Known Global Tickflow Operations¶

This is a list of all Tickflow operations which have known functions and have been given a global alias.

Asynchronous Subroutine (0)¶

The async_sub function finds a subroutine corresponding to an argument, then calls it asynchronously (i.e. the code runs simultaneously to the Tickflow code already running). Async_sub calls have the following form:

async_sub id, delay, cat

The id argument is the ID number assigned to the subroutine. It is first taken from a lookup table of rhythm game-specific IDs, usually starting at 0x56, and then from a global list of subroutines, which starts at 0. delay represents the delay in ticks before the macro is executed. cat is the category the new thread will belong to. This is often 0x7D0 (2000). The second and third arguments can be omitted, and default to 0 and 0x7D0 respectively.

If the location called by the sub is within the Tickflow file it’s called in, async_sub is replaced with a corresponding async_call call.

Get Async/Set Function (1)¶

These two operations share the same operation number, 1. They are differentiated by the special argument. get_async corresponds to 1<0>, while set_func corresponds to 1<1>. set_func stores the location of a function into a slot, which can later be accessed and run asynchronously using get_async, or synchronously using get_sync (5). set_func is of the following form:

set_func slot, loc

It stores the location loc into the slot slot. get_async is of the following form:

get_async slot, delay

It calls the location stored into slot slot as an asynchronous function after delay ticks.

Async Call Location (2)¶

async_call, operation number 2, takes a location as an argument and runs the Tickflow code at that location as an asynchronous function.

async_call loc, delay

The asynchronous function at loc is called after a delay of delay ticks.

Kill Threads (3)¶

Kills Tickflow threads according to several criteria.

kill_all

Kills all Tickflow threads.

kill_cat c

Kills all Tickflow threads in category c .

kill_loc location

Kills all Tickflow threads currently running inside the function at location .

kill_sub id

Kills all Tickflow threads currently running inside the subroutine id .

Subroutine (4)¶

sub finds a subroutine corresponding to an argument, then calls it synchronously.

sub id

The id argument is identical to the one in Asynchronous Subroutine (0).

Get Sync (5)¶

Gets a function set by set_func and calls it synchronously.

get_sync slot

Call Location (6)¶

call takes a location as an argument and calls the Tickflow code at that location as a synchronous function.

call loc

The synchronous function at loc is called.

Return (7)¶

return takes no arguments, but returns from a synchronous function call. That is, when return occurs in a synchronous function, execution is returned to the location the function was called from.

Stop (8)¶

stop stops the current thread of execution.

Set Category (9)¶

set_cat c

Sets the current thread to category c .

Set Conditional Variable (0xA)¶

set_condvar sets the value of the conditional variable to its first argument.

set_condvar val

Add Conditional Variable (0xB)¶

add_condvar adds its first argument to the value of the conditional variable.

add_condvar val

Push Conditional Variable (0xC)¶

The conditional variable is pushed to a stack containing at most 16 values. For more information about stacks, see Wikipedia.

push_condvar

Pop Conditional Variable (0xD)¶

The conditional variable is popped from the previously mentioned stack.

pop_condvar

Rest (0xE)¶

rest duration

duration is added to the rest counter. If the rest counter is now greater than zero, it will decrement at a rate of 48 per beat, pausing Tickflow execution until it reaches zero again. Note that duration is actually the special argument for rest, but the syntax is like a regular argument here for convenience.

Get/Set Rest (0xF)¶

getrest and setrest work similarly to Get Async/Set Function (1): setrest stores a duration in a slot, to later be used by getrest to add to the rest counter.

setrest slot, duration

The duration duration is stored in slot slot.

getrest slot

The duration previously stored in slot is added to the rest counter.

Reset Rest Counter (0x11)¶

rest_reset

The rest counter is set to 0.

Unrest (0x12)¶

unrest duration

duration is subtracted from the rest counter. If the rest counter is negative, no action is undertaken. This effectively functions as a sort of buffer to subtract a duration from succeeding rests. Like in rest, duration is actually a special argument, but the syntax is adjusted for convenience.

Label (0x14)¶

A label takes only a special argument, and marks this location for use by goto. Can be positioned after a goto.

label id

This location in the file is marked as id for use by goto. Note that, like in Rest (0xE), id is actually a special argument.

Goto (0x15)¶

goto takes only a special argument, and jumps to the corresponding label. It presumably searches for the nearest label matching the ID.

goto id

Execution jumps to the label with ID id. Note that, like in Rest (0xE), id is actually a special argument.

If, Else, Endif (0x16…0x18)¶

Together, these operations form if-blocks, a popular programming construct.

if arg
    // Tickflow code
else
    // other Tickflow code
endif

If the value of the conditional variable is equal to arg, then the first block of Tickflow code is executed. Otherwise, the second block of Tickflow code is executed. The else block can be omitted entirely, in which case it is assumed to be empty.

There are also several different variants on if:

if_neq arg
if_lt arg
if_leq arg
if_gt arg
if_geq arg

These execute the code if the conditional variable is not equal, less than, less than or equal, greater than, and greater than or equal to arg, respectively.

Switch, Case, Break, Default, Endswitch (0x19…0x1D)¶

Together, these operations form switch-case statements, another construct commonly found in programming languages.

switch
    case arg1
    // tickflow code
    break
    case arg2
    // more tickflow code
    break
    [...]
    default
    // code
    break
endswitch

If the value of the condition variable is equal to arg1, then the case arg1 block runs. If the value of the condition variable is equal to arg2, then the case arg2 block runs, etc. If none of the cases match the value of the condition variable, the default block runs. If any break is omitted, then after running the corresponding code block, the next case will also be run.

Countdown (0x1E)¶

countdown operations implement a countdown using two internal variables; the initial value of the countdown, and the “progress” of the countdown, which is subtracted from the initial value.

set_countdown num

Sets the initial value to num and sets the progress to 0. Equivalent to 0x1E<0>.

set_countdown_condvar

Sets the initial value to the value of the conditional variable, and sets progress to 0. Equivalent to 0x1E<1>.

get_countdown_init

Sets the conditional variable to the initial value of the countdown. Equivalent to 0x1E<2>.

get_countdown_prog

Sets the conditional variable to the progress of the countdown. Equivalent to 0x1E<3>.

get_countdown

Sets the conditional variable to the countdown value: initial - progress. Equivalent to 0x1E<4>.

dec_countdown

Increments the progress variable by 1, therefore decrementing the countdown value by 1. Equivalent to 0x1E<5>.

Speed (0x24)¶

speed sets the speed of the game to a specified fraction of the original speed. This also increases the pitch of the music. An example of speed usage can be found in Karate Man Senior, when the game speeds up.

speed val

The speed is set to val/256 of the original speed. For example, speed 0x100 sets the speed to the original speed, while speed 0x120 sets the speed to 288/256, or 112.5% of the original speed.

Relative Speed (0x25)¶

This operation operates on the same speed value as speed (0x24) does, but instead of setting it, it multiplies, resulting in a relative speed change from the current speed. A lower and upper bound on the resulting overall speed can also be set.

speed_relative val, lb, ub

The game speed is multiplied by val/256. The resulting value cannot fall below lb/256 or rise above ub/256 of the original speed.

Engine (0x28)¶

engine sets the game engine to the one corresponding to the argument ID.

engine id

The game engine is set to the engine corresponding to id. Game engines have a set of special tickflow functions which are specific to that game, as well as a set of macros and/or subroutines.

Set Game to Asset Slot (0x2A)¶

This is a set of operations all sharing the same operation number, but being distinguished by different special argument values.

game_model id, slot
game_cellanim id, slot
game_effect id, slot
game_layout id, slot

These assign a game engine ID to an asset (model, cellanim, effect or layout) slot, to allow the game to load assets from the correct asset slots when loading a game. game_model corresponds to 0x2A<0>, game_cellanim to 0x2A<2>, game_effect to 0x2A<3> and game_layout to 0x2A<4>.

Model Asset Management (0x31)¶

This is a set of operations differentiated by their special argument, which all share a common theme of being used to manage the loading of model assets. Model assets are organized into slots starting at slot 1, where one slot can hold assets for one rhythm game.

set_model slot, str, ???

The first argument is a the slot for the model assets to be loaded into, the second argument is a location in memory that contains a string, namely the filename of the file containing the assets to be loaded. The third argument is unknown, but seems to always be 1. set_model corresponds to 0x31<0>.

remove_model slot

Removes the model assets currently loaded into slot. remove_model corresponds to 0x31<1>.

has_model slot

Seems to set the conditional variable to 1 if slot contains assets, and 0 otherwise. has_model corresponds to 0x31<2>.

Cellanim Asset Management (0x35)¶

Very similarly to Model Asset Management (0x31), this set of operations manages cellanim assets. Cellanim assets consist of 2D sprites and animations thereof. Cellanim assets, similarly to model assets, are organized into slots starting at slot 2, with each slot holding assets for one rhythm game.

set_cellanim slot, str, ???

The first argument is the slot for the assets to be loaded into, the second argument is a location in memory that contains the filename of the file to be loaded. The third argument is unknown, but seems to always be 0xFFFFFFFF, -1 when interpreted as a signed integer. set_cellanim corresponds to 0x35<0>.

cellanim_busy slot

Seems to set the conditional variable to 1 if slot is currently being written to or deleted from, and 0 otherwise. cellanim_busy corresponds to 0x35<1>.

remove_cellanim slot

Removes the cellanim assets currently loaded into slot. remove_cellanim corresponds to 0x35<3>.

Effect Asset Management (0x39)¶

Similarly to the previous two entries, this set of operations manages effect assets. Effect assets seem to consist of particle effects, and are organized into slots starting at slot 2, with each slot holding assets for one rhythm game.

set_effect slot, str, ???

This operation has identical functioning to set_cellanim. set_effect corresponds to 0x39<0>.

effect_busy slot

This operation has identical functioning to cellanim_busy. effect_busy corresponds to 0x39<1>.

remove_effect slot

This operation has identical functioning to remove_cellanim. remove_effect corresponds to 0x39<7>.

Layout Asset Management (0x3E)¶

Similarly to the previous entries, this set of operations manages layout assets. Layout assets are organized into slots starting at slot 4, though the slots used by stock games and remixes wildly vary.

set_layout slot, str, ???

This operation has identical functioning to set_effect and set_cellanim. set_layout corresponds to 0x3E<0>.

layout_busy slot

This operation has identical functioning to effect_busy and cellanim_busy. layout_busy corresponds to 0x3E<1>.

remove_layout slot

This operation has identical functioning to remove_effect and remove_cellanim. remove_layout corresponds to 0x3E<7>.

Play SFX (0x40)¶

This operation plays a sound effect according to an ID.

play_sfx id

A sound effect is played according to id. Where these IDs are defined is not yet clear, though the sound effect may be played after a tempo-dependent delay, suggesting that these IDs encode additional info, and not only the sound effect itself.

Set SFX Slot (0x5D)¶

This operation loads sound effects into the specified SFX slot. Sound effects in the loaded assets can thereafter be played at any time.

set_sfx slot, str

Loads the sound effects corresponding to the group name at the location str in memory into slot.

Remove SFX (0x5F)¶

This operation removes previously loaded sound effects from the specified SFX slot.

remove_sfx slot

Removes the SFX assets loaded into slot.

Enable/Disable Input (0x6A)¶

This operation enables or disables all user input.

input flag

Disables input if flag is 0, enables it if it is 1.

Zoom View (0x7E)¶

zoom n, x, y

Instantaneously sets the X-axis zoom factor for the n th view to x/0x100, and the Y-axis zoom factor to y/0x100. It is currently unknown how to determine the correct view number to use, however, it is known to usually be 3 or 4 when it is used in-game.

zoom_gradual n, i, s, duration, x, y

Changes the X-axis zoom factor to x/0x100 and the Y-axis zoom factor to y/0x100 over duration ticks. i determines the interpolation method used, and s determines the intensity of said interpolation’s variation. Values for i are:

1: Linear
2: Faster at the start
3: Faster at the end
4: Faster in the middle (smooth)
5: Slower in the middle

Pan View (0x7F)¶

pan n, x, y

Instantaneously pans the view to the position x units (pixels?) left and y units (pixels?) up from the origin. n is as above.

pan_gradual n, i, s, duration, x, y

Pans the view to x units left and y units up from the origin over duration ticks. i and s are as above.

Rotate View (0x80)¶

rotate n, angle

Instantaneously rotates the view to angle degrees clockwise from the default. n is as above.

rotate_gradual n, i, s, duration, angle

Rotates the view to angle degrees clockwise from the default over duration ticks. i and s are as above.

Skill Star (0xAE)¶

star time

A skill star appears, to be collected after time ticks. Glitchy if no input matches the given time.

Random (0xB8)¶

This operation generates a random number and stores it in the conditional variable.

random num

Stores a random number between 0 and num exclusive in the conditional variable. Note that, like in Rest (0xE), num is actually a special variable.