Simple OpenRCT2 plugin template with Typescript

A simple and minimal template for OpenRCT2 plugins, using Typescript, without any unnecessary extra's.

Also supports:

• Automatic plugin reload in OpenRCT2 (hot reload);
• Out of the box minification to improve file sizes;
• Support for external NPM packages (like FlexUI).

How to start

1. Install latest version of Node and make sure to include NPM and enable the "Add to PATH" option during installation.
2. Use the green "Use this template" button in the top right corner of this page, or download the project to a location of your choice on your PC.
3. Open a terminal or command prompt.
4. Use cd to change your current directory to the root folder of this project.
5. Run npm install to install the project's dependencies.
6. Find openrct2.d.ts TypeScript API declaration file in OpenRCT2 files. copy it to ./lib/ folder.
   • This file can usually be found in the OpenRCT2 installation directory.
   • Alternatively you can download the file from Github here.
   • Another option is to make a symbolic link instead of copying the file, which will keep the file up to date whenever you install new versions of OpenRCT2.
7. In ./src/plugin.ts, change the name and author of the plugin to your liking.
8. In ./rollup.config.js, change the filename of the outputted plugin.

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Commands

The template comes with several terminal commands to make developing plugins easier.

npm run build

Creates a release build of your plugin. This version is optimized for sharing with others, using Terser to make the file as small as possible. By default, the plugin will be outputted to ./dist/.

npm run build:dev

Creates a develop build of your plugin. This version is not optimized for sharing, but easier to read in case you want to see the outputted Javascript. By default, the plugin will be outputted in the plugin folder of the default OpenRCT2 user directory.

npm start or npm run start

Will start a script that will automatically run npm run build:dev every time you make a change to any Typescript or Javascript file inside the ./src/ folder.

Output paths

These output paths can be changed in rollup.config.js. In this file you can also change the outputted filename of the plugin.

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Access game logs

When your plugin is not loading properly, it may be useful to be able to read the logs of the game to see if there are any errors. Furthermore, if you use the console.log function, the resulting logs can be read here as well.

Windows

1. Navigate to the folder where OpenRCT2 is installed.
2. Launch the openrct2.com file located there (the MS-DOS application).
   • If file extensions are hidden, make sure to enable them.

MacOS

1. Launch a terminal or another command-line prompt.
2. Using the cd command, navigate to the folder where OpenRCT2 is installed.
3. Run open OpenRCT2.app/Contents/MacOS/OpenRCT2 to launch OpenRCT2 with logging enabled.

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Hot reload

This project supports the OpenRCT2 hot reload feature for development.

1. Navigate to your OpenRCT2 user directory and open the config.ini file.
2. Enable hot reload by setting enable_hot_reloading = true in config.ini.
3. Run npm start in the directory of this project to start the hot reload server.
4. Start the OpenRCT2 and load a save or start a new game.
5. Each time you save any of the files in ./src/, the server will compile ./src/registerPlugin.ts and place compiled plugin file inside your local OpenRCT2 plugin directory.
6. OpenRCT2 will notice file changes and it will reload the plugin.

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Folders

OpenRCT2 installation directory

This is the directory where the game is installed.

• Windows: usually C:/Users/<YOUR NAME>/Documents/OpenRCT2/bin/ when using the launcher or C:/Program Files/OpenRCT2/ when an installer was used.
• MacOS: the folder where the OpenRCT2.app application file was placed.
• Linux: depends on the distro, but likely either /usr/share/openrct2 when installed through a package manager, or mounted in /tmp when using an AppImage.

OpenRCT2 user directory

This is the directory where the game stores user data, like save games and plugins.

• Windows: usually Documents/OpenRCT2/ or C:/Users/<YOUR NAME>/Documents/OpenRCT2/.
• MacOS: usually /Users/<YOUR NAME>/Library/Application Support/OpenRCT2/. Note that Library is a hidden folder in your user directory, so by default it will not show up in Finder.
• Linux: usually /home/<YOUR NAME>/.config, $HOME/.config, or where the environment variable $XDG_CONFIG_HOME points to if it's set.

You can also open this folder from inside OpenRCT2, by selecting "Open custom content folder" in the dropdown under the red toolbox in the main menu.

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Dependencies

The following libraries and tools are used in this template:

• NodeJS is the JavaScript engine used to develop and run code when the game is not running.
• NPM is a library and package manager for JavasScript and TypeScript and can be used to install new packages and update existing packages in the project.
• TypeScript is a expansion language to JavaScript that adds type checking when you are writing the code. It allows you to specify rules for how objects and values look like, so TypeScript can report back if your code follows these rules (instead of crashes or errors in-game).
• Rollup bundles all source code, runs it through some plugins like TypeScript, and then outputs a single JavaScript plugin file.
• Nodemon is the program that can watch a folder for changes and then trigger a specified action. It is used by npm start to watch the ./src/ folder and triggers npm run build:dev if any changes occur.