Region Settings
The region_settings define the attributes for map generation that apply to an entire region. A region spans the entire game world but is handled on a per-overmap basis (see doc/JSON/OVERMAP.md).
The region_settings type has the following fields. NOTE: most of the below settings are stored in separate types and are referred to by id; see their info later in this document.
Fields
| Identifier | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
type | Type identifier. Must be “region_settings”. | |
id | Unique identifier for this region. | |
tags | array of string | An arbitrary list of tags for overlays to apply to. |
rivers | region_settings_river | River generation parameters; Use null to disable river generation. |
lakes | region_settings_lake | Defines parameters for generating lakes in the region. null to disable. |
ocean | region_settings_ocean | Defines parameters for generating oceans in the region. null to disable. |
ravines | region_settings_ravine | Defines parameters for generating ravines in the region. null to disable. |
forests | region_settings_forest | Defines parameters for generating forests and swamps in the region. null to disable forest generation. |
forest_composition | region_settings_forest_mapgen | Defines flora (and “stuff”) that cover the forest terrain types. |
forest_trails | region_settings_forest_trail | Defines the overmap and local structure of forest trails. null to disable. |
highways | region_settings_highway | Defines parameters for generating highways in the region. null to disable. |
cities | region_settings_city | Defines the structural compositions of cities. null to disable city generation. |
map_extras | region_settings_map_extras | Defines the map extra groups referenced by overmap terrains. |
terrain_furniture | region_settings_terrain_furniture | Defines the resolution of regional terrain/furniture to actual types. |
weather | weather_generator | Defines the base weather attributes for the region. |
default_oter | array of oter_id | Default overmap terrain for this region, listed from z=10 to z=-10 |
default_groundcover | weighted list of oter_id | List of terrain types and weights applied as default ground cover. |
feature_flag_settings | two lists of strings | Defines operations on overmap features based on their flags. |
connections | overmap_connection_id fields | Defines what overmap connections this region uses. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings",
"id": "default",
"rivers": "default",
"lakes": "default",
"ocean": "default",
"ravines": "default",
"forests": "default",
"forest_composition": "default",
"forest_trails": "default",
"highways": "default",
"cities": "default",
"map_extras": "default",
"terrain_furniture": "default",
"weather": "default",
"default_oter": [
"open_air",
...
],
"default_groundcover": [ [ "t_region_groundcover", 1 ] ],
"feature_flag_settings": { "blacklist": [ ], "whitelist": [ ] }
},
Region Overlay
Loading region_settings poses an issue: what if we only want to add a map extra to a set of regions instead of redefining the entire region_settings object? We can copy-from, but if more than one mod is loaded, we would have multiple separate region_settings objects but only one region available to use for the world.
We get around these issues by using a region_overlay.
A region_overlay is capable of extending the following types:
region_settings_cityregion_settings_highwayregion_settings_forest_trailregion_settings_terrain_furnitureregion_settings_map_extras*region_settings_forest_composition*
NOTE: the types with asterisks have collections of other types that must be extended separately using “overlay_id”. These types are:
map_extra_collectionforest_biomeforest_biome_component
Study the below examples carefully; they are subtly different.
The following example will append city building “dinozoo” to all region_settings_city parks in all regions.
Example
{
"type": "region_overlay",
"id": "default_dinomod",
"apply_to_tags": [ "all" ],
"cities": "default_dinomod"
},
{
"type": "region_settings_city",
"id": "default_dinomod",
"parks": [ [ "dinozoo", 25 ] ]
}
The following example will append the map extra collections in “default_crazy” to map extra collections in all regions.
Example
{
"type": "region_overlay",
"id": "default_crazy",
"apply_to_tags": [ "all" ],
"map_extras": "default_crazy"
},
{
"type": "region_settings_map_extras",
"id": "default_crazy",
"extras": [ "forest_crazy" ]
},
{
"type": "map_extra_collection",
"id": "forest_crazy",
"extras": [ [ "mx_shia", 1 ] ]
}
By adding “overlay_id”: “forest” to the map_extra_collection, the above example would extend map_extra_collection “id”: “forest”, spawning “mx_shia” along with the other map extras in “forest”.
Example
{
"type": "map_extra_collection",
"id": "forest_crazy",
"overlay_id": "forest",
"extras": [ [ "mx_shia", 1 ] ]
}
Tags
The “apply_to_tags” field will apply the overlay to any region_settings with matching tags. Currently, using the tag “all” will apply the overlay to all regions:
{
"apply_to_tags": [ "all" ],
}
If you wanted to apply the overlay only for regions with a “default” tag:
{
"apply_to_tags": [ "default" ],
}
Tags are arbitary strings and are only used to avoid referencing a likely-growing number of region_settings ids.
Region Terrain / Furniture
region_terrain_furniture defines the resolution of regional terrain/furniture (with flag REGION_PSEUDO) to their actual terrain and furniture types for the region, with a weighted list for terrain/furniture entry that defines the relative weight of a given entry when mapgen resolves the regional entry to an actual entry.
A list of all regional terrain/furniture can be found in: data/json/furniture_and_terrain/furniture_regional_pseudo.json data/json/furniture_and_terrain/terrain_regional_pseudo.json
Mod developers should define a mapping for every listed regional terrain/furniture; they will be placed regardless of whether they’re defined or not!
region_terrain_furniture contains the terrain/furniture id and the weighted lists they resolve to: NOTE: only one of ter_id or furn_id and their respective lists can be used; terrain cannot map to furniture and vice-versa.
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
ter_id | Regional terrain id. |
replace_with_terrain | Weighted list of actual terrain replacing “ter_id”. |
furn_id | Regional furniture id. |
replace_with_furniture | Weighted list of actual furniture replacing “furn_id”. |
Example
{
"type": "region_terrain_furniture",
"id": "default_t_groundcover",
"ter_id": "t_region_groundcover",
"replace_with_terrain": [ [ "t_grass", 12000 ], [ "t_grass_dead", 2000 ], [ "t_dirt", 1000 ] ]
}
region_settings_terrain_furniture is simply a list of all region_terrain_furniture mappings for the region:
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
ter_furn | List of regional terrain/furniture and their corresponding weighted lists. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_terrain_furniture",
"id": "default",
"ter_furn": [
"default_t_groundcover",
"default_t_groundcover_urban",
"default_t_groundcover_forest",
...
]
}
Region Lake Settings
region_settings_lake defines the attributes used in generating lakes on the overmap. The actual placement of these features is determined globally across all overmaps so that the edges of the features align, and these parameters are mostly about how those global features are interpreted.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
noise_threshold_lake | [0, 1], x > value spawns a lake_surface or lake_shore. |
lake_size_min | Minimum size of the lake in overmap terrains for it to actually spawn. |
lake_depth | Depth of lakes, expressed in Z-levels (e.g. -1 to -10). |
shore_extendable_overmap_terrain | List of overmap terrains that can be extended to the shore if adjacent. |
shore_extendable_overmap_terrain_aliases | Overmap terrains to treat as different overmap terrain for extending shore. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_lake",
"id": "default",
"noise_threshold_lake": 0.25,
"lake_size_min": 20,
"lake_depth": -5,
"shore_extendable_overmap_terrain": [ "forest", "forest_thick", "forest_water", "field" ],
"shore_extendable_overmap_terrain_aliases": [
{ "om_terrain": "island_forest", "om_terrain_match_type": "TYPE", "alias": "forest" },
{ "om_terrain": "island_forest_thick", "om_terrain_match_type": "TYPE", "alias": "forest_thick" },
{ "om_terrain": "island_forest_water", "om_terrain_match_type": "TYPE", "alias": "forest_water" },
{ "om_terrain": "island_field", "om_terrain_match_type": "TYPE", "alias": "field" }
]
}
Region Forest Settings
region_settings_forest defines the attributes used in broadly generating forest and swamps on the overmap. The actual placement of these features is determined globally across all overmaps so that the edges of the features align, and these parameters are mostly about how those global features are interpreted.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
noise_threshold_forest | [0, 1], x > value spawns forest. |
noise_threshold_forest_thick | [0, 1], x > value spawns forest_thick. |
noise_threshold_swamp_adjacent_water | [0, 1], x > value spawns forest_water if forest near a waterbody. |
noise_threshold_swamp_isolated | [0, 1], x > value spawns forest_water if forest isolated from water. |
river_floodplain_buffer_distance_min | Minimum buffer distance in overmap terrains for river floodplains. |
river_floodplain_buffer_distance_max | Maximum buffer distance in overmap terrains for river floodplains. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_forest",
"id": "default",
"noise_threshold_forest": 0.2,
"noise_threshold_forest_thick": 0.25,
"noise_threshold_swamp_adjacent_water": 0.3,
"noise_threshold_swamp_isolated": 0.6,
"river_floodplain_buffer_distance_min": 3,
"river_floodplain_buffer_distance_max": 15
}
Region Forest Map Generation Settings
region_settings_forest_mapgen defines the attributes used in generating forest terrains, including their items, groundcover, terrain and furniture.
Biomes
At the top level, forest_mapgen_settings is a collection of named configurations we will call forest_biome_mapgen (not to be confused with regions; these are strictly for forests).
It is possible to define settings for overmap terrains that are not rendered by the forest mapgen, but will be used when blending forest terrains with other terrain types.
{
"type": "region_settings_forest_mapgen",
"id": "default",
"biomes": [ "biome_forest_default", "biome_forest_thick_default", "biome_forest_water_default" ]
},
forest_biome_mapgen fields include:
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
terrains | The overmap terrain IDs which have this biome. |
sparseness_adjacency_factor | Value relative to neighbors controls how dense the overmap terrain will be. |
item_group | Item group used to place items randomly within the overmap terrain. |
item_group_chance | % chance, between 1 and 100, that an item will be placed. |
item_spawn_iterations | Number of times that the item spawning will be called. |
groundcover | Weighted list of terrains used for base groundcover. |
components | Collection of components that make up the terrains and furniture placed. |
terrain_furniture | Collection of furniture conditionally placed based on terrain. |
Example
{
"type": "forest_biome_mapgen",
"id": "biome_forest_water_default",
"terrains": [ "forest_water", "hunter_shack", "hunter_shack_1", "shipwreck_river_1", "shipwreck_river_2" ],
"sparseness_adjacency_factor": 2,
"item_group": "forest",
"item_group_chance": 60,
"item_spawn_iterations": 1,
"groundcover": [ [ "t_region_groundcover_swamp", 1 ] ],
"components": [ "trees_water", "flowers_and_shrubs_water", "clutter_water", "water_water" ],
"terrain_furniture": {
"t_water_murky": {
"chance": 2,
"furniture": [ [ "f_region_water_plant", 1 ] ]
}
}
}
Components
The “components” field of forest biomes (forest_biome_component) are a collection of named objects with a sequence, chance, and set of types that, during mapgen, are rolled in sequence to pick a feature to be placed at a given location. The names for the components are only relevant for the purposes of overriding them in region overlays.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
sequence | Sequence in which components are processed. |
chance | One in X chance that something from this component will be placed. |
clear_types | Clear all previously defined types for this component. |
types | Weighted list of terrains and furniture that make up this component. |
Example
{
"type": "forest_biome_component",
"id": "clutter_default",
"sequence": 2,
"chance": 80,
"types": [
[ "t_trunk", 128 ],
[ "t_dirtmound", 128 ],
[ "f_boulder_small", 128 ],
[ "f_rubble_rock", 32 ],
[ "f_boulder_medium", 8 ],
[ "f_boulder_large", 1 ],
[ "t_pit", 1 ],
[ "t_pit_shallow", 1 ]
]
}
Forest Biome Terrain-Conditional Furniture
Distinct from region_settings_terrain_furniture, the forest biome “terrain_furniture” field picks furniture to place only on forest terrain. In the above biome example, “f_region_water_plant” is placed on “t_water_murky”. NOTE: “f_region_water_plant” could be placed in the components section, but that would not guarantee its placement on “t_water_murky” only.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
chance | One in X chance that furniture from this component will be placed. |
furniture | Weighted list of furniture that will be placed on this terrain. |
Region Forest Trail Settings
region_settings_forest_trail defines the attributes used in generating trails in the forests, including their likelihood of spawning, their connectivity, their chance for spawning trailheads, and some general tuning of the actual trail width/position in mapgen.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
chance | One in X chance a contiguous forest will have a trail system. |
border_point_chance | One in X chance that the N/S/E/W-most point of the forest will be part of the trail system. |
minimum_forest_size | Minimum contiguous forest size before a trail system can be spawned. |
random_point_min | Minimum # of random points from contiguous forest used to form trail system. |
random_point_max | Maximum # of random points from contiguous forest used to form trail system. |
random_point_size_scalar | Forest size is divided by this and added to the minimum number of random points. |
trailhead_chance | One in X chance a trailhead will spawn at end of trail near field. |
trailhead_road_distance | Maximum distance trailhead can be from a road and still be created. |
trailheads | Weighted list of overmap specials / city buildings that will be placed as trailheads. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_forest_trail",
"id": "default",
"chance": 2,
"border_point_chance": 2,
"minimum_forest_size": 100,
"random_point_min": 4,
"random_point_max": 50,
"random_point_size_scalar": 100,
"trailhead_chance": 1,
"trailhead_road_distance": 6,
"trailheads": { "trailhead_basic": 1, "trailhead_outhouse": 1, "trailhead_shack": 1 }
}
Overmap Connection Settings
The overmap_connection_settings section defines the overmap_connection_ids used in hardcoded placement.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
intra_city_road_connection | overmap_connection id used within cities. Should include locations for road and road_nesw_manhole. |
inter_city_road_connection | overmap_connection id used between cities. Should include locations for the intra city terrains. |
trail_connection | overmap_connection id used for forest trails. |
sewer_connection | overmap_connection id used for sewer connections. |
subway_connection | overmap_connection id used for for both z-2 and z-4 subway connections. |
rail_connection | overmap_connection id used for rail connections. ( Unused in vanilla as of 0.H ) |
Example
{
"overmap_connection_settings": {
"intra_city_road_connection": "cobbled_road",
"inter_city_road_connection": "rural_road"
}
}
Overmap Highway Settings
The overmap_highway_settings section defines the attributes used in generating highways on the overmap including the specials containing the maps used.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
grid_column_seperation | The distance between north-south highways in overmaps, with the whole overmap gap being grid_column_seperation - 1. |
grid_row_seperation | The distance between east-west highways in overmaps, with the whole overmap gap being grid_row_seperation - 1. |
width_of_segments | The width of the segments defined below in om_terrains. Used to tell the C++ what width the segments provided are, not to change the width placed. |
straightness_chance | For one overmap, the chance for a highway’s end points to (mostly) line up. |
intersection_max_radius | The maximum number of overmaps that an intersection can deviate from its gridded position. Cannot be greater than or equal to row / 2 or column / 2, may cause bugs for > row / 4, column / 4. |
reserved_terrain_id | The om_terrain used to reserve land and air for highways before their actual om_terrain placement. |
reserved_terrain_water_id | The om_terrain used to reserve water for highways before their actual om_terrain placement. |
four_way_intersections | An object with a list of specials and their respective weights to place at four way highway intersections. The [0,0,0] point should be the NW corner of the intersection formed before placement. |
three_way_intersections | An object with a list of specials and their respective weights to place at three way highway intersections, currently only found near ocean. The [0,0,0] point is the NW corner of the intersection formed before placement before rotation. |
bends | An object with a list of specials and their respective weights to place at highway bends. The [0,0,0] point is the NW corner of the intersection formed before placement before rotation. All specials in this set MUST be square for X/Y! |
road_connections | An object with a list of specials and their respective weights to potentially place for each compass direction of placed highway for road connections and rest stops. The [0,0,0] point is the west side of the highway before rotation. |
segment_flat_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 1) special that corresponds to a flat section of highway. |
segment_road_bridge_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 2) special that corresponds to a flat section of highway with a road crossing. |
segment_bridge_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 2) special that corresponds to an elevated section of highway for crossing water. |
segment_bridge_supports_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 1) special that corresponds to bridge supports to place below segment_bridge_special down to the base of the water. |
segment_overpass_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 2) special that corresponds to an elevated section of highway for crossing cities. |
fallback_onramp_special | The (width_of_segments x 1 x 1) special used to end highways if they can’t be drawn, like for near oceans. |
clockwise_slant_special | Special for meandering (in cases where bends can’t) in a clockwise direction relative to direction of highway generation. |
counterclockwise_slant_special | Special for meandering (in cases where bends can’t) in a counterclockwise direction relative to direction of highway generation. |
fallback_supports | Dummy special; during finalization, places (1 x 1) special “highway_support_mutable”. |
Example
"overmap_highway_settings": {
"grid_column_seperation": 1,
"grid_row_seperation": 1,
"width_of_segments": 2,
"reserved_terrain_id": "highway_reserved",
"reserved_terrain_water_id": "highway_reserved_water",
"four_way_intersections": { "Highway crossroad": 1 },
"three_way_intersections": { "Highway tee": 1 },
"bends": { "Highway bend": 1 },
"road_connections": { "Highway service station": 1, "Highway on/off ramps": 3 },
"segment_flat_special": "highway_segment_flat",
"segment_road_bridge_special": "highway_segment_road_bridge",
"segment_bridge_special": "highway_segment_bridge",
"segment_bridge_supports_special": "highway_segment_bridge_supports",
"segment_overpass_special": "highway_segment_overpass",
"symbolic_ramp_up_id": "highway_symbolic_ramp_up",
"symbolic_ramp_down_id": "highway_symbolic_ramp_down",
"symbolic_overpass_road_id": "highway_symbolic_road"
},
Region City Settings
region_settings_city defines the possible overmap terrains and specials that may be used as buildings in a city, their weighted chances of placement, and some attributes that control the relative placements of various classes of buildings.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
shop_radius | Radial frequency of shop placement. Smaller number = more shops. |
park_radius | Radial frequency of park placement. Smaller number = more parks. |
houses | Weighted list of overmap terrains and specials used for houses. |
parks | Weighted list of overmap terrains and specials used for parks. |
shops | Weighted list of overmap terrains and specials used for shops. |
Placing shops, parks, and houses
When picking a building to place in a given location, the game considers the city size, the location’s distance from the city center, and finally the shop_radius and park_radius values for the region. It then tries to place a shop, then a park, and finally a house, where the chance to place the shop or park are based on the formula rng( 0, 99 ) > X_radius * distance from city center / city size.
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_city",
"id": "default",
"shop_radius": 30,
"shop_sigma": 50,
"park_radius": 20,
"park_sigma": 80,
"houses": [
["house_two_story_basement", 1],
["house", 1000],
["house_base", 333],
["emptyresidentiallot", 20]
],
"parks": [
["park", 4],
["pool", 1]
],
"shops": [
["s_gas", 5],
["s_pharm", 3],
["s_grocery", 15]
]
}
Region Map Extras
region_settings_map_extras section defines the named collections of map extras – special mapgen events applied on top of the defined mapgen – that may be referenced by the extras property of an overmap terrain. This includes both the chance of an extra occurring as well as the weighted list of extras.
region_settings_map_extras is a list of map extra collections:
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
extras | List of map_extra_collection ids. |
Example
{
"type": "region_settings_map_extras",
"id": "default",
"extras": [
"forest",
"forest_thick",
"forest_water",
"field",
...
]
}
Map Extra Collections
See above.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
chance | One in X chance that the overmap terrain will spawn a map extra. |
extras | Weighted list of map extras that can spawn. |
Example
{
"type": "map_extra_collection",
"id": "forest",
"chance": 40,
"extras": [
[ "mx_blackberry_patch", 1000 ],
[ "mx_point_dead_vegetation", 500 ],
[ "mx_point_burned_ground", 500 ],
[ "mx_grove", 500 ],
...
]
}
Weather
weather defines the base weather attributes used for the region.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
base_temperature | Base temperature for the region in degrees Celsius. |
base_humidity | Base humidity for the region in relative humidity % |
base_pressure | Base pressure for the region in millibars. |
base_wind | Base wind for the region in mph units. Roughly the yearly average. |
base_wind_distrib_peaks | How high the wind peaks can go. Higher values produce windier days. |
base_wind_season_variation | How the wind varies with season. Lower values produce more variation |
weather_black_list | Ids of weather types not allowed in this region. |
weather_white_list | Ids of the only weather types allowed in this region. |
Example
{
"type": "weather_generator",
"id": "default",
"base_temperature": 6.5,
"base_humidity": 70.0,
"base_pressure": 1015.0,
"base_wind": 3.4,
"base_wind_distrib_peaks": 80,
"base_wind_season_variation": 50
}
Region Feature Flag Settings
feature_flag_settings defines flags assigned to overmap features. This is currently used to provide a mechanism for whitelisting and blacklisting locations on a per-region basis.
Fields
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
blacklist | List of flags. Any location with a matching flag will be excluded from overmap generation. |
whitelist | List of flags. Only locations with a matching flag will be included in overmap generation. |
Example
{
"overmap_feature_flag_settings": {
"blacklist": [ "FUNGAL" ],
"whitelist": []
}
}