pkpawn

What it does

A compiled script is a wall of bytes. pkpawn turns it into something you can read, change, and put back — recomputing every jump offset, table offset and header size from scratch, so inserting or deleting an instruction is safe.

6305 0000 e0f1 0a0a
1c00 0800 2001 0000
c809 0000 080a 0000
081a 0000 2c05 0000
3c00 0000 4400 0000
f400 0000 fc00 0000
1401 0000 1c01 0000
542d f063 0000 0000
89a3 130b 0000 0000

L000000b8:
        proc
        push.p.s 16
        push.p.s 12
        sysreq.n screen_fade_in_raw 8
        stack.p 4
        zero.pri
        retn

; edit freely — every
; address is recomputed

out/1b6e129e.amx
2560 bytes
code 2216, data 64
1 public, 22 natives
6656 bytes of VM memory

→ sdmc:/pkpawn/

loads on the console,
unchanged.

The part nobody else has

The engine's own names are internal shorthand — WorkGet, MdlAcmdSet, TalkMdlMsg_Seq. They assume you know that "work" means a saved variable, "Mdl" means an overworld character and "Acmd" means a queued movement. Every one of them has been given a readable name and, for the ones that carry real traffic, a written-up description of what each argument selects.

WorkGet(0x407c)
  → get_event_var(0x407c)

FlagSet(0x21)
  → set_event_flag(0x21)

TalkMdlSetEyeToEye(2)
  → npc_look_at_player(2)

MdlAcmdSetEnd()
  → npc_movement_commit()

FadeRequestOut(0, 0, 6)
  → screen_fade_out(0, 0, 6)

screen_fade_out(style, screens, frames)
  Fades the picture away. Note the
  effect comes first, before the
  screen.

  style    0 black, 1 white, then the
           shaped wipes: circle-shrink,
           ball, up/down/left/right,
           diamond
  screens  0 top, 1 bottom, 2 both
  frames   how long it takes; 2 is the
           engine default

  engine name: FadeRequestOut

Using it

One binary, four commands. Real output from a real script below — nothing here is mocked up.

1. Download and sign in

   No installer. Put the binary anywhere on your PATH, then paste the key you were given.

   Windows (x86-64) Linux (x86-64)

   > pkpawn login pk_live_0000000000000000000000000000dead
   signed in as you@example.com (hobby plan)
   200 credit(s) available
   key stored in C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\pkpawn\config.json

2. Open a script

   This is the step that spends a credit. You get the editable listing and, on a paid plan, a pseudo-Pawn reconstruction that turns 395 instructions into something you can read in a minute.

   > pkpawn open c02r0101.amx
   uploading c02r0101.amx (1380 bytes)...
   wrote c02r0101.pasm
   wrote c02r0101.p (reading aid, not an input)
     script 0x1b6e129e — 395 instruction(s), 1 public(s), 22 native(s)
     build it with `pkpawn build c02r0101.pasm`; installs as 1b6e129e.amx
     199 credit(s) left

3. Edit it in any text editor

   The .pasm names every branch target instead of printing raw addresses, so you can insert and delete instructions freely. The .p beside it is there to tell you what the script actually does.

   // from the .p — what the script is really doing
   main()
   {
       switch (g_mode)
       {
           case 0:  sub_0000b8();
           case 1:  sub_0000c4();
           default: do_nothing();
       }
   }
   
   native show_dialogue(message_id, window_id, npc_id, ...);
     // Opens a speech bubble and prints a message, optionally
     // tailed to an NPC. The workhorse of every conversation.

4. Build it back

   Free, and repeatable for 30 days. A listing that does not assemble costs nothing but the time to fix it — and the error tells you the line.

   > pkpawn build c02r0101.pasm
   wrote out\1b6e129e.amx (2560 bytes)
     code 2216 bytes, data 64 bytes, 1 public(s), 22 native(s), 6656 bytes of VM memory
     install as sdmc:/pkpawn/1b6e129e.amx to replace the original script

   > pkpawn build c02r0101.pasm
   error: bad hex '0xZZ': invalid digit found in string (line 76)

Or do all of it in one command

> pkpawn edit c02r0101.amx

Opens the script, launches $EDITOR, builds when you save, and reopens your editor at the offending line if it does not assemble. Loops until it builds.

> pkpawn balance
account   you@example.com
plan      hobby
credits   199
jobs      1 opened so far
limits    scripts up to 256 KB, listings up to 8 MB, 200 builds per job, jobs live 30 days

Credits

One credit opens one script. Rebuilding it is free and unlimited for 30 days. A file that fails to parse is never charged, and opening the same file twice is recognised rather than billed again — so a dropped connection, or coming back to a script next week, costs nothing.

Questions worth answering up front