Game Overrides and Settings#

Unity Remote Config uses Game Overrides to target specific user groups and deliver different settings for each group. Game Overrides are linked to Settings, which you map to variables in your game code to override their default values when the audience criteria for a Game Override is met.

Plan Remote Config settings early, when you design your game or before a new deployment. Unity recommends including inert Remote Config settings with your initial deployment, which you can later apply once you understand how your audience uses your game, and how it performs on different devices.

In the Unity Editor, select Window > Remote Config to begin working with Settings.

Use the Remote Config window to configure your Remote Config Settings. You can configure Game Overrides in the Unity Cloud Dashboard which you can access with the View in Dashboard button. Game Overrides dictate conditions or player segments to surface Settings. By default, you start with one config: Settings Config. This config contains the default Settings that all users receive unless an active Game Override with higher priority applies.

Important: Each environment has a unique Game Overrides set. Before configuring Game Overrides for your game, make sure you select the correct Remote Config environment in the Remote Config window.

A Setting is a key/value pair. Map the key name to a variable in your game code, so you can dynamically change its value without changing your code.

Adding new Settings#

The default Settings Config config contains every Setting you create for a given environment. To create a new Setting, highlight the Settings Config config, then select the Add Setting button at the bottom of the right panel.

Note: You must create Settings in the Editor, so the game code can consume them. However, once you’ve created Settings in the game binary, you can also update them using the Remote Config REST APIs or the Unity Cloud Dashboard. See Interfaces for more information.

Each Setting consists of a Key, Type, and Value:

Adding new Game Overrides#

To create a new Remote Config Game Override, select View in Dashboard > View Overrides > Create Override. Each Game Override has five parameters, which are detailed below:

• Name
• Targeting Strategy
• Condition
• Rollout Percentage
• Content Type
• Start Date and Time
• End Date and Time

Name#

The Name is the name for your Game Override. For example, you might name a difficulty curve for Game Override level_1_enemies, or a seasonal event halloween_event.

Targeting Strategy#

The Targeting Strategy defines the kind of audience for your Game Override. It can be Stateful, where you pick audiences such as 'All Spenders' or 'Existing Players' etc, or Stateless where you can define target audience based on the Condition

Condition#

The Condition is a JEXL expression (see JEXL support section below) of contextual data attributes used to define the audience to apply to a Game Override. You can use multiple criteria to define this segment. Remote Config currently supports three attribute categories:

• The user category contains custom developer-defined attributes that describe the user (for example, subscriber status, name, age), which you must pass to RemoteConfigService.Instance.FetchConfigs<T, T2>(T userAttributes, T2 appAttributes).

  Note: When using SetCustomUserId, the Id you pass in is automatically attached to your user attributes as customUserId.

• The app category contains custom developer-defined attributes that describe the application (for example, connectivity status, app version, current level), which you must pass to RemoteConfigService.Instance.FetchConfigs<T, T2>(T userAttributes, T2 appAttributes).

• The unity category contains predefined attributes, detailed in the table below:

Note: The unity attributes listed are subject to change. For a complete updated list, please view the REST API documentation.

For example, if you want to define a Game Override that targets users with a score greater than 10, you can define a score property from the app context using dot notation:

app.score >= 10

You can also reference multiple attributes within the same Game Override:

user.score >= 10 && app.level == 5

To define a Game Override that matches all conditions and always applies, simply enter true.

JEXL support#

Remote Config supports the Java Expression Language (JEXL) spec, with some exceptions:

• Remote Config only supports Expressions.
• Remote Config does not support Scripts.
• Remote Config does not support functions or conditionals at this time.
• Though Remote Config supports multiple criteria using && and || statements, the JEXL string cannot exceed 500 characters.

Note: You cannot nest attributes (for example, app.level1.score). Using an invalid JEXL string, or leaving the Condition field blank results in an error.

Rollout Percentage#

The Rollout Percentage dictates the percentage of your user base that adheres to this Game Override. For values less than 100, Unity randomly assigns the Game Override to that percent of your players on a user ID basis. While experiences might differ from player to player, each individual player has a consistent experience across play sessions. This parameter is particularly useful when combined with analytics to parse results.

Content type#

Depending on services, you use, there is many types of content which might be chosen for a particular Game Override, Config Overrides being utilized from Remote Config, or some other content like Currency or Inventor Item utilized by Economy Services.

Start date and time#

You can optionally specify a start date and time, which dictates when the Game Override takes effect. Timestamps are represented as strings in the ISO 8601 UTC format (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ). If you don't specify a value, the Game Override immediately takes effect upon activation.

End date and time#

You can optionally specify an end date and time, which dictates when the Game Override ceases to be active. Timestamps are represented as strings in the ISO 8601 UTC format (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ). If you don't specify a value, the Game Override remains in effect until you deactivate it.

Applying Settings to a Game Override#

To apply a Setting to a Game Override, navigate to the desired Game Override and edit the Content block to view a list of all the available Settings.

Enabling and Disabling Game Overrides#

Use the button at the top of the Game Override page to enable or disable it.

Editing Settings in the Editor Window#

For editing of Settings Keys and Values in the Remote Config Window in the Editor, make sure you save and Push your changes.

Until you do so, your configurations are only stored locally. Make sure you push your changes to save them before switching Remote Config environments.

Select the trashcan next to the Setting to delete it. Note that you should not delete a Setting if an active Game Override is currently using it.

Prioritizing Game Overrides#

You can assign each Game Override a weighted priority value Low, Medium or High. If you want to numerically assign priority values that functionality is available via the Advanced Editor between 1 (highest priority) and 1000 (lowest priority). To do so, Select the Edit Schedule -> Scheduling field in the Game Override, select Use Advanced Editor and enter an integer value.

• New Game Overrides and the Settings Config config default to medium.
• In the event of a conflict, priority is awarded to the Game Override that was created first.

Updating Game Overrides and Settings#

To edit a Game Override and save your changes:

1. Disable the Game Override.
2. Edit the desired key value fields in the Editor Window or WebUI.
3. Select the Push button to save your changes to the remote service.
4. Select the Pull button to retrieve your latest remote settings from the service.
   1. Verify that the update applied.
5. Enable the Game Override.
   1. Pull again to confirm that the Game Override is properly updated and active.

Note: When you pull remote changes to your local configuration, the settings retrieved from the service overwrite and delete your local settings.

Json setting value#

If you're using settings of type JSON, the Remote Config window displays the JSON Editor dialog. This lets you format and validate the JSON value. To open this window, select Edit for the JSON setting:

If you enter a valid but unformatted JSON value, the validation indicator is green. Use the Format button to reformat the JSON object.

If the json value is invalid, the validation indicator is red and you cannot submit the JSON object.

The Select json object field lets you load a JSON file (if available from your /Assets folder). To choose a file, select the button to the right of the field.

Updates and client sessions#

You don't need to deploy a new version of your application to propagate changes to your configuration. Client devices request a refresh of your Remote Config settings whenever players initiate a new session of your application. Remote Config defines a new session when the user launches the application, or returns to the application after it has been in the background for at least 30 minutes.

If the client has no internet connection and cannot communicate with the Remote Config service, the application uses the last settings it received and cached.

Note: Requesting settings from the Remote Config service is an asynchronous process that might not complete before your initial Scene finishes loading, or in some edge cases might not complete at all. Therefore, always initialize your game variables with reasonable defaults.

Code integration#

Once you’ve configured your Game Overrides and Settings, integrate Remote Config with your game code.