WND file reference

General overview

The WND format is not meant to be edited by hand, but it can be edited that way with ease and precision.

WND files need to be edited and tested carefully. Corrupting the format will crash the game on startup.

Before moving any elements around, adjust the CREATIONRESOLUTION on all elements first. Set this to match your mockups. Window elements will automatically scale up or down in both X and Y with the user’s selected game resolution.

WND does not allow comments, but most elements can have custom names that help describe them: NAME = "MyWindow.wnd:MyAmazingButton"

Avoid resizing a window element to zero size. It can crash the game at runtime: SCREENRECT = UPPERLEFT: 0 0, BOTTOMRIGHT: 0 0

Hide window elements by setting the following STATUS flags: STATUS = ENABLED+HIDDEN+SEE_THRU+NOINPUT+NOFOCUS

Block screen areas from user input by placing a window element with: INPUTCALLBACK = "GameWinBlockInput"

Window elements with WINDOWTYPE = SCROLLLISTBOX cannot render large text rows correctly. Avoid using long text and/or large fonts. The standard HeaderTemplate.ini configuration displayed at 1920x1080 resolution is almost as high as it can go without breaking.

Window transition styles can be added to the Data\INI\WindowTransitions.ini file. The styles are:

Keyword	Description
FLASH	Fine white flash
BUTTONFLASH	Bright `FLASH`; emits a fade sound
FULLFADE	Black fade
TEXTONFRAME	Used on static text with a delay
COUNTUP	Used in static numbers with a delay
SCORESCALEUP	Used in images on the score screen; emits tick sounds
CONTROLBARARROW	Doesn’t work with screens
SCREENFADE	Used by all screens
WINSCALEUP	Same as `SCORESCALEUP`, but emits a swoosh sound
MAINMENUMEDIUMSCALEUP
REVERSESOUND	Used in borders; acts like `FULLFADE`

Window element attributes

WINDOWTYPE
  +USER
  +PUSHBUTTON
  +RADIOBUTTON
  +ENTRYFIELD
  +STATICTEXT
  +PROGRESSBAR
  +SCROLLLISTBOX
  +COMBOBOX
  +CHECKBOX
  +HORZSLIDER
  +VERTSLIDER

SCREENRECT
  UPPERLEFT: X Y,
  BOTTOMRIGHT: X Y,
  CREATIONRESOLUTION: X Y

NAME =
  "WindowName.wnd:ElementName"

STATUS =
  +ENABLED
  +HIDDEN
  +SEE_THRU
  +IMAGE
  +BORDER
  +NOINPUT
  +NOFOCUS
  +DRAGABLE
  +WRAP_CENTERED
  +ON_MOUSE_DOWN
  +HOTKEY_TEXT
  +RIGHT_CLICK
  +CHECK_LIKE
  +TABSTOP

STYLE =
  +USER
  +MOUSETRACK
  +PUSHBUTTON
  +RADIOBUTTON
  +ENTRYFIELD
  +STATICTEXT
  +PROGRESSBAR
  +SCROLLLISTBOX
  +COMBOBOX
  +CHECKBOX
  +HORZSLIDER
  +VERTSLIDER

SYSTEMCALLBACK =
  "[None]"
  "PassMessagesToParentSystem"
  ...

INPUTCALLBACK =
  "[None]"
  "GameWinBlockInput"
  ...

TOOLTIPCALLBACK =
  "[None]"
  ...

DRAWCALLBACK =
  "[None]"
  "W3DNoDraw"
  "W3DGadgetPushButtonImageDraw"
  "W3DGameWinDefaultDraw"
  ...

FONT =
  NAME: "Font"
  SIZE: 0..n
  BOLD: 0..1

HEADERTEMPLATE =
  "[None]"
  "Title"
  "Title"
  "MainButton"
  "Button"
  "ButtonSmall"
  "TextEntry"
  "ComboBoxEntry"
  "MinorTitle"
  "LabelRegular"
  "LabelSmall"
  "LoadScreenCameos"
  "LoadScreenMissionLocation"
  "Arial10BoldTemplate"
  "Arial12BoldTemplate"
  "Arial14Template"
  "Arial14BoldTemplate"
  ...
  See Data\Language\HeaderTemplate.ini

TOOLTIPDELAY =
  -1
  0..n

TEXT =
  "CATEGORY:StringName"
  ...
  See Data\Language\generals.csf

TEXTCOLOR =
  ENABLED: R G B A,
  ENABLEDBORDER: R G B A,
  DISABLED: R G B A,
  DISABLEDBORDER: R G B A,
  HILITE: R G B A,
  HILITEBORDER: R G B A