openmw/docs/source/manuals/openmw-cs/files-and-directories.rst

Files and Directories
#####################

In this chapter of the manual we will cover the usage of files and directories
by OpenMW CS. Files and directories are file system concepts of your operating
system, so we will not be going into specifics about that, we will only focus
on what is relevant to OpenMW CS.


Basics
******


Directories
===========

OpenMW and OpenMW CS use multiple directories on the file system. First of all
there is a *user directory* that holds configuration files and a number of
different sub-directories. The location of the user directory is hard-coded
into the CS and depends on your operating system.

================  =========================================
Operating System  User Directory
================  =========================================
GNU/Linux         ``~/.config/openmw/``
OS X              ``~/Library/Application Support/openmw/``
Windows           ``C:\Users\ *Username* \Documents\my games\OpenMW``
================  =========================================

In addition to to this single hard-coded directory both OpenMW and OpenMW CS
need a place to search for actual data files of the game: textures, 3D models,
sounds and record files that store objects in game; dialogues and so on. These
files are called *content files*. We support multiple such paths (we call them
*data paths*) as specified in the configuration. Usually one data path points
to the directory where the original Morrowind game is either installed or
unpacked to. You are free to specify as many data paths as you would like,
however, there is one special data path that, as described later, which is used
to store newly created content files.


Content files
=============

The original Morrowind engine by Bethesda Softworks uses two types of content
files: `ESM` (master) and `ESP` (plugin). The distinction between those two is
not clear, and often confusing. One would expect the `ESM` (master) file to be
used to specify one master, which is then modified by the `ESP` plugins. And
indeed: this is the basic idea. However, the official expansions were also made
as ESM files, even though they could essentially be described as really large
plugins, and therefore should have been `ESP` files. There were technical
reasons behind this decision – somewhat valid in the case of the original
engine, but clearly it is better to create a system that can be used in a more
sensible way.  OpenMW achieves this with our own content file types.

We support both ESM and ESP files, but in order to make use of new features in
OpenMW one should consider using new file types designed with our engine in
mind: *game* files and *addon* files, collectively called *content files*.


OpenMW content files
--------------------

The concepts of *Game* and *Addon* files are somewhat similar to the old
concept of *ESM* and *ESP*, but more strictly enforced. It is quite
straight-forward: If you want to make new game using OpenMW as the engine (a
so called *total conversion*) you should create a game file. If you want to
create an addon for an existing game file create an addon file. Nothing else
matters; the only distinction you should consider is if your project is about
changing another game or creating a new one. Simple as that.

Another simple thing about content files are the extensions: we are using
``.omwaddon`` for addon files and ``.omwgame`` for game files.


Morrowind content files
-----------------------

Using our content files is recommended for projects that are intended to use
the OpenMW engine. However, some players might wish to still use the
original Morrowind engine. In addition thousands of *ESP*/*ESM* files were
created since 2002, some of them with really outstanding content. Because of
this OpenMW CS simply has no other choice but to support *ESP*/*ESM* files. If
you decide to choose *ESP*/*ESM* file instead of using our own content file
types you are most likely aiming at compatibility with the original engine. This
subject is covered in its own chapter of this manual.


.. TODO This paragraph sounds weird

The actual creation of new files is described in the next chapter. Here we are
going to focus only on the details you need to know in order to create your
first OpenMW CS file while fully understanding your needs. For now let’s just
remember that content files are created inside the user directory in the the
``data`` subdirectory (that is the one special data directory mentioned
earlier).


Dependencies
------------

Since an addon is supposed to change the game it follows that it also depends
on the said game to work. We can conceptualise this with an example: your
modification is changing the price of an iron sword, but what if there is no
iron sword in game? That's right: we get nonsense. What you want to do is tie
your addon to the files you are changing. Those can be either game files (for
example when making an expansion island for a game) or other addon files
(making a house on said island). Obviously It is a good idea to be dependent
only on files that are really changed in your addon, but sadly there is no
other way to achieve this than knowing what you want to do. Again, please
remember that this section of the manual does not cover creating the content
files – it is only a theoretical introduction to the subject. For now just keep
in mind that dependencies exist, and is up to you to decide whether your
content file should depend on other content files.

Game files are not intended to have any dependencies for a very simple reasons:
the player is using only one game file (excluding original and the dirty
ESP/ESM system) at a time and therefore no game file can depend on another game
file, and since a game file makes the base for addon files it can not depend on
addon files.


Project files
-------------

Project files act as containers for data not used by the OpenMW game engine
itself, but still useful for OpenMW CS. The shining examples of this data
category are without doubt record filters (described in a later chapter of the
manual). As a mod author you probably do not need or want to distribute project
files at all, they are meant to be used only by you and your team.

.. TODO "you and your team": is that correct?

As you would imagine, project files make sense only in combination with actual
content files. In fact, each time you start to work on new content file and a
project file was not found, one will be created. The extension of project files
is ``.project``. The whole name of the project file is the whole name of the
content file with appended extension. For instance a ``swords.omwaddon`` file
is associated with a ``swords.omwaddon.project`` file.

Project files are stored inside the user directory, in the ``projects``
subdirectory. This is the path location for both freshly created project files,
and a place where OpenMW CS looks for already existing files.


Resource files
==============

.. TODO  This paragraph sounds weird

Unless we are talking about a fully text based game, like Zork or Rogue, one
would expect that a video game is using some media files: 3D models with
textures, images acting as icons, sounds and anything else. Since content
files, no matter whether they are *ESP*, *ESM* or new OpenMW file type, do not
contain any of those, it is clear that they have to be delivered with a
different file. It is also clear that this, let’s call it “resources file“,
has to be supported by the engine. Without code handling those files it is
nothing more than a mathematical abstraction – something, that lacks meaning
for human beings.  Therefore this section must cover ways to add resources
files to your content file, and point out what is supported. We are going to do
just that.  Later, you will learn how to make use of those files in your
content.


Audio
-----

OpenMW uses FFmpeg_ for audio playback, and so we support every audio type
supported by that library. This makes a huge list. Below is only small portion
of the supported file types.

mp3 (MPEG-1 Part 3 Layer 3)
   A popular audio file format and de facto standard for storing audio. Used by
   the Morrowind game.

ogg
   An open source, multimedia container file using a high quality Vorbis_ audio
   codec. Recommended.


Video
-----

Video As in the case of audio files, we are using FFmepg to decode video files.
The list of supported files is long, we will cover only the most significant.

bik
   Videos used by the original Morrowind game.

mp4
   A multimedia container which use more advanced codecs (MPEG-4 Parts 2, 3 and
   10) with a better audio and video compression rate, but also requiring more
   CPU intensive decoding – this makes it probably less suited for storing
   sounds in computer games, but good for videos.

webm
   A new, shiny and open source video format with excellent compression. It
   needs quite a lot of processing power to be decoded, but since game logic is
   not running during cutscenes we can recommend it for use with OpenMW.

ogv
   Alternative, open source container using Theora_ codec for video and Vorbis for audio.



Textures and images
-------------------

The original Morrowind game uses *DDS* and *TGA* files for all kinds of two
dimensional images and textures alike. In addition, the engine supported *BMP*
files for some reason (*BMP* is a terrible format for a video game). We also
support an extended set of image files – including *JPEG* and *PNG*. *JPEG* and
*PNG* files can be useful in some cases, for instance a *JPEG* file is a valid
option for skybox texture and *PNG* can useful for masks. However, please keep
in mind that *JPEG* images can grow to large sizes quickly and are not the best
option with a DirectX rendering backend. You probably still want to use *DDS*
files for textures.



.. Hyperlink targets for the entire document

.. _FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org
.. _Vorbis: http://www.vorbis.com
.. _Theora: https://www.theora.org