Skip to content

In-game console (tilde)

Crimsonland includes a developer-style console that appears in-game and accepts commands and cvar assignments. This page summarizes the static findings that back the tilde/backquote console behavior.

Open / close (runtime)

  • The console is toggled in-game with the tilde/backquote key (~ / `).
  • The open flag is console_open_flag (0x0047eec8); when set, many gameplay update loops early‑out and input is redirected to the console.
  • console_set_open (0x004018b0) sets the open flag and toggles input capture:
  • Writes console_open_flag (0x0047eec8) via the console state struct.
  • Writes console_input_enabled (0x0047f4d4).
  • Calls Grim2D vtable +0x4c to flush input.
  • Runtime capture shows the tilde hotkey path calls console_set_open from 0x0040c39a (call stack: 0x0040c39a -> console_set_open -> DINPUT8::GetDeviceState -> grim).
  • The containing per-frame input/update function starts at 0x0040c1c0 (no EBP frame; begins with sub esp, 0x28).

Hotkey check (runtime)

The hotkey check is performed via Grim2D key polling:

0040c36d 6a29            push    29h              ; DIK_GRAVE
0040c37d ff5248          call    dword ptr [edx+48h]  ; grim key-down check
0040c380 84c0            test    al,al
0040c382 7416            je      0040c39a
0040c384 8a15c8ee4700    mov     dl,[console_open_flag]
0040c38f 3ad3            cmp     dl,bl
0040c391 0f94c0          sete    al               ; al = (open_flag == 0)
0040c394 50              push    eax
0040c395 e81655ffff      call    console_set_open

Additional context:

  • The hotkey check sits inside a larger per-frame input/update block that also polls DIK_F12 (0x58).
  • The block is gated by audio_suspend_flag (0x004aaf84): when non-zero it calls audio_resume_all (0x0042a5f0) and returns early (skipping the tilde toggle).

Input handling (static)

  • Text input is polled via Grim2D get_key_char (vtable +0x50) in console_input_poll (0x00401060).
  • Enter (0x0d) sets console_input_ready and NUL-terminates the buffer.
  • Backspace (0x08) deletes one char.
  • The input buffer is capped at 0x3ff chars.
  • Navigation/selection keys are handled in the console update loop (0x00401a40) via Grim2D key checks (vtable +0x44 and +0x48):
  • Up/Down (0xC8 / 0xD0) browse history.
  • Left/Right (0xCB / 0xCD) move the caret.
  • PageUp/PageDown (0xC9 / 0xD1) adjust scroll.
  • Home (0xC7) and End (0xCF) jump to start/end.
  • Tab (0x0F) triggers autocomplete (cvars first, then commands).
  • Ctrl (0x1D / 0x9D) modifies some history/scroll actions.

Relevant globals (see analysis/ghidra/maps/data_map.json): - console_input_enabled (0x0047f4d4) - console_input_ready (0x0047ea58) - console_input_buffer (0x0047e448) + length (0x0047ea54) - console_prompt_string (0x004712c0, prompt format "> %s") - console_height_px (0x0047eeb8)

Command / cvar dispatch (static)

console_exec_line (0x00401940) tokenizes the input and then:

1) If the first token matches a cvar, it either: - Prints current value when invoked with no value. - Updates the value when called with exactly one argument (parses float and stores both string + float). 2) Else if the token matches a command, it calls the command handler. 3) Otherwise it prints Unknown command "%s".

The cvar paths emit: - "%s" is "%s" (%ff) - "%s" set to "%s" (%ff)

Built-in commands (static registration)

console_init (0x00401560) registers the core commands below. The handlers have been mapped:

  • cmdlist → console_cmdlist (0x00401370): prints each command name and a summary line ("%i commands").
  • vars → console_vars (0x004013c0): prints each cvar name and a summary line ("%i variables").
  • set → console_cmd_set (0x00401510): expects 2 args (set <var> <value>); otherwise prints usage. Uses console_register_cvar and prints "'%s' set to '%s'".
  • echo → console_echo (0x00401410): echo on / echo off toggles console_echo_enabled; otherwise prints args back to the console.
  • quit → console_cmd_quit (0x00401240): sets the quit flag (0x0047ea50).
  • clear → console_clear_log (0x004011a0): clears the console log list and resets scroll state.
  • extendconsole → console_cmd_extend (0x00401340): sets console_height_px (0x0047eeb8) to ~480.
  • minimizeconsole → console_cmd_minimize (0x00401360): sets console_height_px (0x0047eeb8) to 300.
  • exec → console_cmd_exec (0x00401250): loads a script file and feeds each line into console_exec_line; prints Executing '%s' or a “cannot open” error.

Scripts and logs

  • exec is used to run scripts such as autoexec.txt and music\\game_tunes.txt.
  • Console output can be flushed to console.log via console_flush_log (0x00402860), which uses game_build_path to resolve the filename.

Open questions

  • None for the console hotkey path right now; the function entry at 0x0040c1c0 is confirmed in WinDbg.