Compile
Convert BF and BMD into flowscripts and messagescripts
As previously mentioned, AtlusScriptCompiler can compile .FLOW
and .MSG
into .BF
and .BMD
respectively. Read the previous sections for more information.
1. Specifying the Input File
First, you must tell the program what file we're working with.
For compiling, this must be a .FLOW
or .MSG
file.
You can simply drag AtlusScriptCompiler.exe
and then field.bf.flow
onto the command prompt window.
This will automatically wrap each paths in quotes, which keeps arguments separate in case your paths contain spaces.
2. Specify that you are Compiling
Now, let's tell the program what to do with that file.
Add -Compile
, separated by a space.
2. Specifying the Library
A Flowscript Library instructs the compiler on function names and parameters.
In order to work with the input file, you have to tell the compiler which Library to use with -Library
.
Included Libraries
Not all games have libraries available. Knowledge of reverse engineering game executables is required to generate a library, as you'll have to find the offsets of function signatures yourself. A sample script for P3/P4 (PS2) can be seen here.
3. Specifying Output Format
You should also choose an Output Type with -OutFormat
.
This determine the version and endianness of the generated BF
or BMD
.
Output Types
4. Specifying Encoding
An Encoding can be specified using -Encoding
.
It lets the compiler know what set of characters to use.
Encodings
5. Specifying the Output File
Finally, you can name the Output File using -Out
.
If -Out
is not specified, it will default to the input filename and folder, but with the output filetype appended. In this case, that would be C:\Path\To\field.bf.flow.bf
.
At this point, you can press Enter
to begin compiling.
But, there are a few optional commands which might be useful to you.
6. Hooking
Hooking can be handy when you're compiling a .FLOW
and only want to replace specific procedures in an imported .BF
.
AtlusScriptCompiler is not perfect, so it doesn't hurt to be proactive.
With hooks, we can avoid potential compiler issues when recompiling an entire .BF
script.
Enable Hooking by adding the-Hook
argument.
When compiling your .FLOW
into .BF
, this redirects existing procedures in an imported .BF
file to replacement procedures with a matching names that end in _hook_()
.
Setup
Decompile the
.BF
that you're referencing in the.FLOW
you're compiling.Open the
.FLOW
and copy the procedure you want to edit.Paste it into your
.FLOW
that references the.BF
, and add_hook
to the procedure name.Edit the procedure however you'd like.
Import the original
.BF
file.Compile your new
.FLOW
with the-Hook
argument.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to (de)compile with AtlusScriptCompiler, you're ready to read, edit, and create scripts. If you haven't already, read on to see how to use the GUI to make (de)compiling even easier:
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