A to Z Scripting: Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Debugging your script

If your script doesn't do what you expect it to, it can be helpful to add sys.println() at various stages in your script to print information about what's happened so far. This helps you narrow down where the problem lies.

For one, you can check whether a certain part of the script is actually running. Example:

void check_progress()		//checks whether the player has completed an objective. If yes, starts the patrol of a previously inactive AI.
{
	sys.println("Script check_progress has been called.");

	if($player1.getObjectiveState(5) == OBJ_COMPLETE)
	{
		sys.println("Player has completed objective 5");
		sys.trigger($ai_thief_1);				//start patrol of an AI that was previously sitting at a table
	}
}

You can also print variables to the console, allowing you to see if they have the values you expect at that stage of the script. Example:

void move_mover()		//moves a harmful mover towards the player as part of a trap
{
	entity func_mover	= $func_mover_1;
	vector starting_origin	= func_mover.getOrigin();
	vector target_origin	= $player1.getOrigin();

	sys.println(func_mover + " will move from " + starting_origin + " to " + target_origin);

	func_mover.time(1);
	func_mover.moveToPos(target_origin);

	sys.waitFor(func_mover);
	sys.println(func_mover + " has arrived at + " target_origin);
}

Common errors

• Problem: after loading the map, the screen shows only a close-up of a random texture, can't move or use the inventory
  • This happens if you just started TDM but an error prevented you from loading the map the first time, you fixed the error and tried to reload your map again.
  • Fix: load into another map or restart TDM, then try to load the map again. The fastest way is to try to load a map that hasn't been dmapped yet, since that'll abort within seconds.

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