Skip to main content

zSpy

zSpy is a debugging tool that displays most of the operations performed by the engine during the running of Gothic or Spacer.

warning

zSpy must be started before Gothic or Spacer so that the program can find it.

  • In Gothic I, this sometimes has to be done manually.
  • In Gothic II, this is handled by GothicStarter_mod.exe.

To follow messages in zSpy effectively, Gothic should be started in windowed mode.

  • The corresponding option can be found in GothicStarter_mod.exe.
  • Within Gothic, when Marvin mode is activated, you can toggle between windowed and full-screen mode at any time with the F3 key.

Log Level​

With the -zlog: command line argument in GothicStarter, you can specify how many messages zSpy will output. The value can be a number between -1 and 9 (e.g. -zlog:5).

  • -1: Disable every message (except fatal errors).
  • 0: Shows only warnings, faults, and fatal errors.
  • 1 - 9: Display more information. Each message has a priority level.
    • If you select 1, the program displays only messages with priority <= 1.
    • If you select 5, it displays messages with priority <= 5.
    • If you select 9, it displays almost everything the engine produces.
tip

For general debugging, the recommended value is 5.

Output​

zSpy issues its reports in the following format:

Time Type Priority User Message ... <filename, #line>

Example: 00:21 Info: 3 B: GOTHIC: Exiting game ... .... <oGameManager.cpp,#617>

Time​

Time elapsed since the start of Gothic.exe.

Type​

Type of message. The following types are distinguished:

  • Fatal: Critical error causing the application to close.
  • Fault: A simple bug that will not cause the application to stop, but display or performance issues may occur.
  • Warn: A warning of possible consequences. An error that follows soon afterwards could be related to it.
  • Info: General information about the progress of the program.

Priority​

Priority level of the message. Messages with lower priority (higher number) can be disabled via the Log Level.

User​

User ID - a letter defined by every engine developer to highlight their logs:

  • D: Dieter
  • U: Ulf
  • B: Bert
  • C: Carsten
  • A: Andre
  • X: Kurt

Message​

The most important part. A message that contains:

  • A symbol representing a program module (e.g., MDL = 3D models, PAR = Parser).
  • The actual message content.

Configuration​

In zSpy, you can customize the font and its color depending on the type of message. In addition, you can configure logging options:

  • Filtering various messages (Info, Warn, Fault, Fatal).
  • Auto show/hide zSpy when starting/stopping Gothic.
  • Saving the log to a separate file.

Console Commands​

You can use the zerr command in the console (F2) to control zSpy at runtime.

zerr level​

Sets the level of logging detail.

zerr level <#>

zerr searchspy​

Links zSpy with Gothic. Useful if you run zSpy after the game is already running.

zerr searchspy

zerr authors​

Sets a filter to display only messages from one author.

zerr authors <letter>
  • <letter>: One of the letters listed in the User section.

zerr rem​

Includes a remark (separator line) into the log, which is useful for marking specific events during debugging.

zerr rem

Example Output:

00:46 Info:  3 B:     OPT: Blood-Details: Value=2 .... <oGameManager.cpp,#1302>
00:57 ---------------
00:57 ---------------
01:01 Info:  3 B:     GMAN: Leaving Menu-Section .... <oGameManager.cpp,#1537>

zerr status​

Displays the current status of zSpy in the console.

zerr status