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Old Knowledge Base
  • Knowledge Base
    • Getting to know us
  • Where to Buy
    • Become a Sponsor
    • Heathen License Agreement
  • General
    • ๐Ÿ”ŽTable of Contents
    • ๐ŸคฉGetting Started
      • Indie Check List
      • Sourcing Resources
        • ๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธCommunity
        • ๐Ÿงžโ€โ™‚๏ธManaged Services
        • ๐Ÿ“ฃMarketing
        • ๐ŸงชTesting
    • ๐ŸงžTips and Tricks
      • Fundamentals
        • Development Phases
      • Unity
        • Package Manager Installs
          • Missing asset after update
        • Unity Release Version
      • Unreal
        • Unity to Unreal
        • Quick Start
    • ๐Ÿ“Design
      • โ˜๏ธQuick Start
      • ๐ŸฅพBootstraping
      • ๐Ÿค‘Monetization
        • What not to do
        • Models
          • Free
          • Free to Play
          • Pay to Play
          • Pay to Win
          • Play to Earn
        • Tools
          • ๐Ÿ˜กArtificial Scarcity
          • ๐Ÿค‘Bundles
          • ๐Ÿค”Community Marketplace
          • ๐Ÿค‘Expansions
          • ๐Ÿ˜กFear of Missing Out (FOMO)
          • ๐Ÿ˜กGatcha Mechanics
          • ๐Ÿค”Microtransactions (MTX)
          • ๐Ÿ˜กNFT
            • ๐Ÿ˜กBlockchain
          • ๐Ÿค”No Spend Cap
          • ๐Ÿ˜กPremium Currency
          • ๐Ÿค”Season
          • ๐Ÿค‘Subscription
          • ๐Ÿ˜กSurprise Mechanics
      • ๐ŸŽฎMultiplayer
        • Networking Tools
        • Terminology
      • ๐ŸคนMulti-Scene Architecture
      • ๐ŸŒProject Architecture
      • ๐Ÿ˜ŠPlayer Motivation
    • ๐Ÿ—๏ธDevelopment
      • โ˜๏ธQuick Start
      • โ˜Ž๏ธCallbacks & Delegates
      • โ”Conditional Compilation
      • ๐ŸชณDebugging
      • ๐ŸšงDevOps
        • โ˜•Team Collaboration
        • ๐Ÿ›‚Git Control & Unity
      • โ‰๏ธError Handling
        • System Dialog
        • Reporting
      • ๐ŸคฏIntelliSense
      • ๐ŸชถLambda Expressions
      • ๐Ÿคนโ€โ™€๏ธMulti Platform Projects
      • ๐Ÿ“‘Namespace and Using
      • ๐ŸŽฎUnity's "New" Input System
      • ๐Ÿ”ผUpdating Visual Studio and C#
      • ๐Ÿ’กVisual Scripting
    • โš ๏ธPublishers
    • ๐ŸงชTesting
      • ๐Ÿ‘‹Introduction
      • โœ๏ธWriting Formal Tests
    • ๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธCommunity
      • โ˜๏ธQuick Start
    • ๐Ÿ“ฃMarketing
      • โ˜๏ธQuick Start
      • ๐Ÿ“ŒTips and Tactics
      • ๐Ÿค“Market Research
    • ๐Ÿ“†Release
    • ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธLive
  • Steam
    • โ˜๏ธQuick Start
    • ๐Ÿ†Achievements
    • ๐ŸŒณBranches
    • ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธCommunity Hub
    • โฌ†๏ธUploading to Steam
    • โ˜๏ธCloud Save
    • ๐Ÿ†”CSteamID
    • ๐Ÿ”ŽDiscovery Queue
    • ๐Ÿ•น๏ธDownloadable Content
    • ๐ŸšซEarly Access
    • ๐Ÿ–ฑ๏ธInput
    • ๐Ÿ“ฆInventory
      • ๐Ÿ”จCrafting System
      • ๐Ÿ› ๏ธItem Definition Tools
      • ๐Ÿ’ธMicrotransactions
      • ๐ŸŽPromo Items
    • ๐ŸšขLaunch
    • ๐Ÿฅ‡Leaderboards
      • ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธAdvanced Profiles
    • ๐ŸŽฎMultiplayer
      • โ˜๏ธGetting Started
      • ๐ŸงชDev and Test
      • ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš–๏ธAuthentication
      • ๐Ÿ›‹๏ธLobby
      • ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿคโ€๐Ÿง‘Matchmaking
      • ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ”งRich Presence
      • ๐Ÿ’ฌRoom Systems
      • ๐Ÿ’Steam Game Server
        • ๐Ÿ‘ทBuilds
        • โš™๏ธConfiguration
        • ๐Ÿ“‹Server Browser
        • ๐ŸงSetup Linux
      • ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธTerminology
    • ๐ŸคนMulti-Platform Project
    • ๐ŸงชPlaytest
    • ๐Ÿ›‹๏ธRemote Play
    • ๐Ÿ‘€Reviews
    • ๐ŸƒRunning a Build
    • ๐Ÿ’ถSales
    • โญStats
    • ๐Ÿ”‘Steam API Key
    • ๐Ÿ“ƒsteam_appid.txt
    • ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธSteam Deck
    • โš™๏ธSteamworks
    • ๐ŸคฏStore Page
    • ๐Ÿ› ๏ธWorkshop
      • Creating an Item
      • In-Game Browser
      • Subscribed Items
    • ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐ŸซUser Information
      • Unity User Tools
      • Unreal User Tools
    • ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธVoice
  • Toolkit for Steamworks
    • Introduction
    • Maintenance Cycle
    • F.A.Q
    • Unity
      • โš ๏ธKnown Issues
      • Unity Asset Refund Policy
      • Installation
        • Networking Integrations
      • Getting Started
      • Debugging
      • Learning
      • API Extensions
        • App.Client
        • App.Server
        • App.Web
        • Authentication
        • BigPicture.Client
        • Clans.Client
        • Friends.Client
        • Input.Client
        • Inventory.Client
        • Leaderboards.Client
        • Matchmaking.Client
        • Overlay.Client
        • Parties.Client
        • RemotePlay.Client
        • RemoteStorage.Client
        • Screenshots.Client
        • StatsAndAchievements.Client
        • StatsAndAchievements.Server
        • User.Client
        • UserGeneratedContent.Client
        • Utilities
        • Utilities.Client
        • Voice.Client
      • Objects
        • Classes
          • Achievement Data
          • Achievement Object
          • App Data
          • Authentication Session
          • Authentication Ticket
          • Avg Rate Stat
          • Chat Room
          • Clan Chat Msg
          • Clan Data
          • Currency
          • Data Model
          • DLC Data
          • Downloadable Content Object
          • Favorite Game
          • Float Stat
          • Game Data
          • Input Action
          • Input Action Data
          • Input Action Set
          • Input Action Set Data
          • Input Action Set Layer
          • Input Action Update
          • Input Controller Data
          • Int Stat
          • Inventory Result
          • Item Data
          • Item Definition
          • Item Detail
          • Leaderboard Data
          • Leaderboard Entry
          • Leaderboard Object
          • Lobby Chat Msg
          • Lobby Data
          • Lobby Game Server
          • Lobby Member Data
          • Party Beacon Details
          • Rank Change
          • Remote Storage File
          • Stat Data
          • Steam Game Server Configuration
          • UGC Query
          • User Data
          • Steam Settings
            • Colors
            • Game Client
              • Inventory Settings
            • Game Server
          • User Leave Data
          • Workshop Item
          • Workshop Item Data
          • Workshop Item Data Create Status
          • Workshop Item Key Value Tag
          • Workshop Item Preview File
        • Components
          • Friend Manager
          • Game Server Browser Manager
          • Input Action Event
          • Input Action Glyph
          • Input Action Name
          • Inventory Manager
          • Item Shopping Cart Manager
          • Leaderboard Manager
          • Leaderboard User Entry
          • Overlay Manager
          • Steam Game Server Events
          • Steam Input Manager
          • Steamworks Event Triggers
          • UGC Query Manager
          • Voice Recorder
          • Voice Stream
        • Enums
          • Friend Dialog
          • Inventory Item Type
          • Language Codes
          • Overlay Dialog
          • Sample Rate Method
          • Valve Price Categories
        • Prefabs
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆClan Chat
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆClan List
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆClan Member Count
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆFriend Avatar
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆFriend Groups
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆFriend List
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆFriend Name
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆFriend Profile
          • ๐Ÿ“ฆSelectable Friend ID
        • Programming Tools
          • IChatMessage
          • ILeaderboardEntryDisplay
          • IUserProfile
          • IWorkshopBrowserItemTemplate
          • LobbyMemberSlot
          • User Invite Button
        • UI Components
          • Chat Auto Join
          • Chat Stream
          • Clan Chat Director
          • Clan Chat Member Counter
          • Clan Chat Member List
          • Clan List
          • Clan Profile
          • Friend Group
          • Friend Groups Display
          • Friend Invite Dropdown
          • Friend List
          • Friend Profile
            • Image Field
            • Message Options
            • Text Field
          • Input Action Glyph
          • Input Action Name
          • Leaderboard Entry UI Record
          • Leaderboard UI List
          • Lobby Chat Director
          • Lobby Member Slot
          • Lobby Manager
          • Party Lobby Control
          • Quick Match Lobby Control
          • Rich Presence Reader
          • Rich Presence Setter
          • Set Achievement Description
          • Set Achievement Icon
          • Set Achievement Name
          • Set User Avatar
          • Set User Id Input Field
          • Set User Id Label
          • Set User Name
          • Toggle Event Helper
          • Workshop Browser Simple Item Record
      • Legacy
        • Troubleshooting
        • Getting Started
          • GameObject Initialization
          • ScriptableObject Initialization
          • API Initialization
        • Build Upload Tool
        • Debugging Tools
          • Testing
        • Components
          • Steamworks Behaviour
          • Steamworks Creator
          • Steam System Events
    • Unreal
      • What's New!
      • Installation
      • Getting Started
      • Updating Steamworks SDK
      • Packaging
      • Game Instance
      • Sockets Net Driver
      • Online Subsystem
      • Data Assets
        • Achievement
        • Downloadable Content
        • Inventory Item
        • Leaderboard
        • Stat
      • Widgets
        • BP_FriendsListDisplay
        • BP_FriendsListEntry
        • BP_FriendsListGroup
        • BP_SteamAvatarImage
        • BP_SteamUserName
      • Blueprint Nodes
        • Functions
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAdd Favorite Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAdd History Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAdd Promo Item
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAdd Request Lobby List Filter
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAdvertise Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAssociate with Clan
          • ๐Ÿ”ตAttach Leaderboard UGC
          • ๐Ÿ”ตBegin Auth Session
          • ๐Ÿ”ตCancel Auth Ticket
          • ๐Ÿ”ตCheck Result Steam ID
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClear All Key Values
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClear Achievement
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClear Rich Presence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClient Initialize
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClient Run Callbacks
          • ๐Ÿ”ตClient Should Restart
          • ๐Ÿ”ตCompue New Player Compatibility
          • ๐Ÿ”ตConsume Item
          • ๐Ÿ”ตCreate Lobby
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDecompress Voice
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDelete Lobby Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDeserialize Result
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDestroy Result
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDownload Leaderboard Entries
          • ๐Ÿ”ตDownload Leaderboard Entries for Users
          • ๐Ÿ”ตEnd Auth Session
          • ๐Ÿ”ตExchange Items
          • ๐Ÿ”ตFind Leaderboard
          • ๐Ÿ”ตFind or Create Leaderboard
          • ๐Ÿ“‚Game Server Browser
            • ๐Ÿ”ตPing Server
            • ๐Ÿ”ตPlayer Details
            • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Server List
            • ๐Ÿ”ตServer Rules
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGenerate Items
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Achievement
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Achievement by Index
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Achievement Icon
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Achievement Is Achieved
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet All Items
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet App Build ID
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet App Id
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet App Owner
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Auth Session Ticket
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Auth Ticket for Web API
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Available Game Languages
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Available Voice
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Coplay Friends
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Current Beta Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Current Game Language
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet DLC Count
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet DLC Data By Index
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet DLC Download Progress
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Earliest Purchase
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Favorite Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friends
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Coplay Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Coplay Time
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Count from Source
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Game Played
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Groups
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Group Members
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Group Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Friend Persona Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Followed
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Installed Depots
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Item Definition Properties
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Item Price
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Items with Price
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Items by ID
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Launch Command Line
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Launch Query Param
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Leaderboard Display Type
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Leaderboard Entry Count
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Leaderboard Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Leaderboard Sort Method
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Chat Entry
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Data by Index
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Game Server
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Members
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Member by Index
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Member Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Member Limit
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Lobby Owner
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Most Achieved Achievement Info
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet My Steam Avatar
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet My Steam ID
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet My Steam Level
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Num Items with Price
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Persona Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Persona State
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Player Nickname
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Public IP
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Result Item Property
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Result Items
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Result Status
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Result Timestamp
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Steam ID
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Achievement
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Float Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Int Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Restrictions
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Rich Presence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Rich Presence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Rich Presence Key by Index
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet User Steam Avatar
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Voice
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGet Voice Optimal Sample Rate
          • ๐Ÿ”ตGrant Promo Items
          • ๐Ÿ”ตHas Friend
          • ๐Ÿ”ตId is Me
          • ๐Ÿ”ตId is Valid
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIndicate Achievement Progress
          • ๐Ÿ”ตInstall DLC
          • ๐Ÿ”ตInvite User To Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตInvite User to Lobby
          • ๐Ÿ”ตInitialize
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs App Installed
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Behind NAT
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Cybercafe
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs DLC Installed
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Lobby Owner
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Low Violence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Phone Identifying
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Phone Requiring Verification
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Phone Verified
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Steam Initialized
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Subscribed
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Subscribed App
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Subscribed from Family Sharing
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Subscribed from Free Weekend
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Timed Trial
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs Two Factor Enabled
          • ๐Ÿ”ตIs VAC Banned
          • ๐Ÿ”ตJoin Lobby
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLeave Lobby
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLoad Item Definitions
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLogged On
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLog Off
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLog On
          • ๐Ÿ”ตLog On Anonymous
          • ๐Ÿ”ตMark Content Corrupt
          • ๐Ÿ”ตQuick Match
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRemove Favorite Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRemove History Game
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRemove Property
          • ๐Ÿ”ตReply to Friend Message
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Current Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Eligible Promo Item Definitions IDs
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Friend Rich Presence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Lobby Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Lobby List
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Prices
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest Store Auth URL
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest User Group Status
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest User Information
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRequest User Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตReset All Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตRun Callbacks
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSecure
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSend Lobby Chat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSerialize Result
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Achievement
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Advertise Server Active
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Bot Player Count
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Dedicated Server
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Description
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Game Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Game Tags
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet In-Game Voice Speaking
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Key Value
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Map Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Listen for Friends Messages
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Game Server
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Joinable
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Member Data
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Member Limit
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Owner
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Lobby Type
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Max Player Count
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Mod Directory Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Password Protected
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Persona Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Played with User
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Product
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Property
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Region
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Rich Presence
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Spectator Name
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet Spectator Port
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet User Achievement
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet User Float Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSet User Int Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตShutdown
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStart Purchase
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStart Update Property
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStart Voice Recording
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSteam ID Tools
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStop Voice Recording
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStore Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตStore User Stats
          • ๐Ÿ”ตSubmit Update Property
          • ๐Ÿ”ตTransfer Item Quantity
          • ๐Ÿ”ตTrigger Item Drop
          • ๐Ÿ”ตUninstall DLC
          • ๐Ÿ”ตUpdate Avg Rate Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตUpdate User Avg Rate Stat
          • ๐Ÿ”ตUpload Leaderboard Score
          • ๐Ÿ”ตUser Has License for App
          • ๐Ÿ”ตWas Restart Requested
        • Events
          • ๐Ÿ”ปDlc Installed
          • ๐Ÿ”ปFriend Chat Msg
          • ๐Ÿ”ปFriend Rich Presence Update
          • ๐Ÿ”ปGame Overlay Activated
          • ๐Ÿ”ปInventory Item Definition Update
          • ๐Ÿ”ปInventory Results Ready
          • ๐Ÿ”ปLobby Chat Msg
          • ๐Ÿ”ปLobby Chat Update
          • ๐Ÿ”ปLobby Data Update
          • ๐Ÿ”ปLobby Game Created
          • ๐Ÿ”ปLobby Join Requested
          • ๐Ÿ”ปMicro Txn Authorization Response
          • ๐Ÿ”ปPersona State Change
          • ๐Ÿ”ปRich Presence Join Requested
          • ๐Ÿ”ปServers Connected
          • ๐Ÿ”ปServer Connect Failure
          • ๐Ÿ”ปServer Disconnected
          • ๐Ÿ”ปTicket for Web API Response
        • Types
          • ๐ŸŸฉAchievement Status
          • ๐ŸŸฉAuth Ticket Data
          • ๐ŸŸฉChat Entry
          • ๐ŸŸฉDecompress Voice Result
          • ๐ŸŸฉFloat Stat
          • ๐ŸŸฉGame Server Item Wrapper
          • ๐ŸŸฉGame Server Player Details Wrapper
          • ๐ŸŸฉGlobal Achievement Status
          • ๐ŸŸฉItem Count
          • ๐ŸŸฉItem Detail
          • ๐ŸŸฉItem Detail With Properties
          • ๐ŸŸฉItem Price
          • ๐ŸŸฉItem With Price
          • ๐ŸŸฉInt Stat
          • ๐ŸŸฉKey Value Pair
          • ๐ŸŸฉLeaderboard Entry
          • ๐ŸŸฉLobby Data
          • ๐ŸŸฉLobby Game Server
          • ๐ŸŸฉServer Achievement Status
          • ๐ŸŸฉServer Stat Float Value
          • ๐ŸŸฉServer Stat Int Value
          • ๐ŸŸฉUser Achievement Status
          • ๐ŸŸฉVoice Result
          • ๐ŸŸฉVoice Available Result
        • Enumerators
          • ๐ŸŸจUEBeginAuthSessionResult
          • ๐ŸŸจUEChatRoomEnterResponse
          • ๐ŸŸจUEFriendFlags
          • ๐ŸŸจUEChatEntryType
          • ๐ŸŸจUEChatMemberStateChange
          • ๐ŸŸจUELeaderboardDataRequest
          • ๐ŸŸจUELeaderboardDisplayType
          • ๐ŸŸจUELeaderboardSortMethod
          • ๐ŸŸจUELobbyComparison
          • ๐ŸŸจUELobbyDistanceFilter
          • ๐ŸŸจUELobbyType
          • ๐ŸŸจUEResult
          • ๐ŸŸจUESteamCurrencyCode
          • ๐ŸŸจUEServerMode
          • ๐ŸŸจUEUserHasLicenseForAppResult
          • ๐ŸŸจUEVoiceResult
      • C++
  • Toolkit for Physics
    • Unity
      • Installation
      • Core Features
        • Ballistics Tools
        • Buoyancy Tools
        • Force Effect Framework
        • Physics Data extended
        • Verlet Integration
      • Sample Scenes
        • Fantasy Style Ballistic Simulation
        • (3D) Deterministic Bounce Prediction
        • (2D) Deterministic Bounce Prediction
        • 1 Buoyancy Example
        • 1 Force Effect Fields
        • 2 Spherical Gravity
        • 3 Multi-body Gravity
        • 1 Verlet Spring Simple Transforms
        • 2 Verlet Spring Skinned Mesh
      • API
        • Ballistics
        • Buoyancy
        • Force Effects
        • Maths
        • Mesh Tools
      • Components
        • Ballistic Aim
        • Ballistic Path Line Render
        • Ballistic Path Follow
        • Buoyant Body
        • Buoyant Body Drag
        • Constant Acceleration
        • Constant Angular Velocity
        • Constant Linear Velocity
        • Force Effect Source
          • Force Effect Direction
          • Force Effect Field
        • Force Effect Reciever
        • Physics Data
        • Surface Tool
        • Trick Shot
        • Trick Shot Line
        • Verlet Spring
      • Objects
        • Force Effect
          • Attract Effect
          • Gravity Effect
          • Repulse Effect
          • Suspend Effect
          • Tractor Effect
          • Wind Effect
        • Point Volume
        • Verlet Hierarchy
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On this page
  • Introduction
  • Reasoning
  • Do Not Destroy On Load
  • Stand Alone Scenes
  • Multi-scene Additive Loading
  • Architecture
  • Bootstrap
  • Title
  • Gameplay
  • How To
  1. General
  2. ๐Ÿ“Design

๐ŸฅพBootstraping

Understanding the concept of a boostrap scene in Unity

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Last updated 2 years ago

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Introduction

Definition

Bootstrap Noun COMPUTING a technique of loading a program into a computer by means of a few initial instructions which enable the introduction of the rest of the program from an input device.

Verb COMPUTING fuller form of boot. "boot" such as to "boot" your PC is a short form of "bootstrap"

A Bootstrap scene is where we define a simple scene containing only the system level objects of our game. The purpose is to initialize the core systems of a game, to validate the environment and systems are ready to load the game and then to load the main game.

Reasoning

Do Not Destroy On Load

While you can use Do Not Destroy On Load with the content of a Bootstrap scene, it's not sufficient to apply Do Not Destroy On Load to objects in a scene that is loaded multiple times, such as a title or main menu scene.

Why? Reloading data that is already in memory is a waste of time and increases the chance of an error due to more data and more "moving parts".

Know that when you reload a scene that had marked some object Do Not Destroy On Load for a moment there is duplicate data in memory, Unity will need to identify the objects by ID and remove the duplicates. In some cases that fact can make a big mess especially when regarding unmanaged memory or multi-process systems, like Steam API and many networking tools.

As such you are advised to put your system level objects in a bootstrap scene, which should be on build index 0 and only ever loaded once. This is whether or not you use Do Not Destroy On Load.

Stand Alone Scenes

A common argument is that every scene should be standalone, that is that every scene should be able to be loaded on its own and function without error. The usual argument is that this makes development and unit testing easier in that you can load any scene at any time and play test it without concern of other factors.

Did you know Unity Editor can have multiple scenes loaded at once? You can define a Bootstrapper scene and leave it loaded at all times simply swapping out what other scene may be loaded, thus giving you the very same development time capabilities as if every scene had defined every dependency.

In this model you use multi-scene additive loaded as opposed to the older single scene approach where on load previous the previous scene is unloaded. This gives greater control and avoids the need to use Do Not Destroy On Load, removes the cost of auto unload which is often a slow process in Unity and allows you to load any scene at any time knowing that because the bootstrap scene is already loaded that its dependents such as cameras are already loaded.

If you think about the concept of every scene being standalone, what you are saying is that every scene must define and initialize all required/dependent systems on load. There are always various systems in a game that are simply globally scoped that is must be present for the game to work, and so every one of your scenes in this model must define them and initialize them

  • Main Camera

  • Audio Listener

  • Input Handler / Event System

The above three are the bare bones for rendering, handling input and playing audio. Most games will have several others such as:

  • Error handler A UI used to express errors to the user for a more graceful shutdown in the event of fatal error

  • Loading screen A UI or presentation used to mask changes to the world space during load and unload operations

  • System Managers Any global systems a game uses such as Steam API, Networking Managers, game systems such as ORK, etc.

  • Validation Tools Often overlooked or perhaps you consider it part of Error handler, the idea is a system tool that checks for the integrity of the dependent systems used by the game. This enables graceful failure as opposed to the all to often seen hard crash to desktop.

More over on change of scenes the game must load the new one in creating a duplicate and destroy the old scenes copy momentarily doubling the memory and processing requirement for said objects.

Multi-scene Additive Loading

This is the method Heathen Engineering uses and recommends for most if not all use cases. The idea is simple enough. You simply never unload your bootstrap scene and when you load scenes you do so as additive loading handling unloading of scenes you no longer need your self

Heathen Engineering's UX Asset provides tools to help you manage multi-scene structures, and even batch loading and unloading of multiple scenes at once, however you can do this easily on your own with Unity's SceneManagement tools.

The advantage to this approach is that you have full control of load and unload, unload being a typically costly operation in Unity.

As an example if we defined a bootstrap scene and marked its objects as Do Not Destroy, then used a non additive load to load the title, then Unity would iterate over every object defined by the bootstrap scene and check if it should be unloaded. This is slow but necessary as we could have, and did in this case, mark the objects as do not destroy on load.

In contrast if we simply load the title scene additive, we skip this depth-wise search of every object defined in the previous scene. But what about the load into the gameplay scene, we will want to unload the title scene as well.

If you loaded the game scene without additive options, then before Unity activated the objects in the game scene it would first iterate over and unload the title scene leaving a period of time where the game was simply unresponsive.

In contrast if you loaded the game scene additively you can choose to activate it before you unload the title scene. Typically this is what Heathen would do, we would:

  1. Show the loading screen This is a feature of the bootstrap scene and thus always available and unaffected by any load or unload operation

  2. We would disable the game objects of the title scene, we make this easy on our selves by storing them in a root object so we can simply disable 1 thing, but you can use whatever method works for you. Point is they are disabled e.g. not active but are still present

  3. We load the game scene additively and activate it right away At this point we can close out the loading screen and return control to the user as the game is now playable again.

  4. We asynchronously unload the title scene This is optional, if your game returns to the title scene often it may actually be more useful to simply disable and re-enable it as opposed to load and unload it. The point is however that you can do this in the background while the player is getting on with playing the game. No need to make them wait for this to be done.

If you have ever created a scene in Unity that creates a lot of objects at run time, you may have noticed that Unity takes a very long time unloading such a scene. This is due to Unity iterating over the objects.

You can speed this up by destroying objects yourself before unloading the scene, especially those objects you created at run time. If you simply spawn all such objects under some given root GameObject, yes that does add a layer to the transform hierarchy which can complicate transform operations, but it also means you can destroy all such objects with a single Destroy command so test various options and see what gives you the best results for your game.

The point here is do not simply rely on Unity's Load and Unload to be the best option for your game. Manually controlling memory is not as hard as you might think and can open a lot of possibilities to you.

Architecture

The above diagram shows the basic flow from 1 scene to another.

The flow demonstrated above works for both additive and single scene architectures

Bootstrap

When the user "bootstraps" aka "boots" the game we enter the "bootstrap" scene. This scene typically defines the following objects and components

Game Object

Component

Reason

Main Camera

Camera

Renders objects to the output screen.

This is required to render.

Cinemachine Brain

This allows the use of Cinemachine Virtual Cameras This is the default standard for modern Unity games.

Audio Listener

This functions as the listening point for audio sources

This is required to have audio play.

Event System

Depends on Unity Version

This may be Event System (2018) and or Input Modules (2018 and later)

Handles user input and UI events

Splash/Loading Canvas

Canvas

A UnityEngine.UI.Canvas or similar UI root

This would be the root of a splash screen UI if any

This is used as a loading cover at the start and

at any other point needed by the game such as

between scene loads.

Error Dialog

Canvas

A UnityEngine.UI.Canvas or similar UI root

This would be the root of a error dialog UI

Every game should have an error dialog

Error dialog should be the top most UI canvas

Validator

Script you write

This is a component you create it should validate the needs of your game e.g. accounts logged in, system meets min specs, user has

a license, systems have initialized, etc.

System Managers

SteamworksBehaviour

Mirror.NetworkManager

ORK

etc.

This is the object you place your various system

managers on. What managers you have will vary depending on your game's needs

If you are using additive loading you would simply never unload this scene and you would have the validator additively load the title scene when all was found to be ready.

If you are using the older single scene structure you would mark all objects as "Do Not Destroy On Load" or simply nest them all under a common Game Object and mark it as Do Not Destroy On Load. This will cause Unity to create a hidden scene and move all objects to that hidden scene. You can then have the validator when ready call Load on the title scene thus causing the bootstrap scene to unload.

Main Camera

Notice that we have defined the Main Camera and its various parts here in the bootstrap. This means that we do not need to define and should not define a camera in the other scenes. It is recommended that you use Cinemachine and its Virtual Cameras in all other scenes they will automatically drive the main camera for you via the Cinemachine Brain and in fact this is the default set up in new HDRP scene templates.

Splash Canvas

You will also note the inclusion of the Splash at the start. This UI would normal be enabled at dev time thus enabled at the start. It can initially present your company logo or other "splash screen" like information, and later be used as a loading screen or similar transitional UI between sections of your game. Because its present here in the bootstrap you know its always available. We usually drive this UI via a Static or singleton model. In most cases you would want to avoid a singleton however this is a case where there is truly only ever one instance and it is truly always available.

Error Dialog

Next we have the Error Dialog. This is a UI canvas that should always render over the top of and block the IO for all other canvas. Its purpose is to provide the user with system level error information, which shouldn't ever happen but likely will. This insures that when your game encounters a fatal error it can notify the user in a meaningful way and exit nicely.

This would be where you handle bug reporting, feedback, etc. all of which are features provided by Heathen's UX SDK. Rather or not you use Heathen's UX you really should still have an Error Dialog.

Validator

This is a bespoke (custom written by you) component that should handle validating the system, environment and game before trying to load. This is how you catch fatal errors before you encounter a hard crash to desktop, at least as much as is possible. A bare bones example would be a simply script that listens for SteamworksBehaviour's initialization event, and if successful loads the title and if not notifies the user of the issue and closes gracefully.

A properly formed validation layer and error notification system such as Error Dialog and Feedback system is key to professional software game or otherwise.

System Managers

This will vary depending on your game, but would include components such as Steamworks Behavior, Mirror's Network Manager and other system level managers and controllers. That is things that should load at the start and persist throughout the game. The Validator will work with these system managers to know when the game is ready to fully load and if something went horribly wrong, such that you need to notify the user and close gracefully.

Title

The title scene is fairly self explanatory in most cases. This scene simply defines the main menu style UI, or whatever other initial entry point your game will be using. Follows are some concepts often seen in games, which your game uses is up to you. The point is, this is the first human interface point for your game. Calling it a "title" scene is just a habit, it doesn't have to present the title if that isn't relevant for your game.

  • Start Menu The old classic, this is where you very simply present a screen that says press start to play. Some platforms require you to have such a menu. This screen often contains legal information such as copy right and may present a passive scene, that is a scene with no human interaction. Despite being so simple this is still your first point of human interaction, as by definition it requires the human to start before it transitions further

  • Main Menu Slightly more modern but still an old classic, this replaced the start screen in most PC games decades ago and is the UI that the Start Menu would navigate to when the user pressed start. This menu is the programs main menu, and typically had menu entries such as Play Game, Options, Exit, Credits, etc.

  • Login Most games these days silently login if they login at all, older games or games going for that traditional feel may use a Login UI as opposed to a Start Menu UI. MMOs often use this sort of structure.

  • Dashboard A more modern approach to the Main Menu, it's still fundamentally a Main Menu. The only notable difference is its less of a Menu and more of a HUD (Heads Up Display). This sort of UI might have many interaction points such as showing game news, social features, game store, profile data, statistics and of course the usual Main Menu fair of Play, Quit, etc.

No matter the structure you use, at some point the user will get to the stage of playing the actual game where you need to load one or more gameplay scenes. It is the title.scene in our diagram that handles that action and starts the load process of the gameplay scenes.

Gameplay

This is a scene structure wholly unique to your game, the only relevant part here is that if your user exits the gameplay scenes they would be returning to the title.scene, not the bootstrap. Bootstrap is only ever loaded once at the start and never again.

How To

The whole point of a bootstrap scene is that it validates the status of the environment before trying to load the game. Doing this in such a structured way as noted improves efficiency of your game greatly and allows for a much more graceful handling of any issues. Graceful handling is not just a matter of good user experience it also means you can report issues intelligently and thus it will be easier to handle them when they occur and they will occur.

The typical approach is to create a "bootstrapper" script that will live in your "bootstrap" scene. This script will be responsible for validating whatever it is you need to validate and handling the results of that validation.

For a crude example:

This example assumes you are using Steam and have some behaviour in your game called ErrorController and some static class or structure in your game called GameSettings the idea though should be clear no matter how you handle errors and settings.

This is a crude example and should not be copy and paste into your production game. This is meant to demonstrate the concept of validating an environment.

public class Bootstrapper : MonoBehaviour
{
  public ErrorController errorController;
  public LoadingScreenController loadingScreen;

  void Start()
  {
    GameSettings.MainCamera = Camera.Main;
    GameSettings.ErrorController = errorController;
    GameSettings.LoadingScreen = loadingScreen;
    // ... whever ever else you have
  }

  void Update()
  {
    if(SteamSettings.HasInitalizationError)
    {
        errorController.ReportError("An error occured while initalizing Steam API, " 
        + "this is a required system and so the game must close. "
        + "If this persists please contact technical support."
        + "\n\nError Message: "
        + SteamSettings.InitalizationErrorMessage);
        Application.Quit();
    }
    else if (SteamSettings.Initialized)
    {
        //All is well so load the title scene
        StartCoroutine(LoadTitle());
    }
  }

  IEnumerator LoadTitle()
  {
    //This should load the title scene async and update UI to reflect status
    //This should handle any error in loading the title scene, 
    //report it to the user if it happens and close the app nicely
  }
}
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