[BTS] The Easiest Way to Compile a New DLL

[Nightinggale]

Thank yooooouu. It is unusually difficult to find a working link in this forum (or maybe I'm just really bad at necromancy).

Not all ancient guides on how to compile are correct. I had problems compiling at first because I relied on information, which turned out to be false. This guide is both correct and it makes the compiler setup less of a hassle.

The only "flaw" of this guide is that it only works for mods using the standard makefile. If the compile process has been heavily modified, then you will have to rely on the guide for the mod instead. I'm only aware of this being the case for Caveman2Cosmos and We The People, both having proper guides of their own. Yes I am aware of the irony that my own mod is one of the very few mods not to use the standard makefile, which I wrote.

 

[Leoreth]

I honestly have no opinion or really any insight into what Makefile should be used, it's just that yours was the best one available at the time of writing and I thought it would be best for everyone to start out with it by default.

Do you think there is a reason to switch to a different one for the average BtS developer? The guide isn't set in stone.

 

[Nightinggale]

Do you think there is a reason to switch to a different one for the average BtS developer? The guide isn't set in stone.

I'm leaning on saying that if you have to ask, then the standard makefile is good enough.

I don't know what C2C is doing (they seem to change a lot, sometimes just to meet modern standards). WTP differs by running scripts, which autogenerate header files based on xml. This means enums are automatically in sync with xml files (among other things). It also adds multi-threaded support. Generally speaking, using the WTP makefile provides no benefit over the standard one unless there are also changes to the C++ code to make use of the new makefile abilities. Without significant C++ changes, that makefile will just make it harder to get the compiler running without really providing any benefits.

As a general rule, use the standard makefile from this thread (or my signature. It's the same) if you mod BTS. Modding colonization on the other hand should be based on WTP. Anything else makes no sense considering the amount of work put into fixing bugs (including vanilla bugs) as well as code optimization. Also WTP is designed around letting multiple mods use the same code because fixing the same bug in multiple mods is super annoying. This is part of why WTP autogenerate enums based on xml files. Give the code a different set of xml files and the compiler can optimize for those instead without touching the code.