WC3MapTranslator
Translate war3map ⇄ json formats for WarCraft III .w3x maps

Quality

Overview · Install · Usage · File Support · Specification · Contributing · Special Thanks

Overview

WC3MapTranslator is a TypeScript module to convert between JSON and WarCraft III (.w3x) war3map formats. This makes the map data readable and easily modifiable, a perfect format for storing WC3 maps in Git repositories and inspecting diffs!

Install

npm install wc3maptranslator

Requires Node ≥ 14

Usage

import {
  CamerasTranslator,
  DoodadsTranslator,
  ImportsTranslator,
  InfoTranslator,
  ObjectsTranslator,
  RegionsTranslator,
  SoundsTranslator,
  StringsTranslator,
  TerrainTranslator,
  UnitsTranslator
} from 'wc3maptranslator';

// E.g. let's create a camera for the map
const cameras = [
  {
    "target": {
      "x": -319.01,
      "y": -90.18
    },
    "offsetZ": 0,
    "rotation": 90,
    "aoa": 304,
    "distance": 2657.34,
    "roll": 5,
    "fov": 70,
    "farClipping": 5000,
    "name": "MyCamera1"
  }
]

// Now translate the JSON into the WarCraft III format
// All translators have: `.jsonToWar` and `.warToJson` functions
const translatedResult = CamerasTranslator.jsonToWar(cameras);

// `translatedResult` contains a `buffer` which can be saved to disk
// This war3map.w3c file can now be placed inside a .w3x via an MPQ
// editor, and you should now see a camera in the Camera Palette!
fs.writeFileSync('war3map.w3c', translatedResult.buffer);

File Support

World files

Type	Json → War	War → Json	File
Terrain			war3map.w3e
Units			war3mapUnits.doo
Doodads			war3map.doo
Regions			war3map.w3r
Cameras			war3map.w3c
Sounds (definitions)			war3map.w3s

Object data files

Type	Json → War	War → Json	File
Units - Objects			war3map.w3u
Items - Objects			war3map.w3t
Abilities - Objects			war3map.w3a
Destructables - Objects			war3map.w3b
Doodads - Objects			war3map.w3d
Upgrades - Objects			war3map.w3q
Buffs - Objects			war3map.w3h

Trigger files

Type	Json → War	War → Json	File
LUA			war3map.lua
JASS			war3map.j
Strings			war3map.wts

Map files

Type	Json → War	War → Json	File
Info File			war3map.w3i
Imported Files			war3map.imp
Pathing			war3map.wpm
Shadow map			war3map.shd

Not relevant

Custom Text Trigger File (war3map.wct)
Trigger Names File (war3map.wtg)
Menu Minimap (war3map.mmp)
Minimap Image (war3mapMap.blp)
Minimap Image (war3mapMap.b00
Minimap Image (war3mapMap.tga)
Map Preview Image (war3mapPreview.tga)

Specification

WC3MapTranslator format

We have a detailed explaining how to format a map in JSON. It explains everything from the high-level map object, all the way down to creating individual units, tiles, or custom objects.

🔗 WC3MapTranslator format

war3map format

The underlying WarCraft map files (e.g. war3map.doo) have been documented in a separate repository. If you are curious about how a .w3x file is composed, this is the place to learn!

🔗 WC3MapSpecification

Contributing

We encourage contributions! Generally, the process of making a change is:

1. Fork this repo
2. Develop your changes on a new branch
3. Submit a pull request to dev

Your code should:

• run (your code needs to work, of course)
• include tests (write unit tests to demonstrate your code works under different conditions)
• be linted (run npm run lint and follow the project's coding standards)
• pass CI (we enforce: ESLint, unit tests pass, code coverage)

A code review is required on your PR to be accepted into dev. A project member will get back to you within one week. If you haven't heard from someone regarding your PR, feel free to ping @chiefofgxbxl.

Special Thanks

We owe a lot of thanks to Chocobo on TheHelper for the detailed documentation of the files found in a .w3x archive. Two tutorials are here (1) and here (2).