HPL2/Script Pre-Processor

Script Pre-Processor

The C pre-processor is a powerful tool that allows programers many options when writing their code - among these options are commands such as #include ””, which allows the user to include the contents from one code file into another.

Original Post

Setting Up

In the below ZIP-File a copy of MCPP is included as the pre-processor. I have also written a batch script which will call the pre-processor with the appropriate arguments as well as a display error messages & log them into a text file.

Zip File Download

The next thing to do is set up notepad++ to use the batch file and MCPP. Extract the contents of the zip file to a safe place (For example in a new folder in the amnesia directory). Open up notepad++ and go into the “run” menu and click “run” (or press F5). Into this dialogue box put the following:

[FOLDER]\PreProcess.bat $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY) $(FILE_NAME) $(NAME_PART).hps

Replace [FOLDER] with the folder the batch file is in. For example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Amnesia\HPS_PREPROCESSOR\PreProcess.bat $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY) $(FILE_NAME) $(NAME_PART).hps

It is recommended that you then click save and bind the command to something like F6 - otherwise you will have to enter this every time you start notepad++ .

Warning: Do not press “run” (or F6 if you bound it) on a script file which ends in ”.hps”! This will wipe the script file!!! Give your script files which use the pre-processor a different extension (E.g .phps or .lhps).

Usage

The files that exist before pre-processing will have to have a different extension to the one after pre-processing. The simplest way to do this is to call your script files something like “level.phps” so that the pre-processor writes “level.hps”. Consider the following test code:

 //level.phps//
 #include "inclusion_test.phps"
 
 void OnEnter()
  {
    AddDebugMessage("File 1",false);
  }
 
 //inclusion_test.phps//
 void OnStart()
  {
   AddDebugMessage("File 2",false);
  }

Running the script from test.phps (F6 if you followed the instructions above) should create “test.hps”:

void OnStart()
 {
 AddDebugMessage("File 2",false);
 }  
 
 void OnEnter()
 {
 AddDebugMessage("File 1",false);
 }

Which is what the game will see from test.map and run. When you distribute your custom stories only this exported file is required. Obviously, since we are now using a C pre-processor there is a whole host of other things you can do.

Reccomended Extra Installation Setup

You may notice that stuff like #include isn't color coded - and that your new script files ”.phps” aren't automatically recognised as HPS files! I Have updated the notepad++ files to fix this (Note that these are updated versions of the overhauled notepad++ files, which provide a fixed function list, folding regions and a new color scheme)

Download

Installation (Steps 1→4 are optional but recommended):

1. Close notepad++
2. Go to where you installed notepad (Probably C:\Program Files\Notepad++ or C:\Program Files (X86)\Notepad++\)
3. Go to the folder "Plugins" Then to the folder "APIs"
4. Copy across the downloaded version of "hps.xml" into this folder. If you a prompted to overwrite, say yes.

1. Start notepad++
2. Go into view→ User-Defined Dialogue
3. On the drop-down box, if there is the option to select "HPS", select it and and click "Remove"
4. Click import, and import "UserDefinedDialogue.xml"

You will now a fixed functions list for amnesia (Adds missing functions & keywords, removes non-existing ones), as well as a new color scheme, folding regions (+ - /** **/ Begin End) etc. ”.hps, .phps, .lhps” are now detected, and ”#…” are coloured correctly.