Modding changelog

This page lists changes in modding format between various versions of vcmi

0.94 -> 0.next

Note: this section describes changes made since last released version of VCMI. This changes will be visible to modders only after next release.

• String identifiers for buildings are now actually used in:
  • Town hall buildings list
  • Town buliding property "upgrades"
  • Town structure property "builds"
  • Town structure property "id" is no longer used and has been removed
• Support for extended building requirements.
  • Detailed description: http://wiki.vcmi.eu/index.php?title=Town_Format#Building_node
  • Example mod that creates alternative dwelling for Tower: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22372764/vcmi/mods/townTests.zip
• VCMI now supports Unicode. All json files that contain non-English data must be converted to UTF-8 encoding.
• New field for hero class and town formats: "defaultTavern". This property will determine chance of hero class to appear in tavern if such value was not found in "tavern" fields.
• New field for creature format: "idle" that indicates speed of idle animation.

Notes:

• Json validation has been improved. VCMI will now detect any missing files on startup.

0.93 -> 0.94

General

• All mods must already be compatible with vcmi 0.93. This can be checked bu running mod with 0.93 installed: any error messages printed in console log on start must be fixed.

• Zip support. Mods may use zip archives for their data. This is optional but recommended for performance reasons.
  • To use zip archives: create archive with files from Content directory in it and place it in mod directory with name Content.zip
  • Note: if both archive and directory are present files in directory will override files in archive.
  • See update cove mod for example: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22372764/vcmi/mods/cove.zip

• For music mods should use Ogg/Vorbis format instead of Mp3. This is necessary but not enforced due to lack of mp3 support on some platforms as well as legal issues from mp3 patents.

Mod file format

• New required fields: "version", "author", "contact" and "modType".

Towns

• property "town/siege/shooterHeight" has been removed

0.92 -> 0.93

General

• Identifiers resolution system. Same string identifiers from different mods will no longer conflict. Side effect: mod can access identifiers only from mods that are explicitly marked as required. This causes issue with current way to add new towns via 3 mods. There are two ways to fix this:
  • Merge 3 mods into one.
  • Move all creatures and hero classes into "neutral" faction and add proper overrides into town mod. See Cove for example.

Town

• Icons use path to icon instead of image indexes:

"village" : {
	"normal" : {
		"small" : "modname/icons/hall-small.bmp",
		"large" : "modname/icons/hall-big.bmp"
	},
	"built" : {
		"small" : "modname/icons/hall-builded-small.bmp",
		"large" : "modname/icons/hall-builded-big.bmp"
	}
},
"fort" : {
	"normal" : {
		"small" : "modname/icons/fort-small.bmp",
		"large" : "modname/icons/fort-big.bmp"
	},
	"built" : {
		"small" : "modname/icons/fort-builded-small.bmp",
		"large" : "modname/icons/fort-builded-big.bmp"
	}
}

• Buildings and structures use string identifiers instead of list

"buildings" :
{
    "building1" : { <Building format> },
        ...
}

Creature

• Field graphics/iconIndex removed in favor of paths to two icons:

"graphics" :
{
    "iconSmall" : "modname/icons/iconSmall.png",
    "iconLarge" : "modname/icons/iconLarge.png"
}

• Abilities use string identifiers instead of list

"ability" :
{
    "ability" : { <Bonus format> },
        ...
}

• Field graphics/attackClimaxFrame was moved into missile description
• Field graphics/missile/spinning is now removed.

Artifact

• Field iconIndex removed in favor of path to icon

Hero

• Field iconIndex removed in favor of path to icons
• Spellbook description now uses string ID's for spells instead of numeric indexes:

"spellbook" :
[
    "magicArrow",
        ...
]

Modding related articles

Main articles
Modding changelog	Modding guidelines	How to create a town mod	Mod Handler

Formats
	Mod file Format
Town Format	Creature Format	Hero Classes Format
Artifact Format	Animation Format	Hero Format
Bonus Format	Object Format	Spell Format

Work-in-progress formats
Building bonuses		Map format
	Bonus Type Format	Random map template

Outdated pages
	Mod system proposal