience
  • ZoC - Zone of Control

Names of Mainline Campaigns and Scenarios

  • AoI - An Orcish Incursion
  • DiD - Descent into Darkness
  • DM - Delfador's Memoirs
  • DW - Dead Water
  • EI - The Eastern Invasion
  • HttT - Heir to the Throne
    • BoP - Bay of Pearls
    • DD - Dwarven Doors
    • HotNE - Home of the North Elves
    • IotD - Isle of the Damned
    • RtW - Return to Wesnoth
    • SoE - Siege of Elensefar
    • SoF - Sceptre of Fire
    • TotC - Test of the Clans
  • IoM - Isle of Mists (MP, mainlined in 1.15)
  • LoW - Legend of Wesmere
  • NR - Northern Rebirth
  • SoF - Sceptre of Fire
  • SotA - Secrets of the Ancient
  • SotBE - Son of the Black Eye
  • TB (or AToTB) - A Tale of Two Brothers
  • THoT - The Hammer of Thursagan
  • TRoW - The Rise of Wesnoth
  • TSG - The South Guard
  • UtBS - Under the Burning Suns
  • WC - World Conquest (MP, mainlined in 1.15)

Unofficial Campaigns

  • ANO - A New Order
  • AotDS - Aria of the Dragon Slayer
  • ARL - A Rough Life
  • ASoF - A Song of Fire
  • AtS - After the Storm
  • BCoA - Black Cross of Aleron
  • BMR - Bad Moon Rising
  • BW - Brave Wings
  • CCamp - Custom Campaign
  • FoaP - Fate of a Princess
  • FTC - Forward They Cried
  • FtF - Flight to Freedom
  • Gns - Genesis
  • HoI1 - Hero of Irdya - Book I
  • IftU - Invasion from the Unknown
  • IQ - Inky's Quest
  • LotI - Legend of the Invincibles
  • SE - Saving Elensefar
  • SfF - Struggle for Freedom
  • TBC - The Beautiful Child
  • TDH - The Dark Hordes
  • TEG - The Earth's Gut
  • TFE - The Final Exam
  • TLU - To Lands Unknown
  • TSL - The Silver Lands
  • TSoG - The Sojournings of Grog
  • WoF - Winds of Fate (formerly WoV for Wings of Victory or Wings of Valor)
  • WotJ - War of the Jewel

Unofficial MP Eras

  • AE - Ageless Era/Archaic Era
  • ANLE - A New Land Era
  • EEaW - 17th Century Eastern Europe at War
  • EoM - Era of Myths
  • EoMa - Era of Magic
  • GSE - Great Steppe Era
  • IE - Imperial Era
  • RE - Rashy Era
  • RotL/Rotl - Reign of The Lords
  • WoL - War of Legends

Unit Jargon

  • bird - usually Gryphon Rider/Master (knalgans), or occasionally a Falcon or Eagle Rider from the Extended Era Aragwaith and Kalifa factions.
  • DA - Dark Adept (undead)
  • fish - Merman (loyalists or rebels) or Naga Fighter (northerners)
  • frog - a Saurian, especially "magic frog" for an Augur
  • gobo - An affectionate, if somewhat derogatory term for the Goblin Spearman
  • gunner - Dwarvish Thunderer/Thunderguard/Dragonguard (knalgans)
  • HI - Heavy Infantryman (loyalists)
  • MoL - Mage of Light (loyalists or rebels)
  • pyro - Unit in the Drake Burner line
  • Ulf - Dwarvish Ulfserker (knalgans)
  • WC - Walking Corpse (undead)
  • zombie - Walking Corpse

General Acronyms

  • AFaICT - As Far as I Can Tell (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
  • AFaIK - As Far as I Know (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
  • AFaIU - As Far as I Understand (likewise)
  • AfK - Away from the Keyboard
  • ASaP - As Soon as Possible
  • BRB - Be Right Back
  • BtW - By the Way (A statement with a disclaimer on relevance)
  • DTRT - Do The Right Thing (expectation for how something should work)
  • EV - Expected Value
  • FTR - For The Record
  • FUBAR - F***ed up beyond all repair / reason
  • FWIW - For what it's worth
  • FYI - For Your Information
  • GG - Good Game (a common courtesy to say after a multiplayer game; alternatively "GGWP" for "Good Game, Well Played")
  • GtG - Got to Go
  • IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer (A disclaimer that a statement may not constitute legal advice.)
  • IDK - I Don't Know
  • IIRC - If I Recall/Remember Correctly (A statement with a disclaimer on truthfulness)
  • IIUC - If I Understand Correctly (Similar to IIRC, but not implying that the speaker once knew with certainty.)
  • IMHO - In My Humble Opinion (A statement with a disclaimer on objectiveness) (can also be read as "In My Honest Opinion")
  • IMO - In My Opinion
  • IYSWIM - If You See What I Mean (A statement seeking agreement)
  • LGTM - Looks Good To Me (used by maintainers when approving Pull Requests on GitHub)
  • LMAO - Laughing My A** Off
  • LTNS - Long Time No See
  • OMG - oh my god(s)
  • OP - either "OverPowered", "Original Post", or "Original Poster", depending on context.
  • OT - Off Topic: can refer either to the forum category ([1]) or to spam
  • OtOH - On the Other Hand (A contrast)
  • PR - Pull Request (in the context of contributing to a project like Wesnoth on GitHub; other projects that use other issue trackers use it to mean Problem Report instead)
  • QFT - Quote For Truth
  • RotFL - Rolling on the Floor Laughing; also RoFL
  • RtFM - Read the F***ing Manual
  • TTYL - Talk To You Later
  • YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary (a disclaimer allowing for subjectivity)
This page was last edited on 24 December 2023, at 03:08.