xash3d-fwgs/Documentation/gameinfo.md

Game definition and information file

gameinfo.txt is an essential part of any Xash3D based game. It allows basic customization for games creators, like setting game title, DLL paths, etc.

This document defines gameinfo.txt syntax, supported keys and liblist.gam conversion rules for the latest version of the engine. Note for engine developers, keep this document in sync with an implementation.

gameinfo.txt syntax

• gameinfo.txt is a simple list of keys and values, separated by newline.
• You can add single line comments using double slashes (//).
• Keys can accept integer, float, string or boolean values.
• Boolean keys use 0 as false and 1 as true value.
• To have spaces in string values, you must enclose them in double quotes. Then, to have double quotes, you must escape it with backslash, and to have a backslash you need to use double backslashes.

The example:

// this is a comment :)
// this is another comment
some_integer_key 123

this_is_float_key 13.37 // optional comment

enable_feature 1 // boolean, 1 to enable, 0 to disable

example_string_key string_value
example_spaces "string with spaces"
example_title "Fate\\Stay Night" // engine will parse it as Fate\Stay Night

gameinfo.txt keys

This is a list of all gameinfo.txt keys supported by the engine. Be aware that the engine will silently skip all unrecognized keys.

Key	Type	Default value	Description
ambient0	string	Empty string	Automatic ambient sound
ambient1	string	Empty string	Automatic ambient sound
ambient2	string	Empty string	Automatic ambient sound
ambient3	string	Empty string	Automatic ambient sound
basedir	string	valve	Game base directory, used to share assets between games
date	string	Empty string	Game release date. Unused.
dllpath	string	cl_dlls	Game DLL path. Engine will search custom DLLs (client or menu, for example) in this directory, except gamedll, see below.
fallback_dir	string	Empty string	Additional game base directory
gamedir	string	Current gamedir	Game directory, ignored in FWGS, as game directory is defined by the game directory name
gamedll	string	dlls/hl.dll	Game server DLL for 32-bit x86 Windows (see LibraryNaming.md for details)
gamemode	string	Empty string	Game type. When set to singleplayer_only or multiplayer_only marks the game as SP or MP only respectively, hiding the option in game UI. Omitting this key or using custom values mark the game as both MP and SP compatible.
icon	string	game.ico	Game icon. Engine will automatically append .ico and may automatically switch to .tga icon as well
max_beams	integer	128	Beams limit, 64 min, 512 max
max_edicts	integer	900	Entities limit, 600 min, 8192 max (protocol limit). In FWGS, minimum is 64.
max_particles	integer	4096	Particles limit, 1024 min, 131072 max
max_tempents	integer	500	Temporary entities limit. 300 min, 2048 max
mp_entity	string	info_player_deathmatch	Entity used to mark maps as multiplayer
mp_filter	string	Empty string	When set, used to filter multiplayer maps instead of mp_entity. If the map name starts with the same characters as this filter, it's considered a multiplayer map
nomodels	boolean	0	When set to 1, disallows changing player model in UI
noskills	boolean	0	When set to 1, disallows selection of game difficulty
secure	boolean	0	When set to 1, original Unkle Mike's engine will completely disable developer mode. FWGS ignores but preserves this value for compatibility.
size	integer	0	Game directory size in bytes, used in Change Game dialog only
startmap	string	c0a0	The name of the map used in new game
sp_entity	string	info_player_start	Entity used to mark map as single player. Used in map validation
title	string	New Game	Game title, used in window title, default server name, etc.
trainmap	string	t0a0	The name of the training map (Hazard Course)
type	string	Empty string	Game type, used in Change Game UI.
url_info	string	Empty string	Game homepage URL, used in Change Game UI
url_update	string	Empty string	Game updates URL, used in Settings UI
version	float	1.0	Game version, used in Change Game dialog and in server info

FWGS-specific gameinfo.txt keys

These strings are specific to Xash3D FWGS.

Key	Type	Default value	Description
animated_title	boolean	0	Use animated title in main menu (WON Half-Life logo.avi imitation from Half-Life 25-th anniversary update)
autosave_aged_count	integer	2	Auto saves limit used in saves rotation
gamedll_linux	string	Generated from gamedll	Game server DLL for 32-bit x86 Linux (see LibraryNaming.md for details)
gamedll_osx	string	Generated from gamedll	Game server DLL for 32-bit x86 macOS (see LibraryNaming.md for details)
hd_background	boolean	0	Use HD background for main menu (Half-Life 25-th anniversary update)
internal_vgui_support	boolean	0	Only for programmers! Required to be set as 1 for PrimeXT! When set to 1, the engine will not load vgui_support DLL, as VGUI support is done (or intentionally ignored) on the game side.
render_picbutton_text	boolean	0	When set to 1, the UI will not use prerendered btns_main.bmp and dynamically render them instead
quicksave_aged_count	integer	2	Quick saves limit used in saves rotation
demomap	string	Empty string	The name of the demo chapter map (Half-Life Uplink)

Note on GoldSrc liblist.gam support

As Xash3D accidentally supports GoldSrc games, it also supports parsing liblist.gam.
Xash3D will use this file if gameinfo.txt is absent, or if its modification timestamp is older than liblist.gam.

For game creators who plan supporting only Xash3D, using this file is not recommended.

The table below defines conversion rules from liblist.gam to gameinfo.txt. Some keys' interpretation does differ from gameinfo.txt, in this case a note will be left. If liblist.gam key isn't present in this table, it's ignored.

liblist.gam key	gameinfo.txt key	Note
animated_title	animated_title
edicts	max_edicts
fallback_dir	fallback_dir
game	title
gamedir	gamedir
gamedll	gamedll
gamedll_linux	gamedll_linux
gamedll_osx	gamedll_osx
hd_background	hd_background
icon	icon
mpentity	mp_entity
mpfilter	mp_filter
nomodels	nomodels
secure	secure	In GoldSrc it's used to mark the multiplayer game as anti-cheat enabled. Original Xash3D misinterprets its value for disallowing console and developer mode. FWGS ignores this key but preserves for compatibility.
startmap	startmap
size	size
trainingmap	trainmap
trainmap	trainmap
type	type & gamemode	In liblist.gam this key works as both type and gamemode. If value is singleplayer_only or multiplayer_only the game is marked as SP or MP only, and gameinfo.txt type set to Single or Multiplayer. Any custom value will mark the game as both SP and MP compatible, and type is set to whatever custom value.
url_dl	url_update
url_info	url_info
version	version