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Glossary

This page includes common terms used in the Beamable documentation and product.

Name

Detail

Admin Account (For Game Maker)

This establishes the connection between the Game Maker and the Beamable SDK. This has full admin privileges

Account
(For Player)

This establishes the connection between the Player and the Beamable SDK. This has no admin privileges

Announcement

A message sent by the game maker to all game players. See Announcements for more info

CID

The customer identification. Beamable generates this for each customer

Content

The primary data concept within the Beamable Content Manager

Dbid

A number generated by the Beamable backend number system. Can be used to represent a PlayerId, AccountId, Pid, Cid, etc.

Endpoint

A distinct HTTP path within the Beamable Server REST API

Environment

A separate set of content, configuration, and data; useful for distinguishing Dev from Prod or allowing different developers to work on different data. Used interchangeably with a "Realm."

Events

A one-time competition between all players within a game's community, rewarding based on score and score ranking

Feature

An individual aspect of the Beamable product used to create a great user experience

Feature Prefab

The drag-and-drop template for a specific Beamable product feature. See Unity Toolbox for more info

First Frame

A first frame operation occurs very early in the game project's runtime -- possibly in the very first frame

Game

Each Game maker account has one more games. Each game contains several Realms

Guide

A how-to guide to create a great user experience

Hard Currency

A currency type rewarded to the player through IAP transactions of real-world money. (Ex. Gems). See Virtual Currency for more info

Item

An archetype of a Beamable store object. There may be a single instance or multiple instances of each. See Content Manager for more info

Inventory

A collection of Beamable items owned by the active player. See Inventory for more info

KPI

A Key Performance Indicator is a metric that helps determine a game's success

Lazy

A lazy operation occurs on-demand at the last moment possible to satisfy the use case

Listing

The building block of Beamable stores. A listing may correspond to a platform App Store SKU. Each listing is a collection of Beamable store items. See Store for more info

Lookup Table

A data structure which represents a collection of keys - each mapped to one or more values

Leaderboard

A list of high scores by all players of a game. See Leaderboard for more info

Lobby

A lobby is a waiting area or virtual space where players can gather while waiting for all participants to join before starting a multiplayer game session. See Lobbies for more info

Mail

A message sent from a player to a player

Observable

Within the Beamable player-centric SDK (PSDK), data sets are often represented as observable objects with events such as OnDataUpdated

PID

The project identification. Beamable generates this for each project

PlayerId

The player identification. A single user will have a PlayerId per realm they have logged into. The PlayerID is in DBID format.

Portal

The web-based project administration of player content for game makers. See Portal for more info

Realm

Unique body of data in the Beamable back-end. Each realm represents a game environment. Used interchangeably with an "environment."

Reference - C# API

The client-side programming resources. See Reference - C# API for more info

Reference - REST API

The server-side programming resources. See Reference - REST API for more info

Serialization

The automatic process of transforming data structures for read/write storage

Service

An individual aspect of the Beamable back-end used to power a feature

Service Plan
(Game Maker)

The Game Maker Account's licensing information and plan

Soft Currency

A currency type rewarded to the player through gameplay progression. (Ex. Experience Points or XP). See Currency for more info

SKU

A Stock Keeping Unit is a unique indicator of a Beamable store listing in a platform App Store

Stat

Active data entity used for read/write of player state. See Stats for more info

Store

A collection of Beamable store listings. See Store for more info

Toolbox

The Beamable Unity Toolbox Window which serves as the main entry point for using Beamable

Tool Window

A group of related Beamable editing functionality for game makers

Tournament

A recurring competition between all players within a game's community, based on score ranking, stage, and tier. See Tournaments for more info

WIP

A "Work In Progress" feature or workflow which is in active development, but not fully released