Game images#

In Game Server Hosting, the concept of game images encompasses game versions, game images, game image versions, mods, and profiles. The hierarchy for game image management is mod → profile → game version → game image → game image version.

• Mods and profiles link specific settings to game versions and the game images within them.
• A game version is a specific version of a game that links the game, mod, and game image together. Profiles tie specific settings to game versions, such as start-up flags and map types.
• A game image has basic information, such as the disk location, game version, and latest game image version.
• A game image version holds all the files for a specific iteration (version) of a game image. When a game server starts up, it uses the game image version files to run the game server process.

Game image versions don't change on disk during the allocation process; the game image versions are pre-installed on the host machine and ready for a game server to use. Game image versions dictate which executable a game server is going to run based on the launch path, which is constructed from information such as the game image identifier and the mod name. A game image identifier—sometimes called an image ID—is a unique number that identifies a specific game image.