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Movie Sequences

Overview

AVI video files for in-game cinematics are played via CMovie / Windows MCI. Each AVI file has a matching .blp thumbnail/still image used as a fallback when the movie cannot be played (e.g. in Web/Emscripten builds).

Note: AVI playback does not work in the Web (Emscripten) build. The .blp thumbnails are displayed instead.

Movie Files (movie/ directory)

Pattern Description
play101.avi / play101.blp Mission briefing movie for world 101
play*.avi / play*.blp Mission briefing movies (shown before specific worlds)
win005.avi / win005.blp Victory cinematic for world 005
win129.avi / win129.blp Victory cinematic for milestone world 129
history2.avi / history2.blp Story / history chapter 2 cinematic

Playback

class CMovie {
public:
    BOOL Play(HWND hWnd, const char* filename);
    void Stop();
    BOOL IsOver();  // returns TRUE when playback ended
};

CMovie wraps the Windows MCI API (mciSendCommand with MCI_OPEN, MCI_PLAY, etc.).

Phase Integration

Movies are triggered during phase transitions: - WM_PHASE_PLAYMOVIE (+513) — plays a pre-mission briefing movie - WM_PHASE_WINMOVIE (+514) — plays a victory cinematic - WM_PHASE_H0MOVIE/H1MOVIE/H2MOVIE (+525–527) — story chapter movies

When a movie ends (CMovie::IsOver() returns TRUE), CEvent automatically transitions to the next phase via PostMessage(g_hWnd, WM_NEXT, 0, 0).