Setting up DevTools

Gameface’s DevTools are based on Google Chrome’s DevTools. The DevTools behaves the same way as one would expect from the real Google Chrome browser with remote debugging enabled. Among the many advantages of the chosen approach are the many features, the usability and no need to get used to a new GUI if you already have some experience with debugging in Google Chrome.

Gameface’s remote debugging support is currently a task in active development. The Google Chrome browser is required.

Supported Platforms

  • Windows
  • Android
  • UWP [partial]
  • Xbox One [partial]
  • Xbox Series X [partial]
  • PlayStation 4 [partial]
  • PlayStation 5 [partial]
  • Nintendo Switch [partial]
  • Mac OS X [partial]
  • iOS [planned]

Accessing DevTools

Windows

When setting up your game, make sure to:

  • Set EnableDebugger to true
  • Set DebuggerPort to 9444 or any other port you prefer

These variables are contained inside the cohtml::SystemSettings object.

UWP (Universal Windows Platform)

Configuring and using the inspector is similar to Windows. However, there is an exception if you want to use the inspector on the same machine at which the application you want to inspect is running.

On UWP you can’t normally connect to the inspector from an application on the same machine due to disabled network loopback. Therefore you have to connect from another IP address. However, if you want to run the inspector on the same machine you can run C:\Windows\System32\CheckNetIsolation.exe with the following options:

CheckNetIsolation.exe LoopbackExempt -is -n=AppContainer Name or Package Family Name

The Package Family Name can be found by opening the appxmanifest of the UWP app in Visual Studio and selecting the Packaging tab. This command allows the application to receive inbound connections. It should be left running while you are inspecting the application. For example, to enable the inspector for the UWPCohtml sample on the same machine you have to run the following:

CheckNetIsolation.exe LoopbackExempt -is -n=8df7e036-ff94-4ed5-a2d3-2b2933d4cbf5_36aj8sfe8v5jt

After that, you can connect to the PC and port provided in cohtml::SystemSettings::DebuggerPort from Google Chrome.