Building via Command Line

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Building via Command Line

NOTE Building executables via command line requires you to have logged in to the IDE.

In addition to building your project through the IDE, GameMaker allows you to build your projects through a command-line interface using the many options and commands described below. You can use this to build your project, test it and deploy it to multiple platforms by running one batch file, and to set up continuous integration through an automation server such as Jenkins.

This is done by running the Igor.exe executable present within your runtime folder and passing in the options and commands listed on this page.

By default, Igor can be found in:

Windows: C:\ProgramData\GameMakerStudio2\Cache\runtimes\runtime-[version]\bin\igor\<OS>\<architecture>\
macOS: /Users/Shared/GameMakerStudio2/Cache/runtimes/runtime-[version]/bin/igor/osx/<architecture>/

NOTE You must have logged into the IDE with your account at least once before attempting command line building.

Igor CI Building

Setting Up

To set up CI building on a machine, you will need to do the following:

Install GameMaker and the runtimes needed
Build the projects through the IDE for the targets required, to make sure that they work fine
Test building from the command line (see examples below)
Create a batch file that will do the build that you require within the task (test this from the command line)
Set up a CI environment (this depends on how you are going to build your games), like Jenkins
Set up your CI task and ensure that all the prerequisites are setup (i.e. source control sync to your project)
Hook the batch file into the CI task and test within the Jenkins environment

Notes

Some platforms may have issues with the length of your file paths, in which case you will need to subst virtual drives on your PC before passing them into your commands
Some platforms (notably Android) will automatically subst a drive while building, so you may need to manually clean this up in the event of an error

Options

Here are the options that you can use while running the Igor executable:

Option	Description
/lf=[licence_plist_file]	The full path to the licence file, either from the IDE or from the Access Key service To retrieve the licence from the IDE, the paths are as follows: Windows: %appdata%\GameMakerStudio2\<user_name>_<number>\licence.plist macOS: ~/.config/GameMakerStudio2/<user_name>_<number>/licence.plist
/uf=[user_folder]	The user folder used for retrieving licence information, alternative to /lf On Windows, this will be: %appdata%\GameMakerStudio2\<user_name>_<number> On macOS, this will be: ~/.config/GameMakerStudio2/<user_name>_<number>
/rp=[runtime_root]	The root folder of the runtime
/project=[project_YYP_file]	The full path to the project's .yyp file
/cache=[cache_dir_path]	The cache directory to use (defaults to \cache in the current directory)
/temp=[temp_dir_path]	The temporary directory to use (defaults to c:\temp)
/of=[output_filename]	The filename of the output executable without the extension, e.g. C:/output/game, which would output the executable at C:/output/game.zip (or a different file format depending on the platform) If this is not specified, a directory named output will be created in the same directory as the .bat file (or where the command is running from), containing the extracted build files
/tf=[target_file]	The actual file name of the ZIP file or NSIS installer that is created
/config=[configName]	The name of the configuration to use (defaults to Default)
/runtime=YYC\|VM	The output type (either YYC or VM), defaults to VM
/j=[NumCPUs]	The number of CPUs to use during the build process
/df=[devices_json_file]	The path to your devices.json file, required when building to other devices. On Windows, this will be: %appdata%\GameMakerStudio2\<user_name>_<number>\devices.json On macOS, this will be: ~/.config/GameMakerStudio2/<user_name>_<number>/devices.json
/device=[device_name_from_IDE]	The name of the target device to build to, as set up in the IDE
/launch	Launch the executable on the target device after building; same as the "Create Executable and Launch" option in the IDE

Access Key

The /lf option requires a path to your licence.plist file, which can be retrieved from your GameMaker installation after you've logged into the IDE, as described in the table above.

However, if you don't have access to an IDE installation, you can request an access key from the GameMaker website, and generate a licence.plist file from it.

Go to gamemaker.io/account/access_keys, and log in with an account that has the appropriate licence
Generate a key and copy it to your clipboard
Open a command prompt and navigate to the Igor directory (the path is given at the top of this page)
- cd <igor dir>
Generate a licence file using Igor
- igor runtime FetchLicences -ak=<KeyFromSite> -of=<OutputFileName>
The licence.plist file generated to the -of path can now be used in the /lf option

Hello World

Here is a step-by-step example for running a game on Windows:

Open a command prompt window
- Win+R, write cmd, press Enter
Navigate to the Igor directory given at the top of this page
- cd <igor dir>
Write igor and hit Enter to confirm you are in the correct place. Doing this should give you a list of Igor's commands. If you get a different result, ensure you are in the correct directory.
Run a game by supplying the project file, runtime directory, licence file, platform and build type. Enclose each directory in double quotes (" ") to ensure spaces are handled properly.
- igor /project="<yourProjectDir>\projectname.yyp" /rp="<runtime dir>" /lf="<plist dir>\licence.plist" Windows Run
Your game should now run!

Platform Examples

Below you can find examples of build commands for all platforms:

GX.gamesGX.games

Cleaning GX.games project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- OperaGX Clean

Running GX.games:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- OperaGX Run

WindowsWindows

Cleaning Windows project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Windows Clean

Building VM for Windows -- Run, PackageZip and PackageNsis:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Windows Run

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- Windows PackageZip

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- Windows PackageNsis

Building YYC for Windows-- Run, PackageZip and PackageNsis:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /runtime=YYC -- Windows Run

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- Windows PackageZip

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- Windows PackageNsis

macOSmacOS

IMPORTANT On Mac you will need to use mono to run Igor, so you will need to write mono before all your commands, e.g.: mono Igor.exe [options]

Cleaning macOS project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Mac Clean

Building VM for macOS while on a Mac:

NOTE Use PackageZip to build a ZIP file, and PackageDMG to build a DMG. These examples use PackageZip.

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- Mac PackageZip

Building VM for macOS while on a PC:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /device=[device_IDE_Name] -- Mac PackageZip

Building YYC for macOS while on a Mac:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- Mac PackageZip

Building YYC for macOS while on a PC:

Linux / UbuntuLinux / Ubuntu

Cleaning Linux project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Linux Clean

Building VM for Linux while on a PC:

Building YYC for Linux while on a PC:

HTML5HTML5

Cleaning HTML5 project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- HTML5 Clean

Building HTML5 folder (make sure to specify a target folder with /tf):

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_folder] -- HTML5 folder

iOSiOS

Building VM for iOS while on a Mac:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- ios Package

Building VM for iOS while on a PC:

Building YYC for iOS while on a Mac:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- ios Package

Building YYC for iOS while on a PC:

AndroidAndroid

Cleaning Android project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Windows Clean

Building an Android APK using VM:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- Android Package

Building an Android APK using YYC:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- Android Package

tvOStvOS

Cleaning tvOS project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- tvos Clean

Building VM for tvOS while on a Mac:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] -- tvos Package

Building VM for tvOS while on a PC:

Building YYC for tvOS while on a Mac:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] /of=[output_filename] /tf=[target_file] /runtime=YYC -- tvos Package

Building YYC for tvOS while on a PC:

PS4PS4

Cleaning PS4 project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- ps4 Clean

Building VM for PS4 while on a PC:

Building YYC for PS4 while on a PC:

PS5PS5

Cleaning PS5 project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- ps5 Clean

Building VM for PS5 while on a PC:

Building YYC for PS5 while on a PC:

Xbox OneXbox One

Cleaning Xbox One project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- XBoxOne Clean

Building VM for Xbox One while on a PC:

Building YYC for Xbox One while on a PC:

Xbox Series X/SXbox Series X/S

Cleaning Xbox Series X/S project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- XBoxOneSeriesXS Clean

Building VM for Xbox Series X/S:

Building YYC for Xbox Series X/S:

SwitchSwitch

Cleaning Switch project:

Igor.exe /uf=[user_folder] /rp=[runtime_path] /project=[project_YYP_file] /cache=[cache_dir_path] /temp=[temp_dir_path] -- Switch Clean

Building VM for Switch while on a PC:

Building VM for YYC while on a PC:

Igor Runtime

Here are the options that can be used with the Igor runtime:

Option	Description
/uf=[user_folder]	Set the user folder used for retrieving licence information so GameMaker knows which modules can be installed
/lf=[license_file]	Set the direct path to a licence file, can be used as an alternative to setting a user folder (/uf)
/ru=[runtime_url]	Set the URL to fetch runtime information from (defaults to the stable release)
/rp=[runtime_root]	Set the local runtime install folder to list the installed runtimes or install new runtimes

Here are the commands that can be used with the Igor runtime:

Syntax:

Igor.exe [command]

Command	Description
Runtime List	Lists the runtimes available on a feed (version number, date/time of build)
Runtime ListInstalled [-directory]	Lists the runtimes available in the current folder (directory=full path to the folder) You can specify a directory to look in, but if it's not specified it will default to the current directory This also checks whether there is a receipt.json file and a manifest folder inside the directory (making sure that it's actually a runtime)
Runtime Info [-version]	Prints out information about the most recent runtime on the given feed; also needs a licence file to show information regarding the modules available for the user version can either by a string used to search through the feed titles (e.g.: "739" would show information for all builds containing 739 in their version numbers), or it can be all to show information for all feeds It will list the modules with the .zip file names for each module
Runtime Install [-version]	Installs the latest runtime from the given feed using the given version as a search filter; if that is not specified, it defaults to the latest version. It will get all the modules that the user has on their licence.
Runtime Verify [-folder=.]	Calculates the checksums for all the installed files and compares them to the checksums written into the manifest folder. You can specify a folder to check, however if that is not specified it will default to the current directory. This will flag any files where the checksums don't match, files that are missing and files that should not be there. Do note that the manifest files themselves are not verified and a user can alter the manifest files to match the installed ones.
Runtime FetchLicences [-ak] [-of]	Generates a licence.plist file (-of) from an access key (-ak), see Access Key

Igor Testing

Here are the options that can be used for testing your builds with Igor:

Option	Description
/uf=[user_folder]	Set the user folder used for retrieving licence information so GameMaker knows which modules can be installed
/lf=[license_file]	Set a direct path to a licence file, can be used as an alternative to setting a user folder (/uf)
/df=[device_file]	Set a direct path to a devices.json file, can be used as an alternative to setting a user folder (/uf)
/timeout=[number_of_seconds_to_wait]	The timeout to use for the test in seconds, defaults to 120 seconds; the test will be stopped after this timeout is over and will be marked as failed
/waittime=[number_of_seconds_to_wait]	Number of seconds to wait in the main loop before declaring the test as passed, defaults to 30 seconds
/device=[device_name]	Used to look up the device name in the user folder's devices.json file
/target=[list_of_targets]	Comma-separated list of targets in the PLATFORM\|DEVICE format, e.g.: /target="Windows\|Local,HTML\|Firefox" If you specify all, the tests will attempt to run for every device in the devices.json file

There is one command that you can use to run tests with Igor:

Igor.exe Tests RunTests [test_directory/test_filename]

You must specify either a test directory or a test file name.

If it's a directory, Igor will look for a file called tests.json in the directory
- If the file is not found, Igor will recursively search for .yyz and .yyp files in the directory
  - Each project found will be built and run on Windows
  - It will wait till the runner reaches the main loop
    - The test passes if the runner is still running after the wait time
    - The test fails if the project does not compile within the timeout period, or crashes before the wait time is over
- If a tests.json file is found, Igor will run the tests described in the file (see example below)
Alternatively, you can supply a direct path to a tests.json file instead of a directory

Tests.json File

Format

The tests.json file must have the following format:

The JSON file should contain an array of objects
Each object should describe one test
- The test object must contain these keys:
  - name: A name used to report whether the test has passed or failed
  - path: A path to a .yyp, .yyz, .gml, .js file or folder for the test
  - command: The Igor command for the test (Run, CreatePackage, etc. as described above)
- The test object may also contain these keys:
  - platform: Passed directly through to Igor to do the test
  - device: The device name from the devices.json file
  - target: The target in a "PLATFORM|TARGET" format, e.g.: "Windows|Local"
  - timeout: A timeout for the total test including compile and run; if exceeded the test will be stopped and marked as failed
  - waittime: The length of time to wait after entering the main loop before deciding whether the test has passed
  - owner: the e-mail address of the user who will be e-mailed if this test fails

Example

Here is an example of a tests.json file:

[
{
"name" : "Game Idea Windows",
"path" : "C:/scratch/GameIdea.yyz",
"platform" : "Windows",
"command" : "Run",
"timeout" : "500",
"waittime" : "30"
},
{
"name" : "Platformer Game Windows",
"path" : "C:/Users/<MY USERNAME>/Documents/GameMakerStudio2/Platformer Game/PlatformerGame.yyp",
"target" : "Windows|Local,HTML5|selenium:firefox,PS4|Default",
"command" : "Run"
},
{
"name" : "Puzzle Game Windows",
"path" : "C:/Users/<MY USERNAME>/Documents/GameMakerStudio2/Puzzle Game/PuzzleGame.yyp",
"platform" : "HTML5",
"command" : "Run",
"device" : "selenium:chrome"
}
]

Building via Command Line

Igor CI Building

Setting Up

Notes

Options

Access Key

Hello World

Platform Examples

Igor Runtime

Syntax:

Igor Testing

Tests.json File

Format

Example

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