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The Steam Overlay is the visual display that can be brought up to display the Steam interface to the user. This is normally done by the user themselves using a combination of keys, but you also have the possibility of doing it from within your game, so that you can map a button or an event to show the overlay.

The extension provides you with the following functions:

• steam_is_overlay_enabled
• steam_is_overlay_activated
• steam_activate_overlay
• steam_activate_overlay_browser
• steam_activate_overlay_store
• steam_activate_overlay_user
• steam_set_overlay_notification_inset
• steam_set_overlay_notification_position

This section also provides the following constants to use with the functions:

• OverlayType

• OverlayNotificationPosition

  
  
  

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  steam_is_overlay_enabled

  When using the Steam API, this function can be called to check that the Steam client API has the overlay functionality enabled.

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_is_overlay_enabled();

  
  

  Returns:

  Bool

  
  

  Example:

  global.steam_api = false;
  if steam_initialised()
  {
      if steam_stats_ready() && steam_is_overlay_enabled()
      {
          global.steamapi = true;
      }
  }

  The above code will set a global variable to true if the Steam client API is correctly initialized, along with the Steam statistics and overlay functionality, or it will set the variable to false otherwise.

  
  
  

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  steam_is_overlay_activated

  This function can be used to find out if the user has the Steam Overlay active or not. If the overlay is active and visible to the user the function will return true, and if it is not, then it will return false. An example of what this function can be used for would be for polling the Steam API for the overlay so that you can pause your game while the overlay is being shown.

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_is_overlay_activated();

  
  

  Returns:

  Bool

  
  

  Example:

  if steam_is_overlay_activated()
  {
      global.Pause = true;
  }

  The above code will check to see if the Steam overlay is active and if it is it will set the global variable "Pause" to true.

  
  
  

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  steam_activate_overlay

  The Steam overlay is a piece of the Steam user interface that can be activated over the top of almost any game launched through Steam. It lets the user access their friends list, web browser, chat, and in-game DLC purchasing. The default key for a user to access the overlay while in a game is SHIFT + TAB, but you can also bring up any page of the overlay using this function. It takes one of six constants that are listed below:

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_activate_overlay(overlay_type);

  Argument	Type	Description
  overlay_type	constant.OverlayType	The page index of the Steam API UI to show (see OverlayType constants).

  
  

  Returns:

  N/A

  
  

  Example:

  var key = keyboard_lastkey;
  switch (key)
  {
      case vk_f1: steam_activate_overlay(ov_friends); break;
      case vk_f2: steam_activate_overlay(ov_community); break;
      case vk_f3: steam_activate_overlay(ov_players); break;
      case vk_f4: steam_activate_overlay(ov_settings); break;
      case vk_f5: steam_activate_overlay(ov_gamegroup); break;
      case vk_f6: steam_activate_overlay(ov_achievements); break;
  }

  The above code polls the last keyboard key pressed and if it is any of the function keys from 1 to 6 it will open the corresponding page of the Steam overlay.

  
  
  

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  steam_activate_overlay_browser

  With this function you can open the Steam game overlay to its web browser and then have it load the specified URL. you need to use the full URL as a string for this to resolve correctly, for example: "http://www.steamgames.com/".

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_activate_overlay(url);

  Argument	Type	Description
  url	string	The (full) URL for the overlay to open.

  
  

  Returns:

  N/A

  
  

  Example:

  if keyboard_check_pressed(vk_f1)
  {
      steam_activate_overlay_browser("http://www.steamgames.com/");
  }

  The above code polls the keyboard for the F1 key and if it is then Steam overlay will be opened and resolve to the given URL.

  
  
  

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  steam_activate_overlay_store

  With this function you can open the Steam overlay on the store page for a game so that users can buy or download DLC (for example). You need to supply the unique App ID for the game or DLC which you would get from the Steam dashboard when you set it up.

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_activate_overlay_store(app_id);

  Argument	Type	Description
  app_id	integer	The unique App ID for your game.

  
  

  Returns:

  N/A

  
  

  Example:

  if keyboard_check_pressed(vk_f1)
  {
      steam_activate_overlay_store(global.DLC_id);
  }

  The above code polls the keyboard for the F1 key and if it is then Steam overlay will be opened on the page for the game content using the app ID stored in the global variable.

  
  
  

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  steam_activate_overlay_user

  This function will open the Steam overlay to one of the chosen dialogues relating to the user ID given. Note that Steam IDs can be large numbers and so you may need to cast your ID value as an int64() before supplying it to the function.

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_activate_overlay_user(dialog_name, steamid);

  Argument	Type	Description
  dialog_name	string	The dialogue to open the overlay on (see below).
  steamid	int64	The Steam user ID or group ID to use.

  Dialog Names	Description
  "steamid"	Opens the Steam Community web browser to the page of the user or group
  "chat"	Opens a chat window to the specified user

  
  

  Returns:

  N/A

  
  

  Example:

  var key = keyboard_lastkey;
  switch (key)
  {
      case vk_f1: steam_activate_overlay_user("steamid", global.GameGroupID); break;
      case vk_f2: steam_activate_overlay_user("chat", global.FriendID); break;
  }

  The above code polls the last keyboard key pressed and if it is function key 1 or function key 2, it will open the Steam overlay to either see the Steam group stored in the global variable "GamegroupID", or it will open the chat window to chat with the user stored in the global "FriendID" variable.

  
  
  

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  steam_set_overlay_notification_inset

  Sets the inset of the overlay notification from the corner specified by steam_set_overlay_notification_position

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_set_overlay_notification_inset(hor_inset, vert_inset);

  Argument	Type	Description
  hor_inset	real	The horizontal (left-right) distance in pixels from the corner.
  vert_inset	real	The vertical (up-down) distance in pixels from the corner.

  
  

  Returns:

  Bool

  
  

  Example:

  steam_set_overlay_notification_inset(10, 10);

  The code above will inset the over lay 10px on the horizontal axis and 10px in the vertical axis.

  
  
  

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  steam_set_overlay_notification_position

  Changes the corner in which the overlay notifications will appear.

  
  

  Syntax:

  steam_set_overlay_notification_position(position);

  Argument	Type	Description
  position	OverlayNotificationPosition	A constant that indicates the position where the notification overlay should render

  
  

  Returns:

  N/A

  
  

  Example:

  steam_set_overlay_notification_position(steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_right);

  The above code will change the notification position to the bottom right corner.

  
  
  

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  OverlayType

  These constants specify the type of overlay to be activated when using the function steam_activate_overlay.

  Overlay Type Constant	Description
  ov_friends	The friends page for the current user
  ov_community	The community page for your game
  ov_players	The page showing others that are playing the same game or that you have recently played with
  ov_settings	The Steam client overlay settings
  ov_gamegroup	Opens the Steam Community web browser to the official game group for this game
  ov_achievements	The achievements page for your game

  
  
  

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  OverlayNotificationPosition

  These constants specify the position of the notification overlay onscreen an should be used with the function steam_set_overlay_notification_position.

  Overlay Notification Position Constant	Description
  steam_overlay_notification_position_top_left	Point to the top left position
  steam_overlay_notification_position_top_right	Point to the top right position
  steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_left	Point to the bottom left position
  steam_overlay_notification_position_bottom_right	Point to the bottom right position

  
  
  

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