Import a .ggx

Open a game stored in a .ggx file in the launcher, play it, what the launcher checks before accepting it and what happens if it rejects it.

DescribesLauncher 0.4.0 For everyone

On this page

Import
Playing what you imported
A game with another view
What the launcher checks
If it is rejected
Where a .ggx comes from
Games by other people
Next

A .ggx file is a complete Green Games game in a single file. Importing it installs it in your library, so you can play it offline like any other.

Import#

In the Library, press Import .ggx, at the top right. You can also drag the file onto the launcher window: while you drag it, the window says "Drop the .ggx file to import it".
In your system's file dialog, pick the .ggx (or an earlier .gbx). The dialog comes up in the launcher's language: its title is "Import a game (.ggx)" and its filter is named "Green Games games (*.ggx, *.gbx)".
The launcher checks the package ("Checking the file…").
If it is valid, it is installed, the launcher tells you ("Coin Yard is installed.") and its game card opens.

On the game card, the Source field says "Imported file". The launcher keeps its own copy of the game: afterwards you can move or delete the original file.

Playing what you imported#

An imported game plays just like a bundled one. The one in the screenshots is Coin Yard, the game you build in the tutorial Your first game.

Press Play on the game card. Its start screen opens, with the author, the players and the version set by whoever made it.
Pick the difficulty and press Play.

Start screen of Coin Yard in the launcher: the author, "1 player" and the version, the description, the difficulties Easy, Normal and Hard, the Play button, "High scores" with no marks and the Controls drop-down — The start screen of the imported game

The tutorial game, played in the launcher

When it ends, the end panel writes the mark to the game's table, and the launcher adds it to your history.

End panel of Coin Yard: the title Victory, the label "Score" with the score, "New record", the Play again, Change difficulty and Exit buttons, and the "High scores" table with the player in first place — The end panel of a match

A game with another view#

Launcher 0.4.0 ships the current engine: it opens games in third person, in first person, 2D platformers, top-down, isometric, hybrid and open-world games. The one in these screenshots is The chest room, the isometric game from the tutorial Your second game. You play it with clicks: a click on the ground takes the avatar to that point.

The lever opens the door to the second room

With the three coins, all that is left is reaching the chest

End panel of The chest room: Victory, the label "Time" with the match time, "New record", the Play again, Change difficulty and Exit buttons, and the "Best times" table with the player in first place — The match won: the time goes into the game's table

The controls change with the view: Controls.

What the launcher checks#

The package is validated before anything touches the disk. It is checked twice against the Green Games format: that the manifest and the scenes are well formed, that the script only uses what exists inside a game and that nothing exceeds the limits. Validating does not run the game.

The rules are the same ones the editor uses when it exports: Validator and Limits.

If it is rejected#

A package that does not comply is not installed. The launcher opens the notice "This file cannot be installed" with the reasons: a list of GB codes followed by a number, each with its explanation.

Two rejections need no code:

Message	What happened
"Only .ggx files can be imported."	The name of the file you dragged does not end in `.ggx` or in `.gbx`.
"The file is larger than 5 MB, the maximum for a .ggx."	The file is too big to be a Green Games game.

What to do:

If the game is yours, open it in the editor, fix what appears under Problems and export again. The editor does not export a game with errors, so a freshly exported .ggx should get in.
If someone sent it to you, ask for the file again: it may have been damaged on the way, or it may not be a real .ggx.

What each code means: Validator.

Where a .ggx comes from#

Source	How
The editor	The Export button. The file is saved in the `Green Games/exportados` folder of your user. See Game card and export.
The command line	`greengames empaquetar`, for those who build the game with code. See Command-line tool.
Someone else	They send you their `.ggx` file. This is how games are shared today: online publishing does not exist yet.

Games by other people#

How that protection works and what risk remains: Isolation.