Game explorer

Author: codev (talk, contrib)

Description

Microsoft Windows Vista ships with a feature called Game Explorer that allows a developer to list games in a central explorer location. This page contains code that allows a NSIS installer to add and remove a game from the Game Explorer.

Before using this code, a game with an implemented GDF must already be prepared. GDF stands for Game Definition File and is actually a XML embedded as a resource in the game executable. The resource type should be named DATA and the resource itself should be named __GDF_XML. For more information, see MSDN.

Code

# user interface
 
!define GameExplorer_GenerateGUID '!insertmacro GameExplorer_GenerateGUID'
!define GameExplorer_AddGame      '!insertmacro GameExplorer_AddGame'
!define GameExplorer_UpdateGame   '!insertmacro GameExplorer_UpdateGame'
!define GameExplorer_RemoveGame   '!insertmacro GameExplorer_RemoveGame'
 
# internal stuff
 
!define CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER 1
!define IID_IGameExplorer  {E7B2FB72-D728-49B3-A5F2-18EBF5F1349E}
!define CLSID_GameExplorer {9A5EA990-3034-4D6F-9128-01F3C61022BC}
 
!define GIS_CURRENT_USER 2
!define GIS_ALL_USERS    3
 
!define IGameExplorer_QueryInterface 0
!define IGameExplorer_AddRef         1
!define IGameExplorer_Release        2
!define IGameExplorer_AddGame        3
!define IGameExplorer_RemoveGame     4
!define IGameExplorer_UpdateGame     5
!define IGameExplorer_VerifyAccess   6
 
# includes
 
!include LogicLib.nsh
 
# the actual code
 
!macro GameExplorer_GenerateGUID
 
  System::Call 'ole32::CoCreateGuid(g .s)'
 
!macroend
 
!macro GameExplorer_AddGame CONTEXT GDF INSTDIR EXE GUID
 
  !define __GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE "${__LINE__}${__FILE__}"
 
  Push $0
  Push $1
 
  Push $R0
  Push $R1
  Push $R2
 
  Push "${GUID}"
  Push "${INSTDIR}"
  Push "${GDF}"
 
  Pop $R0 # == ${GDF}
  Pop $R1 # == ${INSTDIR}
  Pop $R2 # == ${GUID}
 
  ClearErrors
 
  System::Call "ole32::CoCreateInstance( \
    g '${CLSID_GameExplorer}', i 0, \
    i ${CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER}, \
    g '${IID_IGameExplorer}', *i .r1) i .r0"
 
  ${If} $0 != 0 # S_OK
 
    SetErrors
    Goto "done_${__GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE}"
 
  ${EndIf}
 
  !if ${CONTEXT} == all
 
    System::Call "$1->${IGameExplorer_AddGame}(w R0, w R1, i ${GIS_ALL_USERS}, g R2) i .r0"
 
  !else if ${CONTEXT} == user
 
    System::Call "$1->${IGameExplorer_AddGame}(w R1, w R0, i ${GIS_CURRENT_USER}, g R2) i .r0"
 
  !else
 
    !error "Invalid CONTEXT passed to GameExplorer_AddGame! Must be `user` or `all`."
 
  !endif
 
  ${If} $0 != 0 # S_OK
 
    SetErrors
 
  ${Else}
 
    # Create play task
 
    !if ${CONTEXT} == all
 
      SetShellVarContext all
 
    !else if if ${CONTEXT} == user
 
      SetShellVarContext user
 
    !endif
 
    CreateDirectory $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$R2\PlayTasks\0
    CreateShortcut $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$R2\PlayTasks\0\Play.lnk "${EXE}"
 
  ${EndIf}
 
  System::Call "$1->${IGameExplorer_Release}()"
 
  "done_${__GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE}:"
 
    Pop $R2
    Pop $R1
    Pop $R0
 
    Pop $1
    Pop $0
 
  !undef __GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE
 
!macroend
 
!macro _GameExplorer_GUID_Function Function GUID
 
  !define __GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE "${__LINE__}${__FILE__}"
 
  Push $0
  Push $1
  Push $2
  Push $3
  Push $4
  Push $5
 
  Push $R0
 
  Push "${GUID}"
 
  Pop $R0 # == ${GUID}
 
  System::Alloc 16
  Exch $R0
  System::Call "ole32::CLSIDFromString(w s, i R0)"
  System::Call "*$R0(i .r2, i .r3, i .r4, i .r5)"
  System::Free $R0
 
  ClearErrors
 
  System::Call "ole32::CoCreateInstance( \
    g '${CLSID_GameExplorer}', i 0, \
    i ${CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER}, \
    g '${IID_IGameExplorer}', *i .r1) i .r0"
 
  ${If} $0 != 0 # S_OK
 
    SetErrors
    Goto "done_${__GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE}"
 
  ${EndIf}
 
  System::Call "$1->${Function}(i r2, i r3, i r4, i r5) i .r0"
 
  ${If} $0 != 0 # S_OK
 
    SetErrors
 
  ${EndIf}
 
  System::Call "$1->${IGameExplorer_Release}()"
 
  "done_${__GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE}:"
 
    Pop $R0
 
    Pop $5
    Pop $4
    Pop $3
    Pop $2
    Pop $1
    Pop $0
 
  !undef __GAME_EXPLORER_UNIQUE
 
!macroend
 
!macro GameExplorer_UpdateGame GUID
 
  !insertmacro _GameExplorer_GUID_Function ${IGameExplorer_UpdateGame} "${GUID}"
 
!macroend
 
!macro GameExplorer_RemoveGame GUID
 
  !insertmacro _GameExplorer_GUID_Function ${IGameExplorer_RemoveGame} "${GUID}"
 
!macroend

Usage

Save the code above in a file named GameExplorer.nsh and include it from your script before using the macros.

!include GameExplorer.nsh

Adding Games

First, an instance GUID for the game installation must be created with GameExplorer_GenerateGUID or any other GUID generation method. The generated instance GUID must be saved for later usage as it's required for the removal and updating of the game.

${GameExplorer_GenerateGUID}
Pop $0 # instance GUID saved to $0

Next, simply call GameExplorer_AddGame with all the details.

${GameExplorer_AddGame} all $INSTDIR\GDF.dll $INSTDIR $INSTDIR\Game.exe $0
  # `all` means installation for all users
  # `$INSTDIR\GDF.dll` is the path to the executable containing the GDF
  # `$INSTDIR` is the installation directory
  # `$INSTDIR\Game.exe` is the path to the main game executable
  # `$0` is the instance GUID

The error flag is set in case of an error.

Additional Tasks

GameExplorer_AddGame creates only one task by default - the Play task. To create more, a shortcut must be created in a numbered directory under $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\<instance GUID>\PlayTasks\<task number> or $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\<instance GUID>\SupportTasks\<task number>. The Play task is numbered 0 under PlayTasks, so the next play task should be numbered 1, while the next support task should be numbered 0.

# restore instance GUID to $0 somehow
CreateDirectory $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$0\PlayTasks\1
CreateShortcut "$APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$0\PlayTasks\1\Network Play.lnk" \
  "$INSTDIR\Game.exe" "-network"
 
CreateDirectory $APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$0\SupportTasks\0
CreateShortcut "$APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\$0\SupportTasks\0\Help.lnk" \
  "$INSTDIR\Support.exe"

Updating Games

Restore the instance GUID and pass it to GameExplorer_UpdateGame.

# restore instance GUID to $0 somehow
${GameExplorer_UpdateGame} $0

The error flag is set in case of an error.

Removing Games

Restore the instance GUID and pass it to GameExplorer_RemoveGame.

# restore instance GUID to $0 somehow
${GameExplorer_RemoveGame} $0

The error flag is set in case of an error.

Related MSDN Pages

• Integrating Windows Game Explorer into an Installer
• Game Definition File Editor

See Also

Games plug-in A plug-in for NSIS that will help you register your game with Games Explorer as well as Media Center.