Glossary

From The Battle for Wesnoth Wiki
Revision as of 17:46, 5 December 2023 by Atreides (talk | contribs) (Unofficial MP Eras: Added in the rest of the most downloaded eras which have acronyms that I've heard)

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)
  • 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