Script mods (Luau) · Mod SDK docs

New in interface 1.1 (SDK 1.1). A script mod is a folder of Luau files and a manifest. It needs no compiler, runs on every platform OpenRAC runs on, Android included, and is sandboxed: it sees only the openrac table and the safe parts of Luau's library.

Start from the SDK's template-script/ (getting started).

How it runs#

At the game's start, each file the manifest's scripts lists runs once, in order. That first run is when the mod takes its hooks and callbacks; after it, the game calls them.

Luau

--!strict
local swap = openrac.setting("pair") :: string

openrac.on_pad(function(port: number, report: buffer)
    local buttons = buffer.readu16(report, 0)   -- a bit is clear while its button is held
    -- ... change buttons ...
    buffer.writeu16(report, 0, buttons)
end)

openrac.on_frame(function()
    -- after each game tick: 50 a second on PAL, 60 on NTSC-U
end)

The `openrac` table#

`openrac.game`, `.version`, `.platform`, `.api`	`"rac1"`, `"pal"` or `"ntsc"`, `"macos-arm64"` ..., the game's interface version (`"1.1"`)
`openrac.log(...)`, `openrac.warn(...)`	a line in the game's log, after your mod's id (`print` does the same as `log`)
`openrac.setting(key)`	one of your settings
`openrac.hook(id, fn)`	wrap or replace a hook point: `fn(original, ...)` gets its arguments; `original(...)` goes on down the chain and returns its result; `original()` with no arguments passes the call's own; return nothing to keep the original's result
`openrac.before(id, fn)`, `openrac.after(id, fn)`	`fn(...)` before or after the rest of the chain, which runs whatever `fn` does
`openrac.on_frame(fn)`	`fn()` after each game tick
`openrac.on_pad(fn)`	`fn(port, report)` for each pad report before the game reads it; `report` is a `buffer` you may change
`openrac.fields`	game state by name, read and written as plain values: `openrac.fields.bolts`, `openrac.fields.hero.position.x` (experimental: see the reference)
`openrac.read(type, address)`, `openrac.write(type, address, value)`	game memory; `type` is `u8 i8 u16 i16 u32 i32 f32`; addresses in game RAM only (below 32 MB)
`openrac.pvars(moby)`	with the behaviour catalogue: the per-class variables of the moby at that address, by name (experimental)
`openrac.key(bind)`, `openrac.pressed(bind)` (1.2)	whether a key, mouse button or wheel direction is held, or went down since the last tick, by its name: `openrac.key("KeyW")`, `openrac.pressed("MouseLeft")`, `openrac.pressed("WheelUp")` (settings)
`openrac.mouse()` (1.2)	`dx, dy, wheel_x, wheel_y`: the mouse's motion since the last tick and its wheel in notches
`openrac.window()` (1.2)	`focused, captured, overlay`: the window has the keyboard; the cursor is captured; OpenRAC's overlay has the input
`openrac.take_input("keyboard")` (1.2)	while your scripts first run: the port's own keyboard table stops pressing pad 0's buttons, so your `on_pad` presses them
`openrac.capture_mouse(on)` (1.2)	hide the cursor and keep it in the window (relative motion), or let it go
`require(name)`	another `.luau` file of your mod's own folder: `require("util")`, `require("lib/util")`

Hook points are named by their ids ("rac1.player.turn_to_heading"); the older names work too. The full list, with each one's arguments, is the reference.

The pad report#

on_pad's buffer is the controller's report, 18 bytes:

Bytes
0-1	the buttons, a little-endian 16-bit word; a bit is clear while its button is held. Bits 0-7: Select, L3, R3, Start, Up, Right, Down, Left; bits 8-15: L2, R2, L1, R1, Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square
2-5	right stick x, y; left stick x, y (0-255, 128 at rest)
6-17	pressures (0-255): right, left, up, down, triangle, circle, cross, square, L1, R1, L2, R2

The sandbox#

Available: math, string, table, buffer, bit32, utf8, vector, coroutine, os.clock, debug.traceback, print. Not available: io, the rest of os, load, loadstring, dofile, getfenv, setfenv, and files outside your mod's folder. Library tables and openrac are read-only, and each mod has a Luau state of its own, so mods cannot see each other's globals.

The time budget#

Each call into your script (the first run, a hook, a callback) may take at most 2 ms (time spent in the game's own code through original does not count). A script that runs longer, or raises an error, is stopped:

the error and its traceback go to the game's log, after your mod's id;
the mod is marked failed with the reason in status.json, and the launcher shows it (troubleshooting);
its hooks pass straight to the original from then on, and its callbacks stop.

The game carries on. Keep per-tick work small, and spread long work over several ticks.

Autocomplete#

The SDK's types/rac1.d.luau declares the openrac table with every hook point and field. With luau-lsp, pass it as a definitions file; the script template's .vscode/settings.json does that for VS Code.

Packaging#

A script mod has nothing to build: its archive is the folder, <id>-<version>.zip, for every platform (packaging). From a repository link, the launcher can even install the repository's own files with no release at all (install from a link).