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CS server plugin

Introduction​

To communicate with the game and avoid restarting it each time the user wants to watch a demo, CS:DM uses a custom library (hereafter referred to as "plugin") that is loaded into the game when it's launched.

The plugin establishes a connection with the CS:DM WebSocket server and listen for messages that may result in game actions.

History and reasons​

For CS:GO only and prior to version 3.10.0, CS:DM used a combination of the -netconport launch option that allows to establish a Telnet connection with the game and VDM files to control the demo playback.

CS2 doesn't support VDM files, and the -netconport launch option works only with the -tools launch option which is available only on Windows when the Workshop tools are installed.
That's the main reason why we have to use the library approach with CS2.

Since CS:DM version 3.10.0, we switched to a Valve Server Plugin for CS:GO (nothing changed for CS2).
Like for CS2, the plugin is loaded into the game when it's launched but the main difference is that "plugins" are an official Source engine 1 feature (IServerPluginCallbacks interface) which is not available for CS2.

The pros of the library method is that we can have more control over the game and it's more stable than the Telnet connection (at least on Linux).
The downside is that because the library needs to know some game implementation details, it may break when the game is updated. It should not happen for CS:GO as it's a "legacy" game but it happened and may happen again for CS2.

Actions file​

An "actions file" is a JSON file that contains a list of "actions" to be executed by the plugin during the demo playback.

An action has the following structure:

type Action = {
  tick: number;
  cmd: string;
};

The tick field specifies at which tick the action should be executed and the cmd field is the game command that will be executed (for example demo_gototick 123).

The plugin reads a possible actions file next to the demo file (~/myDemo.dem -> ~/myDemo.dem.json) when the game starts and when the user requests to watch a demo from the CS:DM interface while the game is already running and has been started from the application.

CS2​

Requirements​

Windows​

Visual Studio 2022 with the component Desktop development with C++.

Linux​

sudo apt install make build-essential g++

Building​

The source code in the cs2-server-plugin folder.

Windows​

  1. git submodule update --init --recursive
  2. Open a Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt and navigate to the project folder
  3. msbuild cs2-server-plugin.sln
  4. The binary server.dll will be in the static folder
note

You can also build the project from Visual Studio.

Linux​

  1. git submodule update --init --recursive
  2. make
  3. The binary server.so will be in the static folder

Installation​

CS:DM automatically installs the plugin when CS2 is launched - it does the following:

  1. Copy the binary from the static folder to the game\csgo\csdm\bin folder.
  2. Add a reference to the plugin in the file game\csgo\gameinfo.gi:
SearchPaths
{
	Game_LowViolence	csgo_lv // Perfect World content override

+	Game	csgo/csdm
	Game	csgo
	Game	csgo_imported
	Game	csgo_core
	Game	core
  1. Launch CS2 with the launch option -insecure

Uninstallation​

The plugin automatically "uninstalls itself" when CS2 is launched by restoring the gameinfo.gi file.
The application does it as well and also delete the binary file when the game is closed to ensure it's uninstalled even if the game crashes.

Logging​

Logs are visible in the CS2 console with the prefix CSDM.
On Windows, you can also start the game with the -tools launch option to access the VConsole that allows filtering the logs.

You can also use the LogToFile function to write logs into a file csdm.log.
On Windows the log file is located in game/bin/win64, and on Linux in game/bin.

Updating the sdk​

The plugin is built against the AlliedModders SDK.

  1. git submodule update --remote
  2. Rebuild the project

CS:GO​

Requirements​

Windows​

Visual Studio 2022 with the component Desktop development with C++.

Linux​

sudo apt install make build-essential g++

macOS​

xcode-select --install

Building​

The source code in the csgo-server-plugin folder.

Windows​

  1. git submodule update --init --recursive
  2. Open a Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt and navigate to the project folder
  3. msbuild csgo-server-plugin.sln
  4. The binary csdm.dll will be in the static folder
note

You can also build the project from Visual Studio.

Linux​

  1. git submodule update --init --recursive
  2. make
  3. The binary csdm_client.so will be in the static folder

macOS​

important

If you are on an Apple Silicon Mac, you need to start a shell session with the x86_64 architecture to build the plugin!

/usr/bin/arch -x86_64 /bin/zsh ---login
  1. git submodule update --init --recursive
  2. make
  3. The binary csdm.dylib will be in the static folder

Installation​

CS:DM automatically installs the plugin when CS:GO is launched - it does the following:

  1. Copy the binary and the file csdm.vdf from the static folder to the csgo\addons folder.
  2. Launch CS:GO with the launch option -insecure

Uninstallation​

The plugin automatically "uninstalls itself" when CS:GO is launched by deleting the csdm.vdf file.
The application does it as well and also delete the binary file when the game is closed to ensure it's uninstalled even if the game crashes.

Logging​

Logs are visible in the console with the prefix CSDM and persisted in the file csdm.log.
This file is located in the steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive folder.