Introduction to Mission Scripting - Revision history

Zonkmachine: Add link to online version of 'Programming in Lua'

2025-03-21T16:22:48Z

Add link to online version of 'Programming in Lua'

Zonkmachine: /* Pioneer's Lua environment */ are -> is

2025-01-12T22:51:13Z

‎Pioneer's Lua environment: are -> is

Zonkmachine: Add link to new page: 'Missions and the mission list'

2024-07-18T23:12:23Z

Add link to new page: 'Missions and the mission list'

Zonkmachine: fixup

2021-11-17T18:10:53Z

fixup

Zonkmachine: fixup

2021-11-17T16:29:31Z

fixup

Zonkmachine: Updating links

2021-11-17T14:13:45Z

Updating links

Zonkmachine at 09:56, 14 October 2021

2021-10-14T09:56:42Z

Impaktor: Add "learn lua in 15 minutes" URL

2019-05-07T07:12:39Z

Add "learn lua in 15 minutes" URL

Philbywhizz: initial import of mission scripting intro

2012-09-10T22:33:29Z

initial import of mission scripting intro

New page

Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with a worked example. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.

If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start.

==Pioneer's Lua environment==
Pioneer contains a full Lua interpreter. There are three instances of the interpreter; one for defining models, one for defining the galaxy, and one for writing mission scripts. This document is focused exclusively on the latter of the three.

When Pioneer is started, the universe is generated. After the universe is generated, Pioneer traverses the data/libs directory and all subdirectories, looking for files ending in the <code>.lua</code> extension. Each of these files are loaded into the interpreter and run. After these are run, Pioneer traverses the data/modules directory and does exactly the same thing. After this, the main menu is shown, and the player can begin a game.

The order in which the Lua scripts are loaded and run is not strictly defined, other than the fact that scripts in the '''data/libs directory''' will be executed before scripts in the '''data/modules''' directory.

Any globally defined functions or variables defined in those scripts will be available to any other scripts. We recommend that any functions or variables not explicitly intended for use by other scripts be declared with the <code>local</code> keyword, which will make them available only within the scope of the current file.

Chapters:
* [[Interacting with the game: Event-based programming]]
* [[Interacting with the player: BBS forms]]
* [[Surviving a reload]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with working examples. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.
-If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]
+If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]. Also the first edition of Programming in Lua by Roberto Ierusalimschy (the coder behind Lua) is available online [https://lua.org/pil/contents.html here].
 ==Pioneer's Lua environment==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 Pioneer contains a full Lua interpreter. There are three instances of the interpreter; one for defining models, one for defining the galaxy, and one for writing mission scripts. This document is focused exclusively on the latter of the three.
-When Pioneer is started, the universe is generated. After the universe is generated, Pioneer traverses the data/libs directory and all subdirectories, looking for files ending in the <code>.lua</code> extension. Each of these files are loaded into the interpreter and run. After these are run, Pioneer traverses the data/modules directory and does exactly the same thing. After this, the main menu is shown, and the player can begin a game.
+When Pioneer is started, the universe is generated. After the universe is generated, Pioneer traverses the data/libs directory and all subdirectories, looking for files ending in the <code>.lua</code> extension. Each of these files is loaded into the interpreter and run. After these are run, Pioneer traverses the data/modules directory and does exactly the same thing. After this, the main menu is shown, and the player can begin a game.
 The order in which the Lua scripts are loaded and run is not strictly defined, other than the fact that scripts in the '''data/libs''' directory will be executed before scripts in the '''data/modules''' directory.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * [[Strings and translation]]
 * [[Interacting with the player: BBS forms]]
 * [[Missions and NPC Interaction]]
 * [[Surviving a reload]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:10, 17 November 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with a working ~~example~~. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.	+	Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with working examples. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.

	If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]		If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:56, 14 October 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with a ~~worked~~ example. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.	+	Pioneer is extensible through the Lua scripting language. This document is intended to take the reader through the basics of coding up a mission for Pioneer, with a working example. The assumption is made that the reader is already aware of basic programming concepts, and in particular has some knowledge of the Lua programming language.

	If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]		If you are not familiar with Lua, the [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LearningLua lua-users wiki: Learning Lua] page is a good place to start, or read [http://tylerneylon.com/a/learn-lua/ "learn lua in 15 minutes"]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 When Pioneer is started, the universe is generated. After the universe is generated, Pioneer traverses the data/libs directory and all subdirectories, looking for files ending in the <code>.lua</code> extension. Each of these files are loaded into the interpreter and run. After these are run, Pioneer traverses the data/modules directory and does exactly the same thing. After this, the main menu is shown, and the player can begin a game.
-The order in which the Lua scripts are loaded and run is not strictly defined, other than the fact that scripts in the '''data/libs directory''' will be executed before scripts in the '''data/modules''' directory.
+The order in which the Lua scripts are loaded and run is not strictly defined, other than the fact that scripts in the '''data/libs''' directory will be executed before scripts in the '''data/modules''' directory.
 Any globally defined functions or variables defined in those scripts will be available to any other scripts. We recommend that any functions or variables not explicitly intended for use by other scripts be declared with the <code>local</code> keyword, which will make them available only within the scope of the current file.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Chapters:
 * [[Interacting with the game: Event-based programming]]
 * [[Interacting with the player: BBS forms]]
 * [[Surviving a reload]]