Contributing to Ares

This is relatively unpolished. As the wrapper library and the project matures, simpler ways to create custom code will be created. Don't panic.

At this moment, you might not be able to run the DLLs you compiled - the sources in SVN have been updated to work with a more recent version of Syringe which is distributed along with LaunchBase. Don't try running them on the old public version.

LaunchBase Download Link

Contributing to Ares is relatively simple, if you know at least the basics of C++:

What you'll need

A knowledge of C++

Yes, you'll need this.

A C++ compiler/IDE

Right now, only Microsoft Visual Studio is supported. Due to binary layout issues, gcc-based compilers/IDEs like Dev-C++/WxDev-C++ can not be used to create useful DLLs. If you want a free solution, try Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition (highly recommended).

The Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributables

You can't run Syringe without these...

The Microsoft Windows SDK

The Microsoft Windows SDK is required to contribute to and compile Ares. Microsoft Visual Studio (not Express Edition) comes with it, but if you don't have it, you can freely download it from Microsoft's site.

A Subversion (SVN) client

TortoiseSVN is recommended.

Getting the code

The code consists of two parts:

yrpp

the wrapper library enabling the use of most ingame functionality through plain C++

Ares itself

the code for Ares itself, the functionality that is actually utilised

Each of them has its own SVN repository:

• Create a folder on your hard drive where you'll be keeping the code, for example, C:\My Documents\Visual Studio Projects\Ares or F:\source\Ares, whatever suits you.
• Create two subfolders in it, one for yrpp and one for Ares.

yrpp

• Right click yrpp's folder, and (as of this point we are assuming that you have successfully installed TortoiseSVN) select SVN Checkout... from the context menu.
  • Enter svn://www.renegadeprojects.com/yrpp/trunk as the Repository address.
  • Leave the other options as they are, and press OK.

Ares

• Right click Ares' folder, and select SVN Checkout... from the context menu.
  • Enter svn://www.renegadeprojects.com/Ares/trunk as the Repository address.
  • Leave the other options as they are, and press OK.

The source code in the repository is updated often with changes and bugfixes. Make sure to compile all your code against the latest version of the SVN code.
The SVN Update context menu option will update your local copy.

Code Layout

The files in the yrpp folder are parts of the wrapper library. The Ares code is in the Ares folder. There are other repositories for other DLLs using yrpp - ExceptChecker contains the code for the current ExceptChecker DLL. The yrpp/Examples folder contains some examples of using the more complex functionality in yrpp.

The ExceptChecker DLL is currently outdated and cannot be run on the latest Syringe.

Assuming you're familiar with C++, you should create a new .cpp file in the Ares folder.

Also, take the time to at least skim over the existing code, including the wrapper library - knowing what is possible already and how is always good.

Writing A Function

All functionality in Ares is implemented as callback functions - when the game hits a certain location in the original code, some Ares function is invoked. To make your function invokable at a certain point, you'll need to assign your function as one of the predefined callbacks or use the Syringe Injection Control File to define that.

Any serious modification will normally require more than one callback, for now multiple callbacks cannot be registered at one location.

Currently, callback functions are usually declared like this:

//hook at 0xDEADBEEF
EXPORT_FUNC(Functionality_FunctionName) {
 // actual code
}

What the actual code does is naturally up to you, but usually you'll need to pull a pointer to one of the game classes from one of the CPU registers. This sort of information is very location-/context-specific, and as such you'll need information from the people familiar with the reverse-engineered ASM view of the code (as it is now, pd, jonwil, VK, DCoder and TSHyper). What the actual game classes do is documented in the wrapper library, look at its header files and the existing code snippets.

An Example

Here's a sample callback. It fixes a comparatively simple bug - that units firing Template:TTL warheads get experience from erasing friendly units (bug report, Actual code as used in Ares (may differ from shown below)).

Bits marked with (ASM knowledge) you are not required to know, the asm hackers can explain that part.

// keep this part in
#ifndef _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS
#define _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS
#endif
#ifndef _CRT_NON_CONFORMING_SWPRINTFS
#define _CRT_NON_CONFORMING_SWPRINTFS
#endif

// YR++ library
#include <YRPP.h>

// the actual function 

//hook at 0x71A92A
EXPORT_FUNC(_Temporal_AvoidFriendlies) {
	// (ASM knowledge) the ESI register contains a pointer to an instance of TemporalClass, let's get it
	GET(TemporalClass *, Temp, ESI);

	// House that owns the unit firing this weapon
	HouseClass *hv = m->get_TargetUnit()->get_Owner();

	// House that owns the unit being erased
	HouseClass *ho = m->get_OwningUnit()->get_Owner(); 

	// proceed normally unless the two houses are allied with each other
	RET_UNLESS(ho->IsAlliedWith(hv));

	// (ASM knowledge) force the game to jump over the experience-granting code
	return 0x71A97D;
}

Compiling that code to a DLL and placing it in the game directory will give you this functionality...

... almost, there's one more step to do.

Registering the DLL/function with Syringe

To tell Syringe when to invoke the "_Temporal_AvoidFriendlies" function, you just need to create one extra file:

Let's say you called the DLL with that function temporal.dll. Now you need to create a plain text file called temporal.dll.inj in the same directory as the DLL is, and place the following line into it:

71A92A = _Temporal_AvoidFriendlies, 5

That's all. Now, running YR via Syringe will invoke that functionality and prevent units from gaining experience this way.