Game Keys
A handful of games require one or more unique key codes, such as CD-Key's, to be associated with each individual game server in order for the server to be operational.
Managing a list of unique CD-Key's and distributing them between game servers can be cumbersome, and prevents Temporary Servers from working for these games.
GameCreate supports the concept of Game Keys, which are pairs of Server Configuration property values, that can be assigned automatically to newly created temporary and permanent game servers when they are created, and are optionally released (and optionally returned to the Game Key pool) when a server is deleted (or the temporary server shuts down).
Accessing/Viewing Game Keys
Game Keys may be managed by clicking on the Manage Game Keys link from the Game Properties screen. Note that you require Full System permission to the Domain in order to manage Game Keys.
Domain Accessibility
Sub-domains automatically make use of the provider domain's Game Key configuration. This means Server's created within a subdomain will automatically be assigned a Game Key from the provider domain if one is available.
Upload Game Keys
You must upload Game Key's to GameCreate in the form of a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file.
The columns of the CSV file is arbitrary; you can define which Server properties are assigned a value when they acquire a Game Key.
For example, assume that the Quake game requires each individual server to have both a cdkey and license property value set in its Server Configuration.
We can upload a CSV file containing the following information:
"cdkey","license" "key1","license1" "key2","license2" ...
GameCreate will ask you to confirm that the uploaded file looks correct before adding the Game Keys.
View Game Keys
The Game Keys screen provides an overview of the existing Game Keys available for use.
Game Key: Display's the key/value pairs that will be assigned to a Server that obtains this Game Key. Example: If a Server is assigned the Game Key with value cdkey=key1 license=license1 then the Server's cdkey property will have the value of key1 and the license property will have the value of license1. You can confirm this behaviour by inspecting the Server Configuration screen after a Game Key has been assigned and noticing the Property value has been filled in automatically.
Consumed: Whether this Game Key is currently or has previously been in use. Consumed Key's that have no Used By value are keys that have been previously used and are not available to new Servers. GameCreate can optionally automatically release consumed Game Keys via the Game Key Configuration screen.
Used By: Indicates which Server has been assigned this Game Key.
Select: Perform mass Delete/Export operations on the selected Game Keys.
After selecting one or more Game Key's, additional operations may be performed:
Delete: Immediately removes this Game Key. If a Server has been assigned the Game Key, it is removed from the Server's Configuration.
Export as CSV: Download a CSV file of the chosen Game Key values in the originally uploaded format.
Game Key Management
Game Key's may be managed to behave differently on a per-game basis, such as automatically rotating Game Key's between servers as they are created and deleted, or only allowing keys to be used once.
Release Unused Consumed Game Keys
Immediately marks Game Key's as Unconsumed that are currently marked Consumed and are no longer in use.
Assign Game Keys to Existing Servers
If Game Key's have only recently been added to the system, this command will instruct GameCreate to assign an available Game Key to each Permanent Server that does not yet have one assigned.
In the event a Server has manually been assigned a Game Key (via the Server Configuration screen by typing in the Game Key value), that Game Key will be assigned to that particular Server if one is available matching the value.
Game Key Configuration
Determines how Game Key's operate for the current Game.
Assign Temporary Servers: Allow Temporary servers to be assigned a Game Key. Temporary Serverrs are assigned a Game Key at the time of their creation, and are automatically released when the Server's scheduled End time occurrs.
Automatic Release: Automatically mark Consumed Game Keys as Unconsumed when they are released, instead of leaving them in a Consumed state. This allows Game Key's to be re-used without administrator intevention.