Upload game build

To load a game build to the update server, use the Build Loader command-line utility.

Build Loader system requirements:

  • Windows 10 64-bit OS or macOS 12.4.0 and higher
  • 1.6 GHz CPU
  • 100 MB free RAM
  • Free disk space: 1.5 × game build size

Build Loader accepts the following options:

  • –init — initialization of the utility.
  • –update — sending the game build to the server.
  • –builds-list — a list of game builds.
  • –descr <build-description> — the build’s description.
  • –api-key <API-key> — an API key.
  • –game-path <path-to-game> — a path to the game build.
  • –chunk-size <chunk-size> — the size of chunks — parts into which the game archive is divided. Accepts values from 10mb to 500mb, default is 500mb.
  • –retry-timeout <timeout> — the timeout between attempts to upload files in seconds. Accepts values from 10 to 60, default is 20.
  • –retry-count <retry-count> — a number of attempts to upload files. Accepts values from 1 to 10, default is 3.
  • –set-build-on-test — placing the game build to the test stage. The game will be available only for testing.
  • –set-build-on-master — placing the game build to the master stage. The game will be available for the end users. If –set-build-on-test is specified, this option is ignored.
  • -no-progressbar — disabling the progress bar.

To upload a game build:

  1. Go to Publisher Account > Build settings.
  2. Copy the API key.
  3. Download and install Build Loader.
  4. Initialize the utility.
  5. Upload the game build(s) to the server.
  6. Place the game build to the stage.
  7. Set up the game files.

Download and install Build Loader

To download and install Build Loader:

  1. In the Games section, click Set up to the right of your game.
  2. Go to Builds > Game builds.
  3. Download the archive with Build Loader by clicking BuildLoader.zip that suits your operating system.
  4. Extract the archive.

The utility location relative to the folder where you extracted the archive:

  • For Windows: Win\build_loader.exe
  • For MacOS: Mac/build_loader

Initialize Build Loader

To initialize Build Loader:

  1. In the Games section, click Set up to the right of your game.
  2. Go to the Builds > Game builds section.
  3. Copy the API key by clicking the + icon in API key (launcher ID). The key enables Build Loader to upload your game to the server.
  4. Initialize the utility by running the following command:

Upload game build to the server

To upload a game build to the server, run the following command:

You can omit the –game-path parameter if you have already used it when initializing the utility or uploading the previous build.

During the first upload, the update server receives the whole game build. Afterwards it will receive game patches generated by Build Loader.

Note
We highly recommend specifying the –descr parameter, so that you can distinguish between the uploaded builds.
To see the game builds:
  1. Open your project in Publisher Account.
  2. Click Launcher in the side menu.
  3. In Games section, click Set up to the right of your game.
  4. Go to Builds > Game builds.
  5. Scroll down to the Game builds table.
Note
If the game build contains files that change during gameplay, for example, settings, user profiles, or save files, add them to the list of ignored files. Otherwise, the launcher detects a file integrity violation when updating the game and downloads the whole game again

Place the game build to the stage

You can place the game build to a stage as follows:

  • When uploading the build to the server, pass the appropriate option to Build Loader: --set-build-on-master or --set-build-on-test.
  • After uploading the build to the server, do the following in the launcher project:
    1. In Games, click Set up to the right of your game.
    2. Go to Builds > Game builds.
    3. Scroll down to the Game builds table.
    4. In the Game builds table, click the pen icon to the right of the needed build.
    5. Click Set as master to place the game build to the master stage, or click Set as staged for the test stage. If added to the master stage, the game build will be added to the published build of your launcher. If added to the test stage, the game build will be added to the draft build of your launcher.
    6. Confirm your choice.
    7. Click Close.
    8. You will see the appropriate branch name for your build in the Branch column of the Game builds table. Also, your build will appear in the Branches table.
Note
To test your game, start Launcher with the -game_stage test parameter passed in the console. For example: launcher.exe -game_stage test.

Set up game files

To let the launcher send the correct files to users, set up and initialize the installation files in your launcher project first:

  1. In Games, click Set up to the right of your game.
  2. Go to the Executable files tab.
  3. For each operating system, enter the name and extension of the file that launches the game. This file should be in the root of the game folder. For example: game.exe
  4. If your game has redistributable files:
    1. go to the Redistributables tab and click Upload.
    2. In the window that appears:
      1. Enter the file name.
      2. Click Upload file and select an executable file.
      3. Click Upload.

The launcher forwards the following parameters to the game:

  • –xsolla-locale <locale>: interface language;
  • –xsolla-login-token <token>: Xsolla Login JWT (JSON Web Token).
Example

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Last updated: January 22, 2024

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