Modding changelog

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

0.93 -> 0.next

Note: this section describes changes between already released 0.93 and not yet released next version of vcmi.

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

Mod file format

• New required fields: "author" and "modType".
• New optional field: "weblink".

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",
        ...
]