BuildingCampaignsDistribution
From Wesnoth
Currently there are two good methods for distributing a Wesnoth campaign. The first is the Scenario & Campaign Development forum (http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=8). The second (and preferred method) is the in-game campaign server. In general, campaigns not yet ready for prime time (i.e. only of interest to other campaign developers) are posted in the fora. Campaigns that are complete enough to be of interest to other players are posted to the in-game campaign server.
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The Scenario & Campaign Development Forum
To distribute a campaign through the Wesnoth fora, post a new topic in the Scenario & Campaign Development. A couple of guidelines:
- Make sure to attach your campaign to the post. (Obvious, but frustrating sometimes)
- Don't post a new topic for each minor version. Announce new versions in your original thread, as this reduces forum
clutter
- It's customary to compress your campaign if it contains large media files before uploading it.
The In-Game Campaign Server
Uploading a campaign to the in-game campaign server is a bit more complicated than uploading it to the fora.
Start by putting the campaign WML directory in your user campaigns directory (on Unix systems this will be ~/.wesnoth/data/campaigns).
If you are using a version of Wesnoth prior to 1.3.10, you will need to put the top-level .cfg file for the campaign alongside the WML directory in your user campaigns directory as well. At version 1.3.10 or later you don't need to do this, provided you have a _main.cfg in your WML directory.
You must put a valid .pbl file in your user campaigns directory as well. The syntax for this is described in PblWML.
So, if your campaign is named Fight_For_Foobar, your user campaigns directory must contain at least the subdirectory Fight_For_Foobar/ and the metadata file Fight_For_Foobar.pbl. If you are using the old style of top-level .cfg file, it should also contain Fight_For_Foobar.cfg (but it's better to use the new-style organization with a _main.cfg in your WML directory).
Note that if you did not specify a password in your pbl file on first upload, the campaign server will autogenerate one into its copy and display it to you. Once the campaign server has generated a password in its copy of your .pbl file you must not change it or you will be unable to update your campaign.
- Open Wesnoth
- Select "Get Add-ons" from the main menu
- Accept the default server name campaigns.wesnoth.org and hit 'OK'
- Scroll to the bottom of the list of available campaigns
- Select "Publish Campaign: Your Campaign Name" (the last entry in the list of campaigns)
If the "publish campaign" option does not appear, then there is a problem with how the campaign is set up or with the .pbl file. Ask for help or review the earlier sections of this tutorial.
Special Note
If you are ready to post your campaign on the server, then it is ready to be translated. The WesCamp project undertakes to translate user-made campaigns. It is highly recommended that you do NOT wait to submit your campaign to WesCamp. Here's why:
- If you submit it early (unfinished), translators will be able to work on a smaller number of strings at a time, making the overall task easier to manage
- Translators do this because non-English language communities want to play campaigns in their own language
- Do not delay WesCamp submission because you are embarassed to increase their workload
- All you are doing is setting up the translation infrastructure - there is no commitment
- Do not wait until your campaign becomes "popular"
- A campaign does not need to attain celebrity status to be good
- If you think the campaign is low-quality or a learning exercise for you, it doesn't matter (refer to the previous reason)
Visit the WesCamp project page to learn how to submit your campaign for translation.