Modding:Worlds

This page is about modding. See the modding overview for an abstract on modding.

This page is about modding. See the modding overview for an abstract on modding.

Worlds.xml defines many of the important zones on the world map. This includes both static mapped content (such as the Joppa village layout) as well as dynamic zone builders (such as the builders that are used to generate underground caves).

The game's primary "world", called JoppaWorld, contains most of the game content, but it is theoretically possible to add additional worlds.

In addition to the XML, the game code includes a few hooks that a programmer can use to modify the world state during the world generation process. These hooks are particularly useful if you're planning to add dynamically generated content similar to villages, lairs, sultan historical sites, etc, because they give you access to the same data that the core game uses to create that kind of content.

XML Structure

Worlds.xml has the following general structure:

XML Tag	Description
<worlds>
<world>	auto merged with the game definition if the world with this Name was already defined (the primary game world currently is JoppaWorld, so you want to use that if you're trying to merge into Qud's world)
<builder>	Any builder class you specify gets added to the list of builders and executed as part of world creation. Must be a class in the XRL.World.WorldBuilders namespace. The only builder used by the base game is JoppaWorldBuilder. Begin a Class name with minus (-) to remove all builders with that class from existing world definition (this would probably be a bad idea though unless you're remaking the entire world by fully replacing JoppaWorldBuilder).
<cell>	Cell nodes are completely overwritten if they have a matching Name to one that already exists in the game files. Cell nodes can inherit from other cell nodes.
<zone>	Define the specified zone or range of zones within this world cell. For example, the Rustwell is a single world cell, which includes various zone definitions for the zones included within it's 3x3 parasang area and Z depths. The game currently applies a depth cap of 49 to zone definitions (in XRL.World.ZoneManager.GetZoneBlueprint). As a result, if you define a zone definitions with a Level attribute higher than 49, those definitions are ignored.
<builder>	Builders for zones. Zones can have multiple builders, which are applied in succession to generate the zone.
<postbuilder>	Postbuilders are similar to builders, but applied afterward.
<population>	Use the given population table to generate creatures and items in the zone.
<map>	Use the provided map (an .rpm file) for the zone.

World Generation Code

The game exposes two interfaces that a modder may hook into to apply custom logic before or after the world generation process.

JoppaWorldBuilderExtension

This interface is called before and after JoppaWorld generation.

using XRL.World.WorldBuilders;

namespace YourMod.YourNamespace
{
    //The game code instantiates an instance of this class during the JoppaWorld generation process
    [JoppaWorldBuilderExtension]
    public class YourJoppaWorldBuilderExtension : IJoppaWorldBuilderExtension
    {
        public override void OnBeforeBuild(JoppaWorldBuilder builder)
        {
            //The game calls this method before JoppaWorld generation takes place. JoppaWorld generation includes the creation of lairs, historic ruins, villages, and more.
        }

        public override void OnAfterBuild(JoppaWorldBuilder builder)
        {
            //The game calls this method after JoppaWorld generation takes place.
        }
    }
}

WorldBuilderExtension

This interface is called before and after the overall world generation process runs (it is not specific to JoppaWorld).

The format is pretty much identical to JoppaWorldBuilderExtension above, except that the attribute is [WorldBuilderExtension] and the interface is IWorldBuilderExtension.