WoW Cataclysm: Terrain Phases Explained

**DrakeFish** · 05-10-2010

By browsing the DBC files and the Alpha world, I found out the basis of the Terrain Phases, and some infos about the upcoming terrain phases.
The way phases work didn't change, you can only see NPC/Players/Server Objects that are into the same phase as yours, but Blizzard added terrain phasing to that. The terrain phase request will be sent by server, and your client will swape, just like when you get teleported to a different map, but without the loading screen.

Phase.DBC
First of, the phases list is placed in the Phase.DBC file like this:
-Phase Entry ID
-MapID: The MapID where the phase happens (-1 if there's no terrain phase).
-Phase MapID: The MapID to be loaded (see below).
-Field3: Unknown, It's always 0.
-Phase Name: The string name of the phase, not showed ingame, so it's probly only for developers.
-Field5: Unknown, 0 or 4, Normal world is 8.

Phase MapID to be loaded: The terrain phases are, in fact, separate MapID that only contains the terrain to be phased (so if we want to replace 3 ADTs, we place those 3 ADTs replacements into the Map file). Any ADT placed there will replace the wanted map map ADT.

Additionally, the Field 18 from Map.DBC file now contains the "MapID to Swap". This value is -1 if this map isn't used as a Phase, and if it is used as a Phase, this value is the MapID where this Phase will apply.

Current Terrain Phases:
In the Alpha (build 11927), according to the Map.DBC, there is currently 9 Maps that are used as phases. However, some look to be test areas only.
According to the Phase.DBC, there is actually 25 Terrain Phases. I made a list of the actual possible phases:

Code:

Hyjal A		// Those 4 Hyjal phases use the same Terrain Phase (there's only one yet anyways)
Hyjal B
Hyjal C
Hyjal D
Stonetalon Bomb				// This is after the Thal'Darah Grove area gets bombed.
Stonetalon Bomb 2
Stonetalon 4.x - Cliffwalker Finale (Final) // Used for the final quest of Cliffwalker chain
The Lost Isles Phase 5 Terrain Swap	// Town-In-A-Box opened
The Lost Isles Phase 6 Terrain Swap	// Town-In-A-Box opened
The Lost Isles Phase 7 Terrain Swap	// Town-In-A-Box opened
The Lost Isles Phase 8 Terrain Swap	// Volcano has erupted
The Lost Isles Phase 9 Terrain Swap	// Volcano has erupted
The Lost Isles Phase 10 Terrain Swap	// Volcano has erupted
Gilneas Lev 6		// No terrain phase
Gilneas Lev 7		// No terrain phase
Gilneas Lev 8		// Water started to rise
Gilneas Lev 9		// Same as above
Gilneas Lev 10		// Much watered areas
Gilneas City Unphased Terrain Swap
Gilneas City Phase 1 Terrain Swap		// Multiple Gilneas City Phases
Gilneas City Phase 2 Terrain Swap		// I can't see a big difference between those phases
Gilneas City Phase 3 Terrain Swap
Gilneas City Phase 4 Terrain Swap
Gilneas City Phase 5 Terrain Swap 
Gilneas Phase 11 Terrain Swap	// Much watered areas (like Gilneas Lev 10)

Terrain Phases Screenshots:

Lost Isles

Gilneas

Hyjal

If you have any question, or if I forgot some details, just tell me and I'll update it.