Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of Manual/Concepts

Timestamp:

04/15/18 19:21:52 (6 years ago)

Author:

admin

Comment:

--

Manual/Concepts

@@ +1 @@
+= !WorldPainter Concepts =
+
+This page describes the basic concepts used in !WorldPainter and the corresponding terms. You should be familiar with these to be able to understand the rest of the manual and use !WorldPainter to its full potential.
+
+== World ==
+
+A World is the thing that you create and edit with !WorldPainter. Look at it as a simplified blueprint or recipe for a Minecraft map. Worlds are saved to `.world` files and consist of one or more [#Dimension Dimensions] along with a bunch of information which applies to the entire World, such as its name.
+
+Note that a World does ''not'' contain the actual blocks of a Minecraft map. It is a much more basic, simple and abstract representation, which is therefore much smaller, and much more flexible.
+
+Worlds can be created from scratch in !WorldPainter (this is what !WorldPainter is mainly intended for), or they can be imported from existing Minecraft maps or from height map images.
+
+== Dimension ==
+
+A Dimension corresponds more or less to a dimension (the surface, End or Nether) in Minecraft. Just like a Minecraft map has different dimensions, so does a !WorldPainter World. Dimensions are made up of 128 by 128 block [#Tile Tiles], which store the actual data.
+
+You can only work on one Dimension at a time. The currently selected Dimension is displayed in the editor allowing you to work on it using the tools from the toolbox.
+
+A Dimension stores information about the type and height of the surface at each coordinate, as well as the water level and the presence of any [#Layer Layers]. When a World is Exported !WorldPainter uses this information to generate the actual blocks.
+
+!WorldPainter has the concept of Ceiling Dimensions. These correspond to a surface Dimension and are exported upside down over their corresponding surface in order to create dark or underground Minecraft maps.
+
+== Tile ==
+
+A Tile is the basic unit of data storage in !WorldPainter. It is 128 by 128 blocks to a side. !WorldPainter allows changing the shape of a Dimension by adding or removing Tiles.
+
+== Paint ==
+
+A Paint is an aspect of the Dimension which you can change using one the painting tools (the top row of tools in the toolbox). There are two basic types of Paint: [#Terrain Terrain Types] and [#Layer Layers]. Aspects such as [#Biome biomes] and annotations are also Layers.
+
+== Terrain ==
+
+The Terrain type governs what kind of blocks !WorldPainter will generate for the surface layer of the map. There are simple Terrain types which correspond directly to one Minecraft block, and complex Terrain types which generate a mix of Minecraft blocks and/or vegetation on top of the terrain. Terrain types also influence the automatic [#Biome biome] !WorldPainter will generate.
+
+Examples of simple Terrain types are: Bare Grass (generates grass blocks), Dirt (generates dirt blocks) and Stone (generates smooth stone blocks). More complex Terrain types are for instance: Stone Mix, which generates a mix of smooth stone, granite, diorite and andesite; Grass, which generates grass blocks with clumps  of tall grass, ferns and glowers on top; Desert, which generates sand blocks with cactuses and dead shrubs on top and changes the biome to "desert"; and Netherlike, which generates a mix of netherrack, soul sand, lava and glowstone with patches of fire on top and changes the biome to "hell".
+
+The terrain ''level'' is modified using the terrain shaping tools (the third row of tools in the toolbox).
+
+== Layer ==
+
+A Layer is a kind of paint which is applied to the map after the basic landscape and which can affect it in all kinds of ways, for instance by adding different kinds of trees or other kinds of vegetation, snow and ice, caves, custom objects from .schematic or .bo2 files, etc., etc., as well as influencing the automatic [#Biome biome] !WorldPainter will generate.
+
+!WorldPainter has a built in set of basic Layers which are always available, as well as a set of Custom Layer types which allow you to add more then one of each. Aspects such as [#Biome biomes] and annotations are also implemented as Layers.
+
+== Biome ==
+
+"Biome" is a Minecraft term with a Minecraft-specific meaning. It is a property of each horizontal x,z coordinate of the map, in other words each column of blocks, which basically determines what climate it is. It affects a whole range of aspects: the colour of vegetation, whether it rains, snows or is dry, whether water freezes or ice thaws, what mobs will spawn, the colour of the sky, etc..
+
+By default !WorldPainter will pick appropriate biomes for you based on the [#Terrain Terrain type] and [#Layer Layers] used and you don't have to worry about it, but you ''can'' paint them manually if you so desire. In !WorldPainter Biomes is one of the built-in [#Layer Layers].