Levels & Worlds

Level Files

Levels are stored as .blp binary files in gamefiles/DATA/. Each file contains a level header (DescFile) followed by the full world grid data.

Level File Header (DescFile)

The DescFile struct (defined in include/decor.hpp) is the header stored at the beginning of each worldNNN.blp file:

Field	Type	Description
`majRev`	short	File format major revision
`minRev`	short	File format minor revision
`posDecor`	POINT	Initial camera/scroll position
`dimDecor`	POINT	World dimensions used in this level
`world`	short	World/chapter number
`music`	short	Background music track index (0–9)
`region`	short	Visual region/theme (selects decor spritesheet)
`blupiPos[4]`	POINT[4]	Player start positions (up to 4 players)
`blupiDir[4]`	int[4]	Player start facing directions
`name[100]`	char[100]	Level name string

World Grid

The world is a 100×100 grid of cells. Each cell holds a Cellule — essentially a 16-bit icon index into the terrain spritesheet for the current region.

typedef struct {
    short icon;  // sprite index into the background/decor sheet
} Cellule;

Two grids are stored in DescSave:

decor[100][100] — main terrain grid
bigDecor[100][100] — background/decor overlay layer

Chapter Structure

Levels are stored as worldNNN.blp files in gamefiles/DATA/. The numbering scheme groups them into chapters — 74 main-game levels plus bonus, special and secret levels (96 world files total).

World Files	Chapter	Count
001	Tutorial / Intro	1
010, 020–025	Chapter 1	7
030–034, 040–046	Chapter 2	12
050–058	Chapter 3	9
060–066	Chapter 4	7
070–075	Chapter 5	6
080–084	Chapter 6	5
090–095	Chapter 7	6
100–107	Chapter 8	8
110–115	Chapter 9	6
120–125	Chapter 10	6
199	Special	1
201–212	Bonus / Extra	12
300–309	Secret	10

Visual Regions

Each level has a region setting that determines which terrain spritesheet (decor000.blp–decor031.blp) is used for rendering. 32 regions are defined, each representing a distinct visual theme.

🔍

Needs Verification

The complete mapping of region numbers to visual themes (e.g., grass, snow, cave, underwater) is not fully documented. This requires analysis of the decor spritesheet files.

Moving Objects in Levels

Each level can contain up to 200 simultaneously active moving objects (MAXMOVEOBJECT). These include:

Enemies (fish, birds, wasps, creatures)
Bombs (floor, hanging, moving, homing)
Vehicles (helicopter, jeep, tank, hovercraft)
Interactive objects (crates, lifts, conveyors)
Collectibles (treasure, eggs, keys)
Visual effects (explosions, splashes, particles)

Each moving object is defined by a MoveObject struct with type, start/end positions, timing, and animation state. See Data Structures → MoveObject.

Level Editor

The game includes a built-in level editor (WM_PHASE_BUILD), implemented in src/decdesign.cpp. The editor allows placing and removing tiles and objects.

⚠️

Editor Incomplete

The level editor (decdesign.cpp) has known missing features and is considered one of the files requiring the most work. Custom level editing and export may not function correctly.

Level editor I/O phases:

WM_PHASE_NAMEDESIGN — name a custom level
WM_PHASE_WRITEDESIGN — export design to c:\user (legacy path)
WM_PHASE_READDESIGN — import design
WM_PHASE_CLEARDESIGN — clear the current design
WM_PHASE_PLAYTEST — test the current design in-game

Save Game State (DescSave)

The full game state — including the world grid, all moving objects, and player status — is serialized to a DescSave struct (~56KB) when saving. Up to 6 save slots (MAXSAVE=6) are supported.

See Data Structures → DescSave for the complete field list.

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