Ubuntu Manpage: ncsdis — BioWare NWScript bytecode disassembler

Provided by: xoreos-tools_0.0.5-1build4_amd64

NAME

     ncsdis — BioWare NWScript bytecode disassembler

SYNOPSIS

     ncsdis [options] input_file [output_file]

DESCRIPTION

ncsdis disassembles NCS files, compiled bytecode of the NWScript scripting language used by every single
Aurora engine game, except for the Nintendo DS game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. The output,
while not as clear as the C-like source code that produced the bytecode, is human-readable.

ncsdis is meant as a better maintainable and more complete replacement of the disassembly mode found in the
OpenKnights nwnnsscomp tool. As such, it fixes provides these enhancements:
• Compilable in 64-bit mode
• Out of the box support for all Aurora engine games
• Support for array opcodes added in Dragon Age: Origins
• Support for reference opcodes added in Dragon Age II
• Knowledge of additional variable types
• No need to provide an external nwscript.nss file

Additionally, ncsdis can create a dot file specifying a control flow graph of the disassembly. It can be
plotted into a graph by the dot(1) tool of the GraphViz suite.

WARNING: these graphs can get very large very quickly. To keep the resulting image small, set a small font
and font size when calling GraphViz, and decrease the nodesep and ranksep values.

Since there is no way to automatically detect for which game this script is, this information must be
provided on the command. If no game is specified, the ACTION opcode that call an engine function, such as
“GetModule” or trigonometry functions, will only display a number instead of a function name.

OPTIONS

     -h
     --help
           Show a help text and exit.
     --version
           Show version information and exit.
     --list
           Create a full disassembly listing, including byte addresses and the raw bytecode, similar to the
           disassembly mode of nwnnsscomp.  This is the default mode.
     --assembly
           Only create the human-readable mnemonics part of the disassembly listing.  Useful for modifying and
           extending the script.
     --dot
           Create a flow control graph in the dot language, to be plotted by the GraphViz suite.
     --stack
           Print the stack frame for each instruction.  Only available in list or assembly mode, not in dot
           mode.
     --control
           Print detected control structures inside block nodes.  Only available in dot mode.
     --nwn
           Use engine function tables of the game Neverwinter Nights.
     --nwn2
           Use engine function tables of the game Neverwinter Nights 2.
     --kotor
           Use engine function tables of the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
     --kotor2
           Use engine function tables of the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords.
     --jade
           Use engine function tables of the game Jade Empire.
     --witcher
           Use engine function tables of the game The Witcher.
     --dragonage
           Use engine function tables of the game Dragon Age: Origins.
     --dragonage2
           Use engine function tables of the game Dragon Age II.
     input_file
           The NCS file to disassemble.
     output_file
           The disassembly will be written there.  If no output file is specified, the disassembly will be
           written to stdout.

EXAMPLES

     Disassemble the script file.ncs:

           $ ncsdis file.ncs file.lst

     Disassemble the script file.ncs and write the listing to stdout:

           $ ncsdis file.ncs

     Disassemble the Jade Empire script file.ncs:

           $ ncsdis --jade file.ncs file.list

     Disassemble the Jade Empire script file.ncs in pure disassembly mode:

           $ ncsdis --assembly --jade file.ncs file.asm

     Create a dot graph file of the Neverwinter Nights script file.ncs:

           $ ncsdis --dot --nwn file.ncs file.dot

     Create a dot graph file of the Neverwinter Nights script file.ncs and plot it:

           $ ncsdis --dot --nwn file.ncs | dot -Gnodesep=0.1 -Granksep=0.1 \
             -Gfontname="Courier New" -Nfontname="Courier New" -Gfontsize=10 \
             -Nfontsize=8 -Earrowsize=0.5 -Tpng > file.png

AUTHORS