Looking in the game files

This is a guide on how to look into the game files of BattleNations. This is fairly easy to do on mac, but the same process can be done on a jailbroken Idevice with Ifile (an app that let's you look in the programs installed on your Iphone).

the files can be found here; 

1. Find BattleNations in Finder
2. Right-click BattleNations and click "show package contents"
3. Go to "resources" this is where all the GUI files are found
4. In resources, find a folder called "bundle". This is where all the good stuff is. unit pictures can be found here even before they are implemented so check regularly. 

Other game data like stats are stored in several large JSON files. The structure is described briefly here.

Text

User-visible text in several different languages is stored in files named BattleNations_*.json. When Z2 makes an incremental update to the game, they often put new text in Delta_*.json to reduce the size of the download.

Units

Statistics for combat units are stored in BattleUnits.json. Some of the interesting fields of the unit object are as follows.

Field	Description
blocking	0=None, 1=Partial, 2=Blocking
buildingLevel	Building level required. Check buildings to see which one trains this unit.
buildTime	Training time in seconds
cost	Cost to train unit
healCost	Cost to heal unit
healTime	Healing time in seconds
icon	Unit image file name, usually without .png extension
name	Key used to look up unit name from BattleNations_en.json
prereq	Prerequisites such as player level, buildings, and missions; see below
shortName	Key used to look up shortened unit name
side	Player, Hostile, Neutral, Hero, Villain, etc.
stats	Array of unit ranks; see below
statusEffectImmunities	Cold, Stun, etc.
tags	Array of unit tags like Soldier, Vehicle, etc.
weapons	Unit weapons information; see below

Ranks

The stats array contains statistics that change as the unit gains ranks. Useful fields are:

Field	Description
abilitySlots	Number of ability slots available to equip attacks
accuracy	Added to the Template:Offense of each attack
armorDamageMods	Damage mods while the unit has armor remaining Template:Crushing Template:Explosive Template:Fire Template:Piercing
armorHP	Template:Armor Armor
bravery	Template:Bravery Ability to resist suppression
critical	Template:CriticalBonusIcon Bonus to the critical hit chance of each attack
damageMods	Damage modifiers for each damage type Template:Crushing Template:Explosive Template:Fire Template:Piercing
defense	Template:DefenseIcon Ability to avoid damage
dodge	Template:DodgeIcon Chance to dodge attacks
hp	Template:HP Hit points
levelCutoff	Template:SP Skill points for unit to gain the next rank
levelUpCost	Cost to train the next rank
levelUpTime	Time to train the next rank, in seconds
minDropLevel	Prerank unit if player's level is this high
power	Adds to the damage of each attack
prereqsForLevel	Prerequisites for gaining this rank (just player level so far)
pv	PVP value
rewards	Rewards for defeating this unit

Attacks

Unit attacks are somewhat complicated. Each unit has a list of weapons, and each weapon has a list of abilities. Ability statistics are stored in a separate file, BattleAbilities.json. Unit rank, weapon, and ability statistics are combined to produce the attack stats, as follows:

 mindmg = (floor(weapon.base_damage_min * ability.damageFromWeapon)
        + ability.damage) * (1 + (rank.power * ability.damageFromUnit * 0.02))
 maxdmg = (floor(weapon.base_damage_max * ability.damageFromWeapon)
        + ability.damage) * (1 + (rank.power * ability.damageFromUnit * 0.02))
 crit = (weapon.base_critPercent * ability.critFromWeapon)
      + ability.criticalHitPercent + (rank.critical * ability.critFromUnit)
      + ability.criticalBonuses[target_type]
 offense = (weapon.base_ATK * ability.attackFromWeapon) + ability.attack
         + (rank.accuracy * ability.attackFromUnit)

Fractions are rounded down. A crit value of 5% is considered "normal"; the game does not display crit in the unit attack window if it is equal to 5%.

Other useful fields in the weapon object are:

Field	Description
ammo	Ammunition available before reload
name	Key used to look up weapon name
reloadTime	Number of turns to reload

All abilities on a weapon share the same ammo pool.

Other useful fields in the ability object are:

Field	Description
abilityCooldown	Number of turns before this attack can be reused
ammoRequired	Ammo used per attack
armorPiercingPercent	Armor piercing
attackDirection	front or back
attacksPerUse	Number of attacks; see also shotsPerAttack
chargeTime	Prep time
damageType	Array of damage types
globalCooldown	Turns before this weapon can be used again
icon	Attack icon file name
lineOfFire	0=Contact, 1=Direct, 2=Precise, 3=Indirect
maxRange	Maximum range
maxRangeModATK	Penalty to Template:Offense when target is at maximum range
minHPPercent	Target's Template:HP won't be lowered below this percentage
minRange	Minimum range
name	Key used to look up ability name
reqs	Prereqs and costs to research this attack
shotsPerAttack	Number of shots; see also attacksPerUse
statusEffects	Effects like Template:PoisonDOT encoded as {"dot_poison_4_turn":90.0}
targets	Air, Ground, etc.

Prerequisites

There are often various requirements that must be met before a unit can be trained. These are stored in a list of prereq objects, each of which as a type _t and other data. Here are some of the possible types.

Type	Description
LevelPrereqConfig	Minimum player level needed. This is not always accurate, if other prereqs are present.
CompleteMissionPrereqConfig	Must complete missionId.
HasCompositionPrereqConfig	Must have the building with ID compositionName.
UnitLevelPrereqConfig	unitType must have rank level (used for new attacks).
ActiveTagPrereqConfig	A limited-time offer or event defined by the game server.

Buildings

Building information is in Compositions.json. Each building has a set of componentConfigs, many of which are optional.

The StructureMenu block contains the building's name, icon, prereq, and cost to build. Construction contains the buildTime.

Building size on the map is described by the Placeable block, which gives the building's width and height, and tells whether it isMoveable.

Sellable contains the sell price.

Population

Houses make a contribution to the player's PopulationCapacity.

Many buildings RequireWorkers. The number needed while the building is in operation is workers. Some buildings canToggle on and off. They need minWorkers for upkeep while they are turned off.

Rewards

Assistance gives the rewards for assisting another player's building. There is an interactionLimit to how many times a given building can be assisted per day.

BattleReward gives the reward for raiding the building. The occupy reward is 3.8 times the raid reward, rounded up.

Upgrades

Some buildings can be upgraded. They have a BuildingUpgrade block which contains a list of levels. Each level has an upgradeCost and upgradeTime. There are several other fields in this block that influence the operation of the building, as explained below.

Production

The Taxes block describes buildings that automatically produce output on a certain schedule, such as houses, orchards, and the Supply Drop. It contains a paymentInterval, which gives the time in minutes (unlike most other times in the game files). The production output is given by rewards.

Houses can be upgraded to increase the revenue generated. The Template:Gold produced is multiplied by the output percentage from the BuildingUpgrade section, and Template:XP is multiplied by XPoutput.

ResourceProducer buildings such as the Stone Quarry and Iron Mine generate output constantly, without the need for user interaction. The resource is identified by outputType, and it is produced at the given outputRate per hour, multiplied by the output percentage from BuildingUpgrade.

JobList contains a list of jobs that can be made by shops, farms, ranches, and mills. This includes both regular goods and quest-related items. There is also a demandCategory for most buildings except for mills. Only the job identifiers are stored in Buildings.json; the full information is in JobInfo.json. The cost is multiplied by the input percentage from BuildingUpgrade, and the rewards are multiplied by output. The buildTime is in seconds, as usual.

Healing

Hospitals and repair bays contain a Healing block, which contains the messages displayed by certain actions.

The BuildingUpgrade section has a number of important fields for healing buildings. The maximumHealingQueueSize tells how many units can be waiting for treatment (not counting the one currently being healed). Costs are multiplied by the input percentage, and time required is multiplied by time.

Training

ProjectList contains a list of units that the building can train. The level of the building required to train a unit is found in that unit's buildingLevel field, and the player level is in the prereq structure. Some units have a visibilityPrereq, and won't show up in the in-game build list until a certain condition is met (such as an active promotional offer).

Defense

DefenseStructure has information about structures that can participate in battles, including their radius and repairTime. The combat statistics are in the BattleUnits.json file, identified by unitId.

Garrison buildings have a radius and unitCount.

Bonus Decor

Some decorations give a bonus to nearby buildings. The RadialMod block gives the stats that are affected and the radius of the buff. The tags field gives a list of building types that receive the bonus.

There is usually a limit to the number of bonuses a building can receive. The maxModStack tells the maximum number of decors of exactly the same type that can affect a single building (only 3 Moats can stack modifiers, for example). In other cases, several different decorations may be in the same modCategory. For example, a Farm can't get bonuses from both a Water Tower and Concrete Reservoir, because they are both in the Irrigation category. Bonus categories are defined in RadialMod.json.

Buildings that can be buffed have a RadialModBuffable block that tells which tags they repond to.