TerrainCodesWML

[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;

Values of terrain letters

What each letter represents in Wesnoth maps, and the possible values of the letter key.

See TerrainWML for information on how to define a terrain.

• A human (snow) hill village
• a human hill village
• B desert village (adobe)
• b human mountain village
• C castle
• c shallow water, "coast"
• D underground village (cave, village), "dungeon village"
• d sand, (old desert)
• E desert road
• e elven (snow) village
• F forest (snow)
• f forest
• G savanna (grass)
• g grass
• H hills (snow)
• h hills
• I desert
• i ice (tundra)
• J desert hills
• j -nothing- (will be snowy mountains)
• K keep (castle)
• k river ford (grass, shallow water)
• L tropical forest village (savanna, village)
• l lava (canyon)
• M desert mountains
• m mountain
• N ruined castle
• n encampment (castle)
• O -nothing- (will probably be an Orc Castle one day)
• o dwarven castle (castle)
• P desert oasis
• p dwarven village
• Q sunken ruin
• q ruin (swamp)
• R road (grass)
• r dirt (grass)
• S tundra
• s deep water
• T forest (tropical)
• t village
• U desert village (tent)
• u cave
• V snow village (tundra, village)
• v human village (village)
• W cavewall
• w swamp
• X canyon (replaced by chasm in trunk)
• x reserved for UMCs
• Y swamp village (swamp, village)
• y reserved for UMCs
• Z mermen village (shallow water)
• z reserved for UMCs
• /,|,\ bridge (grass, shallow water)
• ~ fog
• ' ' void/shroud (it uses the "space" character)
• * reserved for UMCs
• ^ reserved for UMCs
• % reserved for UMCs
• @ reserved for UMCs
• [ rockbound cave
• ] mushroom grove
• ' illuminated cave
•  ? great Elven tree
• & impassable mountains
• "  ???
• $  ???
• .  ???
•  ;  ???
•  :  ???
• <  ???
• >  ???
• _  ???
• `  ???

Reserved letters and non-letter Characters

Reserved letters are for custom terrains in user-made campaigns. In addition to these it is currently also possible to use other characters not on the above list to represent custom terrain, such as ½ § @ % etc., but new "official" terrain may be assigned for these characters in the future. So when creating custom terrain, the letters marked as reserved on the above list should be used first. Use campaign definitions (see CampaignWML) to prevent your custom terrains from interfering with other campaigns.

Terrain strings (SVN terrain only)

The terrains will be changed from a single letter to a multi letter system. There will be a compability layer for a short while. This layer doesn't work for campaigns with custom terrains, these campaigns have to be changed to use the new system.

The following rules are stated for the new terrain letters, note most of these rules are not validated since it would slow down Wesnoth; not following these rules might break Wesnoth.

• terrain strings are between 2 and 4 characters
• terrain strings start with a capital letter and the following letters are lower case
• terrain strings can only contain letters
• the underscore is used for internal terrains
• the star '*' can be used for wildcards in some parts

Starting positions are defined by a number followed by 1 space and then the terrain string; this means that a starting position is no longer automatically a keep.

The letters Y,y,Z,z are reserved for UMC so any string containing any of these letters is a custom terrain. Other undefined terrain strings are reserved for future expansion within Wesnoth.

Conversion form old to new

There's a conversion perl script for map named map_convert.pl. This script will convert a map with the old letters to the new strings. Some parts still have to be done manually, here a lookup table with the letters.

char= a    b    c    d    e    f    g    h    i    j    k    l    m      
str=  Vhh  Vhm  Ww   Ds   Vea  Ff   Gg   Hh   Ai        Wwf  Ql   Mm   

char= n    o    p    q    r    s    t    u    v    w    x    y    z
str=  Ce   Cud  Vud  Chs  Re   Wo   Veg  Uu   Vhg  Ss 

char= A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M      
str=  Vhha Vda  Ch   Vu   Rd   Fa   Gs   Ha   Dd   Hd   _K   Vht  Md

char= N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z
str=  Chr       Do   Chw  Rr   Aa   Ft   Vdt  Vha  Xu   Qxu  Vs   Vwm

char= /    |    \    &    _    ~    ?    ]
str=  Bww/ Bww| Bww\ Xu   _s   _f   Fet  Uh

• added reminder to add fog/shroud to the editor
• added idea to maybe add support to add tiles at the top and left

proposal 2.0

• removed editor changes from proposal and moved to own topic
• removed the discussion points and wrote the conclusion
• rewrote User:SkeletonCrew#terrain_strings
• rewrote the letter proposal, with the input given so far

proposal 2.1

• Eleazar changed some terrain definitions and fixed some errors I made in them
• added section about starting positions and the new definition
• added extra keeps and changed the way they're going to work

proposal 2.2

• added AnimationWML section

proposal 2.3

• changed encountered terrain section

terrain

Every terrain type gets a new field named string this will be the new string to use to refer to the terrain. The old char field will stay for the existing terrains, this is needed to convert older maps to be used with the new engine.

This string will exist of 2 to 4 characters, the allowed characters are all letters (the engine is case sensitive), all numbers and the symbols / | \. Note leading numbers are not allowed in the string, they might give confusion with starting locations. Other characters are reserved for special uses in the engine.

The limit of 4 characters is not the upper limit of the engine, but the upper level for easy parsing. The internal format uses 4 bytes and every character is 1 byte. This way it's very easy to convert the characters to the internal format. If more letters are required it will require some modifications to the engine.

I'm considering to allow 1 character terrains as well since I've some trouble to find a second letter everywhere.

Every terrain will also get a new field named theme this is explained in the editor section.

scenario map

The map will use the new strings instead of the old letters. For every tile a string will be used instead of one letter, these strings are separated with a comma. Between the string and the comma one or more spaces are allowed.

Instead of spaces tabs are allowed, but keep in mind what looks good in your text editor, might look horrible in the editor of somebody else. The official files should use spaces.

The WML for map will use the same format. The letter for map WML will use a single terrain string without comma's.

Terraingraphics

The need two modifications the map format and the type format.

map

This format will change a bit more than the other items. The old format is described here TerrainGraphicsWML. According to mog the letters in the map are never used, only the anchors are used. The new format will only accept anchors. The special characters . and * will stay the same.

This map file will no longer be space separated but comma separatedand. Odd lines will start with a leading comma instead of 2 spaces. Spaces are allowed for padding

Also here tabs are allowed instead of spaces, see previous section.

For example this

map="
  1
1   1
  2
1   1
  1"

will become

map="
,1
1,1
,2
1,1
,1"

or

map="
, 1
1 , 1
, 2
1 , 1
, 1"

type

The type will be a list of terrains, comma separated. Spaces are allowed but then the items need to be between brackets. (A WML rule.) Also after special modifiers a comma is required (at the moment only the ! is a special modifier, but that might change in the future.)

Mog had an idea which will also be implanted, the * can be used in a terrain string, V* would match all terrain strings starting with the letter 'V'. Vh* would match all terrain strings starting with 'Vh' eg Vh, Vha, Vhaa but not VH or vH.

terrain files

Eleazar would like to move the terrains in subfolders, this seems to be possible with the current system. The required modifications can be found in the following changelog http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth?rev=14069&view=rev

I've no idea what the best possible directory layout will be. I'll ask Eleazar to do this change when I'm ready for it. At the moment I've some patches in my queue which will conflict with these changes.

terrain strings

The terrain strings will consist of 2 till 4 letters which indicate the terrain. Numbers are not allowed except for starting positions. See next section. The following special characters can be used /|\ these should be used for directional terrains, which are only bridges at the moment.

The terrain letter _ is reserved for interal special terrains this will alway be used as leading character and not used inside strings.

For readability terrains should start with a capital letter followed by one or more lowercase letters (with a maximum of 3 lower case letters). The official terrains must follow these rules, the custom terrains should follow these rules.

There will be some letters reserved for user made content these letters are Y, y, Z, z. This means every terrain with one or more of these letters inside are custom terrains. This way it's easier to integrate a new terrain without having to change the terrain-graphics.cfg.

Since UTBS is mainline the custom terrain used there will be moved to the new system.

starting positions

The new system will allow to define a starting position and terrain in the map file.

The new format is "nnwtttt"

• n is a number and must be at least 1 position, this number defines the starting position, for alignment the engine assumes a maximum of 2 positions
• w is one space, needed for readability and easy parsing
• t is the terrain string

For backwards compability the "wtttt" part can be ommitted and the terrain will automatically become _K but support won't last forever (see User:SkeletonCrew#Specials).

At the moment Wesnoth supports 9 starting positions, this proposal allows for more positions but the engine can't use the extra positions. This limit will be removed in the near future.

aliases

The aliases will also be a comma separated list, where the same discussion about the + and - can be started as in the types.

terrains sorted per group

This list shows the string for the terrains, the italic strings are reservations for terrains. The old letter is extra shown for as an extra reference.

Snow terrains

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Ai	i	ice	snow
Aa	S	tundra "Arctic"	snow

Bridges

Since bridges are directional all strings here will be appended with either /|\ to show their direction. In this list these signs are replaced with a *.

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Brx*		Bridge of stones over chasm for aboveground	bridge
Bxu*		Bridge over chasm underground	bridge
Bsw*		wooden bridge over swamp NOTE bws Brigde wood swamp	bridge
Bwr*		Stone Bridge over shallow water NOTE bss Bridge stone swamp not better?	bridge
Bww*	/|\	wooden bridge bridge, over wadeable, wooden NOTE Brigde wood or Bridge wood water not better?	bridge, common

Castles

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Ce	n	encampment (castle)	castle, common
Ch	C	human castle	castle, common
Chr	N	ruined castle	castle
Chs	q	human ruin (swamp)	castle
Chw	Q	human sunken ruin	castle
Co	O	will be an Orc Castle one day	castle
Cud	o	dwarven castle "castle underground, dwarf"	castle, underground

desert

NOTE still need to add the UTBS terrains

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Dd	I	desert	desert
Do	P	desert oasis	desert
Ds	d	sand, (old desert)	desert

Forest

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Fa	F	forest (snow) "forest arctic"	forrest, snow
Fb		Sinister Forest "Forest, Bad"	forrest
Fet	?	great Elven tree	forrest
Ff	f	forrest	forrest, common
Ft	T	forrest tropical	forrest

Grass

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Gb		dying "Grass brown/bad"	grass
Gf		Farmer's Fields	grass
Gg	g	grass	grass, common
Gs	G	savanna (grass)	grass

hill

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Ha	H	hills (snow) "hills arctic"	hill, snow
Hd	J	desert hills (dunes)	hill, desert
Hh	h	hills	hill, common

Keep

The keep definition is now done with terrain transition WML, since we're no longer out of letters, this will be done manually. the _K is for backwards compability but this will remove at some point see specials. The _K uses the castle transition WML the new ones don't. This would also allow to mix items, eg een Kh keep in a Ce castle.

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
_K	K	keep (castle)	keep, common
Ke		encampment (keep)	keep, common
Kh		keep castle	keep, common
Khr		ruined keep	keep
Khs		human ruin keep(swamp)	keep
Khw		human sunken ruin keep	keep
Ko		will be an Orc keep one day	keep
Kud		dwarven keep "keep underground, dwarf"	keep, underground

Mountain

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Ma	j	snowy mountains	mountain, snow
Md	M	desert mountains	mountain, desert
Mm	m	mountain	mountain, common

(mostly) Impassable

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Qx		chasm for above ground	misc
Qxu	X	chasm for underground	misc, underground
Qxw		aboveground chasm with water pouring over the edge	misc
Ql	l	lava	misc
Qr		stone wall	misc

road

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Rc		Carpeted Floor	road
Rd	E	desert road	road, desert
Re	r	dirt road "earth"	road, common
Rr		stone road "rock"	road
Rw		Wood floor (interior)	road

swamp

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Sb		fetid swamp "Swamp Bad"	swamp
Ss	w	swamp	swamp

underground

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Uf	]	mushroom grove "underground forest"	underground
Uh	[	rockbound cave (functionally "underground hill")	underground
Uu	u	normal cave	underground
Uuc		normal cave, carved	underground
Uui	'	illuminated cave	underground

village

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Vda	B	desert village (adobe)	village, desert
Vdt	U	desert village (test)	village, desert
Veg	t	elven village "village elven grassland"	village
Ves	e	elven (snow) village	village, snow
Vha	V	village, snow snow village (tundra, village)	village, snow
Vhg	v	human village (village)	village, common
Vhh	a	human hill village	village, hill, common
Vhha	A	human (snow) hill village	village, snow, hill
Vhm	b	human mountain village	village, mountain
Vht	L	tropical village (savanna, village) --nothing foresty about this village	village
Vu	D	underground village (cave, village)	village, underground
Vud	p	dwarven village	village, underground
Vwm	Z	mermen village (shallow water)	village, water
Vs	Y	swamp village (swamp, village)	village, swamp

water

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Wo	s	deep water "water, ocean"	water, common
Ww	c	shallow water, "water, wade-able"	water, common
Wwf	k	river ford "water wadeable, ford"	water
Wwu		shallow underground water	water, underground

Impassable

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
Xm	&	impassable moutains	impassable, mountain
Xrw		Impassable stone "rock" wall (interior)	impassable
Xu	W	cavewall	impassable, underground
Xuc		cavewall, carved	impassable, underground
Xww		Impassable wooden wall (interior)	impassable

Specials

These terrains are hardcoded in the game and translated automatically. The old UMC terrains are here for backwards compability this compability will only be guaranteed till the next major release after 1.2.(That would be 1.4 or 2.0.) As stated before the * will no longer be supported.

String	Old letter	Description	Theme
_f	~	fog	misc
_s	(space character)	void/shroud	misc

See Also

• TerrainWML
• ReferenceWML
• Freim's List of Terrain Letters