Game scheme file

The W:A scheme file format contains game settings, which define which weapons will be available, various game options such as turn time and weapon strength, as well as many other settings.

File format

Much of the following information was extracted from The Fiddler, written by Fudge Boy.

• 00 - Header - "SCHM" (4 bytes)
• 04 - Version - 1 or 2 (1 byte)
• 05 - Time between turns (also known as hot-seat time), in seconds (1 byte)
• 06 - Retreat time (time during which the worm is still in control after firing a weapon), in seconds (1 byte)
• 07 - Rope retreat time (same as above, but when the weapon is fired/dropped off the rope), in seconds (1 byte)
• 08 - Display total round time (boolean, 1 byte)
• 09 - Automatic replays (boolean, 1 byte)
• 0A - Fall damage (the level of damage done by falling a long way) (1 byte)
• 0B - Artillery mode (aka anchored worms, worms can't jump or move) (1 byte, boolean)
• 0C - Unknown (1 byte)
• 0D - Stockpiling mode (what happens to unused weapons) - 0=Off, 1=On, 2=Anti (1 byte)
• 0E - Enable worm select at the start of the turn (boolean, 1 byte)
• 0F - Round end style (what happens when the time runs out) - 0=round is drawn, 1=nuclear strike, 2=all worms' energy drops to 1, 3=nothing happens (1 byte)
• 10 - Sudden death water rise (how fast the water should rise after sudden death) (1 byte)
• 11 - Weapon crate probability (the relative chance that a crate drop will contain weapons) (1 byte)
• 12 - Donor cards (boolean, 1 byte)
• 13 - Health crate probability (the relative chance that a crate drop will contain energy) (1 byte)
• 14 - Health crate energy (how much energy is contained in a health crate) (1 byte)
• 15 - Utility crate probability (the relative chance that a crate drop will contain a utility) (1 byte)
• 16 - Hazardous object types (what hazards should appear on the landscape) - 0=none, 1=mines, 2=drums, 5=both (1 byte)
• 17 - Mine delay (how long between activating a mine and it exploding) (1 byte)
• 18 - Dud mines (boolean, 1 byte)
• 19 - Manual worm placement (boolean, 1 byte)
• 1A - Initial worm energy (1 byte)
• 1B - Turn time (how long you get to make your move), in seconds (1 byte)
• 1C - Round time (time before sudden death), in minutes (1 byte)
• 1D - Number of rounds (how many rounds are required to win the match) (1 byte)
• 1E - Blood (boolean, 1 byte)
• 1F - Aqua Sheep enabled (boolean, 1 byte)
• 20 - Sheep Heaven (boolean, 1 byte)
• 21 - Indestructible worms (boolean, 1 byte)
• 22 - Indestructible land (boolean, 1 byte)
• 23 - Upgraded grenade (boolean, 1 byte)
• 24 - Upgraded shotgun (boolean, 1 byte)
• 25 - Upgraded banana (boolean, 1 byte)
• 26 - Upgraded longbow (boolean, 1 byte)
• 27 - Player weapons enabled (boolean, 1 byte)
• 28 - Super weapons enabled (boolean, 1 byte)
• 29 - Individual weapon settings (45 or 64 weapon structures, depending whether the version byte is 1 or 2)

Weapon structure

The first scheme format version holds only the 45 regular weapons, and is 221 bytes in size. Version 2 of the format added support for super weapon settings, totalling to 64 weapon records.

Each weapon setting structure is 4 bytes long and is as follows:

• 00 - ammo (1 byte)
• 01 - power (1 byte)
• 02 - delay (1 byte)
• 03 - crate probability (1 byte)

TODO: link or add normal value ranges, and how the game acts when stuff is set outside these bounds