momom3 wrote: ↑April 6th, 2025, 6:55 pm
The emulator doesn't work for me.
When I hit k and select a different core, it starts loading, then fails first
"Error loading custom game configuration files. The game will try loading without add-ons." Details: unit type not found: Bone Knight
then I hit OK
"Error loading custom game configuration files. The game will fallback to the default core files." Details: unit type not found: Bone Knight
then I hit OK again, and it loads 1.18.
(It's not always the Bone Knight that's the unit type not found.)
demario wrote: ↑April 16th, 2025, 3:30 am
Which version's emulator are you loading?
Can you give the list of add-ons you have installed? It it part of the the build information provided by the game by clicking on the Image icon on the bottom-left corner of the main menu and then the
I found, among my addons, that Reign of the Lords and LotI Era prevent a successful switch of the core to any of the emulator cores (the latest version).
The reason seems to be any mod that directly from _main.cfg (or includes to it) adds units that are based on units that are absent in the core in question.
In the attached archive there is a minimal mod that breaks the switching of cores. If the unit is based on Wose Shaman (added in 1.16), the 1.16 emulator core loads and others don't. If you switch to "Saurian Javelineer" (added in 1.18), then no emulators will load
dwarftough wrote: ↑May 7th, 2025, 3:18 pm
I found, among my addons, that Reign of the Lords and LotI Era prevent a successful switch of the core to any of the emulator cores (the latest version).
The reason seems to be any mod that directly from _main.cfg (or includes to it) adds units that are based on units that are absent in the core in question.
The "Reign of the Lords" add-on is known to be incompatible with the emulators. I believe this is a bug in the add-on. The unit definition should be protected by the guard #ifdef MULTIPLAYER. I sent a pm to let the author know, but he had no time to fix it back then.
Since, I put the info in the spoiler section for the releases of the emulators: people need to delete the "Reign of the Lords" add-on to make the emulators work.
I take your word that "LotI Era" is having the same problem. Thanks for letting us know.
/me wrote:
If the idea that your work is available for players for longer than a couple of release of wesnoth is important to you as a content creator, and you don't feel like being dragged by the work of porting your content to a newer version, you can screen off yourself from the future changes in the game engine by developing your content inside an emulator. Most of the emulator contains a map editor that generates map compatible with that version.
I will now go in a bit of details to try to clear who, what and how.
Which content creators can be supported to port through emulators?
Answer:
The emulators can support content creators for publishing add-ons on the server for the latest version of BfW without doing the work to port the code to match the expectations of the latest game engine.
There are three cases where content creators may find the support from emulators useful:
Content creators have published a work-in-progress add-on in a past version but want to spare the inconvenience of porting the existing code.
If you want to keep developing or improving your add-on on the current version, but you want to save yourself from the hassle and the risks of the port, you can use the emulators in order to have your current code to work on the latest game engine (BfW 1.18). As soon as you embed your code in the emulator, you can proceed with the development and publish the update on the add-on server for 1.18.
You might also want to do this because the development environment that you have is not available for BfW 1.18 (tailor-made, can't compile the 1.18 code, running on chromebook...)
Content creators have published an add-on in a past version that is complete and want it to be published without further changes.
If you would be happy to have your add-on to be available for the latest version of the game and don't plan to make further changes, you can turn it into a "stock add-on". Other people will then make the work to embed it with the corresponding emulator and publish with your authorisation on the add-on server for BfW 1.18.
People who plan to develop new content but are worried that the engine make it obsolete soon.
If you plan to develop an new add-on but you are worried that incompatibilities will appear before you even have complete your work, you can decide to develop it based on an existing emulator to protect your work from the incompatibilities that can appear in the future.
What is the process to have an add-on ported through emulators?
Answer:
If you want to embed your add-on into an emulator, you can do the work yourself (that is pretty straightforward, see description of the emulator add-on on the server). We are available and willing to support you if you face any trouble with the emulator for your content.
If you want to delegate the work to someone else, you have to follow the following steps:
Ask for your add-on to be updated to run on an emulator. You can make the request either publicly by writing a message on this thread or privately by sending me a pm.
We will make a first quick run of your add-on on the appropriate emulator. Based on the conclusion of the run, we will provide you with an answer if your content can be embedded and published to be run through the emulators. If we face any issue while running your add-on through the emulator, we will run it on the original version to check if the problem is in your code or with the emulator (lack of compatibility). In the first case, you will have to fix the code first before it can be ported.
After the work to embed your add-on into the emulator, the add-on will be published on the 1.18 add-on server. The add-on will be published with the original authors being solely and fully credited.
If you choose to publish it based on the "stock add-on" model, the add-on will be made ready for translation and an automation will be written to be able to run the add-on for catching regression.
If you choose the "stock add-on" model, update of the add-on could be published in case of translation update or automation improvement.
What are the services offered by the emulators?
Answer:
While providing the content creators with a stable environment, the emulators offers you the following benefits:
content creators receives improvements in the emulator from the publication of other add-ons.
the emulators make the automation "framework" available to content creators for helping testing and replaying their scenarios.
when the emulators for a new version of BfW are ready, the embedded add-ons can be published for that version with no additional work.
What are the benefits of porting an add-on using the "stock add-on" model?
Answer:
The "stock add-on" model provides the following benefits:
additional stability in the user experience.
Neither the code, the graphics or the story will be changed, freezing the user experience to the original design.
if the original English text of a stock add-on must be corrected, it will be done through the use of an en_US translation, leaving the translatable text unchanged.
availability for translation.
As the translatable text for a stock add-on will not change, translators are more confident their work will not be a waste.
What kind of add-on can be ported using emulators?
Answer:
It is important to understand that add-ons embedded to different emulators will not be available to be played in the same scenario. So, after it is embedded to an emulator, your add-on will only be playable with the resources available for that emulator. Add-ons available in the default core cannot be selected when loading an emulator (exception: insertion of code by direct file inclusion).
This leads to the following constraints for the add-ons to be embedded to an emulator:
an add-on must be absent from the latest version add-on server to be published through an emulator. If an add-on is present on the current add-on server, the author will have to request to take it down before it can be published in a version that can be run though emulators.
the add-on must either be standalone or the dependencies must be available inside the same emulator. So if your campaign uses an era made by someone else, it is unlikely to be published in a version that can be run though emulators.
if the content is a resource, a mod or an era, it will only be available to be played with the scenarios or the campaigns published through the corresponding emulator.
How old can be the add-on ported through emulators?
Answer:
add-ons from BfW 1.14 (~2018-2021) can be published with good results using the 1.14 emulator ("Bienvenue").
Different add-ons have been tested using the 1.14 emulator: two mainline campaigns (published), Half-Civ, (Good old) World Conquest II, Napoleonic Wars, Pax Romana (unpublished), Galuldur's First Journey (unpublished).
add-ons from BfW 1.12 (~2014-2017) can be published reasonnably easily using the 1.12 emulator ("Chào mừng").
Different add-ons have been tested using the 1.12 emulator: six mainline campaigns (published), Swamplings, Girl unDead (unpublished).
some add-ons from BfW 1.10 (~2010-2013) have be tested using the 1.10 emulator ("Selamat").
Add-ons tested using the 1.10 emulator: six mainline campaigns (unpublished), Gobowars (unpublished).
for add-ons earlier than version 1.10, only simple port to emulator have been attempted. Further experimentations are needed.
So it is safe to say that at least 1.12 and 1.14 add-ons are likely to be pretty easily ported using the current emulators.
Would porting an add-on through emulators hurt its popularity?
Answer:
It is difficult to give a definitive answer. The first element is that generally speaking, add-ons on the 1.18 server have a much lower download rate than what we were used in old versions. For example, "Bad Moon Rising" had 54000 download in version 1.10 and is now at around 4000 in version 1.18.
The emulators (add-on "Support 1.4-1.16 emulators") are one of the top 5% most downloaded add-ons in version 1.18. Only 15 campaigns have more download on the 1.18 add-on server. So if the add-on to port is not one of the top sellers, it is unlikely that the use of the emulator will reduce the number of download. Still, it is important to note that the use of the emulator is not as straightforward to the player as content published for the default core.
I am not a content creator, how can I help porting add-ons through emulators?
Answer:
There are two areas where you can help:
emulator development
As more contents are embedded to the emulators, it may appear that some compatibility features are missing. The compatibility must be improved in a way that the feature will be available to all past and future contents that get embedded to the emulator. This is usually done using some lua code (see the scripts under Support_1_12_Core/wayback_wml_machine/lua/).
embedded content testing and automation
For each campaign that is embedded in the emulator, there can be an automation that will allow going through the event of the different scenarios to make sure the associated code keeps running ok as the emulator is updated. The complexity of this automation can vary and its robustness can be hardnessed. Instructions to the user running the automation can also be added (how long is it exepected to run).
If there are some volunteers to help with the support to content creators through the emulators, I will setup a repository on github/gitlab to start collaborating. Those who join early will have a chance to have their say on the organisation of the work.
I am not skilled in WML/lua, can I still help porting add-ons through emulators?
Answer:
Yes. Some simple tasks can be performed on the automation that requires very basic understanding of WML (common sense and search/replace). As you read more code, you will even improve at it.
You can download, play and make suggestion/report about your experience using stock addons and add-ons ported through emulators.
You can also help by advocating to content creators for their past work to be ported using emulators following the "stock add-on" model.
Finally, you can volunteer for translating stock add-ons into your mother language. I will post a message later specific to the topic of translation.
I am decided to help porting add-ons through emulators, where do I start?
First, please, do get in touch either publicly by replying to this post or privately by sending a pm.
A_Mod_That_Breaks_Core_Switching.zip