SquashMonster wrote
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I think I can make the whole worldmap generation thing a whole lot simpler, and way easier to add new locations to. Maybe I could even port it to a script file instead of people having to touch code to add dungeons.
I vote we put Squash on the payroll.
That stuff about the OWTERRAIN macro really clarifies things for me (a bit), thanks!
SquashMonster wrote
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I have no clue what the two names are supposed to mean, they're both overworld terrain.
I think gwterrain is supposed to mean ground-world terrain, or everything on the world map that is the ground, in the same way that glterrain refers to ground-level terrain.
SquashMonster wrote
![](/images/skins//icons/jump.png)
(which you unwittingly made with that OWTERRAIN macro)
Certainly it was unwitting, as I say, it was reverse engineered
It strikes me that the world map generation may be the most antiquated part of the code, since it has that hand-made feel to it.
SquashMonster wrote
![](/images/skins//icons/jump.png)
New Attnam is not actually on a continent.
Maybe we need an island spawner, or that a certain proportion of the continents generated are islands (jeez, where's that Sid Meier at?). I don't know. If the island is placed last then it will be fine, there will be a way even if it is hacked. It would be good to have a general way of doing it though. Hmm. I think it would pay to put the island close by underwater tunnel. What about an inland island on a lake on the continent that PetrusLikes??
SquashMonster wrote
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The game doesn't even look for a tiny island for it. Wherever the exit to the underwater tunnel goes, the game looks a certain radius outwards for some ocean and builds a tiny island on the spot, midway through the part where the other locations are looking for a place in the already-existing world.
This explains everything that I ever wanted to know about how New Attnan comes to be upon Valpuri, thank you
SquashMonster wrote
![](/images/skins//icons/jump.png)
Anything that reduces special locations to objects instead of classes has another benefit. It's the prerequisite to being able to port that off to a script file. But learning how to make new script files is a big challenge in and of itself, I'd say this is something that should be done in two steps.
Learning to make (and make) dungeons is labour intensive no matter what. I have already been asked to document dungeon building in IVAN and I'm happy to do it, regardless of whether there is an overhaul of world generation or not. The way I see it is that basically there is no end to the power of cut-and-paste, and the IVAN community is endlessly creative, so if it is easier to make dungeons without coding then I imagine people will be attracted enough to that feature + good documentation to script their own dungeons.
SquashMonster wrote
![](/images/skins//icons/jump.png)
So... go for it, or use your tutorial as the official way to add new things to the world?
I say go for it. It is such low-hanging fruit
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.attnam.com/smileys/pineapple.gif)
. The existing manner in which continents are generated is too clunky and converting the classes to objects fulfills a step toward making novel world locations scriptable.