Terrains

Terrains define the basic look of the map.

    *-------*
   / \     / \
  /   \   /   \
 /     \ /     \
*-------*-------*
 \     / \     /
  \   /   \   /
   \ /     \ /
    *-------*

Terrain tiles have a triangular shape, and 6 of them will be combined to form a hexagon. Each vertex between the terrains (* in the figure) will form a node that is influenced by the 6 terrains surrounding it, and where other map entities can be placed. You can find more information on the terrains’ shape and on how to create textures on the wiki.

Each terrain tile will also influence some properties for the map entities that are placed on its 3 vertices, like:

  • Which resources can go on a map node.

  • How well which type of tree will grow on a map node.

  • Which map objects can be built on the nodes or move through them.

new_terrain_type{table}

This function adds the definition of a terrain to the engine.

Parameters:

table – This table contains all the data that the game engine will add to this terrain. It contains the following entries:

name

Mandatory. A string containing the internal name of this terrain, e.g.:

name = "summer_meadow1",
descname

Mandatory. The translatable display name, e.g.:

descname = _("Meadow 1"),
editor_category

Deprecated. The category that is used in the editor tools for placing a terrain of this type on the map, e.g.:

editor_category = "summer",
is

Mandatory. The type of this terrain, which determines if the nodes surrounding the terrain will be walkable or navigable, if mines or buildings can be built on them, if flags can be built on them, and so on. The following properties are available:

  • arable: Allows building of normal buildings and roads.

  • mineable: Allows building of mines and roads.

  • walkable: Allows building of flags and roads only.

  • water: Nothing can be built here, but ships and aquatic animals can pass.

  • unreachable: Nothing can be built here, and nothing can walk on it, and nothing will grow.

  • unwalkable: Nothing can be built here, and nothing can walk on it.

Example:

is = "arable",

Note: There is currently some interdependency between ``is`` and ``valid_resources``, so not all combinations are possible. See Issue #2038 for more information.

tooltips

Deprecated. Additional custom tooltip entries, e.g.:

tooltips = {
   _("likes trees"),
},
valid_resources

Mandatory. The list of mineable resources that can be found on this terrain. Leave this empty ({}) if you want no resources on this terrain. Example:

valid_resources = {"resource_water"},

Note: There is currently some interdependency between ``is`` and ``valid_resources``, so not all combinations are possible. See Issue #2038 for more information.

default_resource

Mandatory. A resource type that can always be found on this terrain when a new game is started, unless the map maker places some resources there via the editor. Use the empty string ("") if you want no default resource. Example:

default_resource = "resource_water",
default_resource_amount

Mandatory. The amount of the above default resource that will automatically be placed on this terrain, e.g.:

default_resource_amount = 10,
textures

Mandatory. The images used for this terrain. Examples:

textures = { path.dirname(__file__) .. "idle.png" }, - A static terrain
textures = path.list_files(path.dirname(__file__) .. "lava_??.png"), -- An animated terrain
dither_layer

Mandatory. Terrains will be blended slightly over each other in order to hide the harsh edges of the triangles. This describes the z layer of a terrain when rendered next to another terrain. Terrains with a higher value will be dithered on top of terrains with a lower value. No two terrains may have the same dither layer, unless they are defined by different add-ons (in which case unique layers will be automatically assigned during world loading). Example:

dither_layer = 340,
temperature

Mandatory. A terrain affinity constant. These are used to model how well trees will grow on this terrain. Temperature is in arbitrary units. Example:

temperature = 100,
humidity

Mandatory. A terrain affinity constant. These are used to model how well trees will grow on this terrain. Values range from 1 - 1000 (1000 being very wet). Example:

humidity = 600,
fertility

Mandatory. A terrain affinity constant. These are used to model how well trees will grow on this terrain. Values range from 1 - 1000 (1000 being very fertile). Example:

fertility = 700,
enhancement

Optional. The terrains this terrain can be turned into by buildings like the Amazon gardening center. Example:

enhancement = { amazons = "summer_meadow3" },

For making the UI texts translateable, we also need to push/pop the correct textdomain.

Example:

push_textdomain("world")

wl.Descriptions():new_terrain_type{
   name = "summer_mountain1",
   descname = _("Mountain 1"),
   is = "mineable",
   valid_resources = { "resource_coal", "resource_iron", "resource_gold", "resource_stones" },
   default_resource = "",
   default_resource_amount = 0,
   textures = { path.dirname(__file__) .. "idle.png" },
   dither_layer = 70,
   temperature = 80,
   humidity = 100,
   fertility = 100,
   enhancement = { amazons = "summer_forested_mountain1" }
}

pop_textdomain()