Choose or create a directory for the repository to get cloned into, such as your Desktop. This is the directory we'll be working out of, so pick somewhere convenient.
Using a CLI, run the following command in the directory from the previous step: git clone --recursive https://github.com/tiltedphoques/TiltedOnline.git
Once the command has finished executing, you should have a copy of this repository named TiltedOnline inside your project directory.
As mentioned in the Readme, you will need Visual Studio 2019 Version 16.8.4 (the community edition is freely available). Earlier versions of Visual Studio will not work. You will also need Node.js if you want to build the UI.
Before you generate the project files, you'll need to synchronize and initialize the submodules that are required by the project so that the submodules are used in the generation process. In a CLI, navigate to the TiltedOnline folder and run the following commands:
git submodule sync --recursive
git submodule update --init --recursive
After that's finished, generate the project files using one of the MakeVS201?Projects.* files within TiltedOnline\Build - use .bat on Windows and .sh on Linux.
VS2019 is preferred for Windows as future versions of this project could cause issues with older versions of VS in the case that the project makes use of VS2019 functions that weren't previously available.
Important: You will need to do this step every time you merge changes from the main repository to avoid conflicts.
Open the solution Tilted Online Framework.sln found in (TiltedOnline\Build\projects).
Once it has opened, make sure the solution configuration is set to Release instead of Debug.
Next, compile the project via the Menu Option Build -> Build Solution.
If all goes well, everything should now be compiled. Should you encounter any errors, feel free to ask for help in the SkyrimTogether Discord #coding channel.
Now that you've compiled the project, copy the tp_loader.conf file in TiltedOnline\Build to TiltedOnline\Build\bin\x64.
Open tp_loader.conf with your preferred text editor. For Skyrim SE, you will only need to edit the value of GamePath64 to reflect the full path to your SkyrimSE.exe game executable.
However, for Fallout, you will need to edit the provided parameters to reflect the following values instead:
GameId64=377160
GamePath64=Full/Path/To/Fallout4.exe
DllRelease=FalloutTogether.dll
DllDebug=FalloutTogether_d.dll
We currently use CEF for the main UI. To get CEF running, you will need to copy the CEF files in TiltedOnline\Libraries\TiltedUI\ThirdParty\CEF\bin\Win64\Release to TiltedOnline\Build\bin\x64, the directory of the compiled binaries.
For your convenience, it's recommended to create a shortcut to TiltedOnline\Build\bin\x64\Loader.exe and TiltedOnline\Build\bin\x64\SkyrimTogetherServer.exe (or TiltedOnline\Build\bin\x64\FalloutTogetherServer.exe for Fallout) either on your task bar or in the root folder containing TiltedOnline.
Instead of running the server executables directly, you can instead create a .bat or .sh file to run the executable with any of the following (optional) parameters:
-p, --port N port to run on (default: 10578)
--premium Use the premium tick rates (60 ticks instead of 20 ticks)
-h, --help Display the help message
-n, --name arg Name to advertise to the public server list
-v, --verbose Log verbose
-t, --token arg The token required to connect to the server, acts as a password
Eg. SkyrimTogetherServer.exe --name "SkyrimTogether Server" --port "10578" --premium
Launch Loader.exe to start up the mod, either directly or via a shortcut. If everything worked as intended, a Tilted Reverse Console will pop up and the Imgui UI will be displayed on top of your game. Once loaded into a save, run the corresponding server executable (or script, if you created one). You should now be able to connect in-game by using the UI in the top left corner; pressing RCTRL thrice should free your mouse so that you're able to interact with the UI. The UI is layered on top of one another by default, so you'll need to move the UI windows first to be able to connect.
In Visual Studio, go to Debug -> Attach to process and select the game(s) (SkyrimSE.exe or Fallout4.exe) then click Attach.
If you explicitly require a debugger, you can add the line Debug::WaitForDebugger(); in the TiltedOnlineApp::TiltedOnlineApp() constructor. This will block the game from running on startup until a debugger has been attached.
From now on, whenever you want to make a change in the repository, you will first need to branch off the master branch. Using a CLI in the TiltedOnline directoy, first check if the master branch is fully up to date:
git checkout master
git fetch
git pull
Now you can create a new branch. Please use the feature- prefix so that it's clear that your branch is a temporary, in-progress development branch. Creating your branch can be done using one of two methods:
Simply enter git checkout -b feature-somenamehere to have a branch created for you.
In the application, go to Branch -> New branch.... Give this an appropriate name (don't forget the prefix) and ensure that the branch is based on the master branch.
When it comes to the actual code (located in TiltedOnline\Code), the two primary folders of interest are client and server.
Client is the core of the mod and can be broken down into Games, Services, and Systems.
Gamescontains all of the code that is Skyrim and Fallout 4 related, it mostly contains class structures and hooks to different parts of the engineServicescontains the different services that handle the actual sync, display, and gameplaySystemscontains specific tasks like interpolation and consuming animations
Server is the ... server ! It doesn't really contain much at the moment, it's a translation layer more than anything for the time being.
When getting started, a good place to begin is looking at the TestService in client as it demonstrates how to get a service to listen to update events and how to spawn a copy of yourself.
Once you wrap your head around that you can have a look at ScriptService, which shows how to iterate over the world entities, retrieve the components and manipulate them correctly.
And that's all! With that, you're on your way to making great contributions to the repository. As mentioned previously, if you have any questions or encounter any hurdles, feel free to use the #coding channel in the SkyrimTogether Discord!