Guide: Debugging your AI DLL

You may not be aware, but it is possible to debug a hooked DLL in real-time. This guide will show you how, allowing you to step through your code, use breakpoints, all that debugging goodness.

I'll be using the ExampleAIModule.dll to demonstrate how.

1) Build the ExampleAIModule project in 'Debug'.
    - Open the project in Visual C++ 2008
    - Right click the VC project (on the left hand side by default) and select 'Properties'
    - Change the top left drop down box to read 'Debug' (it will probably read '(Active)Release' previously)
    - Under 'Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> Code Generation', set the 'Runtime Library' field to 'Multi-threaded DLL /MD'
    - Under 'Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Input', set the 'Additional Dependencies' field to contain the following: '../../lib/BWAPI.lib ../../lib/BWTA.lib ../../lib/CGAL-vc90-mt.lib ../../lib/gmp-vc90-mt.lib ../../lib/libboost_thread-vc90-mt-1_38.lib ../../lib/mpfr-vc90-mt.lib'
    - Click 'Ok' at the bottom right of the dialog box.
    - Change the drop-down box located in the upper-middle of the screen from 'Release' to 'Debug'
    - Press F7 to build the project (or alternatively, select 'Build -> Build Solution'

2) Run the game.
    - Run the ChaosLauncher and begin a new single player custom match (loading with Windows Mode enabled is highly recommended)
    - You should recieve onscreen notification that the DLL has been successfully loaded

3) Attach the debugger.
    - Once the game has begun, return to Visual C++ 2008
    - Select 'Debug -> Attach To Process...'
    - At the bottom right hand of the screen, mark the checkbox labelled 'Show processes from all users'
    - Select 'Starcraft.exe' from the list and click 'Attach' located to the bottom right of the dialog

4) Debug.
    - Create a breakpoint at the start of your 'onFrame()' function (in the example, 'ExampleAIModule::onFrame()' to test for a successful hook
    - Continue debugging your application!

Note: You may need to restart Visual C++ 2008 with Administrator privileges. You can tell by checking Visual C++ 2008's title bar, it should contain '(Administrator)'.

GL HF