Can I modify an engine plugin without rebuilding the whole engine?

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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1

I’ve been able to build a modified version of Paper2D. However I’m trying to distribute it to my team and I’ve run into an issue. Either I distribute it as a project plugin, where it conflicts with the original Paper2D + might require the artists to replace everything in the map, or I rebuild the entire engine and distribute that which strikes me as overkill for tweaking one external plugin.

Is it possible to modify and rebuild Paper2D and replace the engine plugin in a version downloaded in the launcher?
I’ve tried modifying the source available in the in the engine downloaded from the launcher but I suspect it is there for debugging.
I’ve tried a couple of different build attempts and both require rebuilding but when I replace the the project to be rebuilt where it then fails due to a plugin version mismatch.

Failing that is it possible to create a plugin that adds functionality to another plugin?

Failing that is it possible to remove the old Paper2D entirely and have it point to a new project plugin without having to rebuild the entire engine?

2

I think you’re in a position where there isn’t a great solution for you.

You could rename the plugin and use it as a project plugin but you’d have to replace any calls to Paper2D with calls to your custom Paper2D.

As far as I know (I may be wrong) you cannot replace any code in the binary distribution. The dll’s are already built…

Your best solution might be the most work. Have your team download your custom engine fork with the modified Paper2D.

It might boil down to which is more work, having the entire team building a custom engine or having the team replace all the content in your maps.