MapData

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Galaxies
• Systems
  • Objects
• Planets
  • Tribute
• Wormholes
• Landing Messages
• Solar Attributes
• Ambient Music

Introduction

A useful tool for creating planets and systems is the Endless Sky editor. This most especially helps with the positioning of systems and the distance/period of planets in a system.

The syntax for the definition of a galaxy, system, or planet is:

galaxy <name>
	pos <x#> <y#>
	sprite <sprite>
		scale <scale#>

system <name>
	inaccessible
	hidden
	shrouded
	pos <x#> <y#>
	government <name>
	attributes <attribute>...
	music <sound>
	arrival [<distance#>]
		link <distance#>
		jump <distance#>
	departure [<distance#>]
		link <distance#>
		jump <distance#>
	habitable <distance#>
	belt <distance#> [<weight#?]
	ramscoop
		universal <value#>
		addend <value#>
		multiplier <value#>
	"invisible fence" <distance#>
	"jump range" <distance#>
	haze <sprite>
	link <system>
		<conditions>
	asteroid <name> <count#> <energy#>
	minables <name> <count#> <energy#>
	trade <commodity> <cost#>
	fleet <name> <period#>
	raid <fleet> [<min-attraction#> [<max-attraction#>]]
	hazard <name> <period#>
	"starfield density" <density#>
	object [<name>]
		sprite <sprite>
			scale <scale#>
		distance <distance#>
		period <period#>
		offset <offset#>
		hazard <name> <period#>
		object [<name>]
			...

planet <name>
	attributes <attribute>... "requires: <attribute>"
	landscape <sprite>
	music <sound>
	description <text>
	spaceport <text>
	port [<name>]
		recharges <recharge type>...
			...
		services <service type>...
			...
		news
		description <text>
	government <name>
	shipyard <name>
	outfitter <name>
	"required reputation" <reputation#>
	bribe <bribe#>
	security <security#>
	tribute <credits#>
		threshold <rating#>
		fleet <name> <count#>

Galaxies

galaxy <name>
	pos <x#> <y#>
	sprite <sprite>
		scale <scale#>

"Galaxies" are what serve as background images on the map. This includes the image of the Milky Way, as well as all the labels on the map for various regions of space.

galaxy <name>

The name of a galaxy must be unique.

pos <x#> <y#>

The position on the map where this galaxy (and its sprite) is centered.

sprite <sprite>

The image that is created at this galaxy's position.

scale <scale#>

The multiplier applied to the dimensions of this galaxy's sprite when displayed in game. This value defaults to 1.

Systems

system <name>
	inaccessible
	hidden
	shrouded
	pos <x#> <y#>
	government <name>
	attributes <attribute>...
	music <sound>
	arrival [<distance#>]
		link <distance#>
		jump <distance#>
	departure [<distance#>]
		link <distance#>
		jump <distance#>
	ramscoop
		universal <value#>
		addend <value#>
		multiplier <value#>
	habitable <distance#>
	belt <distance#> [<weight#>]
	"invisible fence" <distance#>
	"jump range" <distance#>
	haze <sprite>
	link <system>
		<conditions>
	asteroid <name> <count#> <energy#>
	minables <name> <count#> <energy#>
	trade <commodity> <cost#>
	fleet <name> <period#>
	raid <fleet> [<min-attraction#> [<max-attraction#>]]
	hazard <name> <period#>
	"starfield density" <density#>
	object [<name>]
		sprite <sprite>
			scale <scale#>
		distance <distance#>
		period <period#>
		offset <offset#>
		hazard <name> <period#>
		object [<name>]
			...

Systems are the locations that ships are capable of being and can contain planets that ships can land on.

system <name>

The name of a system must be unique.

inaccessible

Added in v. 0.10.0, systems which are inaccessible aren't able to be traveled to or interacted with in any way. The system cannot be seen, clicked, or searched, and any links to or from the system will not be visible or usable.

hidden

Systems which are hidden are not able to be seen unless they are linked to a visited system or a mission highlights them. They can't be seen by simply being within view range of systems the player has visited. Once the system has been seen by visiting a linked system, it behaves normally.

shrouded

Added in v. 0.10.5, systems which are shrouded are not able to be seen unless they are within visible range of the player's current location, are linked to a visited system, or a mission highlights them. In addition, if the player is not currently within a shrouded system, then they are not able to see the contents of the system (e.g. the planets in the system, the system's name, etc.). Shrouded systems are effectively forgotten every time the player leaves them.

pos <x#> <y#>

The position on the map where this system is located.

government <name>

The government that owns/controls this system. This is what is shown when looking at a system on the map using the government key.

attributes <attribute>...

The attributes of this system that control what missions will be offered within it.

If there are no inhabited planets in a system, then it is automatically given an "uninhabited" attribute.

music <sound>

Music that is played while in this system.

arrival [<distance#>]
	link <distance#>
	jump <distance#>
departure [<distance#>]
	link <distance#>
	jump <distance#>

An additional distance at which ships arrive (or depart (v0.9.17)) in this system. If just <distance#> is provided, then both hyperdrive and jump drive travel into or out of a system has its distance moved. The link <distance#> and jump <distance#> lines are optional and allow for tweaking of the distance of each jump method. If a distance is given and then a link or jump distance is provided, the link or jump distance will override the distance. If a distance is given without a value and then a link or jump distance is provided, the other travel method will be unaffected.

Negative distances are allowed for link arrival distances, and will cause ships to arrive on the opposite side of the system from where they entered. Non-zero values (i.e. including this variable) will cause ships to jump into the system from a distance relative to the system center, as opposed to jumping in relative to a target planet.

ramscoop
	universal <value#>
	addend <value#>
	multiplier <value#>

Beginning in v. 0.10.0, individual systems can be given modifiers which influence fuel gained through the use of ramscoops, adding to the customization that solar attributes provide. The universal keyword determines whether the universal ramscoop (a minor amount of fuel gain applied to all ships even without the presence of the "ramscoop" attribute) functions in the system, with 1 being true and 0 being false. The addend keyword adds (or subtracts) an amount of fuel gained per frame while in the system. If the addend subtracts more fuel than is provided, then no fuel is gained; there is no fuel lost due to a negative addend. The multiplier keyword multiplies the fuel normally gained. The multiplier is applied first before the addend. The default values are universal 1, addend 0, and multiplier 1.

habitable <distance#>

The distance of the "Goldilocks zone" in this system. When selecting a system on the map, the orbits of the objects in the system will be colored in relation to their distance from this value. If an object's distance is near this value, its orbit will be green. If an object's distance is farther than this value, then its orbit will fade from light to dark blue the further it is. If an object's distance if closer than this value, then its orbit will fade from yellow to red the closer to the system center it is.

belt <distance#> [<weight#>]

The distance from the system center at which minable asteroids in this system will orbit. Beginning in v. 0.9.15 a system can define multiple asteroid belts for a single system. Each belt can be given a weight that functions similarly to fleet variants, defining the probability that any given asteroid will appear in that belt. If no weight is given then a default weight of 1 is used.

"invisible fence" <distance#>

Added in v. 0.10.0. The distance from the system center beyond which NPC ships will no longer travel, unless they have the unconstrained personality or are your escorts. The default distance for all systems is 10,000.

"jump range" <distance#>

The distance to which ships can jump from this system. This overrides the jump range of any ships in the system.

haze <sprite>

The haze that is created for the background of this system. If no haze is given, then the default blue haze is used.

link <system>
	<conditions>

The name of a system that this system is linked to. Linked systems can be traveled between using a hyperdrive or jump drive regardless of the distance. Systems can be linked to multiple other systems at once.

Links can have conditions that determine if they are available/visible.

asteroid <name> <count#> <energy#>
minables <name> <count#> <energy#>

The name of the asteroids in this system, as well as the number of the asteroids and their energy. The energy of an asteroid determines how fast it moves and rotates, with higher values meaning faster asteroids. A random value between 0 and the energy value is used for each of the asteroids when they are created, meaning that high energy values may still result in slow asteroids.

If an asteroid is minable, then it uses the minable keyword. Unlike normal asteroids, which travel randomly throughout the system and are tiled, minable asteroids will orbit around the system's belt distance. Note that minable asteroids names refer to a defined minable, while normal asteroid names refer to the sprite name.

trade <commodity> <cost#>

A type of commodity sold at the planets in this system and its cost.

fleet <name> <period#>

The name of a fleet that is spawned in this system with a certain period. The period of a fleet is the average number of frames between each spawning of this specific fleet, with there being 60 frames in a second. A random number from 0 to period - 1 is rolled each frame, and if the result lands on 0 then a fleet is spawned.

raid <fleet> [<min-attraction#> [<max-attraction#>]]

The name of a fleet that is spawned in this system when the player's raid attraction is high enough. More details on raid fleets can be found in CreatingGovernments. (v. 0.10.3)

"no raid"

If present, no raid fleets will ever spawn in this system, whether they be from the system's government or the system itself. (v. 0.10.3)

hazard <name> <period#>

The name of a hazard that is created in this system within a certain period. The period of a hazard follows the same behavior as the period of a fleet. Once a hazard is created, the behavior of the hazard is dictated by the hazard itself. The origin of any hazards defined here is the system center. (v. 0.9.13)

"starfield density" <density#>

The density of the stars in the background. The default value is 1. If a system has a starfield density of 0 then it will have no stars at all. (v. 0.10.0)

Objects

object [<name>]
	sprite <sprite>
		scale <scale#>
	distance <distance#>
	period <period#>
	offset <offset#>
	hazard <name> <period#>
	object [<name>]
		...

Objects are the stars, planets, moons, or stations that are found within a system. Each object defines a different star, planet, moon, etc.

object [<name>]

If an object is named, then it can be landed on, and must have a planet defined for it.

Deprecated since v. 0.10.0:

If this name matches the name of an object in another system, then a wormhole is created. If this name matches the name of another object in the same system, then landing on any of these objects simply lands you on the planet associated with these objects.

sprite <sprite>

The sprite that is created at this object's position.

scale <scale#>

The multiplier applied to the dimensions of this object's sprite when displayed in game. This value defaults to 1. In order to increase the visual fidelity of stations, they are stored at double resolution, and scaled down to half size.

Additional properties for animated sprites can be found in the sprite data page.

distance <distance#>

The distance from the system center at which this object will orbit.

period <period#>

The number of days that it takes this object to orbit around the system center. Objects only move when the day changes, meaning that they will not move while the player is launched and in the system.

offset <offset#>

The number of degrees at which this object is shifted in its orbit from the default, allowing for multiple objects to share the same orbit without overlapping.

hazard <name> <period#>

A system hazard with behavior as described above, only with its origin on this object instead of at the system center. An object can have multiple different hazards attached to it. (v0.9.15)

object [<name>]
	...

Objects are capable of having objects as children. This allows for the creation of moons that orbit planets. The distance and period of these children objects is defined relative to the parent object. That is, instead of the distance being from the system center, the distance is from the center of the object it is orbiting.

Planets

planet <name>
	attributes <attribute>... "requires: <attribute>"
	landscape <sprite>
	music <sound>
	description <text>
	spaceport <text>
	port [<name>]
		recharges <recharge type>...
			...
		services <service type>...
			...
		news
		description <text>
	government <name>
	shipyard <name>
	outfitter <name>
	"required reputation" <reputation#>
	bribe <bribe#>
	security <security#>
	wormhole <name>
	tribute <credits#>
		threshold <rating#>
		fleet <name> <count#>

Planets are landable objects, and are where players are capable of buying and selling ships, finding jobs, and discovering missions.

planet <name>

The name of a planet must be unique, and will only be used it there is an object in a system that refers to this same name.

If a planet is being used to define a wormhole (i.e. an objects that is named in multiple systems), then giving it a spaceport will cause NPCs to "land" on the wormhole.

Deprecated since v. 0.10.0:

Additionally, giving it a description will cause the wormhole to create a link on the map when it has been discovered.

Since v. 0.10.0: Create a wormhole node and then assign it to the planet using wormhole <name> (see below).

attributes <attribute>... "requires: <attribute>"

The list of attributes that will be used to determine what missions should be offered on this planet.

If the "requires: <attribute>" phrase is used, then a ship must have the listed attribute in order to land on this planet.

There are three attributes that get automatically added to a planet: spaceport, shipyard, and outfitter. As their names imply, they are added to a planet if that planet has a spaceport, shipyard, or outfitter. If one tries to give one of these attributes to a planet that does not actually have a spaceport, shipyard, or outfitter, then that attribute will be ignored.

One other special attribute is the "uninhabited" attribute. If listed, then the planet's trading, job board, bank, and hire crew panels will be gone, the planet will show as uninhabited on the map, and the planet will be incapable of fining the player unless a security value is provided.

landscape <sprite>

The landscape image that is shown when landed on this planet.

music <sound>

The music that is played while landed on this planet.

description <text>

The description that is shown when first landing on a planet.

spaceport <text>

The description of the spaceport after clicking the spaceport button.

port [<name>]
	recharges <recharge type>...
		...
	services <service type>...
		...
	news
	description <text>

Beginning in v. 0.10.5, how exactly the port of a planet behaves can be controlled more precisely using the "port" keyword. The "spaceport" keyword is still supported and is shorthand for a port named "Spaceport" with all recharge and service capabilities.

If a port is given a name, then that will display on the spaceport button instead of the usual "Spaceport" text.

If a port has no recharges node, then it will not recharge anything on ships that land on the planet. Only those recharge types that are listed will be used, and they can be listed on the same line as recharges or as one children of the recharges node with one item per line. The allowable recharge types are as follows:

• shields: recharges the shields of any ships that land.
• hull: recharges the hull of any ships that land.
• energy: recharges the energy of any ships that land.
• fuel: recharges the fuel of any ships that land.
• all: shorthand for all recharge types.

If a port has no services node, then it will not offer any services. As with recharges, only those service types that are listed are used, and they may be listed in the same ways. The allowable service types are as follows:

• trading: the player can trade commodities here.
• job board: the player can access the job board here.
• bank: the player can access the bank here.
• hire crew: the player can hire crew here.
• offers missions: missions can be offered when entering the port.

By default, ports don't display spaceport news when you enter them. To display news, add the news token.

The description text of a port behaves the same way as the text following a "spaceport" node, and is the text that appears when you click the port button.

government <name>

Planets are capable of having a different government than the system. If no government for the planet is specified, then its government is the same as the system government. Otherwise, the government listed here is used.

shipyard <name>
outfitter <name>

The shipyards and outfitters that are available on this planet. A new shipyard or outfitter line must be used for each shipyard or outfitter.

"required reputation" <reputation#>

The amount of reputation that the player is required to have with this planet's government before being allowed to land. Negative values will allow the player to land on a planet that a player is hostile with as long as their reputation is not below the listed value.

bribe <bribe#>
security <security#>

The behavior that this planet has when the player has illegal goods or outfits. The bribe number is a multiplier that modifies the severity of any fines, while the security number is a value between 0 and 1 that dictates the chance of a player's ship being scanned.

If no security is specified, then a default security of 0.25 is used.

wormhole <name>

(v. 0.10.0) Assigns a wormhole to this planet. Departing from this planet will teleport the player to the destination specified inside the wormhole node.

Tribute

tribute <credits#>
	threshold <rating#>
	fleet <name> <count#>

The player is capable of demanding tribute from certain planets. If no tribute is specified, then the planet will always respond negatively to the player's demand for tribute.

tribute <credits#>

The number of credits that will be paid to the player per day if this planet has been dominated.

threshold <rating#>

The combat rating that the player must have before being capable of demanding tribute from this planet.

fleet <name> <count#>

The fleet that is spawned from this planet if the player demands tribute from it, and how many times that fleet is spawned. More than one type of fleet is capable of being spawned from a planet when demanding tribute.

Wormholes

wormhole <name>
	"display name" <name>
	mappable
	link <from> <to>
	color (<r#> <g#> <b#> | <name>)

"Wormholes" are planets that transport you to a different system.

wormhole <name>

The name of a wormhole must be unique.

"display name" <name>

The display name of this wormhole, overrides the planet's name. If it is not provided, it defaults to ???.

mappable

Whether this wormhole's links are drawn on the map.

link <from> <to>

Adds a link from a given system to another. You can have any number of these attributes. As a general rule, if a wormhole is present in a system it should have a corresponding link node to describe where its destination is.

color (<r#> <g#> <b#> | <name>)

Defines the color of the arrows in the map panel and the planet label of a "mappable" wormhole. This can either be given as RGB values or can refer to a named stock color. By default, the color names "map wormhole" will be used.

Landing messages

"landing message" <text>
	<sprite>
	...

Landing messages are the message that is shown if attempting to land on an uninhabited object. The text of a landing message is what is shown, while the children of a landing message are the sprites that show this message.

Solar attributes

star <sprite>
	power <power#>
	wind <wind#>

There are certain attributes that a ship is capable of having that will change in effectiveness based off of the stars in the system.

star <sprite>

The sprite listed here is the sprite of the star that will affect ships in the system. If a system has multiple stars, then the values of each star are added together.

power <power#>

The power of a star impacts the effectiveness of a ship's solar collection and solar heat attributes.

wind <wind#>

The wind of a star impacts the effectiveness of a ship's ramscoops.

Ambient music

music <path>

Both systems and planets can be assigned music that plays while the player is there. The music files should be of the '.mp3' format and placed in the 'sounds' folder. The path should be the reletive path within the 'sounds' folder without the file extension. For example, a file named 'machinery.mp3' in a folder 'ambient' inside the 'sounds' folder would be listed in a planet or system definition as:

	music ambient/machinery