WarCraft III Maps by Antistone

Gobbledygook

Gobbledygook is an engine for creating custom "save codes", or passwords, for storing information.  The basic idea is that the game displays a string to the player, which the player must write down and type in (as a chat message) in the next game to load the appropriate information.  This engine is designed to be very easy to customize, and is designed primarily for saving heroes, but it can be used for save other things, as well.

Gobbledygook features:

Easy Customizability:

• Just enter in a list of hero types, abilities, and item types (of any length) and Gobbledygook will automatically build them into a save code.
• Saves hero level/XP, strength, agility, intelligence, bonus skill points, gold, and lumber--just specify the minimum and maximum values.
• You can define "save points" to save the hero's position and restrict where he can save--or just define one point where loaded heroes are created and allow saving anywhere.
• Automatically incorporates any "custom values" you specify into the save code.  Use as many as you want, just set the minimum and maximum value for each.
• The entire engine is written (almost) entirely in GUI and extensively commented.

Compression:

• Performs arbitrary change-of-base calculations to store the information you specify using the smallest number of characters possible.
• Stores hero XP, attributes, and skill points relative to the base amounts for a hero's type and level, rather than as absolute values, providing greater flexibility and saving space in common usage.
• XP, attributes, gold, and lumber can all be approximated (to a custom level of precision) in the save code to save space.
• If you don't need to store a particular value in your map, just set the minimum and maximum to the same number, and it will take up zero space in the save code.

Security:

• Choose exactly how much space you want to allocate to a checksum that verifies the user entered a real code with no errors.
• Built-in encryption option uses both substitution and transposition to turn an otherwise understandable save code into...well, gobbledygook.
• Optionally encrypts save codes with the player's name, so they'll work only for the player who generated them.
• Automatically detects when the map is run in single-player mode, and can optionally use different codes for single- and multi-player, or disable save codes entirely in single-player mode.
• Note:  The encryption is not very strong.  It is intended to be used for obfuscation only.  Anyone who really wants to cheat is just going to open your map in the editor, anyway, so there's not much point to using strong encryption.

To examine Gobbledygook, download the sample map above.  To use it in your own map, follow the instructions in the trigger comment labeled "Read Me."

Please send feedback and bug reports to Antistone.