Map sections

A key step to understanding the map/sav file format is to understand its sections. We understand some of them, but not all of them yet.

Generally speaking, there are two types of sections:

1. Info data regarding the map, like building availability, starting goods, etcetera, see here
2. Tile data. A map consists of 78804 tiles (the diagonals of the diamond are 396 tiles long), and are layed out in a specific format, see here.

Overview table

Index	Size	Type	Interpretation
1001	160800	Tile data (short)	Contains many objects, but not units
1002	160800	Tile data (short)	Contains terrain height data
1003	321600	Tile data (int)	Contains information about buildings, non-buildable terrain types (water, rocks, hills)
1004	160800	Tile data (short)	Trees and rocks
1005	80400	Tile data (byte)	Contains height data, including stairs
1009	160800	Tile data (short)	Something with oil and walls, and the stronghold. Odd.
1036	160800	Tile data (short)	Contains terrain roughness data, looks like patches (each patch tiles increment by 64), but the terrain type is mysterious
1073	200	Info data (short)	Building availability in booleans
1085	14	Info data (short)	Unit availability (non-arab units)

How to contribute

Using external tools

1. Unpack a .map file to a folder

python examples\map_file_packing.py --unpack --dest a mymap.map

2. Investigate the sections with a hex editor, or other external tool of choice
3. Repack a .map folder to a .map file (experimental)

python examples\map_file_packing.py --pack --dest mymap.map a

4. Optional: make images of tile data sections

python examples\map_section_imaging.py a a\images

Using Python

from sourcehold import *
mymap = load_map(SHC_MAPS_USER.get_from_map('mymap.map'))
mymap.directory #contains the map sections

# To view an image of tile data sections:
mymap.directory[1001].create_image().show()

# To inspect tile data sections:
mymap.directory[1036] #retrieve a (tile data) section by index
data = mymap.directory[1036].get_data()
from sourcehold.maps.sections.tools import cut, DiamondSystem
cutdata = cut(data, "H", 198) #The type ('H') is a struct type ('short'), and depends on the size of data.

# To inspect a diamond (of size 2) on the map (starting at (1,0)):
d = DiamondSystem(396)
indices = d.retrieve_diamond_indices((1, 0), 2)
values = [d[i][j] for i, j in indices]

# To save edited values
save_map(mymap, SHC_MAPS_USERS.get_from_maps('mymap.map'))

# To compare map sections
m1 = load_map(SHC_MAPS_USER.get_from_maps('basic0.map'))
m2 = load_map(SHC_MAPS_USER.get_from_maps('basic0_change.map'))
for ineq in m1.yield_inequalities(m2):
    print(ineq)