FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Battle for Wesnoth?

Battle for Wesnoth is a fantasy turn-based strategy game.

What license is the game distributed under?

The project is distributed under the GPL. All contributors retain copyright on the portions of the project that they contribute.

How to get informed about new releases?

Subscribe to new releases at Freshmeat.

A new version is out, but where is the download for [Windows, Mac OS, etc.]?

The downloads are NOT part of the official project. The BFW team only releases the game's source code. Binary executables or applications are always contributed by community volunteers. If not for these volunteers, there would never be any downloads for us to enjoy. The volunteers compile the game and upload it on their own time, and sometimes they cannot do this in a timely fashion (or at all, at times) Although there are usual packagers designated for each operating system, there are times when other members of the community are asked to step in and contribute when the usual people cannot.

Every time a new version is released, the usual volunteers are always notified by the project leaders. Please refrain from making forum posts asking where your download is because it doesn't help anything - the packagers already know, and they will get to it as soon as they can. In the past, the Windows and Mac communities have come together to produce home-grown unofficial builds for the community to use, and the renewed interest in community and learning how to compile is generally a good thing.

Why does Wesnoth not have my favorite feature?

Because we are building this game for ourselves and for our preferences, not for you. If you like the game as we like it - that is good. If you hate the game - that is also fine. So what is the point of asking for ideas? Because the developers are just common people, although we come up with many ideas, our players certainly do as well, and often ones we don't think of ourselves. If a player comes up with an idea we like - we might implement it. Not because you asked for it - we do it because we like the feature. At the moment there will be no features added because of the feature freeze in preparation for the release of v1.0. But after the release, there will be many new things again. You are free to re-use any work in Wesnoth, as long as you follow the rules of the GPL, to build the game that you like. Don't expect us to build that game for you. Building this game is our hobby, not our profession - you did not pay us to make it; rather, we are the ones who have paid for it, in time and labor.

Do you want help making this game? How can I help?

Yes we do. Whether you're a programmer, artist, musician, translator, or want to playtest, design levels, or provide ideas, you're welcome to contribute. Spreading the word, joining the development, sharing points of view at the forum, discussing with us in IRC (#wesnoth at irc.freenode.net), playing the game and reporting, voting for Wesnoth at different gaming sites...

What are the system requirements?

We are not completely certain, but an x86 running at 600MHz with 128MB RAM should be adequate. See the forum thread about minimum and recommended system requirements.

The game goes too slow, how do I speed it up?

There are several preferences you can change to make turns shorter. "Accelerated Speed" will make units move and fight faster. "Skip AI Moves" will skip over the animations when the AI units move. Finally under the advanced tab you can turn off "Show Combat" to turn off combat animations entirely.

If instead you find your computer having difficulty running Wesnoth at full speed you can reduce some of the graphical and audio options to try to make it run faster. Probably the best idea is to turn off the music and sound effects. Turning off the color cursors may make your cursor respond faster. Turns off halos may help with some units, but can also make gameplay difficult.

Gameplay and Controls

How do I learn to play?

There are several ways. If you just want to jump right in, there is a tutorial option on the main page that provides a good overview of gameplay. For reference there is a .pdf manual included in the Wesnoth folder which describes the main game mechanics. Finally once you start a game you can hit the menu button and choose help, or just hit the F1 key, to access the in-game help. The in-game help provides information on terrains, weapons, traits, abilities, units and a good overview of how to play.

My unit leveled up but didn't change its type or artwork. What happened?

This is called "After Maximum Level Advancement" or AMLA for short. Every chain of units has a maximum level, this is usually level 3. There are very few units in the game that are level 4 or 5. After a unit reaches the highest level it can get, every time it gains 100 experience it gains 3 hitpoints. It does not heal when this happens. This is considered a minor bonus, so that experience gained by maxxed out units is not altogether wasted. Most players consider it better to give experience to lower level units, rather than continue to advanced units that have reached their maximum level.

If the unit in question is the Necrophage, this is not a bug. The Necrophage eats the corpses of the dead, allowing it to periodically completely heal. Leveling into itself is how this is carried out.

I tried to trap an enemy with several weak units, but it still escaped. What happened?

Most units, who are level one and above, create a zone of control. That is, if an enemy moves into a hex adjacent to them, the zone of control prevented it from moving any farther. However certain units are level 0, which means they are so weak that they do not create zones of control. You can still surround an enemy unit entirely with level 0 units to keep it from escaping, but if there is any gap in your ranks, it can escape.

How can I see where an enemy unit can move next turn?

During you turn you can click on an enemy unit. Wesnoth will highlight all the hexes the unit can move to in the next turn. This is useful when trying to arrange your units to block an enemy's movement.

Maps, Scenarios and Campaigns

How do I beat scenario _______ ?

If you are stuck on a certain scenario, check out the "Strategies and Tips" forum: http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=3

Are there any tools to help me create maps and scenarios?

Yes, there is a tool called wesnoth_editor. It is a normal map-editor that should be a good help for creating the plain maps. For creating the scenarios there already is a scenario-editor included in the mac build. But this editor is rather outdated and it exists only for MacOS X. At the moment some community members are working on creating a nice and working scenario editor. You can have a look at the forum post about this tool. You will also find more info at CampGen.

How do I download user campaigns?

Choose "Campaigns" in the main Wesnoth menu. Then scroll down to the bottom and choose "Get More Campaigns...". This connects you to the campaign server. In the campaign server you can view a list of all available campaigns and download them, as well as posting or deleting your own campaigns. If you are behind a firewall you may not be able to connect the the campaign server; in this case try contacting the author of the campaign via the forums to see if there is another way you can get the campaign.

I already created a campaign and published it on the campaign server. How can I get translations for the campaign?

Just have a look at WesCamp. This project is the easiest way to get translations for your campaign. All the info you need you can find at WesCamp.

How do I place an object or unit on my map with the map editor?

You can't. You need to make a multiplayer scenario file. There are more details on the maps page.

Multiplayer

How to find players for multiplayer game?

Hang around for a while on multiplayer servers and you might find someone to play with. If you observe other people playing you will get informed when someone joins the servers. Maybe you find someone willing to play in the irc channel dedicated to mp: #wesnoth-mp at irc.freenode.net. You can also join #wesnoth at irc.freenode.net.