Hacking / server internals and configuration
--------------------------------------------
-The ./confserver/world file defines the map object types and the actions
-available to them. Each object type and action is defined by a multi-line block
-wherein each line sets one attribute of the object type or action.
+The ./confserver/world file defines the map object types, actions available to
+them and the map itself. Each definition consists of a multi-line block wherein
+each line sets one attribute of the object type, action or the map.
+
+Here's a typical map definition block:
+
+MAP_TYPE 0
+HEIGHT 64
+WIDTH 64
+DIST_ORTHOGONAL 5
+DIST_DIAGONAL 7
+
+A line of "MAP_TYPE" followed by a non-empty token starts the map definition
+block. In the future, the second token may differentiate different map types,
+but as of right now, only one is available and the value is not interpreted.
+The numbers after "HEIGHT" and "WIDTH" give the map's vertical and horizontal
+extensions in cells. They must be >= 1 and <= 256. The numbers after
+"DIST_ORTHOGONAL" and "DIST_DIAGONAL" define the diagonal movement penalty as
+the second value divided by the first. The above values define a penalty ratio
+of 7/5 or 1.4, i.e. it takes 40% longer in turns to move diagonally than
+orthogonally. Set both to the same value to eliminate the diagonal movement
+penalty. A negative penalty to realize weird geometry is possible by setting
+"DIST_DIAGONAL" to a lower value than "DIST_ORTHOGONAL". Both values, however,
+must be >= 1 and <= 255.
Here's a typical action definition block:
EFFORT 5
A line of "ACTION" followed by a number starts an action definition block and
-sets the action's id for internal use to 1. The number after "EFFORT" determines
-how many turns this action takes for the actor performing it. The string after
-"NAME" names the action. Furthermore, if it is one of "move", "pick_up", "drop"
-or "use", it matches internal functions described by these strings to this
-action. All other names (including "wait") currently are matched to a do-nothing
-wait function.
+sets the action's id (must be > 0) for internal use to 1. The number after
+"EFFORT" determines how many turns this action takes for the actor performing
+it. The string after "NAME" names the action. Furthermore, if it is one of
+"move", "pick_up", "drop" or "use", it matches internal functions described by
+these strings to this action. All other names (including "wait") currently are
+matched to a do-nothing wait function.
Here's a typical map object type definition block:
LIFEPOINTS 3
CORPSE_ID 5
CONSUMABLE 0
+START_NUMBER 9
A line of "OBJECT" followed by a number starts it, and the number sets the
object type's internal id. The number after "CONSUMABLE" defines the object
hitpoints drop to zero if they start out as inanimate (what is not implemented
yet: or if they are inanimate, but are otherwise crushed). Note that the
"CORPSE_ID" must match the id of an object type defined in the file (before or
-after, it may even be the same).
-
-All this definition block members must be present within a block, but only
-"ACTION" / "OBJECT" must be positioned at the respective blocks' first line,
-the others may appear in whatever order and even multiple times. If a block is
-finished, however, it cannot be re-defined by starting a new block wit the same
-object type or action id. Tokens in this config file are separated by
-whitespace. Single quotes can be put around string values that are to include
-whitespace by themslves.
+after, it may even be the same). "START_NUMBER" sets the number of objects that
+are to appear of the given type on the map on game start.
+
+All these definition block members must be present within their blocks, but only
+"ACTION" / "OBJECT" / "MAP_TYPE" must be positioned at their respective blocks'
+first line; the others may appear in whatever order and even multiple times. If
+an object or action definition block is finished, however, it cannot be
+re-defined by starting a new block with the same object type or action id.
+
+Tokens in this config file are separated by whitespace. Single quotes can be
+put around string values that are to include whitespace by themslves. Note that
+all numbers must be decimal representations of unsigned 8 bit integers, i.e.
+>= 0 and < 256 and sans preceding "+".
All source files are thoroughly documented to explain more details of
plomrogue's internals. The ./roguelike-server executable can be run with a -v
projects / plomrogue / blobdiff