Headcannon Game Engine Game Creation - Command-Line Parameters

Useful Command-line Parameters

HCGE supports several Command-Line options that affect the startup of the program. Some of these features are also available within HCGE's Main Menu system, depending on the platform.

In any of the given examples, "HCGEwin" may be replaced with the appropriate filename to run other versions.

Parameters that pertain strictly to the Level Ripper are listed separately. Some of the Parameters listed below may also be used in conjunction with the Level Ripper parameters to move directly into an editing situation instead of letting the program exit when ripping is finished, and restarting it manually.

A complete listing of non-Level Ripper Command-Line options is as follows:

-game

This parameter will start the specified game. It must be accompanied by the name of the game's "Game Listing File".

The name itself is all that is necesary, do not include the full path. The ".gdf" extension is optional, it doesn't have to be included.
-warp

(Not available for "packed" games)

This parameter will cause the game to start on a different "level", with different startup player characters, and on any of the available "Screen Modes" (0 - Normal, 2 - Split-Screen). It must be accompanied by the Zone and Act IDs of the desired level, the player character IDs of the desired characters (255 for player 2 will disable it), and the desired gameplay mode.

Bear in mind that it is entirely possible that some of these settings will be overridden by any Script Function that runs once the program starts.
-regs

(Not available for "packed" games)

When a Game is started, all Game Registers are initialized to "0". This Parameter allows for different initial values to be specified for individual Game Registers when the game is started. It must be accompanied by a value representing the number of Registers that will be affected, followed by that number of Register/Value pairs (the ID of the Register that should be affected, followed by the value that it should be initialized with).

The "U" tag may be used to specify a User-created Register (such as "U3" to reference User-created Register 3)

Bear in mind that it is entirely possible that some of these settings will be overridden by any Script Function that runs once the program starts.
-editor

(Not available for "packed" games)

This parameter will send the program directly into the Level Editor as soon as the game and level are loaded. It would generally be used in conjunction with the "-warp" and/or "-game" parameters to edit a specific level of a specific game.
-editfiles

This parameter will start the program in non-gameplay mode, entering the Level Editor immediately after loading the given files. The Object Editor, the Sprite Editor, and gameplay will not be available in this mode, so the files do not have to be in a game set. The parameter must be accompanied by the name of the tile and level files that should be loaded.
-paldump

This parameter will load an image file and dump the requested part of its palette into a text file in the format of a "_Pal_SetRange" Script Command, ready for copying into any Function that needs to manipulate the palette.
-palshift

This parameter will load an image file and shift a section of its palette so that it starts at a different index, correcting the image itself to reference the colors from their new positions. Output is saved to "sh000000.tga"
-pack

This parameter will "pack" the files in the given folder into an encrypted "game.hcg" file, which may be used instead of raw game folder files, and will protect the game from modification and cheating by not only obfuscating the data, but also disabling editors, the warp command, and debugging hotkeys. This file will be automatically placed into the given folder, and will take precedence over the individual files that were used to build it