Maps.md

Maps

Note: This is WIP. Some data structures are incomplete, others may be incorrect.

Maps are stored in MAP_DATA.AMB. Each resource describes one in-game map, with 2D maps and Labyrinths sharing much of the file structure. The files consist of the following sections:

• Header
• Event descriptions (e.g., popup messages, chests, locked doors, or transitions to other maps)
• NPC references (not including the actual NPC descriptions, which are in CHARDATA.AMB)
• A magic 9 byte sequence
• 3D maps / Labyrinths only: LabInfo blocks (meaning currently unclear)
• The actual map
• 2D maps only: An overlay tile map, drawn over the preceding map
• A hotspot map, which maps map locations to event descriptions
• NPC locations and/or movement routes

Map Header and Structure

Offset	Format	Name	Description
0	u8	magic number	= 0xff
1	u8	magic number	= 0x00
2	u8	magic number	= 0x00
3	u8	tileset / background	2D maps: tileset (1 or 2). Labyrinths: LabData resource describing the graphics, + 1
4	u8	labyrinth marker	00 for top-down 2D maps, 01 for Labyrinths (dungeons, towns)
5	u8	flags	See below
6	u8	song	If ≠ 00, set active song to this one
7	u8	width	in # tiles
8	u8	height	in # tiles
9	char[30]	name	map name, padded with 0x20, and 0x00-terminated
38	event[254]	events	10 bytes per event
a14	npc[24]	NPCs	NPC list, See below
abc	u8[9]	magic number	= [01 20 0c 1e 18 3c 05 0c 0c]
ac5...			varies between 2D maps and Labyrinths, see below
	LabInfo[..]	labinfo	Labyrinth only: Labyrinth tile descriptions
	u8[width * height]	map[0]	map data
	u8[width * height]	map[1]	2D only: overlay map
	u8[width * height]	hotspots	hotspot map. If hotspot[pos] = n > 0, then event[n - 1] triggers at pos
	u8[..]	NPC coordinates	See below

Map Flags

The map flags likely indicate light sources, whether resting is possible etc.:

Flag	Name	Exclusivity	Meaning	Example maps
0x01		A: not with 02,04, 20, not in Labyrinths	Indoors?	Sir Marillon's Tomb, Family home
0x02		A: not with 01,04	Outdoors?	Overworld, Twinlake Graveyard, Twinlake city
0x04		A: not with 01, 02, 20, 40	No light	Lord Drebin's Cellar, Twinlake Sewers
0x08				Most maps. NOT some advanced dungeons, such as Castle of Manyeye (minus the Tower)
0x10			Can rest here	Overworld, Twinlake sewers, Family home. NOT Twinlake city or graveyard.
0x20		B: not with 01, 04, 40, 80, not in Labyrinths	Lyramion Overworld	All overworld maps
0x40		B: not with 04, 20, 40		Twinlake Graveyard, Twinlake City
0x80		B: not with 20, 40		Sir Marillon's Tomb, Twinlake Sewers

• A: Precisely one of {01, 02, 04} is set on every map
• B: Precisely one of {20, 40, 80} is set on every map

2D Maps

Offset	Format	Name	Description
...			(cf. Map Header and Structure)
ac5	u8[width * height]	map[0]	map data
ac5 + mapsize	u8[width * height]	map[1]	overlay map
ac5 + mapsize * 2	u8[width * height]	hotspots	hotspot map
ac5 + mapsize * 3	u8[..]	NPC coordinates	See below

where:

• mapsize = height * width

Labyrinths

Offset	Format	Name	Description
...			(cf. Map Header and Structure)
ac5	u8	#labinfo	Number of LabInfo blocks
ac6	u8[4 * #labinfo]	labinfo[i].head	See below
ac6 + #labinfo * 4	u8[#labinfo]	labinfo[i].rest[0]	See below
ac6 + #labinfo * 5	u8[#labinfo]	labinfo[i].rest[1]	See below
ac6 + #labinfo * 6	u8[#labinfo]	labinfo[i].rest[2]	See below
ac6 + labinfosize	u8[width * height]	map[0]	map data
ac6 + labinfosize + mapsize	u8[width * height]	hotspots	hotspot map
ac6 + labinfosize + mapsize * 2	u8[..]	NPC coordinates	See below

where:

• labinfosize = #labinfo * 7
• mapsize = height * width

LabInfo blocks

LabInfo blocks consist of 7 bytes each and describe the meaning of the tile numbers on the map. They reference the Labyrinth's associated LabData resource.

Going by similarity of the numbers observed in the various bytes, they seem to be grouped into four chunks:

• One chunk of u32 flags (labinfo.flags, below)
• Three chunks of u8 blocks (labinfo.fg_image, labinfo.bg_image, and labinfo.rest, respectively, below)

Labinfo	Meaning	Notes
flags	flags	Tile Flags
fg_image	foreground pixmaps	Foreground image; index into the labblock_ref table for LabData. This image is drawn second.
bg_image	background pixmaps	Background image; index into the labblock_ref table for LabData. This image is drawn first.
rest	?	observed values: [00-0c, 0e-0f]

NPCs

NPC map descriptions are split into two parts, which I will here call the NPC list and the NPC movement routes.

• NPC list: always starts at a14
• NPC movement routes: always start after the hotspot map (making them the final part of each map resource)

NPC list

There are always precisely 24 (0x18) NPCs declared. NPC declarations are chunked into six parts, with 24 entries each:

Offset	type	Name	Meaning
a14	u16[24]	npc[i].personality	0 if disabled, otherwise NPC ID or popup message plus 1
a44 (= a14 + 24 * 2)	u8[24]	npc[i].sprite	NPC sprite (on the active tile map)
a5c (= a14 + 24 * 3)	u8[24]	npc[i].flags[0]	Unknown: 00, 01, or 02
a74 (= a14 + 24 * 4)	u8[24]	npc[i].flags[1]	See below
a8c (= a14 + 24 * 5)	u8[24]	npc[i].flags[2]	Unknown: 00 (only on 2D maps) or 01
aa4 (= a14 + 24 * 6)	u8[24]	npc[i].flags[3]	Unknown: 00 (only on 2D maps) or 01

Flags	Name	Exclusivity	Meaning
flags[0] & 0x01
flags[0] & 0x02
flags[1] & 0x01	attack	A	moves toward player, attacks
flags[1] & 0x02	random-walk	A	walks around randomly
flags[1] & 0x04		Labyrinths only
flags[1] & 0x08	n/a		(never used)
flags[1] & 0x10	popup-only		talking to NPC pops up message
flags[2] & 0x01
flags[3] & 0x01

Talking to NPCs

When the player talks to an NPC, the following happens:

• If popup-only is set, then pop up the MAPTEXT message indexed by personality - 1.
• If attack is set... : unknown
• Otherwise, enter chat mode for NPC from CHARDATA, indexed by personality - 1.

NPC Positions and Movement Routes

For each NPC with a nonzero personality, the map stores some number of bytes for their position and/or movement route. There seem to be three possible movment modes for NPCs, which determine how many coordinates the movment routes table store:

Movement mode	Indication	# coordinates
ATTACK	attack is set	1
RANDOM-WALK	random-walk is set	1
CIRCUIT	neither attack nor stationary is set	0x120 = 288

The movement routes are stored in the same order in which the NPCs are stored:

• first all x coordinates for the NPC
• then all y coordinates for the NPC

Note:

• All coordinates are +1 relative to map positions.
• Coordinate values of 6 mean tha tthe NPC disappears.
• NPCs that enter a chair or a bed are drawn suitably. The party cannot chat with NPCs that are in bed.
• The coordinates might plausibly be broken up across the day cycle.

For instance, if we have two stationary NPCs, then one circuit NPC, and another stationary NPC, the game will store

• NPC[0].x (1 byte)
• NPC[0].y
• NPC[1].x
• NPC[1].y
• NPC[2].x[0..0x120] (0x120 bytes)
• NPC[2].y[0..0x120]
• NPC[3].x
• NPC[3].y

Movement algorithm:

• RANDOM-WALK: Every four party movements (?), move into one direction at random.
• ATTACK: move one field (incl. diagonally) closer to the player. Unknown: do the NPCs see the player through walls?
• CIRCUIT: Iterate over the coordinates in the coordinate table. Coordinates may repeat, indicating that the NPC stays still for a few rounds before moving on.

Unknown: can NPCs trigger events?

Tile Map and Overlay Map

The overlay map (only present in 2D maps) is functionally identical to the tile map, so we refer to them as map[0] and map[1], respectively, and refer to both jointly as "tile maps".

Tile maps store tiles in row-major order. Tile 0 indicates "no tile" (nothing to draw), while tile 1 is the first tile (index 0).

Hotspot Map

The hotspot map stores u8 values in row-major order:

• 0 means "no hotspot"
• n > 0 means "trigger event n-1". Conditions for triggering an event vary by event.