Content - Getting Started
Beamable's ContentService allows game makers to create, manage, and distribute game content. Content can be created in the Beamable Content Manager window in the Unity Editor, and then published to Beamable's servers. Once published, content can be pulled into a game at runtime via the ContentService API.
Creating Custom Content Types
In this snippet, the custom Armor item type is created. Note that, as a subclass of ItemContent, whose content type is already "items", Armor's resulting content type will be "items.armor". In the Content Manager in Unity, this will appear as a nested category under the items type.
Armor.cs
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12 | using Beamable.Common.Content;
using Beamable.Common.Inventory;
namespace Beamable.Examples.Services.ContentService
{
[ContentType("armor")]
public class Armor : ItemContent
{
public string Name = "";
public int Defense = 0;
}
}
|
In this snippet, the Armor reference is resolved for use at runtime. There are 2 different methods for resolving content. Both are shown here for comparison. In production, choose whichever one method works best for the needs of the project.
See session ContentLink vs ContentRef in the Content Overview for more info.
ContentServiceCustomExample.cs
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61 | using Beamable.Examples.Shared;
using UnityEngine;
namespace Beamable.Examples.Services.ContentService
{
/// <summary>
/// Demonstrates <see cref="ContentService"/>.
/// </summary>
public class ContentServiceCustomExample : MonoBehaviour
{
// Fields ---------------------------------------
[SerializeField] private ArmorLink _armorLink;
[SerializeField] private ArmorRef _armorRef;
private Armor _armorFromLink = null;
private Armor _armorFromRef = null;
// Unity Methods --------------------------------
protected void Start()
{
Debug.Log($"Start()");
SetupBeamable();
}
// Methods --------------------------------------
private async void SetupBeamable()
{
var beamContext = BeamContext.Default;
await beamContext.OnReady;
Debug.Log($"beamContext.PlayerId = {beamContext.PlayerId}");
await _armorLink.Resolve()
.Then(content =>
{
_armorFromLink = content;
Debug.Log($"_armorFromLink.Resolve() Success! " +
$"Id = {_armorFromLink.Id}");
})
.Error(ex =>
{
Debug.LogError($"_armorFromLink.Resolve() Error!");
});
await _armorRef.Resolve()
.Then(content =>
{
_armorFromRef = content;
Debug.Log($"_armorFromRef.Resolve() Success! " +
$"Id = {_armorFromRef.Id}");
}).Error(ex =>
{
Debug.LogError($"_armorFromRef.Resolve() Error!");
});
}
}
}
|
Creating New Content
Game makers may create new content of existing content types or new content of custom content types. For the purposes of this guide, we will be using the existing "Item" type.
| Step |
Detail |
| 1. Open the Content Manager Window |
• Unity → Window → Beamable → Open Content Manager |
| 2. Create the "Item" content |
• Select the content type in the list
• Press the "Create" button
• Populate the content name |
| 3. Open the Unity Project Window |
• Unity → Window → General→ Project |
| 4. Select the "Item" asset |
• Search by the name given in step #3
• View the asset in the Unity Inspector Window |
| 5. Populate all data fields |
Note: The icons can be set to any valid Unity's Addressable object. |
| 6. Save the Unity Project |
• Unity → File → Save Project
Best Practice: If you are working on a team, commit to version control in this step. |
| 7. Publish the content |
• Press the "Publish" button in the Content Manager Window |
Downloading Content
Content that has been published to the server can be pulled from Beamable's ContentService via a ContentLink or ContentRef. Both are shown in this example.
ContentServiceExistingExample.cs
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64 | using System;
using Beamable.Common.Content;
using Beamable.Common.Inventory;
using UnityEngine;
namespace Beamable.Examples.Services.ContentService
{
[Serializable]
public class ItemLink : ContentLink<ItemContent> {}
/// <summary>
/// Demonstrates <see cref="ContentService"/>.
/// </summary>
public class ContentServiceExistingExample : MonoBehaviour
{
// Fields ---------------------------------------
[SerializeField] private ItemLink _itemLink;
[SerializeField] private ItemRef _itemRef;
private ItemContent _itemContentFromLink = null;
private ItemContent _itemContentFromRef = null;
// Unity Methods --------------------------------
protected void Start()
{
Debug.Log($"Start()");
SetupBeamable();
}
// Methods --------------------------------------
private async void SetupBeamable()
{
var beamContext = BeamContext.Default;
await beamContext.OnReady;
Debug.Log($"beamContext.PlayerId = {beamContext.PlayerId}");
await _itemLink.Resolve()
.Then(content =>
{
_itemContentFromLink = content;
Debug.Log($"_itemContentFromLink.Resolve() Success! " +
$"Id = {_itemContentFromLink.Id}");
})
.Error(ex =>
{
Debug.LogError($"_itemContentFromLink.Resolve() Error!");
});
await _itemRef.Resolve()
.Then(content =>
{
_itemContentFromRef = content;
Debug.Log($"_itemContentFromRef.Resolve() Success! " +
$"Id = {_itemContentFromRef.Id}");
}).Error(ex =>
{
Debug.LogError($"_itemContentFromRef.Resolve() Error!");
});
}
}
}
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After being added to a GameObject, the Inspector will display a drop-down of all valid content entries.
Click Play in the Editor and inspect the console to see that the Item content was pulled successfully.
