$definemacro
$definemacro is a QC command available in all 
Source games. It defines a string substitution macro. A macro can be used as a short hand way to specify other QC commands. The macro creates a block a named block of text, that when referred to will virtually insert that text into the QC file, along with replacing the named parameters with the specified values.
Syntax
$definemacro <macroname> [arg_name1] [arg_name2] [...] \\
- Defines a string substation macro.
- The macro definition begins on the next line, and all subsequent lines that end with \\ (two backslashes).
- Arguments are referenced by surrounding them with $’s (i.e.
$arg_name1$), and can be embedded inside of other words. - To use the macro, type
$macronameand the next N tokens will be taken as arguments.
Examples
$definemacro testmacro seqname filename endframe \\
$sequence $seqname$01 $filename$ { \\
frames 0 $endframe$ \\
subtract $seqname$ 0 delta \\
weightlist justbody \\
}
// Then, to use the macro, do:
$testmacro small_flinch "npc flinch 01" 20
Despite $sequence and $animation, macros do objectively behave to avoid repetitions. As for $jigglebone example:
$definemacro JiggleGeneric6 BoneName PitchMin PitchMax YawMin YawMax \\
$jigglebone $BoneName$ { \\
is_flexible { \\
length 64 \\
tip_mass 200 \\
pitch_stiffness 50 \\
pitch_damping 7 \\
yaw_stiffness 50 \\
yaw_damping 7 \\
along_stiffness 100 \\
along_damping 0 \\
pitch_constraint $PitchMin$ $PitchMax$ \\
yaw_constraint $YawMin$ $YawMax$ \\
} \\
} \\
// then execute the above macro
$JiggleGeneric6 Hair_0 -11 16 -30 30
$JiggleGeneric6 Hair_1 -15 15 -30 30
$JiggleGeneric6 Hair_2 -15 15 -30 30
// [...]
We may use macros to create shortcuts for $sequence and $animation options.
Tip:For this case, create and call macros inside brace brackets to avoid syntax issues // $lockhands is a whole macro which behave as shortcut for two line ik repetition used by many viewmodels animations
$definemacro lockhands \\
{ \\
ikrule "rhand" touch "ValveBiped.weapon_bone" usesource \\
ikrule "lhand" touch "ValveBiped.weapon_bone" usesource \\
} \\
// $freehands release it ik rules, may used for reload, fridget and many other animation sequences
$definemacro freehands \\
{ \\
ikrule "rhand" release \\
ikrule "lhand" release \\
} \\
$sequence idle_1 idle loop fixuploop -15 15 { $lockhands }
// we $freehands for reload
$sequence reload reload3 {
ACT_VM_RELOAD 1
fadein 0 fadeout 0.8
fixuploop -15 15
frames 0 84
{ $freehands }
}
Macro Nesting
You can execute macros from within macros. This is useful if you need to execute a series of commands several times. In this example we use it to create blend spaces for each weapon.
$definemacro MakeRunDirection direction weapon \\
$animation a_run_$direction$ run_$direction$ LX LY worldspaceblend a_run_$weapon$_C \\
$definemacro MakeRun weapon ACT \\
$animation a_run_$weapon$_C aimlayer_$weapon$ frame 5 5 \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ S \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ SW \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ W \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ NW \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ N \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ NE \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ E \\
$MakeRunDirection $weapon$ SE \\
\\
$sequence run_$weapon$ { \\
a_run_$weapon$_SW a_run_$weapon$_S a_run_$weapon$_SE \\
a_run_$weapon$_W a_run_$weapon$_C a_run_$weapon$_E \\
a_run_$weapon$_NW a_run_$weapon$_N a_run_$weapon$_NE \\
blendwidth 3 \\
blend move_x -1 1 \\
blend move_y -1 1 \\
addlayer aimlayer_$weapon$ \\
fadein 0.3 fadeout 0.5 loop \\
node "run" \\
$ACT$ 1 \\
} \\
$MakeRun smg ACT_RUN_SMG
$MakeRun pistol ACT_RUN_PISTOL
$MakeRun crowbar ACT_RUN_CROWBAR
Passing Macro Commands Down
You can also pass tokens down a macro nest. This is super useful if you want to create a top level interface for your commands, as well as creating macros that can be used with multiple skeletons.
$definemacro makeholdtype weapon activity weights \\
$makeaimlayer9frame $weapon$ \\
$makeidle $weapon$ ACT_IDLE_$activity$ \\
$MakeLocomotion run $weapon$ ACT_RUN_$activity$ $weights$ \\
$MakeLocomotion crouch $weapon$ ACT_CWALK_$activity$ $weights$ \\
$MakeLocomotion swim $weapon$ ACT_SWIM_$activity$ $weights$ \\
$makeholdtype pistol_twohand PISTOL_TWOHAND weights_worldspaceblend
$makeholdtype smg SMG weights_worldspaceblend
$makeholdtype rifle RIFLE weights_worldspaceblend
$makeholdtype physcannon PHYSCANNON weights_worldspaceblend
$makeholdtype shotgun SHOTGUN weights_worldspaceblend
$makeholdtype grenade GRENADE weights_worldspaceblend_dual
Condition Statements
Due nature of how QC Code works, we can have a minimal boolean statements for macros with some cveats:
$definemacro GestureTouchAllLeftRightIK GestureName FileName BoneName All Left Right \\
$sequence $GestureName$ $FileName$ { \\
if $All$ { ikrule "lhand" touch $BoneName$ usesource } \\
if $All$ { ikrule "rhand" touch $BoneName$ usesource } \\
if $Left$ { ikrule "lhand" touch $BoneName$ usesource } \\
if $Left$ { ikrule "rhand" release } \\
if $Right$ { ikrule "lhand" release } \\
if $Right$ { ikrule "rhand" touch $BoneName$ usesource } \\
iklock "rfoot" 1 0 iklock "lfoot" 1 0 \\
} \\
$GestureTouchAllLeftRightIK "gesture_touch_all" gesture_fidget_00.dmx "ValveBiped.weapon_bone" 1 0 0
$GestureTouchAllLeftRightIK "gesture_touch_left" gesture_fidget_01.dmx "ValveBiped.weapon_bone" 0 1 0
$GestureTouchAllLeftRightIK "gesture_touch_right" gesture_fidget_02.dmx "ValveBiped.weapon_bone" 0 0 1
Caveats
- You can not contain tokens within quotes. EX: "animations/$macroexample$_run" will not work; the compiler will read it as-is and look for "animations/$macroexample$_run.smd" instead of replacing it.
- You can use macro tokens when defining other macros as long as there is SOME text behind it. Ex: "$macroexamplecommand token1 token2 $macrotoken3$" will fail the compile with "macro expand overflow", but "$macroexamplecommand example token1 $macrotoken3$ token2" will work. You can also do "$macroexamplecommand example token1 token2 $macrotoken3$ dummy"
- You can use macros to define only $animation or $sequence options, however, the macro must be called inside brace brackets otherwise it can't be parsed properly.
