The Game Configuration File is the first Resource read by Hatch after the game's resource files are loaded. It's used to configure engine-specific options, as well as define metadata for your game. For instance, you can set the game's name, its resolution, framerate, whether palettes are enabled, which scene file to load first, among others.

Hatch reads a file named GameConfig.xml from the root of the VFS, but it's not required to be present for the game to be able to start. All nodes must be under a root gameconfig node. The following is a list of all options read by Hatch:

Main options

Configures basic information about the game.

Name	Type	Description	Default
gameTitle	string	The full game title. name is also accepted.	"Hatch Game Engine"
shortTitle	string	A shorter version of the game's title.	"Hatch Game Engine"
version	string	The version of the game.	"1.0"
description	string	A short description of the game.	"Cluck cluck I'm a chicken"
developer	string	The name of the developer.
gameIdentifier	string	The game's identifier. If not set, this is generated from the short game title.	"hatch"
developerIdentifier	string	The identifier of the developer. If not set, this is generated from the developer name.
useDeveloperIdentifierInPaths	boolean	Whether to use developerIdentifier in paths.
savesDir	string	The name of the saves directory.	"saves"
preferencesDir	string	The name of the preferences directory.
activeCategory	string/integer	Which scene list category to use when the game starts.	0
startscene	string	Which scene file to load first. When using a scene list, this is the name of the entry within the active category instead. If both startscene and startSceneNum are present while a scene list is loaded, this takes priority.
startSceneNum	integer	Which entry in the active scene list category to load.	0

The version option also accepts an alternative method of defining the game version:

<version>
    <major>1</major>
    <minor>4</minor>
    <patch>0</patch>
    <prerelease>indev</prerelease>
</version>

This generates the following version string: 1.4.0-indev

engine options

Configures general engine options.

Name	Type	Description	Default
framerate	integer	The rate of all fixed timestep updates.	60
useFixedTimestep	boolean	Whether to use a fixed timestep, instead of a variable timestep.	true
enablePaletteUsage	boolean	Whether to enable palette usage by default.	false
loadAllClasses	boolean	Whether to load all classes when loading the game.	false
useSoftwareRenderer	boolean	Whether to enable the software renderer by default.	false
disableDefaultActions	boolean	Whether to not add the default set of input actions.	false
allowCmdLineSceneLoad	boolean	Whether the game allows loading scenes from command line parameters.	false
settingsFile	string	The path to the settings file.	"config://config.ini"
writeLogFile	boolean	Whether to write to the logfile.	true
logFilename	string	The name of the logfile.	"HatchGameEngine.log"

display options

Configures display options.

Name	Type	Description	Default
width	integer	The width of the screen.	424
height	integer	The height of the screen.	240

audio options

Configures audio options.

Name	Type	Description	Default
music	integer	The music volume.	100
sound	integer	The sound volume.	100

To set the default master/music/sound volume, you must use the volume attribute. Example:

<audio volume="50">
    <music volume="100"></music>
    <sound volume="50"></sound>
</audio>

keys options

Configures the default keybinds.

Name	Type	Description	Default
fullscreen	string	Fullscreen toggle.	"F4"
toggleFPSCounter	string	FPS counter toggle.	"F2"

The following keybinds are developer mode keys:

Name	Type	Description	Default
devMenuToggle	string	Opens and closes the developer menu.	"ESCAPE"
devRestartApp	string	Restarts the application.	"F1"
devRestartScene	string	Restarts the current scene.	"F6"
devRecompile	string	Recompiles scripts that have changed, and restarts the current scene.	"F5"
devPerfSnapshot	string	Logs the performance measurements taken during the frame.	"F3"
devLogLayerInfo	string	Logs information about the layers in the current scene.	"F7"
devFastForward	string	Toggles fast forward.	"BACKSPACE"
devToggleFrameStepper	string	Toggles the frame stepper.	"F9"
devStepFrame	string	Steps through frames.	"F10"
devQuit	string	Closes the application.
devShowTileCol	string	Toggles the tile collision viewer.
devShowObjectRegions	string	Toggles the entity update and render regions viewer.
devViewHitboxes	string	Toggles the entity collisions viewer.

controls options

See the Input Actions section of the Input page for more details.

Example GameConfig.xml

<gameconfig>
    <gameTitle>Miss Hatch: Coping with Brooding</gameTitle>
    <shortTitle>Miss Hatch</shortTitle>
    <developer>EggSoft</developer>
    <description>Help Miss Hatch take care of her nest</description>
    <version>
        <major>1</major>
        <minor>0</minor>
    </version>
 
    <engine>
        <enablePaletteUsage>true</enablePaletteUsage>
        <disableDefaultActions>true</disableDefaultActions>
    </engine>
 
    <startscene>scenes/eggsoft-screen.tmx</startscene>
 
    <display>
        <width>480</width>
        <height>270</height>
    </display>
 
    <audio volume="50">
        <music volume="100"></music>
        <sound volume="50"></sound>
    </audio>
 
    <keys>
        <fullscreen>F4</fullscreen>
    </keys>
 
    <controls>
        <action>up</action>
        <action>down</action>
        <action>left</action>
        <action>right</action>
        <action>start</action>
        <action>select</action>
 
        <player id="1">
            <default action="up">
                <key>UP</key>
                <button>DPAD_UP</button>
                <axis digital_threshold="0.5">-LEFTY</axis>
            </default>
            <default action="down">
                <key>DOWN</key>
                <button>DPAD_DOWN</button>
                <axis digital_threshold="0.5">+LEFTY</axis>
            </default>
            <default action="left">
                <key>LEFT</key>
                <button>DPAD_LEFT</button>
                <axis digital_threshold="0.5">-LEFTX</axis>
            </default>
            <default action="right">
                <key>RIGHT</key>
                <button>DPAD_RIGHT</button>
                <axis digital_threshold="0.5">+LEFTX</axis>
            </default>
            <default action="start">
                <key>RETURN</key>
                <button>START</button>
            </default>
            <default action="select">
                <key>RSHIFT</key>
                <button>BACK</button>
            </default>
        </player>
 
        <player id="2">
            <default copy="button" id="1"></default>
            <default copy="axis" id="1"></default>
        </player>
 
        <player id="3">
            <default copy="button" id="1"></default>
            <default copy="axis" id="1"></default>
        </player>
 
        <player id="4">
            <default copy="button" id="1"></default>
            <default copy="axis" id="1"></default>
        </player>
    </controls>
</gameconfig>