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Debug and Cheat Features

Only in builds made with RTS_DEBUG_CHEATS=ON.

Debug name overlays

Names drawn above every object on screen, props and wreckage included.

  • Ctrl + [Cycles three ways: off, the object's template (INI) name in white, then the model's sub object names in green as well.
  • Ctrl + ]Particle systems running on that object, in blue, with the FXList that spawned them in amber
  • Ctrl + 'The CommandSet the object uses, in yellow
  • Ctrl + ;The weapons the object is armed with, in red, under the command set
  • Ctrl + -The Armor the object currently uses, in light blue, under the weapons
  • Ctrl + /The W3D model each draw module has loaded, in teal, as a callout: a leader line runs from the model out to one side and the name sits at the end of it
  • Ctrl + ,Laser beams: the laser object's name, which for a weapon is its LaserName, in pink at the middle of the beam

  • Ctrl + .Laser beams: the W3DLaserDraw module tags, in lavender, under the laser name

  • Sub object names (hull, turret, wheels, ...) are for ShowSubObject / HideSubObject. Up to 16, then "and N more".

  • Command set, weapons and armor are read from the live object, so they show the set or block the engine actually picked. Empty cases show <none>, <no weapons> or <no armor>.
  • Weapons are listed as in a WeaponSet block, e.g. PRIMARY NapalmMissileWeapon.
  • Models are the ones the current condition states picked, so damaged, night and snow variants show. A module with no model in its current state gets no label. Each leader starts at the centre of its model's bounds and goes out on the side that model is on; labels that would overlap are pushed up above each other. Up to 16 per object.
  • Laser labels that would overlap are pushed up above each other. A second beam of the same laser landing on an existing label is not labelled again. With a laser overlay on, the object overlays skip laser objects, which sit on their firer.

Also bindable in CommandMap.ini as CHEAT_SHOW_OBJECT_NAME, CHEAT_SHOW_PARTICLE_NAMES, CHEAT_SHOW_COMMAND_SET, CHEAT_SHOW_WEAPON_SET, CHEAT_SHOW_ARMOR_SET, CHEAT_SHOW_MODEL_NAMES, CHEAT_SHOW_LASER_NAME and CHEAT_SHOW_LASER_BEAM_BLOCK.

  • ParticleNameLingerMS = 0Options.ini. Milliseconds a particle name stays on screen after its system has gone. 0 or absent shows names only while the system is alive.

Notes

  • Without a linger, one-shot effects flash past unreadably.
  • The particle overlay is expensive; leave it off when not in use.

Other cheat hotkeys

  • Ctrl + `Instant build, +999999 credits, this general's own sciences, max rank, reveals the map
  • Ctrl + \Toggles rendering off and on; the simulation keeps running
  • Shift + Ctrl + ZToggles the camera zoom limit
  • Ctrl + F1Toggles back face culling, drawing every face double sided when off. Contra also binds this key to SAVE_VIEW1, so it saves camera bookmark 1 too. CHEAT_TOGGLE_FACE_CULLING in CommandMap.ini
  • Shift + Ctrl + `Cycles HealthBarDisplayMode live

Notes

  • The health bar cycle is not a cheat and works in a normal release build too.
  • A second press of the combined cheat resets rank via resetRank(), wiping purchased sciences.
  • Sciences granted are only this general's own tree.