Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
1, "max": 1
},
"crt_freeze": {
"display_perc": true, "mult": false, "al-
ways_random": false,
"min": 0.2, "max": 0.2, "type": "critical"
},
"instant_kill_change": {
"display_perc": true, "mult": false, "al-
ways_random": false,
"min": 0.2, "max": 0.2, "type": "bonus"
},
"vitality_regen": {
"mult": false, "always_random": false, "min":
2, "max": 2
}
}
Even if you try to reduce the sizes of both the JSON and XML files by removing
all extraneous whitespaces and carriage returns, in this particular instance the
JSON file still ends up being slightly larger than the XML one. So although JSON
can be a great text-based file format in some situations, in the case of
The Witcher
2
, the developers likely made the correct decision to use XML instead.
Case Study: UI Mods in
World of Warcraft
Now that we've explored scripting languages and text-based data representations,
let's take a look at a system that uses both: user interface modifications in
World
of Warcraft
. In most games, the UI is whatever the designers and programmers
implemented, and you're stuck with it. Although there are often some options and
settings, most games do not allow configuration of the UI beyond that. However,
in an MMORPG, players have a lot of different preferences—for instance, some
players might want the enemy health to be shown in the center of the screen,
whereas others might want it in the top right.
What Blizzard wanted to do is create a UI system that was heavily customizable.
They wanted a system that not only allowed the placement of elements to be
changed, but for entirely new elements to be added. In order to facilitate this,
