Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault Scripting Standard

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault Scripting Standard

�� The MOHPA scripting language is a very large and powerful language.� It

is also difficult to debug due to the lack of debugging tools.� Te goal of this document is to make scripts easier to read, more readily understandable, and therefore easier to debug by you and whoever is going to end up trying to understand�� your script.� Please use this document and map 5_6_village as a guide when creating your scripts.

1) Header at the top of every script file containing the following information:

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

//� scriptname.scr

//� <description here>

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

===============================

2) Function blocks should start like this:

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FunctionNameHere:

// description of the functions purpose

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

�� waitthread DoStuff

�� end

===============================

3) A function that has parameters passed into it should start like this:

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FunctionNameHere local.parm1 local.parm2 local.parm3:

// description of the functions purpose

// parm1 - comment defining parm1 and what it is

// parm2 - comment defining parm2 and what it is

// parm3 - comment defining parm3 and what it is

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

�� waitthread DoStuff local.parm1 local.parm2 local.parm3

�� end

===============================

3) Bracing style should be with the braces lined up with its corresponding if/while command

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FunctionNameHere:

// description of the functions purpose

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

�� if( condition )

�� {

�� while ( condition2 )

�� {

�� waitthread DoStuff

�� waitthread DoMoreStuff

�� waitthread DoEvenMoreStuff

�� }

�� end

===============================

4) NO ASSIGNMENTS are to be done inside of if(), while(), or for() statments.� This is to help prevent the common typo of '=' vs. '=='.� So for example:

Legal:

if( checkForCondition == TRUE )

{

�� waitthread DoStuffHere

}

NOT LEGAL:

if( (someVariable = X + 10) == TRUE )

{

�� waitthread DoStuffHere();

}

===============================

5) When naming functions, capitalize each logical word in the name.�

Example:

(less desirable)

my_function_name:

myfunctionname:

myFunctionName:

(more desirable)

MyFunctionName:

===============================

6) When naming variables, the first letter of the variable should be lowercase.� Each subsequent logical word in the name should be capitalized.

Example:

(less desirable)

level.SuperCoolVariable

level.supercoolvariable

level.super_cool_variable

(more desirable)

level.superCoolVariable

===============================

7) Comment your code.�� Good commenting is the key to team collaboration when multiple people are going to be handing off scripts to one another.�

===============================

8) When naming variables and functions, pick descriptive names that make sense and are understandable in terms of reading the code and finding out what that function / variable does.� One should almost be able to understand and read the script just from the variable and function names along.� It is much better to write a sentence for a name, than to have a simple 'e1' for a variable name.�

===============================

9) Old C style block comments using - /* */ - should only be done when temporarily commenting out blocks of actual code.� This method should NOT be used for the permanent comments

CORRECT METHOD:

�� //--- spawn an explosioin

�� $plasma4_spawn.modelname ( "fx/fx-sml-exp.tik" );

�� $plasma4_spawn.spawntargetname ( "plasma4_boom" );

�� trigger ( "$plasma4_spawn" );

�� $plasma4_spawn.remove ();

WRONG METHOD:

this function is used to move the elevator between m1l1 and m1l2

===============================

10) Only leave commented out code in the code if it needs to be visible for some reason.

===============================

11) Do not swear/cuss/use "bad words" in your scripts.� Players have access to and will read whatever we write in the script. �

===============================

12)� The main script should have minimal code in it.� Its main responsibility is to setup all the sub-scripts (scripts in the map's sub-folder), initialize global variables, and start the level.�

===============================

13)� Whenever possible, use the thread or waithread command instead of a for loop.� It makes the code easier to read (and write for that matter).

// example:

// less desireable

�� for (local.i=1;local.i<=$squad.size;local.i++)

�� {

�� $squad[local.i].var1 = 5

�� $squad[local.i].var2 = 7

�� }

// more desireable:

�� $squad waitthread InitSquad

�� end

// ------------------------------------------------------------

InitSquad:

// ------------------------------------------------------------

�� self.var1 = 5

�� self.var2 = 7

�� end

===============================

14) Use the "waitthread" command over the "thread" command whenever possible.� The thread command creates a new thread that is put on the queue to be executed later. The waitthread command executes the thread and returns immediately.

�� - Valid uses for thread over waitthread is where the thread you're creating is intended on sticking around for a while or implements code that will do a "wait" of some sort.

// Example:

// bad thread command

�� $squad thread InitSquad

�� $squad waitthread DoSomethingElse.

�� // this is bad because the code inside of InitSquad actually executes AFTER the code in DoSomethingElse.

// Valid use of the thread command:

�� $squad thread TrackDeath

�� end

// ------------------------------------------------------------

TrackDeath:

// ------------------------------------------------------------

�� level.count ++

�� self waittill death

�� level.count --

�� end

��

===============================

15) Keep tabs instead of spaces.� Tabs should be set to 4.� In whatever text editor program you use, you should be able to set this under preferences.� If you are using notepad or wordpad, come see me and we'll get you setup with a proper text / code editing program.