Official

Changed in 0.2.0

Limits which waypoints a multiplayer map's start positions are drawn from, and whether a LAN guest may download the map from the host.

When the value is read

Specification — When the value is read

Applies to: scenarios
File: map file
Section: [Basic]
Value: boolean
When omitted: no

The value applies only in a multiplayer or skirmish game. A campaign mission ignores it.

The value is read twice while the scenario loads, and both reads apply the starting-point rule. The first read settles which waypoint each house starts at as soon as the map’s waypoints are read, before the map’s objects. The second read comes when the starting units are placed, which is also when a house left without a waypoint is given open ground. Houses keep the positions they already hold, so the second read changes nothing on a map read from a file.

Starting-point selection

Specification — Starting-point selection

Applies to: scenarios
File: map file
Section: [Basic]
Value: boolean
When omitted: no

[Basic]
Official=yes

Official=yes limits which of the placed waypoints 0 through 7 can be start positions in a multiplayer or skirmish game. Only placed waypoints numbered below a cutoff are eligible. The cutoff is the larger of these two numbers:

the number of playing houses;
the number of waypoints placed in an unbroken run starting at 0.

With Official=no, every placed waypoint from 0 to 7 is eligible.

For example, take a map with waypoints 0, 1, 2, 5 and 6 placed, played by four houses. With Official=yes the cutoff is 4, so only 0, 1 and 2 are eligible and the fourth house starts on open ground. With Official=no, all five waypoints are eligible.

The limit does not apply when any playing seat in the launch file names a start position. Every placed waypoint is then eligible. A generated random map counts as Official=yes, whatever its file sets.

The start position covers how houses choose among the eligible waypoints.

Multiplayer map provenance

Specification — Multiplayer map provenance

Applies to: multiplayer maps
File: map file (.mpr)
Section: [Basic]
Value: boolean
When omitted: no

Official=yes in the [Basic] section of a loose .mpr map in the game directory marks the map as one that shipped with the game. In a LAN game, the host’s copy of the map decides the mark.

A guest cannot download a map marked official from the host. If the guest has no copy of the map with the same file name, size and [Digest] as the host’s, it shows a message that it cannot play the map and leaves the game. A map without the mark is downloaded from the host instead.

Maps listed in a .pkt file always count as official, whatever they set. The random map is always downloaded from the host, whatever its mark.

See also — Name

History

Changed0.2.0In development
Draw start positions from placed waypoints before open ground — scenarios-2