The cheat console

Printing to the console

You can print text to the console using the App::ConsolePrintF() method. It works like the C++ printf method.

App::ConsolePrintF("Hello World!");

You can use "format specifiers" to print the value of variables. For example, d can be used to print integers, and f to print floats:

App::ConsolePrintF("Integer: %d     Float: %f", 10, 4.5f);

That prints Integer: 10 Float: 4.5

Adding a new cheat

Cheats use the ArgScript scripting language, which is the same used in many Spore files (such as .prop.prop_t). You have more info in the SporeModderFX wiki.

To create a new cheat we have to create a class that parses an ArgScript command. You can use the ModAPI Cheat item template to create one. It basically creates a class like this:

using namespace ArgScript;

class MyCheat 
    : public ICommand
{
public:
    void ParseLine(const Line& line) override;
    const char* GetDescription(DescriptionMode mode) const override;
};

The simplest method is GetDescription(); there you just have to return a description of your cheat, that is showed when executing the help command. Depending on the mode parameter you can return a more complex description which is shown when executing help mycheat.

const char* MyCheat::GetDescription(DescriptionMode mode) const {
    if (mode == DescriptionMode::Basic) {
        return "This is a basic description";
    } else {
        return "MyCheat: does something like this.\n"
                "   You can include line breaks.\n"
    }
}

ParseLine() is the method called when the player executes the cheat. The line parameter has information about the arguments and options that the player wrote.

You can add the cheat in your Initialize() method. Cheat names are case-insensitive: CheatManager.AddCheat("myCheat", new MyCheat());

Processing the cheat line

Let's see an example of how to process arguments and options typed by the player in the cheat; this is done by calling functions on the line parameter. Check the ArgScript::Line documentation. The main functions you must know are GetArguments() and GetOption(), which return a list of strings. For example, if I have the line mycheat 3 water -option (0.3, 0, 1.0):

• line.GetArguments(2) will return a list with "3", "water".
• line.GetOption("option", 1) will return a list with "(0.3, 0, 1.0)".

The numeric argument in those functions is how many arguments were expected; this means that if the player had only typed one argument, the first function would have raised an exception, that is shown to the user in the console. The returned list contains strings, but you can convert those elements to integers, floats, colors,... with the mpFormatParser member:

void MyCheat::ParseLine(const Line& line)
{
    auto args = line.GetArguments(2);
    int val = mpFormatParser->ParseInt(args[0]);
    // In the above example, val = 3 and args[1] = "water"

    args = line.GetOption("option", 1);
    ColorRGB color = mpFormatParser->ParseColorRGB(args[0]);
}

Cheats-Examples

// This is in dllmain.cpp

using namespace ArgScript;

class PlanetBusterCheat 
    : public ICommand
{
public:
    void ParseLine(const Line& line) {
        if (IsSpaceGame()) {
            cSpaceToolDataPtr tool;
            ToolManager.LoadTool({id("PlanetBusterBomb"), 0, 0}, tool);
            
            size_t numArgs;
            auto args = line.GetArgumentsRange(&numArgs, 0, 1);
            if (numArgs == 1) {
                tool->mCurrentAmmoCount = mpFormatParser->ParseInt(args[0]);
            }
            
            auto inventory = SimulatorSpaceGame.GetPlayerInventory();
            inventory->AddItem(tool.get());
        }
    }
    
    const char* GetDescription(DescriptionMode mode) const {
        return "Call the cheat. Drop the bomb. BOOM!";
    }
};

void Initialize() {
    CheatManager.AddCheat("planetBuster", new PlanetBusterCheat());
}