GameMaker Studio · GML · Setup & session

gmda_setController

Sets your credentials and begins the session bootstrap. Call once in the controller Create event.

Synchronous (returns directly)

Signature

gmda_setController(game_id, api_key) -> real

What it does

Stores your credentials, restores any persisted player identity from the local save (gamdato.dat), and arms the session lifecycle (init phase 1). From here gmda_Updatefunction() starts the session and keeps it renewed on its own, so your game only reacts to the queued events.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
game_id	string	required	Your game's GAME_ID from the Gamdato panel.
api_key	string	required	Your API_KEY from the panel. Never hardcode or commit it in a shipped build: keep it out of source control. The game must be configured with hash_algorithm = "sha1" in the panel, because GameMaker only ships a sha1 hash for the signed session handshake.

How to call it

Call exactly once in the persistent controller's Create event, then call gmda_setLeaderboard() right after to declare your tables. The session actually opens on the next Step, so read results from the event queue rather than expecting data immediately.

Returns: 1 (the session starts asynchronously; watch for the session_started event).

Example

gmda_setController("YOUR-GAME-ID", "YOUR-API-KEY");
gmda_setLeaderboard("scores_normal", "scores_hard");

// later, in the Step event, drain the queue:
var e = gmda_pollEvent();
while (!is_undefined(e)) {
    if (e.event == "session_started") {
        show_debug_message("session ok: " + e.player_name + " (new=" + string(e.is_new) + ")");
    }
    e = gmda_pollEvent();
}

Use cases

Boot the backend when your game launches.
Re-authenticate a returning player automatically, since their identity is restored from the local save.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
game_id	string	required	Your game's GAME_ID from the Gamdato panel.
api_key	string	required	Your API_KEY from the panel. Never hardcode or commit it in a shipped build: keep it out of source control. The game must be configured with hash_algorithm = "sha1" in the panel, because GameMaker only ships a sha1 hash for the signed session handshake.

How to call it

Returns: 1 (the session starts asynchronously; watch for the session_started event).

Example

gmda_setController("YOUR-GAME-ID", "YOUR-API-KEY"); gmda_setLeaderboard("scores_normal", "scores_hard"); // later, in the Step event, drain the queue: var e = gmda_pollEvent(); while (!is_undefined(e)) { if (e.event == "session_started") { show_debug_message("session ok: " + e.player_name + " (new=" + string(e.is_new) + ")"); } e = gmda_pollEvent(); }