Glossary

This page describes the terms used describe various concepts in Arx Libertatis.

Ambiance

Ambiances describe the background noises audible in Arx. These can be comprised of multiple tracks, each of which supports panning (to simulate audio coming from different directions), fading, delays, as well as randomizing these effects.

Stored in .amb files.

Area

An area is a part of the game world that can be loaded at once which each map level containing one or more area.

Exactly one area can be active at any time. The player transitions between areas of the same or different map level using area transitions or teleporters.

These areas are also called levels in the original AF source code and in the game assets while map levels are called "truelevel" when the distinction matters. In AL we try to use the term "area" to refer to them to avoid mixing the concept up with other types of levels. Some games call them maps or zones.

Areas are numbered and are defined in .dlf files with lighting information stored in separate .llf files for release versions of the game.

Areas contain:

• A list of entities with their initial positions
• Paths
• Zones
• Static and dynamic (toggle-able) light sources

Each area has an associated scene with the same number.

Caster level

Main article: Caster level.

The caster level (or casting level) is a number determining a (player or NPC) caster's skill in the arkane arts. For the player it is calculated from the Casting skill and Mental attribute.

Cinemascope

A letter-boxed view of the scene with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Used in conversations and cutscenes. The black bar at the bottom of the screen provides space for subtitles.

Cinematic

A cinematic in Arx is a series of static pictures with added effects such as a panning, zooming or rotating camera and lighting, as well as audio. Unlike conversations and other in-engine cutscenes, they do not use the cinemascope letterbox.

Stored in .cin files.

Entity

Main article: Entity.

Entities are any parts of the scene that are not part of the scene background. They are controlled by script files, can have a visible object and can be interactive.

Level

The term "level" is unfortunately quite overloaded in RPGs generally and even more so in Arx Fatalis. See:

• Player level - increased after achieving a required number of experience points, granting additional attribute and skill points.
• Caster level - measure of how powerful cast spells are.
• Map level - storey or floor in the world of Arx Fatalis, made up of one or more areas.
• Area - loadable part of the game world.

Map level

Main article: World of Arx Fatalis.

The world of Arx Fatalis is made up of multiple levels layered on top of each other. Each level has a map and can be made up of multiple scenes.

Object

The 3D mesh and associated materials describing the 3D appearance of an entity.

Stored in .ftl files. Raw objects were stored in .teo files but are not shipped as part of the game data.

Path

A curve defined by a series of points that cameras or other entities can move along.

Paths are stored in one list with zones in .dlf files.

Player level

The player level describes the player character progression and can be increased after obtaining a required number of experience points.

Scene

Static mesh part of an area. Also sometimes referred to as "background". Stored in .fts files. Raw scene backgrounds were stored in .scn files but are not shipped as part of the game data.

Tile

One cell in a regular 2D grid spanning the scene. Each primitive of the scene background is assigned to one or more tiles. Tiles are used to quickly find all primitives near a position.

Zone

Main article: Zone.

A polygonal region (optional with a minimum and maximum height) in an area which triggers script events or ambiance changes when the player or another entity enters or exits it.

Paths are stored in one list with zones in .dlf files and Arx Fatalis source code also stores both in one array and consequently sometimes uses the term "paths" for zones as well.