King's Bounty Map Format
| Format type | Map/level |
|---|---|
| Map type | 2D tile-based |
| Layer count | Unknown |
| Viewport (pixels) | Unknown |
| Games |
This format is used to store the world map for King's Bounty in both it's initial state (LAND.ORG file) and in modified, randomized state (in the *.DAT save files at offset 0xFC5). Consequently, there are minor format differences, described below.
File format
The map always takes exactly 16384 bytes. As there are 4 continents 64 x 64 tiles each, and each tile takes 1 byte, all continents start at a convenient offset - 0x0000, 0x1000, 0x2000 or 0x3000.
| Data type | Description |
|---|---|
| BYTE map[4][64][64] | Map data |
Coordinates
The game is consistent with it's map coordinate system, which goes in the bottom-to-top, left-to-right order. That means top left corner has coordinate X=0, Y=63.
Salting
When a new game is first created, the initial map data is read and then the following values are replaced:
0xFF - continent start -> 0x20 - sea tile 0x8B - put something random here -> 0x8B - 0x93 , but not 0x90 0x8E - archmage's alcove -> 0x00 (for mages) / 0x8E (for rest)
Note, that the 0x8B index is used in both initial and salted data with different meanings - it stands for random object in LAND.ORG, and a treasure chest in the save files.
Tileset
The tileset is kept inside the tileseta.* and tilesetb.* graphic files. Each file contains 36 tiles, making 72 in total. Additionally, tilesalt.* contains replacements graphics for tiles 0x11-0x13 for continents 2-4. Each level byte with it's most significant bit cleared maps directly into that range (0x00-0x47). The high bit signifies if the tile is interactive, and those high-bit versions are always used instead of the regular indexes:
0x80 - magic barrier (blocks followers) 0x85 - castle gate 0x8A - town 0x8B - treasure chest 0x8C - plains dwelling 0x8D - forest dwelling 0x8E - cave dwelling (multiple purposes) 0x8F - dungeon dwelling 0x90 - sign 0x91 - follower 0x92 - artifact 1 0x93 - artifact 2
Constant Locations
Those locations are hard-coded into the game and can not be changed from within the map:
X=11 Y=7 - King's Castle X=11 Y=6 - Retreat location X=11 Y=5 - Starting Location X=11 Y=3 - Continent 1 starting location X=1 Y=37 - Continent 2 starting location X=14 Y=62 - Continent 3 starting location X=9 Y=1 - Continent 4 starting location X=11 Y=19 - Archmage's Alcove
Credits
Originally devised by the openkb project, with best regards to the modding community. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)