Data

This section covers room data management - GMRoomLoader's entry point and the beginning of its intended workflow. It's divided into three modules:

• Initialization - essential for setting up room data.
• Removal - optional, for cleaning up data that's no longer needed.
• Status & Getters - situational, for checking or retrieving room data.

Initialization

The following methods initialize room data to be used for Loading and Screenshotting.

IMPORTANT

Loading is only possible for rooms with initialized data. Ensure that data initialization is completed before using Loading or Screenshotting methods. Attempting to use a room whose data hasn't been initialized will cause a crash.

TIP

While GMRoomLoader is optimized to handle data efficiently, this section is the most resource-intensive because it relies on room_get_info() to fetch and process room data.

For best results, call these methods at the very start of your game. If your project involves large amounts of data or requires loading/unloading during gameplay, call them between levels, hidden behind a transition or loading screen.

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.DataInit()

RoomLoader.DataInit(...rooms) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Initializes data for all given rooms.

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to initialize data for
...	Asset.GMRoom	Additional rooms. Accepts any number of arguments

Example

// Initializes data for rmLevelCastle:
RoomLoader.DataInit(rmLevelCastle); 

// Initializes data for rmLevelPlains, rmLevelForest and rmLevelCliffs:
RoomLoader.DataInit(rmLevelPlains, rmLevelForest, rmLevelCliffs); 

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.DataInitArray()

RoomLoader.DataInitArray(rooms) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Initializes data for all rooms in the given array.

Parameter	Type	Description
rooms	Array of Asset.GMRoom	The array of rooms to initialize data for

Example

// Initializes data for all rooms inside the rooms array:
rooms = [rmLevelCabin, rmLevelAlley, rmLevelBeach];
RoomLoader.DataInitArray(rooms); 

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.DataInitPrefix()

RoomLoader.DataInitPrefix(prefix) ➜ Array of Asset.GMRoom

Initializes data for all rooms starting with the given prefix. Returns an array of found rooms.

Parameter	Type	Description
prefix	String	The prefix used to filter room names

Example

// Initializes data for all rooms starting with "rmLevel" and stores found room IDs in a variable:
rooms = RoomLoader.DataInitPrefix("rmLevel"); 

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.DataInitTag()

RoomLoader.DataInitTag(tag) ➜ Array of Asset.GMRoom

Parameter	Type	Description
tag	String	The tag to parse rooms from

Example

// Initializes data for all rooms with the "Dungeon" tag assigned and stores their IDs in a variable:
dungeonRooms = RoomLoader.DataInitTag("Dungeon"); 

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.DataInitAll()

RoomLoader.DataInitAll(blacklist) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Initializes data for all rooms in the project, except the ones listed in the blacklist array.

Parameter	Type	Description
blacklist	Array of Asset.GMRoom	The rooms to not initialize data for [Default: empty]

Example

// Initializes data for all rooms in the project BUT rmInit:
var _blacklist = [rmInit];
RoomLoader.DataInitAll(_blacklist); 

Removal

Although initialized room data takes up little space, you may still want to remove it for rooms that are no longer needed. The following methods follow the Initialization structure and remove the corresponding data from RoomLoader's internal pool.

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.DataRemove()

RoomLoader.DataRemove(...rooms) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Removes data for all given rooms.

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to remove data for
...	Asset.GMRoom	Additional rooms. Accepts any number of arguments

Example

// Removes data for rmLevelCastle:
RoomLoader.DataRemove(rmLevelCastle); 

// Removes data for rmLevelPlains, rmLevelForest and rmLevelCliffs:
RoomLoader.DataRemove(rmLevelPlains, rmLevelForest, rmLevelCliffs); 

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.DataRemoveArray()

RoomLoader.DataRemoveArray(rooms) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Removes data for all rooms in the given array.

Parameter	Type	Description
rooms	Array of Asset.GMRoom	The array of rooms to remove data for

Example

// Removes data for all rooms inside the rooms array:
rooms = [rmLevelCabin, rmLevelAlley, rmLevelBeach];
RoomLoader.DataRemoveArray(rooms); 

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.DataRemovePrefix()

RoomLoader.DataRemovePrefix(prefix) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Removes data for all rooms starting with the given prefix.

Parameter	Type	Description
prefix	String	The prefix used to filter room names

Example

// Removes data for all rooms starting with "rmLevel":
RoomLoader.DataRemovePrefix("rmLevel"); 

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.DataRemoveTag()

RoomLoader.DataRemoveTag(tag) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Removes data for all rooms with the given tag.

Parameter	Type	Description
tag	String	The tag to parse rooms from

Example

// Removes data for all rooms with the "Dungeon" tag assigned:
RoomLoader.DataRemoveTag("Dungeon"); 

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.DataRemoveAll()

RoomLoader.DataRemoveAll(blacklist) ➜ Struct.RoomLoader

Removes data for all rooms, except the ones listed in the blacklist array.

Parameter	Type	Description
blacklist	Array of Asset.GMRoom	The rooms to not remove data for [Default: empty]

Example

// Removes data for all rooms in the project BUT rmHub:
var _blacklist = [rmHub];
RoomLoader.DataRemoveAll(_blacklist); 

Status & Getters

.DataIsInitialized()

RoomLoader.DataIsInitialized(room) -> Bool

Checks whether the data for the given room is initialized (returns true) or not (returns false).

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to check

Example

if (RoomLoader.DataIsInitialized(rmLevelTower)) { 
    // Yay, the data for rmLevelTower is initialized!
}

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.DataGetWidth()

RoomLoader.DataGetWidth(room) ➜ Real

Returns the width of the given room.

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to get the width of

Example

// Gets the width of rmLevelDungeon:
var _width = RoomLoader.DataGetWidth(rmLevelDungeon); 

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.DataGetHeight()

RoomLoader.DataGetHeight(room) ➜ Real

Returns the height of the given room.

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to get the height of

Example

// Gets the height of rmLevelDungeon:
var _height = RoomLoader.DataGetHeight(rmLevelDungeon); 

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.DataGetLayerNames()

RoomLoader.DataGetLayerNames(room) ➜ Array of String

Returns an array of layer names for the given room, in the order defined in the room editor. Can be safely operated on with array functions since the internal data is not touched.

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to get an array of layer names for

Example

// Fetches layers names from rmLevelGarden and whitelists 3 random layers before loading:
var _room = rmLevelGarden;
var _layerNames = RoomLoader.DataGetLayerNames(_room); 
array_shuffle_ext(_layerNames);
array_resize(_layerNames, 3);
array_foreach(_layerNames, function(_layerName) {
    RoomLoader.LayerWhitelistAdd(_layerName);
});
RoomLoader.Load(_room, x, y);
RoomLoader.LayerWhitelistReset();

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.DataGetInstances()

RoomLoader.DataGetInstances(room) ➜ Array of Struct

Returns an array of instance data structs for the given room. Format listed below.

IMPORTANT

This method fetches the original internal data structs, which should NOT be changed externally. Doing so might affect future loading in undesirable ways. If you need to edit the returned structs, clone the array first using variable_clone().

Parameter	Type	Description
room	Asset.GMRoom	The room to get an array of instance data for

Example

// Fetches instance data for rmExample:
var _instancesData = RoomLoader.DataGetInstances(rmExample); 

// Maps the data array to an array of instance IDs using a custom instance creation function:
instances = array_map(_instancesData, function(_instanceData) {
    var _instanceId = ...; // Use _instanceData for custom instance creation.
    // More custom logic...
    return _instanceId;
});

Struct Format

Property	Type
├─ x	Real
├─ y	Real
├─ id	Id.Instance
├─ object	Asset.GMObject
├─ sprite	Asset.GMSprite
├─ creationCode	Id.Function
└─ preCreate	Struct
├─ image_xscale	Real
├─ image_yscale	Real
├─ image_angle	Real
├─ image_speed	Real
├─ image_index	Real
├─ image_alpha	Real
└─ image_blend	Real