FAQ:Content

Spring Content Developement FAQ + Basics

Stuff Everyone Should Know

Spring is an Engine designed to allow people to play real-time strategy games... It is not a game in itself. Unfortunately this has lead to a lot of very complex and bitter arguments on semantics, the results of which can be summarized as follows:

"Content" can be developed for Spring and distributed in "Content Packages" (namely SDZ and SD7 Files and SDD folders) or dumped into your Spring directory structure directly (a bad idea in many cases, as except for certain notable exceptions it will cause you to be unable to synchronize with other players). Content can take the form of Units, Textures, Models (3DO or S30), Game Types and Maps... (Lua and COB Scripts also may count as content in certain contexts...)

This leads to a bunch of quazi-defined meta-terminology:

"Game Type" Terminology

Mods, Total Conversions, Ports, Games and Mutators are all essentially synonyms for "A Content Package Containing At Least One Game Type". Colloquially speaking: Mods are modifications of existing games, in almost all cases these are based on content or at least units from Total Annihilation. Total Conversions are new games created for the Spring engine but based on existing commercially held IP (like Warhammer 40K, Dune or Star Wars). Ports are conversions of games for another engine that are modified to work with the Spring Engine with little other alteration (Early Versions of Star Wars Spring or Final Frontier). Games are games containing primarily new content. Mutators are new game types meant to be used in conjunction with the content developed for an existing Game Type (for example adding a new set of units to an existing Game Type or special rules like Chickens variants).

Modders and Game Designers are interchangeable terms for the people who create or modify the content necessary for a "A Content Package Containing At Least One Game Type". Typically someone who is working with existing content developed by someone else falls into the "Modders" category and and those who are creating all new content are called "Game Designers", but most content developers tend to both create new content and modify existing content so the terms are really more a matter of preference.

Units are entity templates defined in text files that reference Model, Other Text Files, Script and Texture files (sometimes this reference is inferred). Like most RTS Games, a Game Type in Spring will typically define one or more kind of starting unit which will be able to be given orders to do things like move, attack and build new other units. The term.

Map Terminology

A map in Spring is composed of a number of files and is typically released as a "Content Package" containing the Tiles File (SMT), Everything Else Files (SMF) and any Models