EventWML

[edit]WML Tags

A: abilities, about, achievement, achievement_group, add_ai_behavior, advanced_preference, advancefrom, advancement, advances, affect_adjacent, ai, allied_with, allow_end_turn, allow_extra_recruit, allow_recruit, allow_undo, and, animate, animate_unit, animation, aspect, attack (replay, weapon), attack_anim, attacks (special, stats), avoid;

B: base_unit, background_layer, berserk, binary_path, break, brush;

C: campaign, cancel_action, candidate_action, capture_village, case, chance_to_hit, change_theme, chat, checkbox, choice, choose, clear_global_variable, clear_menu_item, clear_variable, color_adjust, color_palette, color_range, command (action, replay), continue, core, credits_group, criteria;

D: damage, damage_type, death, deaths, default, defend, defends, defense, delay, deprecated_message, destination, difficulty, disable, disallow_end_turn, disallow_extra_recruit, disallow_recruit, do, do_command, drains, draw_weapon_anim;

E: editor_group, editor_music, editor_times, effect, else (action, animation), elseif, endlevel, end_turn (action, replay), enemy_of, engine, entry (credits, options), era, event, experimental_filter_ability, experimental_filter_ability_active, experimental_filter_specials, extra_anim;

F: facet, facing, fake_unit, false, feedback, female, filter (concept, event), filter_adjacent, filter_adjacent_location, filter_attack, filter_attacker, filter_base_value, filter_condition, filter_defender, filter_enemy, filter_location, filter_opponent, filter_own, filter_owner, filter_radius, filter_recall, filter_second, filter_second_attack, filter_self, filter_side, filter_student, filter_vision, filter_weapon, filter_wml, find_path, fire_event, firststrike, floating_text, fonts, for, foreach, found_item, frame;

G: game_config, get_global_variable, goal, gold, gold_carryover;

H: harm_unit, has_ally, has_attack, has_unit, has_achievement, have_location, have_unit, heal_on_hit, heal_unit, healed_anim, healing_anim, heals, hide_help, hide_unit, hides;

I: idle_anim, if (action, animation, intro), illuminates, image (intro, terrain), init_side, insert_tag, inspect, item, item_group;

J: jamming_costs, join;

K: kill, killed;

L: label, language, leader, leader_goal, leadership, leading_anim, levelin_anim, levelout_anim, lift_fog, limit, literal, load_resource, locale, lock_view, lua;

M: male, menu_item, message, micro_ai, missile_frame, modification, modifications, modify_ai, modify_side, modify_turns, modify_unit, modify_unit_type, move, move_unit, move_unit_fake, move_units_fake, movement_anim, movement costs, movetype, multiplayer, multiplayer_side, music;

N: not, note;

O: object, objective, objectives, on_undo, open_help, option, options, or;

P: part, petrifies, petrify, place_shroud, plague, poison, post_movement_anim, pre_movement_anim, primary_attack, primary_unit, print, progress_achievement, put_to_recall_list;

R: race, random_placement, recall (action, replay), recalls, recruit, recruit_anim, recruiting_anim, recruits, redraw, regenerate, remove_event, remove_item, remove_object, remove_shroud, remove_sound_source, remove_time_area, remove_trait, remove_unit_overlay, repeat, replace_map, replace_schedule, replay, replay_start, reset_fog, resistance (ability, unit), resistance_defaults, resolution, resource, return, role, rule;

S: save, scenario, screen_fade, scroll, scroll_to, scroll_to_unit, secondary_attack, secondary_unit, section, select_unit, sequence, set_achievement, set_extra_recruit, set_global_variable, set_menu_item, set_recruit, set_specials, set_variable, set_variables, sheath_weapon_anim, show_if (message, objective, set_menu_item), show_objectives, side, skirmisher, slider, slow, snapshot, sound, sound_source, source (replay, teleport), special_note, specials, split, stage, standing_anim, statistics, status, store_gold, store_items, store_locations, store_map_dimensions, store_reachable_locations, store_relative_direction, store_side, store_starting_location, store_time_of_day, store_turns, store_unit, store_unit_defense, store_unit_defense_on, store_unit_type, store_unit_type_ids, store_villages, story, swarm, sub_achievement, switch, sync_variable;

T: target, team, teleport (ability, action), teleport_anim, terrain, terrain_defaults, terrain_graphics, terrain_mask, terrain_type, test, test_condition, test_do_attack_by_id, text_input, textdomain, theme, then, tile, time, time_area, topic, toplevel, trait, transform_unit, traveler, true, tunnel;

U: unhide_unit, unit (action, scenario), unit_overlay, unit_type, unit_worth, units, unlock_view, unpetrify, unstore_unit, unsynced;

V: value, variable, variables, variant, variation, victory_anim, village, vision_costs, volume;

W: while, wml_message, wml_schema;

Z: zoom;

The [event] Tag

This tag is a subtag of the [scenario], [unit_type] and [era] tags which is used to describe a set of actions which trigger at a certain point in a scenario. When used in a [scenario] tag (also includes [multiplayer], [tutorial] and [test]), the event only occurs in that scenario. When used in a [unit_type] tag, the event will occur in all scenarios in which a unit of that type appears in (only after such a unit appears during the scenario, however). When used in an [era], the event will occur in any scenario which is played using that era.

This tag has keys and child tags that control when and if the event actions will be triggered. Most important of these is the name key. Without it, no error will be raised but the event will never fire. Therefore, from a practical standpoint, it can be considered mandatory. All of the others can be used or not and the event actions will fire either way.

Lexicon side note: The word "event" in the [event] tag itself may be considered an abbreviation of the word "event handler" because it is technically not a game "event" but an event handler for the game events fired with the given 'name'. However, this distinction is usually unimportant in most discussions and the event handlers are therefore simply referred to as "events" in this documentation.

The 'name' Key (Mandatory)

Usage:

name=<value>

This key defines which game event or trigger your [event] tag will be handling. This 'name' key should not be confused with a descriptive comment; it is rather a precise value which must match the predefined game event's name to be valid.

The name key can accept a list of comma separated values describing when the event will be triggered.* These values may be either predefined event types or custom event names not matching any predefined type.

For example:

name=attacker misses,defender misses

* Note that unless you use first_time_only=no, the event will fire only once, not once for each listed type.

All predefined event types are listed here along with a description of when this value will cause the event to be triggered. Any value not listed here is a custom event name which can be triggered only by a [fire_event] tag somewhere else.

Spaces in event names can be interchanged with underscores (for example, name=new turn and name=new_turn are equivalent).

Predefined Events Without Filters

These events do not take filter parameters (except [filter_condition] which works for all events).

preload

Triggers before a scenario 'prestarts' and when loading a savegame -- before anything is shown on the screen at all. Can be used to set up the Lua environment: loading libraries, defining helper functions, etc.

Note: Unlike prestart and start, the preload event must be able to fire more than once! This is because it is triggered each time a savegame is loaded in addition to the initial time when it loads before the scenario 'prestart'. This means that it is effectively mandatory to have the first_time_only=no key value in a preload event.

prestart

Triggers before a scenario 'starts' -- before anything is shown on the screen at all. Can be used to set up things like village ownership. For things displayed on-screen such as character dialog, use start instead.

Note: This value makes the first_time_only key irrelevant since, by definition, it can only fire once.

start

Triggers after the map is shown but before the scenario begins -- before players can 'do' anything.

Note: This value makes the first_time_only key irrelevant since, by definition, it can only fire once.

new turn

Triggers at the start of every turn (not side turn). See also first_time_only=no. Before any events of this type trigger, the value of the WML variable turn_number is set to the number of the turn that is beginning.

turn end

Triggers at the end of every turn (not side turn). See also first_time_only=no. The WML variable side_number will contain the side that ended their turn.

turn X end

Triggers at the end of turn X.

side turn

Triggers when a side is about to start its turn. Before events of this type trigger, the value of the WML variable side_number is set to the number of the side of the player about to take their turn. This is before any healing takes place for that side, before calculating income, and before restoring unit movement and status.

ai turn

Triggered just before the AI is invoked for a side. This is called after side turn, and thus the WML variable side_number still holds the number of this side. Note that this event might be called several times per turn in case that fallbacks to human or droiding is involved. I.e. it happens at the middle of turn of human side 1 if the human player droids his side. It happens after the selection of ai to play the turn but before AI is told that new turn has come.

Note: This event currently breaks replays since it is not explicitly saved in a replay and there is no AI involved in replays...

turn refresh

Like side turn, triggers just before a side is taking control but after healing, calculating income, and restoring unit movement and status.

Note that the turn refresh event does occur on turn 1, even though healing, income and unit refreshing do not.

turn X

Triggers at the start of turn X. It's the first side initialization event.

Side initialization events go in the order of:

1. turn X
2. new turn
3. side turn
4. side X turn
5. side turn X
6. side X turn Y
7. turn refresh
8. side X turn refresh
9. turn X refresh
10. side X turn Y refresh

side X turn Y

This event triggers at the start of turn Y of side X

side X turn

This event triggers at the start of any turn of side X

Note: Of course, first_time_only=no is needed for this event to be triggered more than once.

side turn X

This event triggers at the start of any side on turn X

Note: Of course, first_time_only=no is needed for this event to be triggered more than once.

side X turn Y refresh

This event triggers at the turn refresh for side X on turn Y

side X turn refresh

This event triggers at the turn refresh for side X

Note: Of course, first_time_only=no is needed for this event to be triggered more than once.

turn X refresh

This event triggers for any side at the refresh of turn X.

Note: Of course, first_time_only=no is needed for this event to be triggered more than once.

side turn end

Triggers after a side ends its turn. Like side turn, there are also some variations for specific combinations of side number and turn number. Here is the order in which the turn end events trigger:

1. side turn end
2. side X turn end
3. side turn X end
4. side X turn Y end
5. turn end
6. turn X end

time over

Triggers on turn turns. (turns is specified in [scenario])

enemies defeated

Triggers when all sides that are not defeated are allied and if there is at least one human (or human networked) side among them. Especially this event triggers in a situaltion that would normaly cause a victory due to enemies defeated. (regardless of whether this was disabled with victory_when_enemies_defeated=no).

victory

In this scenario, any tag of the form [endlevel] result=victory [/endlevel] will be automatically preceded by all actions in this tag. It helps debugging if the victory event allows you to safely advance to any of the possible next maps after using the ":n" command. Scenarios where key units are picked up before the victory, or where some action chosen earlier determines which map to advance to, make it hard to quickly test scenarios in a campaign. (See also: [endlevel], DirectActionsWML). This event is not synchonized in networked mp or in replays. The reason is that it is possible to have diffrent results in a mp game (one player wins so a victory event is fired on that client, other player loses so a defeat event is fired on his client)

defeat

In this scenario, any tag of the form [endlevel] result=defeat [/endlevel] will be automatically preceded by all actions in this tag. (See also [endlevel], DirectActionsWML). Like victory, this event is not synchonized in networked mp or in replays.

Predefined Events With Filters

Filters (except [filter_condition] which is for all sorts of events) can be applied to the following event triggers (see FilterWML; see also below). The actions specified in the event tag will be executed only if the filter returns true. These event triggers are all actions by units (moveto, attack) or things that happen to units (recruit, advance). When one of these events is triggered, the position of the active unit (referred to as the primary unit) is stored in the variables x1 and y1 and the position of any unit that primary unit does something to is stored in the variables x2 and y2 (this unit is referred to as the secondary unit below). These units are also automatically stored in the variables 'unit' and 'second_unit' as if they had been stored using the [store_unit] tag. see SingleUnitWML. weapon and second_weapon variables are available inside attack, attacker_hits, defender_hits, die and last_breath events. See automatically stored variables for more information.

moveto

Triggers after the primary unit moves. Typically this is used when the primary unit gets to a particular location and a filter for the location of the primary unit is included; remember that this is the location that the primary unit lands on, not the location it started on or any location it travels on. If the unit moves to a village, the capture event will be fired before this event.
An [allow_undo] tag anywhere within a moveto event will cancel any lack of undo functionality the event would have caused. Note that undo functionality will only move the unit back to its former location; it will not undo other changes to the game caused by the event. Thus it is up to the scenario designer to use this tag correctly. $x2 and $y2 refer to the hex the unit came from.

sighted

A sighted event is triggered by a unit becoming visible to a side (other than the unit's own side). This is mostly useful when the side seeing the unit uses fog of war or shroud, but they still fire even when fog/shroud is not in use, and they do take into account the [hides] ability (for a moving unit and for ambushers). The primary unit is the unit that became visible, and the secondary unit belongs to the side that now sees the primary unit. In some cases, sighted events can be delayed from when they "should" occur. If that happens, the secondary unit will be filtered as if it was at the location where the event "should" have occurred, and x2,y2 will store that location (not the current position of the secondary unit). To understand when sighted events fire, it is helpful to distinguish the times the acting unit sights other units from the times when the acting unit is sighted.

An acting unit can sight other units when it is recruited, recalled, leveled, or moved, and when fog or shroud is cleared from occupied hexes as a result. In these cases, the acting unit is always the secondary unit. For the first three actions, there are two events associated with the action; clearing occurs between these events, but any sighted events are fired after the second event. (For example, when a unit is recruited, the prerecruit event fires, then fog is cleared, then the recruit event fires, then sighted events fire.) For movement, the sighted events fire between enter_hex and exit_hex events, but sometimes sighted events are postponed until the moving unit reaches a good place to stop (e.g. not in an occupied hex). As a major exception to the above, players have the option to delay shroud (and fog) updates. If the player delays shroud updates, sighted events are also delayed until the shroud is updated.

An acting unit can be sighted by other sides when it is recruited, recalled, leveled (in rare cases), or moved. In these cases, the acting unit is always the primary unit. These events fire after sightings by the acting unit (unless the player delayed shroud updates). For the first two, the sighted event fires for all sides that can see the unit, other than the unit's own side (even if those sides use neither fog nor shroud). For leveling units, sides that could see the unit before it leveled are excluded. (This is why these events are rare – the leveling unit must have lost a [hides] ability as a result of leveling in order to be seen after, but not before, leveling.) For movement, a sighted event is fired for each side that could see the unit after movement, but not before. In particular, only the starting and ending hexes are considered; a unit that moves through seen hexes but ends movement in a fogged hex does not trigger a sighted event for itself. In all cases where the acting unit is sighted, a (single) secondary unit is chosen from the sighting team. This choice should be considered arbitrary, but units within their sight range of the acting unit are chosen in preference to units further away.

Sighted events are not triggered by a hides ability becoming inactive, unless it becomes inactive due to that unit's movement or to that unit ambushing another. (To detect a nightstalk ability becoming inactive due to time of day, use a new_turn event. Custom hides abilities might need similar handling.)

Sighted events have some special caveats for WML authors. First and foremost, [allow_undo] should generally be avoided in sighted events. It can be used if current unit positions have no bearing on the event, but otherwise it could cause a replay to go out of sync if a player delays shroud updates and undoes a move. This should not be an onerous restriction, though, as clearing fog will block the ability to undo, regardless of what happens within an event. Secondly, it is currently possible for WML to kill a unit involved in a sighted event before that event fires. If that happens, filters on the killed unit will not match anything and the event may seem to have not fired.

enter_hex

Triggers for each hex entered during movement, with $x1,$y1 identifying the hex entered and $x2,$y2 identifying the previous hex (just exited). If this event is handled without using [allow_undo], then movement is interrupted, stopping the unit where it is.

Note: This event behaves a bit unusually if the hex is occupied (and the moving unit is simply passing through). When this happens, $x1,$y1 is still the hex where the event was triggered, but the moving unit (stored in $unit) will be located somewhere earlier in the route (the most recent unoccupied hex). That is, $x1,$y1 will not equal $unit.x,$unit.y (a condition that can be used to detect when the entered hex is occupied). The moving unit will have already spent its movement points to enter the event's hex even though it is has not actually moved from the most recent unoccupied hex.

exit_hex

Triggers for each hex exited during movement, with $x1,$y1 identifying the hex exited and $x2,$y2 identifying the next hex (to be entered). If this event is handled without using [allow_undo], then movement is interrupted, stopping the unit where it is.

Note: This event behaves a bit unusually if the hex is occupied (and the moving unit is simply passing through). When this happens, $x1,$y1 is still the hex where the event was triggered, but the moving unit (stored in $unit) will be located somewhere earlier in the route (the most recent unoccupied hex). That is, $x1,$y1 will not equal $unit.x,$unit.y (a condition that can be used to detect when the exited hex is occupied). The moving unit will have already spent its movement points to enter the event's hex even though it is has not actually moved from the most recent unoccupied hex.

attack

Triggers when the primary unit attacks the secondary unit.

attack end

Similar to attack, but is triggered after the fight instead of before. Note that if either unit is killed during the fight, this event triggers before any die events.

attacker hits

Triggers when the the primary unit (the attacker) hits the secondary unit (the defender). The value of the WML variable damage_inflicted is set to the number of hitpoints inflicted by the attacker.

attacker misses

Same as attacker hits, but is triggered when the attacker misses.

defender hits

Triggers when the primary unit (the attacker) is hit in retaliation by the secondary unit (the defender). The value of the WML variable damage_inflicted is set to the number of hitpoints inflicted by the defender.

defender misses

Same as defender hits, but is triggered when the defender misses.

petrified

Triggers when the primary unit is hit by an attack with the 'petrifies' ability (See stones, AbilitiesWML) by the secondary unit (the unit with the 'petrifies' ability).

last breath

Triggers when the primary unit is killed by the secondary unit, but before the death animation is triggered. Use this instead of name=die when you want the primary unit to make a final [message].

die

Triggers when the primary unit is killed by the secondary unit. Note: The primary unit is not removed from the game until the end of this event. The primary unit can still be manipulated, will block other units from taking its hex, and will still be found by standard unit filters (except [have_unit]). To prevent this behavior, you can use [kill] to remove the unit immediately. However, this will stop any (still unfired) other events that also match the unit from firing afterwards, so use with caution. If you want to the primary unit to make a final [message], use name=last_breath, see above.

capture

Triggers when the primary unit captures a village. The village may have been previously neutral, or previously owned by another side; merely moving into your own villages does not constitute a capture. This event will be fired before the moveto event. Villages becoming neutral (via [capture_village]) do not fire capture events. The variable $owner_side contains the previous owner side of the village. 0 means neutral.

recruit

Triggers when the primary unit is recruited (by the secondary unit). (That is, when a unit is recruited it will trigger this event and this event's filter will filter that unit.).

prerecruit

Triggers when the primary unit is recruited (by the secondary unit) but before it is displayed.

recall

Triggers after the primary unit is recalled (by the secondary unit).

prerecall

Triggers when the primary unit is recalled (by the secondary unit) but before it is displayed.

advance

Triggers just before the primary unit is going to advance to another unit, or advance by AMLA. (This is after the player selects which advancement, if there is a choice). If this event removes the unit, changes the unit's type, or reduces the unit's experience below what it needs to advance, then the advancement is aborted. This also applies to advancement by AMLA.

pre advance

(Version 1.13.0 and later only) Triggers before the unit advancement dialog is shown. If this event removes the unit or reduces the unit's experience below what it needs to advance, then the advancement is aborted.

post advance

Triggers just after the primary unit has advanced to another unit, or advance by AMLA.

select

Triggers when the primary unit is selected. Prior to version 1.11, this also triggered when a move was interrupted, as the game keeps the moving unit selected by selecting it again at the end of movement. Note: in networked multiplayer, these events are only executed by the client on which the event is triggered, leading to out of sync errors if you modify the game state in the event.

menu item X

Triggers when a WML menu item with id=X is selected. Note: if the menu item has a [command], this event may be executed before or after the command; there is no guarantee.

unit placed (Version 1.13.3 and later only)

Triggers when the primary unit is placed on the map, regardless of method. This includes but might not be limited to:

• Leaders and units placed in side definitions (fired once for every unit right before prestart events)
• Recruited and recalled units
• Units placed on the map with the [unit] tag (not units created directly onto a recall list or variable)
• Units placed by the wesnoth.put_unit() Lua function
• Units created via debug mode
• Units created by plague
• Every use of [unstore_unit]

This event is solely intended for special cases where no other event types suffice, for example if you must immediately apply a modification to every unit that ever appears. The event does not keep track of which units it has previously fired for, but can fire an unlimited number of times for the same unit as long the unit is "placed" several times and the event filter doesn't prevent it.

Custom events

An event with a custom name may be invoked using the [fire_event] tag. Normally you'll use such custom events as named subroutines to be called by events with predefined types. One common case of this, for example, is that more than one sighted events might fire the same custom event that changes the scenario objectives. Also, custom events come very handy in Wml_optimisation.

Example:

#The following is the definition of a custom event "unit recruited"
[event]
name=unit_recruited
first_time_only=no
   [message]
   speaker=unit
   message=_ "Reporting for duty!"
   [/message]
[/event]

#This is a standard recruit event that triggers whenever a unit is recruited by side 1
[event]
name=recruit
first_time_only=no
   [filter]
   [/filter]
   [filter_second]
   side=1
   [/filter_second]

#And now a fire_event tag is used to trigger the previously defined event
   [fire_event]
   name=unit_recruited
   [/fire_event]

#As a result, every time side 1 recruits a unit, this unit says "Reporting for duty!"
[/event]

Optional Keys and Tags

These keys and tags are more complex ways to filter when an event should trigger:

first_time_only

Whether the event should be removed from the scenario after it is triggered. This key takes a boolean; for example:

first_time_only=yes

Default behavior if key is omitted. The event will trigger the first time it can and never again.

first_time_only=no

The event will trigger every time the criteria are met instead of only the first time.

id

If an id is specified, then the event will not be added if another event with the same id already exists. An id will also allow the event to be removed, see below. Supplying a non-empty id= is mandatory in case of a [unit_type][event].

remove

Whether to remove an event instead of adding a new one. This key takes a boolean; if true, then the contents of the event are ignored and the event with the specified id is removed instead. (Version 1.13.0 and later only) May be a comma separated list.

[event]
    id=id_of_event_to_remove
    remove=yes
[/event]

Note: (Version 1.13.0 and later only) You can now use [remove_event] instead (the [event] remove= syntax still works). It also accepts a comma separated list.

[remove_event]
    id=id_of_event_to_remove
[/remove_event]

[filter]

The event will only trigger if the primary unit matches this filter.

• StandardUnitFilter: selection criteria

[filter_second]

Like [filter], but for the secondary unit.

• StandardUnitFilter: selection criteria

[filter_attack]

Can be used to set additional filtering criteria based on the weapon used by the primary unit. This is usable in the events attack, attacker hits, attacker misses, defender hits, defender misses, attack end, last breath, and die. For more information and filter keys, see Filtering Weapons. The most commonly used keys are the following.

• name: the name of the weapon used.
• range: the range of the weapon used.
• special: filter on the attack's special power.

[filter_second_attack]

Like [filter_attack], but for the weapon used by the secondary unit.

[filter_condition]

This tag makes sense inside any sort of event - even those that don't have units, or custom events,... The event will only trigger if this condition evaluates to true.

• Condition Tags

note: This tag is meant to be used when the firing of an event shall be based on variables/conditions which cannot be retrieved from the filtered units.

[filter_side]

The current side (usually the side $side_number) must match the passed StandardSideFilter for the event to fire.

• SSF tags and keys as arguments as described in StandardSideFilter.

note: This tag makes most sense in side turn and turn refresh events. However, all wml events have a current side so one could also prevent e.g. a moveto event from firing if you put a [filter_side] tag there and the moving unit's side doesn't match.

delayed_variable_substitution

This key is only relevant inside of a nested event and controls when variable substitution will occur in those special case actions.

Actions triggered by [event]

After the trigger conditions have been met, all action tags within the [event] tag are executed in the order they are written in.

There are 3 main types of actions:

• direct actions (DirectActionsWML) which have a direct effect on gameplay
• display actions (InterfaceActionsWML) which show something to the user
• internal actions (InternalActionsWML) which are used by WML internally

More details in ActionWML.

Several actions use standard filters to find out which units to execute the command on. These are denoted by the phrases "standard unit filter" and "standard location filter".

Nested Events

There is one special type of action: event creation. By placing an [event] tag inside another [event] tag, the nested event is spawned (created) when the parent (outer) event is encountered (when executing the contents of the parent event).

(See Examples)

Delayed Variable Substitution

Variable substitution for a nested event can happen either when it is spawned by the parent event or when it is triggered itself. This is controlled with the key delayed_variable_substitution which is used in the nested event.

If this key is set to yes, the variables in the nested event will contain values from the turn in which the nested event was triggered. This is the default behavior if the key is omitted. If set to no, the variables in the nested event are set at the time the parent event is triggered.

This behavior can be fine tuned with a special syntax when referencing variables. Instead of the normal $variable syntax, use $|variable to cause a variable to contain values relevant to the turn in which the nested event was triggered even when delayed_variable_substitution is set to no. In this way you can have a mix of variables relevant to the parent and nested event trigger times.

(See Examples)

Multiplayer safety

In multiplayer it is only safe to use WML that might require synchronization with other players because of input or random numbers (like [message] with input or options or [unstore_unit] where a unit might advance) in the following events. This is because in these cases WML needs data from other players to work right and/or do the same thing for all players. This data is only available after a network synchronization.

List of synchronized events:

• moveto
• enter hex
• exit hex
• sighted
• last breath
• menu item X
• die
• capture
• recruit
• prerecruit
• recall
• prerecall
• advance
• pre advance
• post advance
• attack
• attack end
• attacker hits
• attacker misses
• defender hits
• defender misses
• start
• prestart (prestart are synced but [message][option] & [unstore_unit] advancement choices will do a random decision because UI things don't work during prestart events.)
• new turn
• side turn
• turn X
• side X turn
• side X turn Y
• turn refresh
• side turn end
• side X turn end
• side turn X end
• side X turn Y end
• turn end
• turn X end
• (Version 1.13.0 and later only) enemies defeated
• (Version 1.13.0 and later only) time over

The following are not synced:

• select
• preload
• victory
• defeat
• ai turn

If an event is not listed here, ask someone to be sure.

There is also the possibility of events that are normally synchronized when fired by the engine but can be non-synchronized when fired by WML tags from non-synchronized event. So when you are using them you must be extra careful. For example [unstore_unit] may trigger a unit advancement that will fire advance and post advance events.

A Trap for the Unwary

You need to beware of using macros to generate events. If you include a macro expanding to an event definition twice, the event will be executed twice (not once) each time the trigger condition fires. Consider this code:

#define DOUBLE
    [event]
        name=multiply_by_2
        {VARIABLE_OP 2_becomes_4 multiply 2}
    [/event]
#enddef

{DOUBLE}
{DOUBLE}

{VARIABLE 2_becomes_4 2}
		
[fire_event]
    name=multiply_by_2
[/fire_event]

{DEBUG_MSG "$2_becomes_4 should be 4"}

After it executes, the debug message will reveal that the variable has been set to 8, not 4.

Event IDs

This problem can be avoided by setting an id on the event, i.e.:

#define DOUBLE
    [event]
        name=multiply_by_2
        id=doubler_event
        {VARIABLE_OP 2_becomes_4 multiply 2}
    [/event]
#enddef

Events with the same ID will only be accepted once by the engine no matter how many times they are included, and will only be saved once to the scenario's savefile. Events with an ID can also be removed by using the remove key, i.e.:

[event]
    id=doubler_event
    remove=yes
[/event]

After that WML is encountered (at toplevel or after created from another event), the event with this ID is removed from the scenario wml, thus firing it has no effect. After an event is removed, it can still be re-added later.

Miscellaneous Notes and Examples

Primary/Secondary Unit Speaker Example

In events, the primary unit can be referred to as unit and the secondary unit can be referred to as second_unit in [message] tags using the speaker key. For example:

[event]
    name=die
    [message]
        speaker=second_unit
        message= _ "Hahaha! I finally killed you!"
    [/message]

    [message]
        speaker=unit
        message= _ "It's not over yet! I'll come back to haunt you!"
    [/message]
[/event]

Nested Event Example

An event is created for a portal that opens on turn 10. The parent (or 'outer') event executes on turn 10 at which point the nested moveto event is created. This nested event executes when a player steps on a certain spot.

[event]
    name=turn 10

    [event]
        name=moveto

        [filter]
            x,y=5,8
        [/filter]

        # moving to 5,8 will trigger this event only on turn 10 and after
    [/event]
[/event]

An equivalent way of doing this would be to create a single moveto event with an [if] statement to check for turn number but using nested [event] tags is a convenient shortcut to accomplish this task without resorting to [if] statements.

Delayed Variable Substitution Example

This code will display a message showing the turn number on which the nested moveto event happens.

[event]
    name=turn 10

    [event]
        name=moveto
        delayed_variable_substitution=yes

        [filter]
            x,y=5,8
        [/filter]

        {DEBUG_MSG "Turn $turn_number"} 
   [/event]
[/event]

Since this is the default behavior for the delayed_variable_substitution key, the following example is identical.

[event]
    name=turn 10

    [event]
        name=moveto

        [filter]
            x,y=5,8
        [/filter]

        {DEBUG_MSG "Turn $turn_number"} 
   [/event]
[/event]

The following code will always display "Turn 10" when the nested moveto event happens. This is because the variable substitution is done when the parent event is triggered and spawns the nested event, not when the nested event is triggered.

[event]
    name=turn 10

    [event]
        name=moveto
        delayed_variable_substitution=no

        [filter]
            x,y=5,8
        [/filter]

        {DEBUG_MSG "Turn $turn_number"} 
   [/event]
[/event]

Finally, the following example is identical to the first two in that it will display a message showing the turn number on which the nested moveto event happens, despite the fact that the delayed_variable_substitution key is set to no. This is because the special $|variable syntax is used.

[event]
    name=turn 10

    [event]
        name=moveto
        delayed_variable_substitution=no

        [filter]
            x,y=5,8
        [/filter]

        {DEBUG_MSG "Turn $|turn_number"} 
   [/event]
[/event]

Multiple Nested Events

Every delayed_variable_substitution=no causes a variable substitution run on the subevent where it occurs at the spawn time of this event and on all following subevents. For any specific event, variable substitution happens at least one time when the event is executed. For each delayed=no key appearing in itself or in an event of an "older" generation, which is not the toplevel event, an additional variable substitution run is made.

[event]# parent
    name=turn 2
    #delayed_variable_substitution=no # In the parent event, delayed= has no effect.

    [event]# child
        name=turn 3
        delayed_variable_substitution=no # Causes variable substitution in the child, grandchild and great-grandchild event
        # at execution time of the parent event = spawn time of the child event.

        [event]# grandchild
            name=turn 4
            delayed_variable_substitution=yes # no variable substitution in the grandchild and great-grandchild event
            # at execution time of the child event = spawn time of the grandchild event

            [event]# great-grandchild
                name=turn 5
                {DEBUG_MSG $turn_number}# output: 2 - value from the variable substitution at execution time of the parent event,
                # caused by delayed=no in the child event

                {DEBUG_MSG $||turn_number}# output: "$turn_number"
                # Each variable substitution transforms a "$|" to a "$" (except when no | left).

                {DEBUG_MSG $|turn_number}# output: 5 - from the variable substitution at execution time
                # of the great-grandchild event
            [/event]
        [/event]
    [/event]
[/event]

See Also

• DirectActionsWML
• InternalActionsWML
• InterfaceActionsWML
• FilterWML
• ReferenceWML