Hi. I have a question. Can an engine accept command arguments? For example, if I want to have a user to select a resolution, color depth, tripple buffering on/off, etc. right from a dialog box that I made using Visual C#. I know 3DGS doesn't support C# but I just want my program to pass on the parameters (meaning command arguments).

Here's an example in C#:

Code:

---

/// <summary>
/// When a user click an Okay button, the game starts. This button will send the command
/// arguments to the engine. For example of command arguments, see the example in "//"
/// below.
/// </summary>
/// <param name
private void Okay_Clicked(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    Process ExecEngine;
    ExecEngine.StartInfo.FileName   = "C:\\MyProject\\SimpleGame\\SimpleGame.exe";
    // Here's an example of passing command arguments to a file called SimpleGame.exe:
    // -res:7 -color:32 -anis:2 -tb:1 -sd:24
    ExecEngine.Arguments            = resolution + " "
                                    + colordepth + " "
                                    + anisotropic_filter + " "
                                    + tripple_buffer + " "
                                    + shadow_depth;
    ExecEngine.Start();
}

---

So the question is: Can the engine accept command arguments? I know that the example that I showed you is incorrect (but maybe it is... ) but I just want to know.

Anyway, this topic is engine-related.

The only way I know how to do that is using the -d (used to define values).

Then in your code, you can use IFDEF, or just use the defined values.

So to do video mode from outside, you can do something like this:

// This will start our prog in 800x600x32 fullscreen

yourprog.exe -d VIDEO_MODE,7 -d VIDEO_DEPTH,32 -d VIDEO_SCREEN,1

And this in your code.

var video_mode = VIDEO_MODE;
var video_depth = VIDEO_DEPTH;
var video_screen = VIDEO_SCREEN;

Granted I havent tested it, but I have done something simalar using DEFINE from another file.

Or just toss the data into a text file that is read by your program at runtime. It would make the settings a little more "permanent".

do a search in the manual on command line

one of the options is this.

Quote:

---

-d name[,value]
Defines the given name for further evaluation in the script through IFDEF. This has the same effect as giving DEFINE name; or DEFINE name,value; within the script. Note that in the second case there must be just a comma, and not any spaces between name and value in the command line. This way, arbitrary game options, like starting screen resolution, difficulty grade etc., can be set via the command line.

---

think this is what your after

look up your c# programming too on passing data direcly into you main() at start of runtime i.e. main ( resolution,bits,d3d_onoff) and what ever.

That doesnt work for variables that must be defined at startup, and cant be changed at runtime. The only way i know to change them is using the -d method.

Okay. so if I want to pass the command arguments like starting the resolution, color depth, etc.,

when I want to launch a game in a command line, do I do it like:

"mygame.exe -d Resolution[8],ColorDepth[32]" etc.?

If this isn't right, then can you give me an example? Not in C# but when you pass the command arguments in a command line.

And how will I do this in C-Script?

Do I do this like:

var video_mode = RESOLUTION,8;
var video_depth = COLORDEPTH,32;
// etc.

?

If yes, then if I don't pass any of the command arguments to my game, then since I had entered a number after a comma in the C-Script, the program will take a default that I had set in those predefined variables, right?

Heres how I would do it:

C-Script:
ifndef VID_MODE;
define VID_MODE,8; // Change the 8 to your default mode
endif;

ifndef VID_DEPTH;
define VID_DEPTH,32; // Change the 32 to your default depth
endif;

video_mode = VID_MODE;
video_depth = VID_DEPTH;

The ifndef checks to see if those were defined (from the command line), and if not it defines them to whatever you want the defaults to be.

And start the game like so:

mygame.exe -d VID_DEPTH,8 -d VID_MODE,32

You could also do it other ways, like:

mygame.exe -d VID800X600X32

ifdef VID800X600X32;
video_mode = 8;
video_depth = 32;
endif;

// Repeat the above for all other modes you want.
// If you dont define one, you get the acknex.exe defaults.

Thank you for your help!