GameMaker Saving value when MOBILE app is closed

[AcrobatEpee]

Hello, as said in the title, how do I save a value and make it appear when the app reopens, global variables are made just for room no ? Thanks for your help

I want to save the global variable named

global.scr

 

[AcrobatEpee]

Please ? It's the last step I need to figure out please :/

 

[chamaeleon]

Please ? It's the last step I need to figure out please :/

What have you looked for in the manual?

 

[AcrobatEpee]

I just had a look here but did not help

 

[Edwin]

Try SQLITE for mobile. I found this extension for you.

 

[J_Dev]

Can you explain this to me? You want to detect when the app loses focus and then when the user reopens the app display a message?

 

[AcrobatEpee]

Hey J_Dev ! No, I have a highscore in my app, and I just want that when the app reopens my highscore shows. I can't find a way to save it so it is still available once the app has been closed

 

[J_Dev]

Hey J_Dev ! No, I have a highscore in my app, and I just want that when the app reopens my highscore shows. I can't find a way to save it so it is still available once the app has been closed

Oh ok so you are looking to save the data. Well to do that you should look at .ini files. The idea is to save the highscore to a file, then when the player reopens the game read the file and set your highscore variable to what is saved.

When saving it will look something like this:

score = 1000;
ini_open("savedata.ini");
ini_write_real("save1", "Highscore", score );
ini_close();

Then when loading:

ini_open("savedata.ini");
score = ini_read_real("save1", "Highscore", 0 );
ini_close();

This obviously isn't a thorough explanation, and you should look through the documentation to make sure you understand what is going on. But ultimately, it isn't very complicated and it will achieve what you are looking for.

 

[AcrobatEpee]

I already have seen this one in the docs, but is it working for mobile as well ?

 

[Edwin]

I already have seen this one in the docs, but is it working for mobile as well ?

Yes INI is compatible for mobile devices.

EDIT:
You can't see INI files unless you root your device

 

[AcrobatEpee]

Ok thanks !

 

[AcrobatEpee]

You can't see INI files unless you root your device

What does that mean ?!?

 

[Edwin]

What does that mean ?!?

You can't delete INI files that you created with your game in unrooted device, but I think you can delete them in-game.

Root explaining:
First of all, root allows you to delete standard applications imposed by device manufacturers, change themes and shortcuts, as well as launch specialized applications that significantly expand the capabilities of a smartphone (usually such applications require Root rights), etc. In short: with rooted device you can perform all operations without exception.

 

[AcrobatEpee]

Oh yeah I get it so people can modify the files as they want if their phone is rooted. That’s no problem to me I’ll let them be and let them cheat

That said, I can just basically call my value everytime I need to display my highscore right ? (Because I can’t know when the user will quit the app so I can save the value in the .ini file, so can I use it like my global variable without any problem ?)

 

[Edwin]

Oh yeah I get it so people can modify the files as they want if their phone is rooted. That’s no problem to me I’ll let them be and let them cheat

That said, I can just basically call my value everytime I need to display my highscore right ? (Because I can’t know when the user will quit the app so I can save the value in the .ini file, so can I use it like my global variable without any problem ?)

Global variable will reset after restarting game, but you still can set your global variable to INI file value that you created. By the way there are event called game end. It calls only when player is quitting the game and you can save your values in INI file when it's calling.

 

[AcrobatEpee]

Oh didn’t know about it. Thanks a lot

Also, just to be sure, in this code

score = 1000;
ini_open("savedata.ini");
ini_write_real("save1", "Highscore", score );
ini_close();

save1 is the name of the saved value ? Just like if it was a variable in the ini file ?

 

[AcrobatEpee]

I did this :

var comp;

ini_open("savedata.ini");
comp = ini_read_real("save1", "Highscore", 0 );
ini_close();
highscore = comp;

if (global.scr > comp){

highscore = global.scr;
ini_open("savedata.ini");
ini_write_real("save1", "Highscore", global.scr );
ini_close();

}

I want it to call the saved value, compare it to the global.scr.
If the global.scr is higher than the saved value, it overwrites the value and saves the highscore variable to global.scr (and otherwise saves the highscore variable to the saved value)

Is that correct ?

 

[Edwin]

Oh didn’t know about it. Thanks a lot

Also, just to be sure, in this code

score = 1000;
ini_open("savedata.ini");
ini_write_real("save1", "Highscore", score );
ini_close();

save1 is the name of the saved value ? Just like if it was a variable in the ini file ?

save1 is your section name, not value name. You should write there something like GENERAL or VALUES. This is how your INI file will look like:

 

[Edwin]

I did this :

var comp;

ini_open("savedata.ini");
comp = ini_read_real("save1", "Highscore", 0 );
ini_close();
highscore = comp;

if (global.scr > comp){

highscore = global.scr;
ini_open("savedata.ini");
ini_write_real("save1", "Highscore", global.scr );
ini_close();

}

I want it to call the saved value, compare it to the global.scr.
If the global.scr is higher than the saved value, it overwrites the value and saves the highscore variable to global.scr (and otherwise saves the highscore variable to the saved value)

Is that correct ?

Yes, it should work.

 

[TheouAegis]

Although... Do the game_end and cleanup events fire when the app is legitimately closed via the phone's task screen? you can change focus, and the game will keep running. But if you change focus, go into the task screen, and close the game, since the game does not have focus at that point, isn't that the same as closing the program from the Task Manager in Windows, which does not fire off any event?

For his high score table thing, it shouldn't really even matter, but for other features like automated saving, I would assume it's pretty important to know.