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Francisco Dias edited this page Dec 12, 2024 · 14 revisions

Overlay

The Steam Overlay is the visual display that can be brought up to display the Steam interface to the user. This is normally done by the user themselves using a combination of keys, but you also have the possibility of doing it from within your game, so that you can map a button or an event to show the overlay.

Functions

The extension provides you with the following functions:

Constants

This section also provides the following constants to use with the functions:


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steam_is_overlay_enabled

When using the Steam API, this function can be called to check if the Steam client API has the overlay functionality enabled.


Syntax:

steam_is_overlay_enabled()



Returns:

Boolean


Example:

global.steam_api = false;
if steam_initialised()
{
    if steam_stats_ready() && steam_is_overlay_enabled()
    {
        global.steamapi = true;
    }
}

The above code will set a global variable to true if the Steam client API is correctly initialised, along with the Steam statistics and overlay functionality, or it will set the variable to false otherwise.



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steam_is_overlay_activated

This function can be used to find out if the user has the Steam Overlay active or not. If the overlay is active and visible to the user the function will return true, and if it is not, then it will return false. An example of what this function can be used for would be for polling the Steam API for the overlay so that you can pause your game while the overlay is being shown.


Syntax:

steam_is_overlay_activated()



Returns:

Boolean


Example:

if steam_is_overlay_activated()
{
    global.Pause = true;
}

The above code will check to see if the Steam overlay is active and if it is it will set the global variable "Pause" to true.



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steam_activate_overlay

The Steam overlay is a piece of the Steam user interface that can be activated over the top of almost any game launched through Steam. It lets the user access their friends list, web browser, chat, and in-game DLC purchasing. The default key for a user to access the overlay while in a game is SHIFT + TAB, but you can also bring up any page of the overlay using this function. It takes one of the OverlayType constants.


Syntax:

steam_activate_overlay(overlay_type)
Argument Type Description
overlay_type OverlayType The page index of the Steam API UI to show



Returns:

N/A


Example:

var _key = keyboard_lastkey;
switch (_key)
{
    case vk_f1: steam_activate_overlay(ov_friends); break;
    case vk_f2: steam_activate_overlay(ov_community); break;
    case vk_f3: steam_activate_overlay(ov_players); break;
    case vk_f4: steam_activate_overlay(ov_settings); break;
    case vk_f5: steam_activate_overlay(ov_gamegroup); break;
    case vk_f6: steam_activate_overlay(ov_achievements); break;
}

The above code polls the last keyboard key pressed. If it is any of the function keys from 1 to 6 it will open the corresponding page of the Steam overlay.



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steam_activate_overlay_browser

With this function you can open the Steam game overlay to its web browser and then have it load the specified URL. You need to use the full URL as a string for this to resolve correctly, for example: "http://www.steamgames.com/".


Syntax:

steam_activate_overlay_browser(url)
Argument Type Description
url String The (full) URL for the overlay to open.



Returns:

N/A


Example:

if keyboard_check_pressed(vk_f1)
{
    steam_activate_overlay_browser("http://www.steamgames.com/");
}

The above code polls the keyboard for the F1 key. If it was pressed then Steam overlay will be opened and resolve to the given URL.



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steam_activate_overlay_store

With this function you can open the Steam overlay on the store page for a game so that users can buy or download DLC (for example). You need to supply the unique App ID for the game or DLC which you would get from the Steam dashboard when you set it up.


Syntax:

steam_activate_overlay_store(app_id)
Argument Type Description
app_id Real The unique App ID for your game.



Returns:

N/A


Example:

if keyboard_check_pressed(vk_f1)
{
    steam_activate_overlay_store(global.DLC_id);
}

The above code polls the keyboard for the F1 key and if it is then Steam overlay will be opened on the page for the game content using the app ID stored in the global variable.



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steam_activate_overlay_user

This function will open the Steam overlay to one of the chosen dialogues relating to the user ID given. Note that Steam IDs can be large numbers and so you may need to cast your ID value as an Int64 before supplying it to the function.

Dialog Names Description
"steamid" Opens the Steam Community web browser to the page of the user or group
"chat" Opens a chat window to the specified user

Syntax:

steam_activate_overlay_user(dialog_name, steamid)
Argument Type Description
dialog_name String The dialogue to open the overlay on (see below).
steamid Int64 The Steam user ID or group ID to use.



Returns:

N/A


Example:

var _key = keyboard_lastkey;
switch (_key)
{
    case vk_f1: steam_activate_overlay_user("steamid", global.GameGroupID); break;
    case vk_f2: steam_activate_overlay_user("chat", global.FriendID); break;
}

The above code polls the last keyboard key pressed. If it is function key 1 or function key 2, it will open the Steam overlay to either see the Steam group stored in the global variable "GamegroupID", or it will open the chat window to chat with the user stored in the global "FriendID" variable.



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steam_set_overlay_notification_inset

This function sets the inset of the overlay notification from the corner specified by steam_set_overlay_notification_position.


Syntax:

steam_set_overlay_notification_inset(hor_inset, vert_inset)
Argument Type Description
hor_inset Real The horizontal (left-right) distance in pixels from the corner.
vert_inset Real The vertical (up-down) distance in pixels from the corner.



Returns:

Boolean


Example:

steam_set_overlay_notification_inset(10, 10);

The code above will inset the overlay 10px on the horizontal axis and 10px on the vertical axis.



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steam_set_overlay_notification_position

This function changes the corner in which the overlay notifications will appear.


Syntax:

steam_set_overlay_notification_position(position)
Argument Type Description
position OverlayNotificationPosition A constant that indicates the position where the notification overlay should render



Returns:

N/A


Example:

steam_set_overlay_notification_position(steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_right);

The above code will change the notification position to the bottom right corner.



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OverlayType

These constants specify the type of overlay to be activated.

These constants are referenced by the following functions:


Member Description
ov_friends The friends page for the current user
ov_community The community page for your game
ov_players The page showing others that are playing the same game or that you have recently played with
ov_settings The Steam client overlay settings
ov_gamegroup Opens the Steam Community web browser to the official game group for this game
ov_achievements The achievements page for your game

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OverlayNotificationPosition

These constants specify the position of the notification overlay onscreen.

These constants are referenced by the following functions:


Member Description
steam_overlay_notification_position_top_left Point to the top left position
steam_overlay_notification_position_top_right Point to the top right position
steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_left Point to the bottom left position
steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_right Point to the bottom right position

GameMaker 2024

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