README SpaceChem Community Edition

# SpaceChem Community Edition

This project will replace your [SpaceChem](http://www.zachtronics.com/spacechem/) game executable to add new features to the game.

This project is the continuation of the [SpaceChem Community update (v1013)](https://steamcommunity.com/games/92800/announcements/detail/1737729728308220584), with more features added that are not either ready or polished enough to land in the official release of SpaceChem.

## Supported game versions

The only supported version is the Steam version of the game.
This is unlikely to change in the future, for legal reasons related to the game distribution.

## Installing the update

In the release archive you'll find a `SpaceChem.exe` executable file.
This file needs to be placed in the Steam directory of SpaceChem, whose default path is:
* Windows: `C:\Programs (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceChem` ?
* Mac: ???
* Linux `~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/SpaceChem`

Overwrite the original file, it'll still be possible to recover it by verifying the game files via Steam.

## Available improvements

Other than a few general enhancement, most of the changes are individually selectable using the new tab in the `Options` menu in the Main Screen.
Once the game has been launched once, a new file storing the new settings will be created in the main SC saves directory, called `mod_config.ini`, there it's possible to set all the new settings without the game and change some more experimental settings which do not have a corresponding entry in the in-game menu.

Default settings directory location:
   * Windows: `C:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Local\Zachtronics Industries\Spacechem\mod_config.ini`
   * Linux: `~/.local/share/Zachtronics Industries/SpaceChem/mod_config.ini`
   * Mac: `~/.local/share/zachtronics industries/spacechem/mod_config.ini`

## Available settings

* `AllowIllegalBondsInCustomPuzzles`: Allow bonds that exceed the bond limit of the participating atoms when editing input and output molecules in ResearchNet puzzles.
Puzzle creators have been building unique puzzles like this for a while now, by editing the puzzle data manually, but with this patch, they can do it a bit more easily. As a side effect, arbitrary bonds are also allowed in  reactor output notes.
* `DeclassifyDefenses`: Shows the normal leaderboard/histograms on defenses, both after completion and on hover on the campaign screens, so that it's easy to see the stats.
Sadly the game has no histogram data for these levels, but the friends scores are visible.
* `DefaultDebondInDisassemblyReactors`: In disassembly reactors, the Bond+ instruction is always ignored because the bonders can only remove bonds in them.
This patch replaces Bond+ with Bond- in the instruction toolbar for these reactors, so you don't need to manually switch them to the Bond- state.
* `MoreFeaturesInResNetResearch`: Increase the upper limit of allowed reactor features in custom ResearchNet research puzzles.
  You can have up to 4 sensors, fusion lasers, fission lasers and quantum tunnels in a puzzle now. A Split instruction triggers all fission lasers in a reactor and a Fuse instruction triggers all fusion lasers. Sensing instructions will activate if any of the sensors detects the specified element. Quantum tunnels work in a "round-robin" fashion: tunnel #1 will teleport atoms to tunnel #2, tunnel #2 will teleport to tunnel #3 and so on, except for the highest-numbered tunnel, which will teleport to tunnel #1.
  Please read the "Compatibility Notes" section below if you also want to run the original game alongside the modified version.
* `ResNetProductionCustomAmount`: Allows changing the amount of outputs needed for ResNet production puzzles. The amount can be specified in
  the JSON, like for researchs. The output count used by the game is 4x the amount in the file, to keep the 10 -> 40 behaviour of the vanilla game.
* `ReverseOrderCustomResNetAssignments`: The ResearchNet custom assignments are normally sorted by ascending creation date, meaning
  that you need to scroll the most to get to the latest puzzles. By enabling this patch, the order is reversed, so you can quickly open
  your most recent assignments and only need to scroll for the older ones.
* `AllowReactorRecordingInProduction`: When recording a production assignment, the game makes a video of the first reactor like it would do in a research assignment, instead of a video of the whole pipeline.
This is useful to make intelligible videos of 1-reactor production assignments.
* `ConfirmExitRunningSimulation`: Controls if the confirmation dialog to exit a level is shown when trying to exit while the simulation is running.
* `IndicateWaldoDirection`: A visual indicator of the direction a waldo is travelling is drawn on the waldo. As of now, the indicator is a different color for the half on the back.

### Experimental settings

The following settings do not have a corresponding entry in the in-game menu, modify at your risk:
* `SpeedSlow`
* `SpeedMedium`
* `SpeedFast`
* `SpeedFastDefense`
* `SpeedWarp`
* `SpeedWarpDefense`
* `SpeedDeltaCtrl`
* `SpeedRecording`

## Compatibility Notes

There is currently one patch that may cause compatibility issues with the vanilla game:

* When `MoreFeaturesInResNetResearch` is active, the puzzle descriptions used by the game are extended with new fields to store the selected feature counts. When the vanilla game loads these descriptions, it will ignore the new fields and enforce the old limits.
  When it's loading a puzzle solution, it will also remove the "extra" features it finds that are above the expected limits. The result is, whenever you open the Custom Assignments screen in ResearchNet with the vanilla game, you will lose features in your existing solutions, and restoring those features is tricky at the moment. If you wish to switch between the vanilla and patched versions of the game, it's better to avoid opening this screen, or even to use different game profiles for the two versions.
  Exporting puzzles should work normally, but if you publish your puzzle somewhere, please let the players know that they will need to patch their game to be able to play the puzzle properly. The `MoreFeaturesInResNetResearch` is the only patch necessary, all others can stay disabled if the player prefers the original game behavior.

## Acknowledgments

TODO me, you and zach?