hercules/doc/map_cache.md

Mapcache Generation 2018

As of Release v2018.03.13, the method to generate mapcache for Hercules has changed.

Old (your source predates [is older than] Feb 18, 2018)

In the old system, there were two ways to generate mapcache

• You could run the mapcache executable in Hercules root folder.
• Or use a program such as WeeMapCache to edit in your required mapcache.

These two methods would generate or alter your required mapcache located in db/[pre-re or re]/map_cache.dat. However, they are no longer supported.

New (your source is using Release v2018.03.13 or newer)

The new system involves the use of the new 'mapcache' plugin to generate files. Some quick points:

• db/[pre-re or re]/map_cache.dat has been dropped (no longer supported).
• In its place are individual .mcache files for every map located in maps/[pre-re or re]/
• mapcacheexecutable has been removed.
• Replaced with the mapcache plugin (src/plugins/mapcache.c).

How to generate the mapcache?

• Same as before, check conf/map/maps.conf and db/map_index.txt have all the maps you want to cache.
• Your maps need to exist somewhere in your repository! There are two ways for the plugin to find them:
  • Place all your maps, including resnametable.txt, inside the data folder of your Hercules repo. I.e. Hercules/data/prontera.gat/gnd/gnd/rsw (note: I forget if all three files are needed).
  • OR Configure your conf/grf-files.txt to tell it where to find your GRF(s) which contains your maps.
• Build the mapcache plugin. On linux, this can be done by running the following command:
  • make plugin.mapcache
  • If using MSVC, compile as you would any other plugin.
• Execute plugin. This can be done using the following command:
  • ./map-server --load-plugin mapcache [param]
  • In windows, just remove the ./ and run the commands in your command prompt.

The params:

The first thing you should do is run ./map-server --load-plugin mapcache --help

A list of usable parameters will appear. Here are the ones you need to know for mapcache:

[Info]:   --convert-old-mapcache         Converts an old db/pre-re/map_cache.dat file to the new format. [Mapcache]
[Info]:   --rebuild-mapcache             Rebuilds the entire mapcache folder (maps/pre-re/), using db/map_index.txt as index. [Mapcache]
[Info]:   --map <name>                   Rebuilds an individual map's cache into maps/pre-re/ (usage: --map <map_name_without_extension>). [Mapcache]
[Info]:   --fix-md5                      Updates the checksum for the files in maps/pre-re/, using db/map_index.txt as index (see PR #1981). [Mapcache]

• Rebuild all the .mcache files using your old db/[pre-re or re]map_cache.dat file: ./map-server --load-plugin mapcache --convert-old-mapcache

• Rebuild all the .mcache files using your map files specified in step 2 of generation: ./map-server --load-plugin mapcache --rebuild-mapcache

• Rebuild the .mcache file for the map name you specify. E.g. if you replace with prontera, the maps/[pre-re or re]/prontera.mcache file will be rebuilt: ./map-server --load-plugin mapcache --map <name>