Cave generation parameters

In Pikmin 2, the files that define a cave's settings can be found in /user/Mukki/mapunits/caveinfo. For instance, the Emergence Cave uses tutorial_1.txt.

Header

Each file starts with a simple block titled CaveInfo. It contains only one parameter, {c000}, which takes two values, a 4 and the number of sublevels in the cave.

After the opening block, there is a lone number. This number is, once again, the number of sublevels in the cave. After this comes a series of blocks, with each group of 5 belonging to a sublevel.

Sublevel

Each sublevel starts with a block titled FloorInfo (the comment for the first sublevel has a number to the left of it; this is the number of sublevels). The object spawn process for each sublevel is controlled by the following blocks, and is explained in a bit more detail here.

FloorInfo

This block has a large number of parameters that determine how the sublevel works. All content in these parameters consist of two words. The first word is a number, 4 for numbers and -1 for strings. The second word is the actual value of the parameter.

To do: Figure out what happens if you change {f000} and {f001}.

Parameter	Description	Japanese comment
{f000}	The sublevel number this sublevel belongs to, minus 1. For example, if this floor is sublevel 1, the value is 0. Comment translates to "floor introduction".	階はじめ
{f001}	Same as above. Comment translates to "floor end".	階おわり
{f002}	Maximum enemy number. Enemies in dead ends do not count.	敵最大数
{f003}	Maximum treasure number.	アイテム最大数
{f004}	Maximum gate number.	ゲート最大数
{f005}	Number of "room" cave units.	ルーム数
{f006}	Ratio that controls how many corridors there are compared to rooms.	ルートの割合
{f007}	1 if this floor has a geyser, 0 otherwise.	帰還噴水(1=あり)
{f008}	Cave unit list file name.	使用ユニット
{f009}	Lighting definition file name.	使用ライト
{f00A}	Skybox. Valid values are: none, f010, vrbox (they all mean none), ice (ice cavern), test (cavern), build (steel), hiroba (garden), flooring (wooden floor), tatami (carpet).	VRBOX
{f010}	1 if the next sublevel hole is clogged, 0 otherwise.	階段を壊す岩で隠す(0=オフ 1=オン)
{f011}	Unknown.[unsure] Comment translates to "α attribute".	α属性
{f012}	Music type. 0 for normal, 1 to mute (until a boss), 2 to use rest sublevel music	β属性
{f013}	1 if sublevel has an invisible solid plane of ground, generally used for the hiroba, flooring and tatami skyboxes. If 0, Pikmin can fall off the edge to their deaths.	隠し床
{f014}	Maximum number of dead ends.	キャップ最大数
{f015}	Sublevel format version?[unsure]	Version
{f016}	Time until the Waterwraith appears.	BlackManTimer
{f017}	0 is normal, anything else makes it spawn two (connected) seesaw blocks randomly in the level. May spawn the leaders and Pikmin inside one. Unused.	沈む壁

TekiInfo

The next block in the sublevel is titled TekiInfo, and determines the main objects to spawn on the sublevel.

The first number in the block is the total of entries. It is titled num. Each entry consists of two lines. The first line in an entry determines how it spawns, the object's class, what treasure it has inside, how many to spawn, and how likely this object is to be used to fill the enemy slots (only applicable if the object's type indicates that it's an enemy). The second line of each entry is the type of object.

To note is that if something is wrong with the object's spawn data, the game will probably break down, but it might also trigger an error handler. If it does, the object is turned into a fully-functional Common Glowcap.

Class

The first word in the first line contains the object class (fire geyser, Red Bulborb, clover, etc.), using its internal name (case insensitive). Treasures will not work; use the ItemInfo block for that.

If it is an enemy and is carrying something inside it, the internal name of that object's class is also included in that word, in lowercase, after an underscore (e.g. Chappy_key). In this case, the name of the enemy itself is no longer case insensitive and must be written in CamelCase, although exact casing depends on the object.

Spawn method

Some objects spawn from the sky, like Volatile Dweevils that only appear when you get close to their spawn position. To get an object to do this, write a dollar sign and/or a number before the name of the object, without a space in between. Example: $4BombOtakara. You have to write a specific thing to get a specific behavior, and if you write an invalid one, the game crashes:

Code	Effect	Notes
$	Always fall if a Pikmin or leader is nearby.
$0	Triggers the Common Glowcap error handler.	Unused.
$1	Unknown.[unsure]
$2	Only fall if a Pikmin is nearby, leaders are ignored.
$3	Only fall if a leader is nearby, Pikmin are ignored.	Unused.
$4	Only fall if Pikmin are carrying nearby.
$5	Only fall if a Purple causes an earthquake nearby.

To do: Finish the list of supported objects. ...Or list the unsupported objects, if that ends up being easier.

Not all objects support this feature. Here is a list of known objects that do:

• Armored Cannon Beetle
• Egg
• Dwarf Orange Bulborb
• Careening Dirigibug
• Bomb-rock
• Volatile Dweevil
• Boulder
• Wollywog
• Yellow Wollywog
• Anode Beetle
• Bumbling Snitchbug
• Honeywisp
• Queen Candypop Bud
• Fiery Blowhog
• Withering Blowhog
• Anode Dweevil
• Fiery Dweevil
• Caustic Dweevil
• Swooping Snitchbug
• Hairy Bulborb
• Dwarf Red Bulborb
• Fiery Bulblax
• Wogpole
• Water Dumple
• Lesser Spotted Jellyfloat
• Munge Dweevil
• Spotty Bulbear

Amount

The second word is a number, where the last digit is the spawn distribution weight and the other digits are the minimum amount to spawn. If only one digit is present, that determines the distribution weight, and the minimum amount defaults to 0. A distribution weight of 0 means that the game will only spawn the minimum amount and no more. This line is commented with weight.

Type

This number controls what type of object this is, and where it spawns. The number ranges from 0 to 8, and most also correspond to a group of spawn coordinates. When spawning an instance of this object, the game picks a random coordinate from the group, if applicable. This line is commented with type. The following table lists the possible numbers, and the comments on the various unit layout files, in /user/Mukki/mapunits/arc/*/texts.szs/layout.txt, are also included due to them helping understand what each number means.

Group	Content	Notes	layout.txt comment
0	Enemy, spawn coordinate group A		Teki A
1	Enemy, spawn coordinate group B		Teki B
2	Treasure	There is no cave definition file that uses this number.	Item
3	Unused?[unsure]	There is no cave definition file or cave unit definition file that uses this number.
4	Unknown[unsure]		FixObj
5	Enemy, spawns at the entrances of dead ends	No cave unit definition file has a spawn coordinate with this number; the coordinate is likely calculated automatically given how simple and consistent it is.
6	Plant		Plant
7	Leader spawn position	Objects can't use this as the type. This is only used inside cave unit definitions to specify a possible player starting spot in the cave. The Y coordinate is ignored; it snaps to the ground.	Start
8	Enemy, spawn coordinate group C		Teki F

Objects can only use types 0, 1, 5, 6, or 8. Objects will not be spawned on a dead end under TekiInfo. To get them to spawn on dead ends, they must be declared in the CapInfo block; here, they can also use type 2.

Example

	{f002} 4 5 	# 敵最大数

(...)

# TekiInfo
{
	2 	# num
	$Tadpole 23 	# weight
	0 	# type
	Sokkuri_bane 9 	# weight
	1 	# type
}

Assuming there's enough space in the sublevel, this would make the game spawn 2 Wogpoles, that only pop up from the sky when you get close. Then, it spawns 3 randomly picked enemies, with each enemy having a 3/12 chance of being a Wogpole (like the aforementioned ones, these spawn from the sky), and a 9/12 chance of being a Skitter Leaf that is carrying a Coiled Launcher. Any Wogpole in this sublevel will spawn in the set of coordinates that belong to group 0, whereas any Skitter Leaf will spawn on the coordinates of group 1.

ItemInfo

The next block is titled ItemInfo. It controls how treasures spawn. Treasures inside enemies aren't included here.

The first number in the block is the total of entries. It is titled num. Each entry consists of one line. This line contains the internal name of the treasure, in all lowercase, and then after a space, the amount to spawn. This amount uses the same scheme as the TekiInfo block, except it is limited by {f003} instead. If you try to spawn something here that is not a treasure, the game will crash.

Example:

	{f003} 4 4 	# アイテム最大数

(...)

# ItemInfo
{
	3 	# num
	key 10 	# weight
	gold_medal 12 	# weight
	saru_head 04 	# weight
}

The game will spawn 1 The Key and 1 Lustrous Element. Then, it will spawn 2 more treasures, with a 1/6 chance of being a Lustrous Element, and a 4/6 chance of it being a Colossal Fossil.

GateInfo

The next block is titled GateInfo and controls what gates will appear. Each individual gate on a sublevel is randomly colored. The game will spawn the number of gates defined in {f004}, but will stop spawning them if there isn't enough room.

The first number in the block is the total of entries. It is titled num. Each entry consists of two lines.

The first line is the gate's HP. It is titled with life. This line starts with any word (although the word gate is what's used in the vanilla game), and after a space, the amount of hit points it has, with decimal places (e.g. 1000.000000).

The second line is the spawn distribution weight. Only the last digit of this number is used.^[unsure] If the number is 0, this type of gate will not spawn at all, of course.

CapInfo

The final block in a sublevel is titled CapInfo. It determines what objects to spawn in dead ends.

The first number in the block is the total of entries. It is titled num. Each entry consists of three lines.

The logic is the exact same as spawning objects in the TekiInfo block, except for the following things:

1. Instead of being defined by two lines, each entry is defined by three. There is an extra line before the usual weight and type lines, which determines, presumably, the type of dead end this spawn applies to. It is titled captype, and always has the value 0.
2. Objects spawned here appear in dead ends.
3. Enemies spawned with this block do not count for the enemy limit.