Making a speedrun timer in D

10 months ago

The author created a custom speedrun timer for Deus Ex to implement features like auto-splitting and load time removal.
The timer was developed in the D programming language due to its system-level capabilities and high-level features.
Initial attempts to find a loading flag in memory failed, leading to a more complex approach involving code injection.
Key Linux syscalls like `ptrace` and `process_vm_readv` were used to interact with the game's memory.
The `LoadMap` function in Deus Ex was identified and modified to set a custom loading flag.
A safe memory location within the game's process was found to store the loading flag and map name.
The timer includes logic to detect loading screens and automatically pause the timer.
Autosplitting was implemented by tracking the current map name returned by `LoadMap`.
Challenges included handling exceptions during loading and optimizing memory access to reduce game stutter.
Future improvements could involve more efficient signaling mechanisms and support for save time removal.

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