Distributing content
Contents
The Forum
The BFW forum is a good way to distribute small creations, like single multiplayer maps. Larger creations, like multiplayer eras or campaigns, should be compressed before uploading them. Note that you may encounter a size limit on attachments.
Also, there is a legal announcement that you should read before distributing anything on the forum. Basically, by posting you say that you own the license to what you are posting, and that you are licensing it under the General Public License.
The Add-on Server
The add-on server is the preferred way to distribute your creations, but it is more suited for larger projects. It currently lacks advanced organization features such as filtering and reviewing, so adding hundreds of little things makes it harder to find anything. Basically, the server should not be used to post single maps, units, songs, or artwork, but map packs, campaigns, entire eras, music packs, and unit packs are fine.
Once you are ready to publish, here is how you access the add-on server:
- Open Wesnoth
- Select "Add-ons" from the main menu
- Connect to the default campaigns.wesnoth.org add-on server
- Select "Publish Add-on: Your Add-on Name" (the last entry in the list of campaigns)
Anything you distribute on the server will be uploaded from and downloaded to the userdata/data/campaigns directory regardless of what it is (units, maps, campaign, etc). For this reason, you need three things in the campaigns directory to distribute via the server:
- A folder, for example MyCampaign
- A .cfg file MyCampaign/_main.cfg
- A .pbl file MyCampaign/_server.pbl
Note that only the contents of your add-on directory (in this case, MyCampaign) will get uploaded, nothing else, so you need to have all the necessary files inside that directory.
General Reading
- General information about the .pbl file - It has a campaign flavor, but it is adaptable to any content
- Syntax reference for the .pbl file
Content-specific instructions
- Maps - see Building Maps
- Campaign - see Building Campaigns
- Multiplayer era - see Building MP Era
- Unit pack - see Building Units
License
You should note that by uploading anything to the campaign server, you say that you own the license to all content in your upload and that it is under the GPL. Whenever you upload or update your content pack, you will have to say "OK" to this statement: "All campaigns uploaded to this server must be licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). By uploading content to this server, you certify that you have the right to placethe content under the conditions of the GPL, and choose to do so."