JSON layout¶

The JSON form is what older editors saved. It's also what --dump, a .json save, the clipboard and the live link use.

Readers treat any file that doesn't start with \x89GTM as JSON, with or without a UTF-8 byte order mark. An old JSON map loads as it is and turns binary on its next .tdm save.

json_fmt.rs prints it so diffs stay readable. It indents by two spaces, keeps keys in the order these pages list them, and puts short arrays and objects on one line. Every face is one line, and so is a vertices array of up to 64 entries, so moving one brush only changes that brush's lines.

Your own tool doesn't have to copy this layout, any valid JSON with the same content loads the same.

Converting¶

Command	Result
`trenchdot --dump map.tdm`	Prints the map as JSON
`trenchdot --to-json map.tdm map.json`	Writes the map as JSON
`trenchdot --to-gtm map.json map.tdm`	Writes a binary map, refusing a file the editor could not open

The conversions copy the file content without loading it into the editor, so they keep keys the editor doesn't know.

The editor opens .json maps too, and Save As with a .json name writes JSON. For JSON diffs of binary maps in git, see Map files in git.

Clipboard¶

Copy and paste use the same node shape in another wrapper:

{
  "format": "trenchdot-clipboard",
  "version": 1,
  "nodes": [ ... ]
}

nodes holds the copied subtrees without their parents. Pasting runs the same checks as loading, gives every node a fresh id and keeps label, hidden and locked. A copied layer pastes its children.

The live link sends single nodes in the same shape, without children.

Example¶

A trimmed excerpt of godot/demo/maps/scripted_scene.tdm as trenchdot --dump prints it, with the floor brush and an explosive barrel:

{
  "format": "trenchdot-map",
  "version": 1,
  "properties": {
    "ambient_color": "60 66 82",
    "classname": "worldspawn",
    "message": "Scripted Scene",
    "sky_ground_color": "60 62 70",
    "sky_horizon_color": "120 130 150",
    "sky_top_color": "40 54 92",
    "sun_angles": "-40 -55",
    "sun_energy": "0.6"
  },
  "layers": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "layer",
      "name": "Default",
      "color": "#7e67e6ff",
      "omit_from_export": false,
      "children": [
        {
          "id": 2,
          "type": "brush",
          "vertices": [[320.0,8.0,-320.0],[320.0,8.0,320.0],[320.0,0.0,320.0],[320.0,0.0,-320.0],[-320.0,8.0,320.0],[-320.0,8.0,-320.0],[-320.0,0.0,-320.0],[-320.0,0.0,320.0]],
          "faces": [
            {"indices":[0,1,2,3],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[0.0,0.0,-1.0],"v_axis":[0.0,-1.0,0.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}},
            {"indices":[4,5,6,7],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[0.0,0.0,1.0],"v_axis":[0.0,-1.0,0.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}},
            {"indices":[1,0,5,4],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[1.0,0.0,0.0],"v_axis":[0.0,0.0,1.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}},
            {"indices":[3,2,7,6],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[1.0,0.0,0.0],"v_axis":[0.0,0.0,1.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}},
            {"indices":[2,1,4,7],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[1.0,0.0,0.0],"v_axis":[0.0,-1.0,0.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}},
            {"indices":[6,5,0,3],"material":"showcase/cobble","uv":{"u_axis":[-1.0,0.0,0.0],"v_axis":[0.0,-1.0,0.0],"offset":[0.0,0.0],"scale":[1.0,1.0],"rotation":0.0}}
          ]
        },
        {
          "id": 17,
          "type": "entity",
          "classname": "prop_physics",
          "origin": [0.0,24.0,176.0],
          "angles": [0.0,0.0,0.0],
          "properties": {
            "explosion_damage": "25",
            "explosion_radius": "256",
            "explosive": "1",
            "health": "5",
            "model": "res://demo/scenes/barrel.tscn",
            "size": "16 24 16",
            "targetname": "barrel"
          },
          "outputs": [{"output":"broken","target":"hp_readout","input":"run"}]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

The floor is a 640 by 640 unit slab 8 units thick with its top at Y 8. Its first face, [0,1,2,3], is the +X side, wound counter-clockwise seen from +X.

MCP¶

The tools of the MCP server read and return nodes in this JSON form too.