Space Engineers Client Plugin Template

Server/Client version of the template

Prerequisites

• Space Engineers
• Python 3.x (tested with 3.9)
• Plugin Loader
• .NET Framework 4.8.1 Developer Pack

Create your plugin project

1. Click on Use this template (top right corner on GitHub) and follow the wizard to create your repository
2. Clone your repository to have a local working copy
3. Run ReplaceGuidsAndRename.py, enter the name of your plugin project in CapitalizedWords format
4. Edit Edit-and-run-before-opening-solution.bat to match your local paths, then run it
5. Open the solution in Visual Studio or Rider
6. Make a test build, it should deploy the resulting files to their respective target folders (see them in the build log)
7. Test that the empty plugin can be enabled in Plugin Loader
8. Delete the ReplaceGuidsAndRename.py and the working copy folder (not needed anymore)
9. Replace the contents of this file with the description of your plugin
10. Follow the TODO comments in the source code

Remarks

Plugin configuration

You can have a nice configuration dialog with little effort in the game client. Customize the Config class in the ClientPlugin project, just follow the examples. It supports many different data types, including key binding. Once you have more options than can fit on the screen the dialog will have a vertical scrollbar.

Debugging

• Always use a debug build if you want to set breakpoints and see variable values.
• A debug build defines DEBUG, so you can add conditional code in #if DEBUG blocks.
• While debugging a specific target unload the other two. It prevents the IDE to be confused.
• If breakpoints do not "stick" or do not work, then make sure that:
  • Other projects are unloaded, only the debugged one and Shared are loaded.
  • Debugger is attached to the running process.
  • You are debugging the code which is running (no code changes made since the build).

Troubleshooting

• If the IDE looks confused, then restarting it and the debugged game usually works.
• If the restart did not work, then try to delete caches used by your IDE and restart.
• If your build cannot deploy (just runs in a loop), then something locks the DLL file.
• Look for running game processes (maybe stuck running in the background) and kill them.

Release

• Always make your final release from a RELEASE build. (More optimized, removes debug code.)
• Always test your RELEASE build before publishing. Sometimes is behaves differently.
• In case of client plugins the Plugin Loader compiles your code, watch out for differences.

Communication

• In your documentation always include how players or server admins should report bugs.
• Try to be reachable and respond on a timely manner over your communication channels.
• Be open for constructive critics.

Abandoning your project

• Always consider finding a new maintainer, ask around at least once.
• If you ever abandon the project, then make it clear on its GitHub page.
• Abandoned projects should be made hidden on PluginHub and Torch's plugin list.
• Keep the code available on GitHub, so it can be forked and continued by others.