Launch arguments

Command-line arguments that open a screen, a level or a run at once, and switches that change one launch of the game

Launch arguments tell the game what to open when it starts. They are written after the executable: in a shortcut, in a terminal or in Steam's launch options. Without them the game opens the main menu

Syntax

• every argument starts with two hyphens: --editor
• a value follows after a space or after =: --speed 1.5 and --speed=1.5 are the same
• the case of a key does not matter: --Editor works too
• numbers use a dot whatever the system language: 1.5, never 1,5
• a value with spaces goes in double quotes: --level "D:\My Levels\Volcano"

An argument the game cannot use never stops the launch. It is dropped, a line about it goes to the log, and the game opens its usual screen. Where the log is - Getting help › Logs

Unknown arguments are ignored. The game reads only its own arguments, the ones with two hyphens. Unity's own single-hyphen arguments such as -screen-width pass through untouched. Use them for the resolution and fullscreen

Screens

Pass at most one screen argument. Two different ones cancel each other, and the menu opens with a warning in the log

--settings can name a tab: general, audio, controls, keybindings, graphics, interface, game-editor, profile, other. Without a name the settings open on the tab you left last. A name the game does not know is dropped, and the settings still open

The settings open once per launch. Coming back to the menu later does not open them again. What each tab holds - Settings

Picking a level

--level names a level by its id (LevelId) or by the path to its folder. A title never works: titles repeat, get translated and get edited. A value that reads as an id is always taken as an id

The game looks for the level among the levels it lists anyway. A folder it does not list is not found

A password is never an argument. A protected level asks for it on screen and opens once you answer

Run options

These options fill in the controls of the level screen, then the run starts as if you pressed Play. They work only together with --game. Without it they are ignored, with a warning in the log

An option left out takes its default: 3 lives, speed 1.0, checkpoints on, no bot, seed 0

A run started this way is an ordinary run. It counts in your statistics like any other, Statistics

Switches for the whole launch

These three work with any screen and never change a saved setting:

--frame-stats writes a line per screen every 30 seconds, and also whenever the window on top of the screen changes. The first 3 seconds of a screen are not counted

Combinations

Examples

On Windows, from a terminal or a shortcut:

"Bullet Hero.exe" --editor
"Bullet Hero.exe" --level 5f2b0e6a-1c3d-4b5e-8a9f-0d1e2f3a4b5c --game --lives 1 --speed 1.5
"Bullet Hero.exe" --level "C:\Users\<you>\AppData\LocalLow\vertoker\Bullet Hero\levels\Volcano" --editor

In Steam, write only the arguments into the game's launch options, without the executable: --editor --autosave off

Android

Android has no command line. The arguments ride in the bh string extra of the intent that starts the game, and are split exactly like a typed line. From a computer this is done with adb:

adb shell "am start -S -n com.vertoker.BulletHero/com.unity3d.player.UnityPlayerGameActivity -e bh '--frame-stats --editor'"

• Quotes matter. The whole am start goes in double quotes, the value of bh in single quotes. Otherwise the device's shell splits the line: bh receives only the first argument, and the rest reach am as its own options
• -S stops a running game first. The arguments are read once, at launch. Sending them to a game that is already running changes nothing

iOS has no launch arguments at all