COMM_SPEC.md

Intro

This document will outline the details of the Slippi Dolphin communication file (.json). This file is used to direct a Slippi Playback Dolphin to the correct Slippi replay file. Dolphin can be loaded with a json by launching it like so: <dolphin binary> -i <json path>. The minimum viable json for playback is {"replay": "<path to replay>"}.

Top Level

Name	Type	Description
mode	string	Possible values are normal (default), queue, and mirror
replay	string	The path to the replay if in normal or mirror mode
startFrame	int	The frame you would like to start the replay on, default is -123
endFrame	int	The frame you would like to end the replay on, default is INT_MAX
commandId	string	Typically used to indicate that the replay has changed, but updating the value can also restart playback of the current replay or queue
outputOverlayFiles	boolean	Will output the console name and time of replay to the Slippi folder next to the Dolphin executable (this only works when using queue mode), default is false
isRealTimeMode	boolean	Will force dolphin to stay closer to realtime which is important for mirroring, default is false
shouldResync	boolean	Indicates whether the resync logic should be used. Resync logic will allow playback to go back to normal after a desync, default is true
rollbackDisplayMethod	string	Tells dolphin to display rollbacks either like the player saw them (normal) or by showing every frame in the file (visible). Possible values are off (default), normal, and visible.
gameStation	string	Typically the name of console or broadcaster, used in the Dolphin window title to uniquely identify Dolphin instances
queue	QueueItem[]	All files in the queue will be played back to back. This is commonly used for set recordings or combo video recordings

QueueItem

Name	Type	Description
path	string	the path to the replay
startFrame	int	The frame you would like to start the replay on, default is -123
endFrame	int	The frame you would like to end the replay on, default is INT_MAX
gameStartAt	string	Typically the time of the replay, but can be used with any string
gameStation	string	Typically the name of console the replay was created on, but can be used with any string

Additional data in the JSON will not interfere with playback as long as the JSON continues to be valid.

Example

{
	"mode":"normal",
	"rollbackDisplayMethod":"off",
	"shouldResync":false,
	"replay": "C:\\Path\\Replay.slp",
	"commandId": "1"
}