3.2 Attributes

8.18.0.13

3.2 Attributes🔗ℹ

procedure
(random-placement) → void?

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Mutually exclusive with: grouped-by-team

Game versions: All

Players are positioned in a circle with some variation. This is the default, and will apply even if you do not type it.

Example:

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(random-placement)

procedure
(grouped-by-team) → void?

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Mutually exclusive with: random-placement

Game versions: UP/HD/DE

Requires: Team Together box ticked in the lobby (on by default)

Players of the same team are positioned in close proximity to each other. Distance between team members is double the base-size used in create-player-lands.

Example:

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(grouped-by-team)

procedure
(direct-placement) → void?

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP/DE

Allows the land-position attribute in create-land to be used in combination with the assign-to-player or assign-to attributes to individually position players at exact positions on the map.

On UP, !P will be appended to the map name in the objectives window.
On UP, it can be used in combination with random-placement / grouped-by-team but it only works when using land-position
On DE, it disables random-placement and grouped-by-team, but doesn’t necessarily require land-position - it is possible to just specify borders instead. If used with create-player-lands, these lands will be positioned entirely at random (ignoring the normal circular positioning), so this is usually not desirable.

Example: Directly place player 1 at the center of the map (50%, 50%)

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(direct-placement)

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 3)
(land-position 50 50)
(assign-to-player 1))

procedure
(nomad-resources) → void?

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP/HD/DE

Adds the cost of a town center (275 Wood, 100 Stone) to every player’s starting resources. Use this in your custom nomad map if you want players to be able to build a town center without first gathering wood.

In DE, this adds the actual cost of a town center for the player’s civilization. ie. Incas only get an extra 85 stone.

Example:

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(nomad-resources)

procedure
(force-nomad-treaty) → void?

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: DE only

Activates a treaty period on nomad maps which lasts until every player has completed a town center or until 5 min have elapsed, whichever occurs first. Nomad treaty prevents combat and prevents construction within 10 tiles of another player’s town center (foundation).

The border of the 10 tile radius is visible in explored tiles, which makes finding enemy town centers much easier. For this reason, nomad maps for tournament games often intentionally choose not to have a nomad treaty, while instead having rules against early villager fighting.

Example:

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(nomad-resources)
(force-nomad-treaty)

procedure
(behavior-version version-number) → void?
version-number : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

version-number - number (0-2) (default: 0)
- 0 is classic behavior, and is the default
- 1 is new behavior
- 2 supposedly changes the behavior of object placement for per-player lands, but there have been no observed or noticeable differences

Used for versioning changes that might affect how existing maps generate. Changes land generation such that when specifying number-of-tiles or land-percent, the square amount covered by the base-size is included in the total, rather than being additive. Also fixes a bug where land order would influence the generation.

This command can be used anywhere in your script. Player setup seems like an appropriate place to put it, so it is listed here.
May be used in the future to gate off more fixes and changes that might break backwards compatibility.
To update an old map, you must increase number-of-tiles by (1+base-size*2)² to get the same number of tiles as you previously had.
- You also should increase any sub-100 land-percent by an amount that varies with map size.

Example: Activate new land generation behavior in your script and observe that your lands get smaller.

#lang aoe2-rms

(behavior-version 1)
<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DLC_BLACK)
(number-of-tiles 250)
(base-size 12))

procedure
(override-map-size side-length) → void?
side-length : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

side-length - number (36-480) (default: use size set in lobby) (see: Map sizes)
- values smaller than 36 or larger than 480 will clamp to those limits

Used to manually adjust the square dimensions of the map. This is used to make some of the official water maps one size larger than the size selected in the lobby.

Only one argument is accepted, so you are still restricted to square maps.
This command can be used anywhere in your script. For general usage it should be used prior to any land generation, which is why it is listed here.
Affects the scaling of elevation (set-scale-by-size / set-scale-by-groups), terrains (set-scale-by-size / set-scale-by-groups), and objects (set-scaling-to-map-size).
Can theoretically be used multiple times. Land generation will be based on what the current size is at that point in the script.
Does not influence the length of the wonder timer; it will only depend on the size set in the lobby.
- This can be used to reduce the wonder timer in 8 player games, by having players choose the tiny size in the lobby for a script that overrides the size to something suitable for 8 players.

Example: Make the map always generate at a size of 100x100 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

(override-map-size 100)

Example: Make a map generate somewhat larger than what is set in the lobby.

#lang aoe2-rms

(%cond ['TINY_MAP (override-map-size 144)]
       ['SMALL_MAP (override-map-size 168)]
       ['MEDIUM_MAP (override-map-size 200)]
       ['LARGE_MAP (override-map-size 220)]
       ['HUGE_MAP (override-map-size 240)]
       ['GIGANTIC_MAP (override-map-size 255)])

procedure
(set-scale-by-size) → void?

Blocks: create-terrain and create-elevation.

Game versions: All

Scales number-of-tiles to the map size. Unscaled value refers to a 100x100 map (see: Map Sizes for the scaling table).

If you see a script scaling by both size and groups, only the final attribute will apply!

If you want to scale by both groups and size, use set-scale-by-groups instead.

In <ELEVATION-GENERATION>, if you want to scale elevation by both groups and size, you must do so manually using Conditionals.

BUG (AoC/UP/HD): the behavior of set-scale-by-size and set-scale-by-groups is inverted, with each attribute scaling elevation as the other one should. This bug is fixed in DE.

Example: Create 4 hills which become larger on larger maps. On a small map this will be 4 clumps with a total of 400*2.1 = 840 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 3
                  (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                  (number-of-tiles 400)
                  (number-of-clumps 4)
                  (set-scale-by-size))

Example: Create 4 lakes which become larger on larger maps. On a small map this will be 4 clumps with a total of 400*2.1 = 840 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'WATER
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (number-of-tiles 400)
                (number-of-clumps 4)
                (set-scale-by-size))

procedure
(set-scale-by-groups) → void?

Blocks: create-terrain and create-elevation.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-scale-by-size

Scales number-of-clumps to the map size. Unscaled value refers to a 100x100 map (see: Map Sizes for the scaling table).

If you see a script scaling by both size and groups, only the final attribute will apply!.

In <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, when used with number-of-tiles, the total tiles are also scaled to map size as well.

In <ELEVATION-GENERATION>, unlike for terrains, for elevation this attribute does NOT increase the total tile count, If you want to scale elevation by both groups and size, you must do so manually using Conditionals.

BUG (AoC/UP/HD): the behavior of set-scale-by-size and set-scale-by-groups is inverted, with each attribute scaling elevation as the other one should. This bug is fixed in DE.

Example: Create 400 tiles worth of hills, with the number of hills scaling to map size. On a small map this will be 4x2.1 = 8 clumps and a total of 400 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 4
                  (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                  (number-of-tiles 400)
                  (number-of-clumps 4)
                  (set-scale-by-groups))

Example: Create 400 tiles worth of lakes, with the number of lakes AND the total number of tiles scaling to map size. On a small map this will be 4x2.1 = 8 clumps with a total of 400*2.1 = 840 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'WATER
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (number-of-tiles 400)
                (number-of-clumps 4)
                (set-scale-by-groups))

procedure
(spacing amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-elevantion.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

amount - number (1+) (default: 1 - no spacing)

Number of tiles between each elevation level. Numbers larger than 1 will produce rings of flat terrain on each level of a hill.

Example: Create one large large hill with increased spacing.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7
                  (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                  (number-of-tiles 3000)
                  (spacing 4))

procedure
(enable-balanced-elevation) → void?

Blocks: create-elevation.

Game versions: DE only

Removes the bias of hill placement towards the bottom (south) of the map. Default is disabled, so you should always include this attribute! Elevation will still be slightly biased towards the south, even with this attribute. See Balanced Elevation Comparison in the Appendix for a comparison with and without this attribute.

Example: Spread a large number of hills fairly across the map. Remove enable_balanced_elevation to see the difference.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7
                  (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                  (number-of-tiles 9320)
                  (number-of-clumps 9320)
                  (enable-balanced-elevation))
<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'DESERT
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 100)
                (number-of-clumps 9320)
                (height-limits 1 7))

procedure
(set-gaia-civilization civ-number) → void?
civ-number : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

civ-number - number (0-53) (default: 0 - gaia) (see: Civilizations)

Set the civilization for gaia to use. This will affect the architectural style of any gaia buildings, and the appearance of any units that have regional variations. It will also affect any civilization bonuses, upgrades and unique technologies (relevant especially for battle royale)

The default gaia civ in DE uses the western European architectural style.
This command can be used anywhere in your script. Player setup seems like an appropriate place to put it, so I have listed it here.
If used, gaia effects (see: Effect Constants) will no longer function when applied to units that can be player controlled.
If used, gaia buildings with make-indestrucible will be burning, so it is best not to use set-gaia-civilization if you wish to use indestructible gaia buildings.
If used multiple times, only the final instance will apply.
Does not work in the scenario editor.

Example: Create a Lithuanian monument for gaia somewhere on the map

#lang aoe2-rms

(set-gaia-civilization 35)

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'MONUMENT)

procedure
(ai-info-map-type map-type
nomad?
michi?
show-type) → void?
  map-type : any/c
  nomad? : any/c
  michi? : any/c
  show-type : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

map-type - map type constant (see: Map Types) (default: CUSTOM)
- Specify a standard map type that your map is similar to.
nomad? - boolean (1 or 0) (default: 0)
- Specify if your map is nomad style (no town center to start with).
- Always use this on nomad starts since it prevents issues where ally locations are revealed (fixed in DE)
michi? - boolean (1 or 0) (default: 0)
- Specify if your map is Michi style (forest completely separating players).
show-type - boolean (1 or 0) (default: 0)
- Specify if you want your chosen map type to be shown in the objectives window (only works in UP)

Provide information about the map to AIs. If your map is not very similar to an existing map, it is best to leave out the command entirely, or to use CUSTOM as the map type.

Example: A map that is a slightly modified version of Arabia and you want the objectives screen to say Arabia.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(ai-info-map-type 'ARABIA 0 0 1)

procedure
(effect-amount effect-type
type
attribute-type
amount) → void?
  effect-type : any/c
  type : any/c
  attribute-type : any/c
  amount : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP/DE

Arguments:

effect-type - effect constant (see: Effect Constants)
type - object/resource/technology/effect constant (see: Objects, Resource Constants, Technology Constants, Miscellaneous Constants, Class Constants, Advanced Genie Editor)
attribute-type - attribute constant (see: Attribute Constants)
amount - number
- DE only: accepts floating-point values

Modify various aspects of the gamedata, specifically for your map. See the linked guides for a better overview of the possibilities.

When modifying objects, you may need to target ALL hidden variations, one-by-one.
If an object ends up with more than 32767 hitpoints, it is instantly destroyed. Be sure to consider in-game upgrades and civ bonuses.
If you disable an object with this command, in-game techs/ages (unless disabled) may re-enable it. The civ tech tree may also override changes. (UP only) !C will be appended to the map name in the Objectives window.
In vanilla UP only, the relevant constants must first be defined before use.

Example: Add 10000 starting food.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(effect-amount 'MOD_RESOURCE 'AMOUNT_STARTING_FOOD 'ATTR_ADD 10000)

Example: Houses support 10/15/20/25 population in dark/feudal/castle/imperial age.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(effect-amount 'SET_ATTRIBUTE 'HOUSE 'ATTR_STORAGE_VALUE 10)
(effect-amount 'SET_ATTRIBUTE 'HOUSE_F 'ATTR_STORAGE_VALUE 15)
(effect-amount 'SET_ATTRIBUTE 'HOUSE_C 'ATTR_STORAGE_VALUE 20)
(effect-amount 'SET_ATTRIBUTE 'HOUSE_I 'ATTR_STORAGE_VALUE 25)

procedure
(effect-percent effect-type
type
attribute-type
percentage) → void?
  effect-type : any/c
  type : any/c
  attribute-type : any/c
  percentage : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP/DE

Arguments:

effect-type - effect constant (see: Effect Constants)
type - object/resource/technology/effect constant (see: Objects, Resource Constants, Technology Constants, Miscellaneous Constants, Class Constants, Advanced Genie Editor)
attribute-type - attribute constant (see: Attribute Constants)
percentage - number
- DE only: accepts floating-point values

Same as effect-amount but allows for greater precision. The specified value is divided by 100 so that you can use decimal values.

Example: Add 0.3 speed to all villagers (30/100 = 0.3)

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(effect-percent 'ADD_RESOURCE 'VILLAGER_CLASS 'ATTR_MOVE_SPEED 30)

Example: Nerf the slinging of resources by making tributing more inefficient and moving coinage to imperial age.

procedure
(guard-state object-type
resource-type
resource-delta
flags) → void?
  object-type : any/c
  resource-type : any/c
  resource-delta : any/c
  flags : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP/DE

Arguments:

object-type - object constant or class constant (see: Objects, Class Constants) for villagers use VILLAGER_CLASS instead of VILLAGER
resource-type - resource amount constant (see: Resource Constants)
resource-delta - number (default: 0)
- DE only: accepts floating-point values
flags - number (0-7) (default: 0)
- 0: no flags
- 1: lose if you do not control the specified object-type
- 2: activate a resource trickle of the resource-type at the level of resource-delta/100, as long as you control object-type
- 4: invert the object-type requirement for the other flags
- add the values to apply multiple flags

Set up additional lose conditions and/or resource trickles based on controlling or not controlling a specified object.

Only one guard-state command can be active in your script!
(UP only) If used, !G will be appended to the map name in the Objectives window, along with the guard state details

Example: Activate a guardstate on the king, to make a map regicide even in other game modes.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(guard-state 'KING 'AMOUNT_GOLD 0 1)

Example: Slowly drain a player’s food while they do not control the monument.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(guard-state 'MONUMENT 'AMOUNT_FOOD -5 6)

Example: Enable a small, relic-style gold trickle and configure players to be defeated if all villagers are lost.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(guard-state 'VILLAGER_CLASS 'AMOUNT_GOLD 10 3)

procedure
(terrain-state mode
parameter1
parameter2
flags) → void?
  mode : any/c
  parameter1 : any/c
  parameter2 : any/c
  flags : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP only

Arguments:

mode - number (0) (default: 0)
parameter1 - number (0) (default: 0)
parameter2 - number (0) (default: 0)
flags - number (0-7) (default: 0)
- 0: no flags
- 1: enable building on shallows; also allows resources to be placed on shallows
- 2: thinner blending of shallows and beach terrain
- 4: changes ice blending to use shallows-style blending
- add the values to apply multiple flags

Changes the shallows terrain to allow it to be buildable. Can also be used to modify shallows and ice blending properties. There may be further unknown and undocumented functionality.

Parameters 1 and 2 are unimplemented as far as we currently know, and the only known mode is 0, so just set the first three numbers to 0 if you use this command.

Example: Activate all flags to allow for buildable shallows with alternate blending.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(terrain-state 0 0 0 7)

procedure
(weather-type precipitation-style
live-color
fog-color
water-direction) → void?
  precipitation-style : any/c
  live-color : any/c
  fog-color : any/c
  water-direction : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: UP only

Arguments:

precipitation-style - number (-4 to 4) (default: 0)
- 0: no precipitation
- 2: rain
- 3: thunderstorm
- 4: snow
- Precipitation goes west to east; use negative numbers for east to west.
live-color - number (0 to 255) (default: 0)
- Color of terrain tinting in revealed areas.
- 0: none; 1-255 refers to the color palette.
fog-color - number (0 to 255) (default: 0)
- Color of terrain tinting in the fog of war.
- 0: none; 1-255 refers to the color palette.
water-direction - number (-1 to 1) (default: 0)
- Direction of animated water.
- 0: random; 1: west to east; -1: east to west.

Set up precipitation and terrain tinting.

It usually looks good to match the precipitation and water direction.
It often makes sense to pick similar colors for live and fog tinting.
Terrain tinting looks bad on streams and recordings, so you may want to leave it out.
In DE, consider using color-correction instead.

Example: Westward thunderstorm.

#lang aoe2-rms

<PLAYER-SETUP>
(weather-type -3 16 0 -1)

procedure
(water-definition type) → void?
type : any/c

Sections: <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

type - water color correction constant (see: Water Types) (default: 0 (sunny daytime))

Specify a water profile to apply on your map. Each option applies different color correction, waves and reflections to 3D water. Not visible if the "Render 3D Water" setting is disabled. on UP, use weather-type instead.

procedure
(base-terrain terrain-type) → void?
terrain-type : any/c

Blocks: create-elevation, create-terrain.

Sections: <TERRAIN-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

terrain-type - terrain constant (see: Terrains) (default: GRASS)

BUG (DE): Does not default to GRASS, so make sure to specify the base terrain.

In <LAND-GENERATION>, specifies a terrain to initially fill the map. Maps with rivers going through them or oceans on the outside usually use water. Maps with forest on the outside usually use forest terrain.

In <ELEVATION-GENERATION>, terrains on which the hill(s) should generate. If you have multiple terrains you want hills on, then you need multiple create-elevation blocks.

Note that you only need to consider terrains from <LAND-GENERATION>, as <TERRAIN-GENERATION> occurs after elevation has already been placed.

In <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, specifies the base terrain on which you want to place your new terrain.

Example: Fill the map with water.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)

Example: Create one hill on water terrain.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(number-of-tiles 600))

Example: Create a large clump of forest terrain on grass terrain, then create water on the forest

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'FOREST
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 10))

(create-terrain 'WATER
                (base-terrain 'FOREST))

procedure
(base-layer terrain-type) → void?
terrain-type : any/c

Blocks: create-elevation.

Sections: <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, <LAND-GENERATION>.

Game versions: DE only

Accepts a terrain constant. See Terrains.

Defaults to no layered terrain.

In <TERRAIN-GENERATION> and <LAND-GENERATION>, specify a terrain to layer on top of the map’s base-terrain. This layered terrain is visual only, and does not confer any terrain properties or object restrictions.

Must be used AFTER base-terrain.
If used, you must specify the same base-layer in create-elevation if you want to generate elevation on the map base terrain.

In <ELEVATION-GENERATION>, use this attribute in addition to base-terrain if (and only if) you specified a layer for the map base terrain at the beginning of <LAND-GENERATION>.

Example: Initially fill the map with dirt3, and layer snow on top of that

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'DIRT3)
(base-layer 'SNOW)

Example: Create one hill on water terrain.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'DIRT)
(base-layer 'SNOW)

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7
                  (base-terrain 'DIRT3)
                  (base-layer 'SNOW)
                  (number-of-tiles 9320)
                  (number-of-clumps 20))

Example: Layer desert on grass, and then place water on the layered desert.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'DESERT
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 10)
                (terrain-mask 1))

(create-terrain 'WATER
                (base-layer 'DESERT))

procedure
(beach-terrain type) → void
type : any/c

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: type - terrain constant (see: Terrains) (default: BEACH)

Specify a terrain that should be placed where the current terrain borders water.

If a non-beach terrain is specified, players will not be able to build docks on this coastline.
If a water terrain is specified, it will fully replace the terrain specified in create-terrain, so this is NOT recommended.
BUG: beach-terrain does not work when a <CONNECTION-GENERATION> section is present.

Example: Create a dirt island with beaches that have vegetation.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'DIRT
                (number-of-tiles 500)
                (spacing-to-other-terrain-types 1)
                (base-terrain 'WATER)
                (beach-terrain 'DLC_BEACH2))

procedure
(enable-waves show-waves) → void?
show-waves : any/c

Sections: <TERRAIN-GENERATION>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

show-waves - boolean (1 or 0) (default: 1)

Enabled by default, so you only need to include it if you want to disable animated beach waves on your map. Waves are only visible if the player has "Render Beach Waves" turned on in the game settings.

Example: Disable waves

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(enable-waves 0)

procedure
(terrain-mask layer) → void?
layer : any/c

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

layer - number (1, 2) (default: 0 - no masking)

1 - new terrain is masked over the base terrain and inherits its properties.
2 - new terrain is masked under the base terrain and provides new properties.

Enables terrain masking/layering for the terrain being created. Terrain inherits all properties, placement restrictions, automatic objects (such as trees for forest terrains), minimap color, etc. from the terrain underneath (i.e., base-terrain when masking over, or create-terrain when masking under).

Terrain masking is a great way to blend terrains in a realistic and visually appealing manner.
Masking layers 1 and 2 have different visual masking patterns.
Terrain will have animated water if ANY of the component terrains are water.
Legacy terrains that are already a blend of two texture files cannot be visually masked. They will contribute fully to the appearance of the final terrain. These terrains are: GRASS_SNOW, DIRT_SNOW, [dirt snow foundation], DLC_MOORLAND, DLC_JUNGLELEAVES, [road snow], [road fungus], DLC_DRYROAD, DLC_JUNGLEROAD, DLC_ROADGRAVEL.
There are also some special cases with beach terrains, which may not always mask as expected (potentially a bug).

Example: Snow is masked on top of grass. Will produce grass decoration objects.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'SNOW
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 50)
                (terrain-mask 1))

Example: Snow is masked underneath grass. Would produce snow decoration objects, if there were any in the game.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'SNOW
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 50)
                (terrain-mask 2))

procedure
(spacing-to-other-terrain-types distance) → void
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

distance - number (default: 0)

Minimum distance that this terrain will stay away from other terrain types. Only considers existing terrains at the time of generation — terrains generated later will need their own spacing. Terrains will not stay away from the same terrain type created previously. This requires the use of an intermediate placeholder terrain. Also affects the distance that the terrain will stay away from cliffs (because cliffs generate their own terrain underneath them — terrain 16). When used with set-flat-terrain-only, it also affects the distance that the terrain will stay away from slopes.

Example: Create a lake, and then fill the rest of the map with a forest which stays 10 tiles away from the water.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'WATER
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 10))

(create-terrain 'FOREST
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (spacing-to-other-terrain-types 10)
                (land-percent 100))

procedure
(spacing-to-specific-terrain type distance) → void?
type : any/c
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: DE only.

Arguments:

type - terrain constants (see: Terrains)

distance - number (default: 0)

Minimum distance that this terrain will stay away from a specific terrain.

Can be used multiple times to avoid multiple terrain types.
Only considers existing terrains at the time of generation - terrains generated later will need their own spacing.
Cannot be used to avoid the terrain currently being placed. Doing this will prevent the terrain from being placed at all.
spacing-to-other-terrain-types takes precendence if larger.

Example: Generate forest that stays away from various terrains.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'FOREST
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 20)
                (number-of-clumps 30)
                (spacing-to-specific-terrain 'WATER 15)
                (spacing-to-specific-terrain 'SHALLOW 8)
                (spacing-to-specific-terrain 'ICE 6)
                (spacing-to-specific-terrain 'DESERT 3))

procedure
(set-flat-terrain-only) → void

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: All

Requires: spacing-to-other-terrain-types > 0.

The terrain will avoid sloped tiles by the distance specified in spacing-to-other-terrain-types. Only works when a distance of at least 1 has been specified.

Example: Create a hill where the bottom and top are desert, but the slope is grass

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7 (base-terrain 'GRASS) (number-of-tiles 3000) (number-of-clumps 1))

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'DESERT
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 10)
                (number-of-clumps 9320)
                (spacing-to-other-terrain-types 1)
                (set-flat-terrain-only))

procedure
(terrain-type type) → void?
type : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

type - terrain constant (see: Terrains) (default: GRASS)

Specify which terrain the land should have.

Example: Create player lands made of dirt.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 20))

procedure
(land-percent percentage) → void?
percentage : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: number-of-tiles

In <LAND-GENERATION>, percentage of the total map that the land should grow to cover. If land growth is constrained by borders or other lands, lands may be smaller than specified. For player lands (create-player-lands) the percentage is divided equally between all players. Valid values are 0 - 100, inclusive, defaults to 100.

In <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, percentage of the total map allocated to given command. If number-of-clumps is specified, this value is divided equally among the clumps. Terrain will only be replaced where the appropriate base-terrain or base-layer is present, and will only replace the specified number of individual clumps, so it will not necessarily fill 100% of the map if set to 100.

Example: Allocate 20% total of the map toward player lands

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 20))

Example: Create a desert that covers 50% of the map

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'DESERT
(base-terrain 'GRASS)
(land-percent 50))

procedure
(number-of-tiles amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land, create-elevation.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: land-percent

In <LAND-GENERATION>, can specify the fixed number of tiles that the land should grow by, default being the entire land.

Total size of the land is number-of-tiles in addition to the square origin specified by base-size.
When using behavior-version 1, the square origin is included in the total number-of-tiles, resulting in smaller lands, unless compensated for.
For player lands (create-player-lands) each player is given the specified number of tiles.

In <ELEVATION-GENERATION> or <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, specifies total base tile count, defaulting to 120 on tiny maps. If number-of-clumps is specified, this value is divided equally among the clumps.

Example: Give every player 300 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(number-of-tiles 300))

Example: Create one hill on grassy terrain.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 7
(base-terrain 'GRASS)
(number-of-tiles 600))

Example: Create 500-tile lake.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'WATER
(base-terrain 'GRASS)
(number-of-tiles 500))

procedure
(number-of-clumps amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-terrain.

Game versions: All

Amount - number (default: 1)
A maximum of 9320 should be used when also specifying set-scale-by-groups.
Number of individual terrain patches to create.
If clumps are larger than expected (or total count is lower than expected), several adjacent clumps have merged.

Example: Create 4 hills of 100 tiles each.

#lang aoe2-rms

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>
(create-elevation 3
                  (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                  (number-of-tiles 400)
                  (number-of-clumps 4))

Example: Create 40 forest clumps on grass terrain.

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'FOREST
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (land-percent 20)
                (number-of-clumps 40))

procedure
(cliff-type type) → void?
type : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: cliff-type - cliff type constant (see: Cliff Types) (default: gray granite cliffs)

Choose the color of the cliffs to match the theme of your map.

Currently the following are available:
CT_GRANITE
CT_DESERT
CT_SNOW
CT_MARBLE
CT_LIMESTONE

Example: Make the cliffs brown to match dirt and desert terrains.

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(cliff-type 'CT_DESERT)

procedure
(min-number-of-cliffs amount) → void?
amount : any/c
(max-number-of-cliffs amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments: amount - number (default: min=3, max=8)

Set the minimum number of distinct cliffs to create.
The actual number of cliffs is chosen at random from between min (inclusive) and max (exclusive).
Does not scale with map size, so you must do so manually using Conditionals.
Make sure min does not exceed max.

Example: Create 5-7 cliffs on your map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(min-number-of-cliffs 5)
(max-number-of-cliffs 8)

procedure
(min-length-of-cliff length) → void?
length : any/c
(max-length-of-cliff length) → void?
length : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments: length - number (3+) (default: min=5, max=9)

Sets the minimum length of a cliff, in cliff segments.

Cliff lengths are chosen at random from between min and max (inclusive).

The unit is NOT tiles, but "cliff segments": length 3 = 12 tiles, 4 = 15 tiles, 5 = 18 tiles, etc.
Minimum must be at least 3 for cliffs to appear at all.
Cliffs may end up shorter than expected if they run out of space.
Make sure min does not exceed max, otherwise the game will crash.

Example: Create exactly 10 cliffs with lengths 12-18 tiles

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(min-number-of-cliffs 10)
(max-number-of-cliffs 10)
(min-length-of-cliff 3)
(max-length-of-cliff 5)

procedure
(cliff-curliness percentage) → void?
percentage : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments: percentage - number (0-100) (default: 36)

The chance that a cliff changes direction at each segment. Use low values for straight cliffs and high values for curly cliffs.

Example: Create cliffs that are more curly than usual.

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(min-number-of-cliffs 10)
(max-number-of-cliffs 10)
(min-length-of-cliff 10)
(max-length-of-cliff 10)
(cliff-curliness 50)

procedure
(min-distance-cliffs distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments: distance - number (default: 2)

Minimum distance in "cliff units" between separate cliffs. 0 is 0 tiles, 1 is 3 tiles, 2 is 6 tiles, etc.

Example: Create cliffs that are more curly than usual.

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(min-number-of-cliffs 9999)
(max-number-of-cliffs 9999)
(min-distance-cliffs 1)

procedure
(min-terrain-distance distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Sections: <CLIFF-GENERATION>.

Game versions: All

Arguments: distance - number (default: 2)

Minimum distance in "cliff units" that cliffs will avoid water terrains by. 0 is 0 tiles, 1 is 3 tiles, 2 is 6 tiles, etc.. Note that this only considers terrains from <LAND-GENERATION>, as <TERRAIN-GENERATION> occurs after cliffs have already been placed.

Example: Fill the map with cliffs that stay only 3 tiles from water and 0 tiles from each other.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'GRASS)
(land-percent 100)
(other-zone-avoidance-distance 10))

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
(min-number-of-cliffs 9999)
(max-number-of-cliffs 9999)
(min-distance-cliffs 0)
(min-terrain-distance 1)

procedure
(base-size radius) → void?
radius : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

radius - number (default: 3)

Square radius of the initially placed land origin, before any growth.

The default of 3 results in a 7x7 land origin (49 tiles total).

base-size will produce a perfect square if used with land-percent 0 or number-of-tiles 0.

base-size is the minimum distance that a land will be placed from the edge of the map.

Land bases are placed sequentially, so if they are large and overlap, the land placed last will be the one visible in the overlapping region.

Non-player land bases will not overlap with each other, unless...

If base-size for non-player lands is too large, the land will fail to find a valid position and will be placed at the center of the map, overlapping any other lands at the center.

Example: Create a 13x13 square of ice

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'ICE)
(base-size 6)
(number-of-tiles 0))

procedure
(set-circular-base) → void?

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

The square land origin becomes a circle of the size that would be exactly inscribed by the square.

Land origins with a base-size of 3 or smaller will still be a perfect square, while larger bases will be more obviously circular. Can be used to produce a perfect circle if combined with land-percent 0 or number-of-tiles 0.

Example: Create a 12x12 circle of desert for each player

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 0)
(base-size 12)
(set-circular-base))

procedure
(generate-mode mode) → void?
mode : any/c

Blocks: create-land.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments:

mode - boolean (1 or 0) (default: 0 - lands are not placed in corners)

By default, lands are positioned at random in a cross-shaped area, and will never be in the corners. Setting the generate mode to 1 will allow lands to be randomly positioned anywhere, including the corners.

No effect for create-player-lands.
No effect when using assign-to-player or assign-to for create-land, unless direct-placement is specified in <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Example: Create 4 ponds that can appear anywhere, including the corners.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(generate-mode 1)
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(land-percent 1))
(create-land
(generate-mode 1)
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(land-percent 1))
(create-land
(generate-mode 1)
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(land-percent 1))

procedure
(land-position percentage-x percentage-y) → void?
percentage-x : any/c
percentage-y : any/c

Blocks: create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

percentage-x - number (0-100) (default: random*) X is the axis running from the top (southwest) to the bottom (northeast)
percentage-y - number (0-99) (default: random*) Y is the axis running from the left (northwest) to right (southeast)

* Lands without land-position will have their randomly chosen origin in a cross-shaped area and will never be in the corners.

Specify the exact origin point for a land, as a percentage of total map dimensions.

land-position 50 50 is the center of the map.
land-position 0 0 is the west corner, 100 99 is the east corner, 100 0 is the north corner, 0 99 is the south corner.

Ignores border restrictions.

If placed outside of specified borders, the land will not grow beyond its base-size.

Disabled for create-player-lands.

Disabled when using assign-to-player or assign-to for create-land, unless direct-placement is specified in <PLAYER-SETUP>.

Positions outside of the map can theoretically be used if the crash conditions are avoid?ed.

Note: 100 for the Y coordinate (or anything outside the map) will crash the game if your map uses <CONNECTION-GENERATION> and has a connection that needs to reach this land specifically, or if the land uses assign-to-player.

Example: Create a lake in the center of the map

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(land-percent 10)
(land-position 50 50))

procedure
(circle-radius radius variance) → void?
radius : any/c
variance : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands.

Game versions: DE only

External reference: Official DE Documentation

Arguments:

radius - number (1-50) It is a percentage of map width. 0 will disable circle-radius. The standard radius for unconstrained lands is around 40. Values larger than 50 will tend to force players towards the extreme edges and corners of the map.
variance - number (default: 0) 0 is a perfect circle with no variance. 20 seems to be close to the standard amount of variance when not using circle-radius. Very large values will tend to force players towards the corners of the map. Each player will vary independent of the others.

Used in create-player-lands to position the player lands in a circle with equal distance to the center, with specified variance.

circle-radius ignores any specified borders when placing the land origins, but land growth will still be constrained by borders.

There is also a command called circle-placement which is used in the standard maps and listed in the official documentation. That command is non-functional.

If used for multiple unique create-player-lands commands, only the final radius will apply.

BUG: if used for multiple player lands while also using grouped-by-team, the additional land positions will not generate properly.

If used for create-land, it will still apply to player lands normally.

See Circle Radius Comparison in the appendix for a comparison of not using circle-radius to a radius with no variance.

Example: Place player lands in a perfect circle close to the center of the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(number-of-tiles 100)
(circle-radius 20 0))

procedure
(left-border percentage) → void?
  percentage : any/c
(right-border percentage) → void?
  percentage : any/c
(top-border percentage) → void?
  percentage : any/c
(bottom-border percentage) → void?
  percentage : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

percentage - number (0-99) (default: 0)

Specify a percentage of map width for land placement and growth to stay away from the given border.

Left is southwest; right is northeast, top is northwest; bottom is southeast.

There is a hard-coded feature that makes lands look like octagons instead of squares when constrained by borders.

Borders shift the entire circle of all the player lands.

You cannot have multiple rings of player lands with different borders; they will all be in the same circle.

Due to rounding, the exact number of tiles that a given percentage value corresponds to may not be the same for each side. For example, to stop 2 tiles from the edge on a tiny (120x120) map, a value of 2 must be used for the top and left borders, but a value of 3 is needed for the bottom and right borders.

Negative values can be used, as long as the land origin stays inside the map. To ensure this, do one of the following:

Specify a land-position within the map
Specify a sufficiently large base-size (this may require manually scaling of base-size with map size)

BUG: asymmetric borders for player lands can cause issues when the top-border is larger than other borders (External reference: RMS Border Bugs Exposed). Avoid? this by always using another border along with top-border when creating player lands.

Example: Place all players in the top corner of the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 100)
(bottom-border 60)
(left-border 60))

procedure
(border-fuzziness border-adherence) → void?
border-adherence : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

border-adherence - number (0-100) (default: 20)

Specifies the extent to which land growth respects borders and actually stops at a border.

Low values allow lands to exceed specified borders, giving ragged looking edges when land is constrained by borders.

0 causes land growth to ignore borders entirely.

100 (or any negative value) means that borders are fully respected, resulting in perfectly straight lands along borders.

Example: Central desert with very fuzzy borders

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-position 50 50)
(land-percent 100)
(left-border 40)
(right-border 40)
(top-border 40)
(bottom-border 40)
(border-fuzziness 2))

procedure
(clumping-factor factor) → void?
factor : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

In <LAND-GENERATION>, defaults to 8, useful range being about 0-40. The extent to which land growth prefers to clump together near existing tiles. Moderate values (11-40) create rounder lands, while low values (0-10) create more irregular lands, and high values (40+) create lands that extend in one direction away from the origin. Negative values create extremely snakey lands, and are generally not recommended.

In <TERRAIN-GENERATION>, defaults to 20, useful range being about 0-25. The extent to which terrain tiles prefer to be together next to other tiles of the same clump. Moderate values (5-25) create rounder terrain patches, while low values (0-5) create more irregular terrain patches. Negative values create extremely snakey terrains.

Example: Create irregularly shaped lake

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(land-percent 10)
(clumping-factor 2))

Example: Create a regularly-shaped bamboo forest

#lang aoe2-rms

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'BAMBOO
                (base-terrain 'GRASS)
                (number-of-tiles 500)
                (clumping-factor 20))

procedure
(land-conformity percentage) → void?
percentage : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

percentage - number (-100 - 100)

0 is the same as not having this attribute
Any negative number behaves the same
100 causes this attribute to override the base-size unless set-circular-base is specified
Useful ranges without set-circular-base: 0~15, 25~35, 45~99, 100
Useful ranges with set-circular-base: 0~10, 20~30, 40~99, 100

Intended as a more potent version of clumping-factor, with higher values conforming more to the shape of the land origin set with base-size, and with negative numbers conforming less to it.

This attribute is currently buggy. We have been advised to avoid using it.
Appears to take the tile count of the land, and apply some math to it and then set a new "radius" for the land. With circles the radius is roughly 1/2 what it should be at any given tile count; it’s much closer to what it should be with squares. Lands tend to not have any tiles, or very few, outside the “radius” above ~35 conformity.

procedure
(base-elevation height) → void?
height : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Sections: <ELEVATION-GENERATION>.

Game versions: UP/HD/DE

Arguments:

height - number (1-16) (default: 0 - not elevated)

In UP/HD elevations higher than 7 should not be used, because objects will fail to render properly.

In DE, elevations higher than 7 can be used, but may cause terrain rendering issues for certain screen resolutions, especially if you go higher than about 16.

Negative values maximally elevate a land (not recommended due to rendering issues).

Elevate the entire land to the specified height.

In HD/DE this will not work for lands with a water terrain-type.

Up to a height of 9 the surrounding terrains will contain the slope, with even higher values, the remaining elevation occurs within the confines of the land.

Example: Create a palm desert land with elevation 2.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'PALM_DESERT)
(number-of-tiles 128)
(base-elevation 2))

<ELEVATION-GENERATION>

procedure
(assign-to-player player-number) → void?
player-number : any/c

Blocks: create-land.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: assign-to

Arguments:

player-number - number 1-8 (default: not assigned to any players)

Assign a land created with create-land to one specific player, allowing you to place starting objects on that land for that player.

Refers to lobby order - the first person in the lobby is player 1, even if they are not blue.

If you want to support 8 players, you must individually assign lands to all 8 players.

Lands assigned to players who are not playing will not be created.

All lands belonging to players will be in a circle and land-position will be ignored, unless direct-placement is specified in <PLAYER-SETUP>.

assign-to-player 0 will make the land Gaia’s player land (not recommended!).

Negative values will create the land without assigning it to anyone.

Example: Assign a desert land to player 1.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 3)
(assign-to-player 1))

procedure
(assign-to assign-target number mode flags) → void?
  assign-target : any/c
  number : any/c
  mode : any/c
  flags : any/c

Blocks: create-land.

Game versions: UP/DE

Mutually exclusive with: assign-to-player

Arguments:

assign-target - AssignTargetConstant (default: not assigned to any players) Options: AT_PLAYER, AT_COLOR, AT_TEAM
number - varies depending on the assign-target:
- AT_PLAYER (1-8): player number (lobby order)
- AT_COLOR (1-8): player color
- AT_TEAM (-10, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4): team number (lobby order)
0 targets un-teamed players. Negative values target a player NOT on the specified team. -10 gives the land to any player. Teams containing only 1 player do not count as teams.
mode - number (-1, 0) 0: random selection (for AT_TEAM only) -1: ordered selection (for AT_TEAM only)
flags - number (0–3)
- 0: no flags
- 1: reset players already assigned before starting
- 2: do not remember assigning this player
- 3: both 1 and 2

A more powerful version of assign-to-player. Assign a land created with create-land to a specific player, allowing you to place starting objects for that player.

If you want to support 8 players, you must individually assign lands for all players.

Lands assigned to players who are not playing will not be created.

All lands belonging to players will be in a circle and land-position will be ignored unless direct-placement is specified in <PLAYER-SETUP>.

In DE and WK, the AssignTargetConstants are predefined; in vanilla UP they must be defined manually.

Example: Assign a desert land to player 1.

#lang aoe2-rms
<PLAYER-SETUP>
(direct-placement)

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(number-of-tiles 128)
(land-position 50 50)
(assign-to 'AT_TEAM 1 0 0))

procedure
(zone zone-number) → void?
zone-number : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-zone-by-team, set-zone-randomly

Arguments:

zone-number — number

Sets a numeric zone for the land.

Lands sharing the same zone can grow to touch each other. If two lands have different zones and other-zone-avoid?ance-distance is specified, land growth will avoid? touching the other zone.

Do not specify any zone if you want each player to be on their own island.

By default, lands from create-player-lands each get their own unique zone (PlayerNumber - 10). Lands created with create-land all share the same zone (-10).

BUG (AoC/UP/HD): zone 99 will crash the game. This is fixed in DE.

Example: All players are on the same continent, the rest of the map is water.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 60)
(zone 1))

procedure
(set-zone-by-team) → void?

Blocks: create-player-lands.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: zone, set-zone-randomly

For create-player-lands. Assigns the same zone to all members of the same team.

Lands sharing the same zone can grow to touch each other. If two lands have different zones, and other-zone-avoid?ance-distance is specified, land growth will avoid? touching the other zone.

If used with create-land, it will assign the land to the same zone as the team of player 1, even if the land is a non-player land or is assigned to a member of a different team. (This is not recommended!)

Team zones correspond to (TeamNumber - 9), for example, team 1 is in zone -8.

Example: Team Islands.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 80)
(set-zone-by-team)
(other-zone-avoidance-distance 10)
(left-border 10)
(top-border 10)
(right-border 10)
(bottom-border 10))

procedure
(set-zone-randomly) → void?

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: zone, set-zone-by-team

Lands with this attribute will randomly share zones with other lands. Lands sharing the same zone can grow to touch each other. If two lands have different zones, and other-zone-avoid?ance-distance is specified, land growth will avoid? touching the other zone.

Specifically, the land gets a random zone in the range -8 to (PlayerCount - 9). This means:

• The land(s) will never share a zone with a land that is given a positive numeric zone or is a non-player land without a zone assigned. • The land(s) may share a zone with a land that has set-zone-randomly or set-zone-by-team, or that has a manually specified zone in the correct range. • A non-player land with set-zone-randomly will never share a zone with player 1 if player 1 is using their default zone of -9.

Example: Archipelago-styled map where players might be on the same island with allies, enemies or nobody.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 80)
(set-zone-randomly)
(other-zone-avoidance-distance 10)
(left-border 10)
(top-border 10)
(right-border 10)
(bottom-border 10))

procedure
(other-zone-avoidance-distance tiles) → void?
tiles : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

tiles - number (default: 0)

Number of tiles away from a land with a different zone to stop land growth. Used to create river maps and island maps.

To keep two lands separated, both lands must have this attribute. When different values are used for two lands, the smaller one applies.

This attribute also keeps randomly positioned land origins/bases the specified distance apart (regardless of zone), but can be overridden by min-placement-distance. Land origins/bases may end up closer together or even touching if land-position is specified, or if used for player lands when there are too many players crammed on too small of a map.

Example: A rivers map where all players are separated by water, and there is a neutral island in the center.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'GRASS)
(land-percent 100)
(other-zone-avoidance-distance 10))

(create-land
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 100)
(land-position 50 50)
(zone 1)
(other-zone-avoidance-distance 10))

procedure
(min-placement-distance tiles) → void?
tiles : any/c

Blocks: create-land.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

tiles - number (default: value of other-zone-avoid?ance-distance (default: 0))

Number of tiles to stay away from the origins of previously created lands when randomly selecting an origin for this land. Previously undocumented and rarely used.

If min-placement-distance is not specified, land origins will be positioned such that there is at least other-zone-avoid?ance-distance worth of space between the edges of the square origins.

min-placement-distance uses the center of the origins, so for a large base-size, lands may end up closer than an equivalent other-zone-avoid?ance-distance.

If too large of a value is specified and the land cannot find a valid position, it will be placed in the center, regardless of other lands already in or near the center.

No effect when land-position is specified. No effect on player lands, unless direct-placement is active in DE.

Example: Create three deserts that have their origins at least 25 tiles from the other deserts.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 1)
(min-placement-distance 25))

(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 1)
(min-placement-distance 25))

(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 1)
(min-placement-distance 25))

procedure
(land-id identifier) → void?
identifier : any/c

Blocks: create-player-lands, create-land.

Game versions: All

identifier — number (default: no id)

Assign a numeric label to a land, which can later be used to place objects specifically on that land with "place-on-specific-land-id". This is unrelated to any zone numbers.

Multiple lands can have the same ID. In this case, objects will be placed on all of them.

Must be used after assign-to-player / assign-to since they will reset the ID.

Can theoretically be used for create-player-lands, but will disable the ability to use set-place-for-every-player for object placement. This is sometimes useful for creating "fake" player lands to generate forests or ponds between players.

Note that objects may be placed on surrounding terrain rather than the land itself, if the surrounding terrain supports the object placement.

land-id -9 assigns the land to be the player land of gaia (not recommended!)

Example: Create a tiny snowy island and place a gold mine on it.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)

(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 0))

(create-land
(terrain-type 'SNOW)
(land-percent 0)
(land-id 13)
(land-position 50 50))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
(place-on-specific-land-id 13))

procedure
(color-correction type) → void?
type : any/c

Sections: <TERRAIN-GENERATION>.

Game versions: DE only

See also: actor-area.

Arguments:

X - number (x-coordinate in tiles; see Map Sizes)
Y - number (y-coordinate in tiles; see Map Sizes)
Identifier - number
Radius - number (square radius in tiles)

Create an actor area at the given location (rather than being associated with a specific object), with the ID and radius specified.

These actor areas are created before any create-object commands are handled, regardless of their position in the script.
Useful for making certain objects avoid certain positions or areas of the map.
You can also specify coordinates outside of the map, which can be useful with a sufficiently large radius to avoid the map edges.
Note that the X and Y coordinates are in tiles, NOT % of map width. They must be manually scaled to map size. See Map Sizes for the side length on each map size.
Multiple actor areas can share the same identifier.

BUG: create-actor-area will crash the game if no lands are generated on the map. This should not be an issue on completed maps, since you always have lands.

Example: Create an actor area that prevents relics from spawning near the center of the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(%cond ['TINY_MAP (create-actor-area 60 60 1234 30)]
       ['SMALL_MAP (create-actor-area 72 72 1234 36)]
       ['MEDIUM_MAP (create-actor-area 84 84 1234 42)]
       ['LARGE_MAP (create-actor-area 100 100 1234 50)]
       ['HUGE_MAP (create-actor-area 110 110 1234 55)]
       ['GIGANTIC_MAP (create-actor-area 120 120 1234 60)]
       ['LUDIKRIS_MAP (create-actor-area 240 240 1234 120)])

(create-object 'RELIC
               (number-of-objects 500)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (avoid-actor-area 1234))

procedure
(add-object object-type percentage) → void?
object-type : any/c
percentage : any/c

Blocks: create-object-group.

Game versions: DE only Arguments:

ObjectType - object constant (see: Objects)
% - number (0-99)

Adds an object into group.

Example: Create a pool of all cow variations and then generate clusters of mixed cow variants.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object-group 'HERDABLE_A
                     (add-object 'DLC_COW 25)
                     (add-object 'DLC_COW_B 25)
                     (add-object 'DLC_COW_C 25)
                     (add-object 'DLC_COW_D 25))
(create-object 'HERDABLE_A
               (number-of-objects 6)
               (number-of-groups 24))

procedure
(number-of-objects amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: amount - number (default: 1)

Specifies the number of objects to create.

A maximum of 9320 should be used when also specifying set-scaling-to-map-size.

Example: Place 10 individual gold mines on the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD (number-of-objects 10))

procedure
(number-of-groups amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: amount - number (default: individual objects — no groups)

Places the specified number of groups, each consisting of the number of individual objects specified in number-of-objects.

Note: Total objects = number-of-objects × number-of-groups A maximum of 9320 should be used when also specifying set-scaling-to-map-size.

Example: Place 20 groups of 5 boars each.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'BOAR
(number-of-objects 5)
(number-of-groups 20))

procedure
(group-variance amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: amount - number (default: 0)

Randomly varies the number-of-objects for each group by up to the specified amount.

The maximum positive variance is reduced by 1.

Note: A minimum of 1 object is always created, even if the variance would make the count 0 or negative. Each group varies independently — so this is not suitable for ensuring balanced player resources. Use Random Code for fairness instead.

Example: Create 10 patches with each 2-7 forage bushes.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'FORAGE
               (number-of-objects 5)
               (number-of-groups 10)
               (group-variance 3)
               (set-tight-grouping))

procedure
(group-placement-radius radius) → void?
radius : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: radius - number (default: 3 = a 7x7 area)

Specifies how far (in tiles) objects in the same group may spawn from the central tile. This activates grouping behavior.

Uses:

Prevents grouped resources like gold, stone, or berries from forming long lines.
If number-of-objects exceeds available tiles, a perfect square will be filled.
If combined with set-loose-grouping and set-circular-placement, the group area will be circular instead of square.

Example: Give each player forage bushes that must stay in a 3x3 area.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'FORAGE
               (number-of-objects 7)
               (set-tight-grouping)
               (group-placement-radius 1)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 7)
               (max-distance-to-players 8))

procedure
(set-tight-grouping) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-loose-grouping

Forces objects in the same group to be placed on adjacent tiles. Commonly used for tightly grouped resources like berries, gold, or stone.

Activates grouping behavior.

Notes:

Objects larger than one tile and that cannot overlap (e.g., buildings) will not be placed with tight grouping.
Most placement constraints (avoid-forest-zone, min-distance-to-map-edge, min-distance-group-placement, avoid-actor-area) apply only to the group’s center, not to individual objects.
Use set-loose-grouping instead if you want constraints to apply to each group member.

Example: Far player stone.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'STONE
               (number-of-objects 4)
               (group-placement-radius 2)
               (set-tight-grouping)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 20)
               (max-distance-to-players 27))

procedure
(set-loose-grouping) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-tight-grouping

Allows objects in the same group to be placed freely within the area defined by group-placement-radius. Activates grouping behavior.

Loose grouping is the default, so you can omit this attribute if you specify group-placement-radius. Commonly used for scattered objects like sheep or deer.

When combined with set-circular-placement, the placement area becomes circular instead of square.

Notes:

Most placement constraints (avoid-forest-zone, min-distance-to-map-edge, min-distance-group-placement, avoid-actor-area) apply to each group member individually.
The game does not check if there is enough room for the whole group when picking a location, so some objects may fail to spawn.
For important resources or objects with many placement constraints, use set-tight-grouping instead.

Example: Give players a group of 7 deer.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'DEER
               (number-of-objects 7)
               (number-of-groups 1)
               (group-placement-radius 5)
               (set-loose-grouping)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 14)
               (max-distance-to-players 22))

procedure
(min-connected-tiles amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: amount - number (default: 0)

Requires: objects must be placed in groups

Prevents grouped objects from being placed in an area with fewer tiles than the specified amount. Intended to keep objects off tiny islands or out of small forest clearings.

BUG: Objects become heavily biased towards spawning in the top-left corner of the map, making this attribute unreliable for its intended purpose. Use max-distance-to-other-zones or avoid-forest-zone instead.

Example: Create many groups of sheep that avoid small forest clearings and only appear in the top half of the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'BAMBOO)
(create-player-lands
(land-percent 50)
(border-fuzziness 1)
(left-border 25)
(right-border 25)
(top-border 25)
(bottom-border 25)
(zone 1))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'SHEEP
               (number-of-objects 4)
               (number-of-groups 150)
               (set-tight-grouping)
               (min-connected-tiles 80))

procedure
(resource-delta amount) → void?
amount : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: UP/DE

Arguments: amount - number (default: 0)

Modify the amount of food, wood, gold, or stone in an object. Negative values can be used to reduce the resources.

Notes:

Does not work for farms.
Does not appear when testing a map from the scenario editor.
You can give food to wolves. However, if a villager kills a wolf, they will automatically gather the food instead of performing the assigned task, which can affect gameplay.

Overflow behavior:

In UP, resource amount will overflow past 32767.
In DE, resource amount will overflow past 2147483647 (but will become inaccurate before then).

Example: Create gold piles that have 100 less gold in them and stone mines with 100 more stone.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
               (number-of-objects 7)
               (resource-delta -100))
(create-object 'STONE
               (number-of-objects 7)
               (resource-delta 100))

procedure
(second-object object-type) → void?
object-type : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: object-type - object constant (see: objects)

Specify ANY object to be placed on top of the main object. If you place multiple objects, each will get the specified second object.

Usage notes:

In official maps, villagers were placed on top of farms for empire wars using this.
Can bypass terrain restrictions by using an invisible placeholder object as the main object.
For off-grid placeholders, any dead unit can be used, especially dead heroes without graphics in DE (e.g., ID 647).
For on-grid placeholders, try terrain blocker (ID 1613), dead fish trap (ID 278), or a berry bush with zero food (using resource-delta).
Avoid using object 1291, as it now permanently converts player sheep to gaia in recent updates.
Alternatively, terrain restrictions can be changed with effect-amount or removed entirely with ignore-terrain-restrictions.

Example: Players start with a cow underneath their town center.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'TOWN_CENTER
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (max-distance-to-players 0)
               (second-object 'DLC_COW))

procedure
(set-scaling-to-map-size) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-scaling-to-player-number

Scales number-of-groups to the map size. The unscaled value refers to a 100x100 map (see: Map Sizes for the scaling table).

If no grouping is present, scaling applies to number-of-objects instead.

Example: Create clumps of 10 gold and scale the number of groups to map size.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
               (number-of-objects 10)
               (number-of-groups 3)
               (set-scaling-to-map-size)
               (set-tight-grouping))

procedure
(set-scaling-to-player-number) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-scaling-to-map-size

Scales number-of-groups based on the player count. For example, scales by 2x for a 2-player game, and 8x for an 8-player game.

If no grouping is present, scaling applies to number-of-objects instead.

Example: Scale the number of relics by the number of players

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'RELIC
(number-of-objects 2)
(set-scaling-to-player-number))

procedure
(set-place-for-every-player) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: place-on-specific-land-id

Places the object(s) as a personal object for each player land. Objects that cannot be owned by players (e.g., boar, gold, trees) also require set-gaia-object-only to be placed for every player.

Only works for player lands or lands assigned to players; disabled if land-id is specified.
Objects will only be placed where they are not separated from their land origin by a terrain they are restricted on, unless ignore-terrain-restrictions is used.
- This means resources on islands will only appear on the player’s own island.
- Player gold mines on acropolis can only be placed on hilltops due to gold’s terrain restrictions.
- Water objects (docks/boats) can be placed if the player land is made of a dirt terrain type.
- Terrain restrictions can be bypassed by using placeholders with second-object, modified with effect-amount, or removed with ignore-terrain-restrictions.
- Road terrains, although restricted for resources, do not create separation like other terrains do.
- If avoid-other-land-zones is specified, the object will only be placed on tiles belonging to that land.

Example: Give every player their starting villagers.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'VILLAGER
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 6)
               (max-distance-to-players 7))

procedure
(place-on-specific-land-id id) → void?
id : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Mutually exclusive with: set-place-for-every-player

Arguments: id - number

Places the object(s) on each land with the specified identifier. Land IDs are assigned in <LAND-GENERATION> using the land-id attribute.

Objects will only be placed where they are not separated from the origin of their land by a terrain they are restricted on, unless ignore-terrain-restrictions is used.
Road terrains, although restricted for resources, do not create separation like other terrains do.
If avoid-other-land-zones is specified, the object will only be placed on tiles belonging to that land.
If multiple lands share the same ID, the object(s) will be placed on all of those lands.

Example: Create a tiny snowy land and place a gold mine on it.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands
(terrain-type 'DIRT)
(land-percent 0))

(create-land
(terrain-type 'SNOW)
(land-percent 0)
(land-id 13)
(land-position 50 50))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
(place-on-specific-land-id 13)
(find-closest))

procedure
(avoid-other-land-zones distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Arguments: distance - number (default: no avoidance)

Ensures that an object is placed only on tiles belonging to the land it is associated with, avoiding the edges of that land by the specified distance.

If this attribute is NOT specified, objects may be placed outside their referenced land.
Even if 0 or a negative value is specified, objects will still be confined to the land.
Do not use this attribute if you want objects to be placed beyond the land borders.

Example: Place gold on a specific desert land, while preventing it from being close to the edges of the land.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(land-percent 10)
(land-id 1))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
               (place-on-specific-land-id 1)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (number-of-objects 999)
               (avoid-other-land-zones 4))

procedure
(generate-for-first-land-only) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

When multiple create-player-lands commands exist or multiple lands share the same land-id, this attribute restricts the object placement to only the first applicable land instead of all relevant lands.

Example: Generate two lands for each player and give each player a house on both of them but a king only on one of them.

#lang aoe2-rms
<LAND-GENERATION>
(base-terrain 'WATER)
(create-player-lands (land-percent 10))
(create-player-lands (land-percent 10))
<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'HOUSE (set-place-for-every-player))
(create-object 'KING
(set-place-for-every-player)
(generate-for-first-land-only))

procedure
(set-gaia-object-only) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Use together with set-place-for-every-player to place gaia (neutral) objects individually for each player. Required when placing player resources like gold, stone, berries, deer, or boar.

Can also be used for controllable objects (e.g., sheep).

Units and buildings will permanently join the player who first discovers them, unless set-gaia-unconvertible is also specified.

Gaia building architectural style can be changed with set-gaia-civilization.

Example: Give every player four gaia sheep close to their starting town.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'SHEEP
               (number-of-objects 4)
               (set-loose-grouping)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 7)
               (max-distance-to-players 8))

procedure
(set-gaia-unconvertible) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-gaia-object-only

Mutually exclusive with: set-building-captureable

Use with any gaia object to make it unrescuable by players and hostile towards them. Must be specified after set-gaia-object-only.

Gaia military units behave as if on defensive stance—attacking anything entering their search radius and retreating if you run away.
Does not work when testing from the scenario editor.
Unrescuable status does not apply to second-object.
Certain objects are always convertible (e.g., monuments) or buggy (e.g., town centers, gates).
Gaia markets lose functionality and cannot be traded with. Use object 1646 for an indestructible market to trade with players.
Villagers will repair gaia buildings instead of attacking them.

Example: Decorate the map with unrescuable gaia pyramids.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'PYRAMID
               (number-of-objects 3)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-gaia-unconvertible)
               (make-indestructible))

procedure
(set-building-capturable) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Mutually exclusive with: set-gaia-unconvertible

Used to make a building switch control to the player who most recently has units nearby. Has no effect on units or other non-building objects.

Can be applied to buildings starting under gaia or player control.

Capturable buildings cannot be deleted.
Capturable buildings can be destroyed unless make-indestructible is used.

Example: Place an outpost on the map that will convert to the control of whoever is currently nearby.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'OUTPOST
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (make-indestructible)
               (set-building-capturable))

procedure
(make-indestructible) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Makes a building indestructible by granting it 9999 HP and 1000/1000 armor. The building cannot be attacked, damaged, or deleted.

Has no effect on units or other non-building objects.

Can be used to create neutral gaia markets, docks, or entire cities that are invulnerable.

Example: Make the starting town center indestructible. (Note that this will mean that players cannot be defeated)

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'TOWN_CENTER
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (max-distance-to-players 0)
               (make-indestructible))

procedure
(min-distance-to-players distance) → void?
distance : any/c
(max-distance-to-players distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments:

distance - number (default: no limits)

Specifies the minimum distance (in tiles) from the origin of player lands at which the object or group center can be placed.

Distances define a square area, not a circle, unless set-circular-placement is used.
For grouped objects, distance applies to the group’s center, not individual members.
When used with place-on-specific-land-id, distances refer to that land specifically.
When used without set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id, maximum distance has no effect.
BUG (DE): Minimum distance applies to all lands, not just player lands or specified land IDs. To work around this, use an actor-area to control placement.
BUG: When minimum equals maximum distance, objects tend to be biased toward western placement.
BUG (pre-DE): Minimum distance always applies to all lands.

Example: Place the starting scout at a distance of 7-9 tiles.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'SCOUT
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 7)
               (max-distance-to-players 9))

procedure
(set-circular-placement) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Changes the behavior of min-distance-to-players and max-distance-to-players to use circular (Euclidean) distance instead of a square radius.

This prevents resources placed diagonally from being disproportionately far away compared to orthogonal placements.

Recommended for most player object placements to improve resource distribution, unless map features like walls (which use square logic) are involved.

Additionally, when used with groups that have set-loose-grouping, the group placement radius defined by group-placement-radius will become circular instead of square.

procedure
(terrain-to-place-on type) → void?
type : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: type - terrain constant (see: Terrains) (default: any valid terrain)

Restricts the placement of the object(s) to only the specified terrain type.

procedure
(layer-to-place-on type) → void?
type : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: type - terrain constant (see: Terrains) (default: any layer)

Restricts the placement of the object(s) to only the specified layering terrain.

Works with terrain-mask 1, but not with terrain-mask 2. For terrain-mask 2, use terrain-to-place-on instead, since the layer becomes the main terrain.
When used together with terrain-to-place-on, objects will be placed only where both the base terrain and the layer apply.

Example: Place rocks on a small patch of layered snow within a larger desert area.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'DESERT)
(number-of-tiles 500)
(land-position 50 50))

<TERRAIN-GENERATION>
(create-terrain 'SNOW
                (base-terrain 'DESERT)
                (number-of-tiles 20)
                (terrain-mask 1))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'ROCK
               (number-of-objects 300)
               (layer-to-place-on 'DESERT))

procedure
(ignore-terrain-restrictions) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Allows objects to be placed on terrains they are normally restricted from. These terrains will no longer act as borders preventing placement. Must be used in conjunction with set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id.

Can be combined with terrain-to-place-on
Alternatively, terrain restrictions can be modified using effect-amount on ATTR_TERRAIN_ID, or by using second-object with a placeholder.

Example: Place salmon on the land near each player’s town center. (Fish are can normally only be placed on water terrains)

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'SALMON
               (number-of-objects 4)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (min-distance-to-players 3)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (find-closest)
               (ignore-terrain-restrictions))

procedure
(max-distance-to-other-zones distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: distance - number (default: 0)

Specifies the minimum distance, in tiles, that objects will maintain from terrains they are restricted from being placed on. Useful for keeping resources away from coastlines or preventing deep fish from spawning near beaches.

For grouped objects, distance is measured from the center of the group, not individual members.
Does not apply to road terrains, even though resources cannot be placed on them.
Has no effect on objects without terrain restrictions.

Example: Place a central lake and then fill the map with gold that avoids being close to water.

#lang aoe2-rms

<LAND-GENERATION>
(create-land
(terrain-type 'WATER)
(number-of-tiles 500)
(land-position 50 50))

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
               (number-of-groups 9000)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (max-distance-to-other-zones 5))

procedure
(place-on-forest-zone) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Mutually exclusive with: avoid-forest-zone

Place objects only on tiles with trees or directly adjacent to such tiles. This includes straggler trees and trees placed via the scenario editor.

Example: Place sheep all along the edge of forests.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'SHEEP
(number-of-objects 99999)
(place-on-forest-zone))

procedure
(avoid-forest-zone distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Mutually exclusive with: place-on-forest-zone

Arguments: distance - number (default: no avoidance; defaults to 1 if specified without a value)

Objects will stay the specified number of tiles away from any trees, including straggler trees and scenario editor trees. Commonly used to keep resources away from forests.

The forest trees themselves are avoided, so for sparse forests (e.g., baobab), larger distances may be necessary.
If the objects are grouped, the distance applies to each individual group member.

Example: Fill the map with gold, except for the areas near trees.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
(number-of-objects 9999)
(avoid-forest-zone 3))

procedure
(avoid-cliff-zone distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: distance - number (default: no avoidance; defaults to 1 if specified without a value)

Objects will stay the specified number of tiles away from cliffs. Due to the size of cliff objects, a distance of at least 2 is recommended to ensure a gap between cliffs and the objects.

Useful for preventing inaccessible resources.

If the objects are grouped, the distance applies to each individual group member.

Example: Fill the map with stone that stays 3 tiles away from cliffs.

#lang aoe2-rms

<CLIFF-GENERATION>
<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'STONE
(number-of-objects 9999)
(avoid-cliff-zone 4))

procedure
(min-distance-to-map-edge distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Arguments: distance - number (default: 0)

Minimum distance, in tiles, that objects will stay away from the edge of the map.

If the objects are grouped, the distance refers to the center of the group, not the individual group members.

Example: Ensure that relics stay at least 10 tiles from the edge of the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'RELIC
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (number-of-objects 500)
               (min-distance-to-map-edge 10))

procedure
(min-distance-group-placement distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: distance - number (default: 0)

Minimum distance, in tiles, that individual objects of the same create-object command, and all future objects, must stay away from each object.

Best used with small values to keep different resources from being directly next to each other.
To scatter objects from the same command far away from each other, use temp-min-distance-group-placement.
If the objects are grouped, the distance refers to the center of the group, not the individual members.

Example: Give each player two sets of forages and make them avoid each other by 4 tiles, and keep all future objects 4 tiles away.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'FORAGE
               (number-of-objects 7)
               (number-of-groups 2)
               (set-tight-grouping)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (min-distance-to-players 8)
               (max-distance-to-players 10)
               (min-distance-group-placement 4))

procedure
(temp-min-distance-group-placement distance) → void?
distance : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: All

Arguments: distance - number (default: 0)

Similar to min-distance-group-placement, but only applies to the current create-object command — future objects are unaffected.

Useful for scattering objects, such as neutral resources and relics.

Can be used together with min-distance-group-placement.

If the objects are grouped, the distance refers to the center of the group, not the individual members.

Example: Scatter neutral gold evenly across the map.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'GOLD
               (number-of-objects 9320)
               (number-of-groups 4)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (set-tight-grouping)
               (min-distance-group-placement 4)
               (temp-min-distance-group-placement 46))

procedure
(find-closest) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Place the object on the closest free tile to the center of the land, considering all other constraints.

Important:

find-closest uses circular (Euclidean) distance, whereas other distance constraints (e.g., min-distance-to-players) use square distance by default.

Because of this, using both find-closest and min-distance-to-players (without additional constraints) may cause objects to be placed at right angles to each other, as the square’s corners are farther from the center than its edges. Use set-circular-placement combined with enable-tile-shuffling to resolve this issue.

Previously, using find-closest with reference to a land origin would place the object directly on the origin (if no other restrictions applied). But now, it places the object one tile away.
Use max-distance-to-players 0 if you need the object placed exactly on the origin.

Example: Give each player a fishing ship on the closest free water tile

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'FISHING_SHIP
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (ignore-terrain-restrictions)
               (terrain-to-place-on 'WATER)
               (find-closest))

procedure
(find-closest-to-map-center) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Place the object on the closest free tile to the center of the map, considering all other constraints.

This attribute is overridden by find-closest.

Bug: When used with loosely grouped objects, some group members may fail to spawn if the closest free area is too small. Detailed bug description.

Example: Place a boar in the map center for each player.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'BOAR
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (find-closest-to-map-center))

procedure
(find-closest-to-map-edge) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Place the object on the closest free tile to the edge of the map, considering all other constraints.

This attribute is overridden by find-closest and find-closest-to-map-center.

Bug: When used with loosely grouped objects, some group members may fail to spawn if the closest free area is too small. Detailed bug description.

Example: Place a relic on the map edge for each player.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'RELIC
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (find-closest-to-map-edge))

procedure
(require-path deviation) → void?
deviation : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Requires: set-place-for-every-player or place-on-specific-land-id

Arguments: deviation - number (default: 0)

0 - indirect paths allowed; no additional restrictions beyond preventing completely inaccessible locations.
1 - only mostly direct paths allowed to the origin.
>1 - allows more deviation from the direct path; maximum effective value depends on path constriction.

Objects with this attribute must have a path to the origin of their associated land. Use this attribute to prevent player resources from being trapped in or behind forests.

No argument, or a value of 0 imposes no further restrictions beyond preventing a completely inaccessible location.
An argument of 1 means that the object must additionally have a mostly direct path to the origin.
Larger values allow paths that are less direct. Maximum effective value depends on how constricted the path is.
Walls (and gates) count as obstructing a path, so this attribute should not be used for objects outside of a player’s walls on walled maps.

Example: Make sure a player boar isn’t located behind nearby woodlines

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'BOAR
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (set-gaia-object-only)
               (require-path 1)
               (min-distance-to-players 16)
               (max-distance-to-players 22))

procedure
(force-placement) → void?

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

Allows multiple objects to be placed on the same tile if necessary. Normally, only one object per tile is placed; when tiles run out, no more objects are placed. With force-placement, remaining objects are placed on tile corners, then on top of each other.

Only works for objects that can overlap on the same tile (e.g., units, but not buildings).
Disabled when using set-loose-grouping.

Example: Place 50 sheep in the 1-tile radius surrounding a starting outpost.

#lang aoe2-rms

<OBJECTS-GENERATION>
(create-object 'OUTPOST
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (max-distance-to-players 0))

(create-object 'SHEEP
               (number-of-objects 50)
               (set-place-for-every-player)
               (max-distance-to-players 1)
               (force-placement))

procedure
(actor-area id) → void?
id : any/c

Blocks: create-object.

Game versions: DE only

1	Motivation
2	Getting Started
3	Syntax
4	Recipes
5	Acknowledgement

3.1	Sections
3.2	Attributes
3.3	Blocks
3.4	Comments
3.5	Including Files
3.6	Random Code
3.7	Conditionals
3.8	Constants
3.9	Raw