Steam Builds

Solar2D Daily Builds and Public Releases
1

I am trying my first effort to try and build a game for steam … can anyone point to a great tutorial or sample code for that?

Do I need the Steamworks plugin… if not doing :
achievements, player stats, leaderboards, or showing in-app overlays?

Sorry for not knowing this process - but any direction or guidance is most appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

2

No, you don’t need the Steamworks plugin if you’re not planning to use achievements, player stats, or leaderboards.

That said, I have five puzzle games on Steam, and from my experience, adding those features really helps. A lot of players actively look for achievements and enjoy completing them, and if your game doesn’t have any, some people hesitate to buy it. I’m saying this from personal experience. Also, using Steam Cloud is a big plus. It allows players to sync their progress and access their save data from anywhere, which is something many users really appreciate.

At first, none of my games had the plugin implemented. But after getting a few reviews mentioning those features, I decided to learn how to integrate it, and now all of them use it. I’ve only implemented Steam Cloud in one game so far to test how the plugin behaves, and it seems to be working well … I haven’t received any negative feedback about it.

3

Also, you need to include in your build.settings:

[“plugin.steamworks”] =
{
publisherId = “com.coronalabs”,
supportedPlatforms = { win32=true }
},

In my games I do something like this: (for Steam Cloud)

local platform = system.getInfo( “platform” )

local steamCloud = {}

-- inside my Loading scene:
if platform == "win32" then
    local steamworks = require( "plugin.steamworks" )
    
    -- Steam Cloud functions
    function steamCloud.checkStorageSpace()
        local storageInfo = steamworks.getUserStorage()
        
        if storageInfo then
            local totalMB = storageInfo.totalBytes / (1024 * 1024)
            local availableMB = storageInfo.availableBytes / (1024 * 1024)
            local usedMB = totalMB - availableMB
            
            print("Steam Cloud Storage:")
            print("Total: " .. string.format("%.2f MB", totalMB))
            print("Used: " .. string.format("%.2f MB", usedMB))
            print("Available: " .. string.format("%.2f MB", availableMB))
            
            -- Check if we have enough space for a save file
            local saveDataSize = 1024 -- Estimated save file size in bytes
            if storageInfo.availableBytes >= saveDataSize then
                print("Sufficient storage space available")
                return true
            else
                print("Warning: Low storage space!")
                return false
            end
        else
            print("Failed to retrieve storage information.")
            return false
        end
    end
    
    -- Before saving large data, check available space
    function steamCloud.safeSavePlayerData(saveData)
        
        local storageInfo = steamworks.getUserStorage()
        
        if not storageInfo then
            print("Cannot check storage - proceeding anyway")
        else
            local jsonData = json.encode(saveData)
            local dataSize = string.len(jsonData)
            
            if storageInfo.availableBytes < dataSize then
                print("Error: Not enough cloud storage space!")
                print("Need: " .. dataSize .. " bytes")
                print("Available: " .. storageInfo.availableBytes .. " bytes")
                return false
            end
        end
        -- Proceed with save
        return steamworks.writeFile("playerData.json", json.encode(saveData))
    end
    
    -- Complete load example with existence check
    function steamCloud.safeLoadPlayerData()
        if steamworks.fileExists( "playerData.json" ) then
            local contents = steamworks.readFile( "playerData.json" )
            if contents then
                local saveData = json.decode(contents)
                return saveData
            end
        end
        return nil -- No data or failed to load
    end
    
    function steamCloud.deletePlayerData() -- ej: "playerData.json"
        
        if steamworks.fileExists( "playerData.json" ) then
            
            if steamworks.deleteFile( "playerData.json" ) then
                print("Player data deleted from Steam Cloud.")
            else
                print("Failed to delete player data.")
            end
        else
            print("No file to delete.")
        end
    end
    -- to use from other scenes
    function scene:getSteamCloud()
        return steamCloud
    end
end

-- then, from your game scene, you can do something like this:
if steamworks and steamworks.isLoggedOn then
    
    local loadingScene = composer.getScene( "myLoadingScene" )
    
    local steamCloud = loadingScene:getSteamCloud()
    
    playerData = steamCloud.safeLoadPlayerData()
    
    -- Example: you can use any variable from playerData just like a normal table:
    local score = playerData.score
end
1 Like
4

@aclementerodrguez thank you much! Most kind to respond and it is most helpful!

I assume win32=true. if I am building with a pc-wndows, but I have a Mac - so maybe ‘Mac=true’ ?

And thanks for the sample code!

5

@aclementerodrguez I saw your 5 puzzle games on steam - really well done!

Do you make those same puzzle games as mobile apps on iOS or android?

6

According to system.getInfo doc (Solar2D Documentation — API Reference | Libraries | system | getInfo), for Mac is macos

7

Thank you! :blush: Yes, I originally made the mobile versions first. You can check out the links on my website: https://alecgames.com

8

Thanks for the great help … I will check out that your site.

1 Like