DevConsole [v1.5.0]

Summary

A simple in-game developer console with easy-to-implement commands and scripting.

Features

• Easily create new commands from the inspector or C#!
• Some default/starter commands are included
• Modular and extensible components
• Tons of events to hook into. This includes UnityEvent, inheritable class events, and static Action events
• Navigable command and input history
• Working console prefab included, ready to be customized!
• Separate "Dev Mode" and "Cheat Mode" with the ability to specify commands that should only be ran during certain modes of the console

Todo

• Some functions/classes need additional documentation
• Scripting for executing a series of commands from a text file or string
• Control improvements in the example console.

Getting Started

1. Import the package or Github content into your Assets folder
   • Get the HTTPS Github link to this repo and add it through the Package Manager
   • OR Clone the repo to a zip and extract the contents to your Assets folder
2. Drag and drop the "basic dev console" prefab from Packages/DevConsole/Samples/Prefabs into your scene
3. Add an "EventSystem" into your scene if one doesn't already exist. The UI for the basic dev console won't work otherwise.
4. Start the game and begin using the console as needed!
   • Configure the console through the inspector

Note that this API does come with some default commands, but to embrace the power of this asset you'll have to make your own.

Default Controls for the "Basic Dev Console" Demo

Action	Description	Hotkey(s)
Toggle	Opens/closes the console depending on its current state.	Left Shift + Back-Quote/Tilde
Close	Closes the console if it's open.	Escape
Submit	Parses the current text in the input buffer.	Return
Clear Console	Clears all content and history in the console.	Left Ctrl + Backspace
Previous Command	Assigns the "previous" command sent relative to the current history position into the input buffer.	Up Arrow
Next Command	Assigns the "next" command sent relative to the current history position into the input buffer.	Down Arrow

Creating New Commands

There's two main ways to create new commands.

From the Inspector (Basic)

1. Select the DevConsoleBehaviour game object in the scene.
2. Under the "Misc" section in the component's inspector, find the "Unity Event Commands" array.
3. Add a new element and configure/customize the command as needed.
   
   

From Code (C#)

The system uses C# Reflection to find commands. All you have to do is implement the DevConsoleCommand class and start the game. This command is included within the examples.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using DevConsole;
using DevConsole.Commands;

public class HelloWorldCommand : DevConsoleCommand 
{
        // All names associated with this command. These are the case-insensitive values users can enter to use the command.
        public override string[] GetNames()
        {
            return new string[] {"helloworld", "hw"};
        }

        // The action that actually happens when this command is executed.
        public override void Execute(List<string> parameters)
        {
            Console.Print("Hello world!");
        }
        
        // (OPTIONAL) The text displayed when the "help helloworld" or "help hw" command is executed
        public override string GetHelp()
        {
            return "Displays \"Hello World\" into the console.";
        }
        
        // (OPTIONAL) Denotes whether or not this command can only be run in "dev mode"
        public override bool devModeOnly => false;
        
        // (OPTIONAL) Denotes whether or not this command can only be run in "cheat mode"
        public override bool cheatModeOnly => false;
}

Tips

• You don't need to use DevConsoleBehaviour.Instance to call console functions. You can simply reference DevConsole instead which is a static class that allows for shorthand/convenient calling of the DevConsoleBehaviour instance.

Configuration

This section describes how to configure a DevConsoleBehaviour.

General

Field	Description
Debug	When enabled, this DevConsoleBehaviour will regularly log information to the console such as exceptions, invocations, etc.
Starts Open	Enable this if the DevConsoleBehaviour is considered "open" by default.
Open On Start	When enabled, the DevConsoleBehaviour will invoke Open() in Start() and automatically open.
Print Unity Console Logs	When enabled, Unity console messages will appear in the DevConsoleBehaviour. Avoid toggling this field during runtime.
Show Command Doesn't Exist Error	When enabled, if a user tries to submit a command that doesn't exist, an error will be displayed.
Clear Input Buffer After Submit	When enabled, the input buffer for the DevConsoleBehaviour will be cleared whenever Submit() is invoked.
Allow Dev Mode	Allows the usage of "Dev Mode". If disabled, SetDevMode(...) cannot be called and dev-mode-only commands cannot be executed.
Enable Dev Mode On Start	When enabled, the DevConsoleBehaviour will automatically enter "Dev Mode" if possible when it starts.
Allow Cheat Mode	Allows the usage of "Cheat Mode". If disabled, SetCheatMode(...) cannot be called and cheat-mode-only commands cannot be executed.
Enable Cheat Mode On Start	When enabled, the DevConsoleBehaviour will automatically enter "Cheat Mode" if possible when it starts.
Max History	The maximum amount of entries the console will remember.

Components

Field	Description
Console Input Behaviour	The behaviour that decides how input is passed into the DevConsoleBehaviour.
Console Display Behaviour	The behaviour that handles displaying log entries for the DevConsoleBehaviour.

Events

This table refers to the UnityEvent<T> fields, not the public static event Action events available to the developers in C#.

Field	Description
OnInitialized	Invoked when the DevConsoleBehaviour is initialized, during OnEnable().
OnShutdown	Invoked when the DevConsoleBehaviour is going to be disabled, during OnDisable()
OnOpen	Invoked whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour is opened.
OnClosed	Invoked whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour is closed.
OnToggle	Invoked whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour is opened or closed.
OnUpdate	Invoked whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour's Update() function is invoked.
OnClear	Invoked whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour is cleared.
OnSubmit(string)	Invoked along with inputBuffer whenever the DevConsoleBehaviour's Submit() function is invoked.
OnPrint(string)	Invoked whenever something is printed to the DevConsoleBehaviour.
OnInputBufferChanged(string)	Invoked whenever the value of the inputBuffer on the DevConsoleBehaviour changes.

Credits

Thanks to the Unity Discord Community for helping settle the package issues with this repo.