Force exceptions in controlled environments to verify the entire pipeline works. Even better, maintain a debug mode that locally saves dumps for developer analysis.
While SteamAPI_WriteMiniDump writes files locally to the player's hard drive, Valve also provides an automated backend infrastructure for crash tracking.
On Windows, wrap critical sections in structured exception handling ( __try / __except ) or set a top-level unhandled exception filter to capture crashes, such as access violations, that are otherwise fatal. 4. WriteMiniDump and Related Functions
“Could be disk corruption,” Mara said at last, rubbing her temple. “Or a bad driver. Or —” She stopped. “Or it could be malicious. But why would an attacker break the minidump? That’s the one thing we rely on to know what they did.” SteamAPI WriteMiniDump
The function is generally called within an exception handling block. When the game crashes (e.g., due to a null pointer reference), the OS throws an exception. A custom exception handler catches this, calls SteamAPI_WriteMiniDump , and passes in the exception details. Function Signature
: The numerical code for the crash type. pvExceptionInfo : A pointer to the detailed exception data.
#include #include #include "steam/steam_api.h" // The exception filter function LONG WINAPI CustomCrashHandler(EXCEPTION_POINTERS* pExceptionInfo) std::cout << "[CRASH] Unhandled exception detected. Writing minidump..." << std::endl; // Fetch your current Steam Build ID, or use a hardcoded internal version number uint32 currentBuildId = SteamApps() ? SteamApps()->GetAppBuildId() : 0; // Call the SteamAPI function SteamAPI_WriteMiniDump( pExceptionInfo->ExceptionRecord->ExceptionCode, pExceptionInfo, currentBuildId ); // Tell Windows to terminate the process cleanly after handling return EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER; int main() // Initialize Steamworks if (!SteamAPI_Init()) std::cout << "Steamworks initialization failed." << std::endl; return 1; // Register our crash handler with the Windows OS SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(CustomCrashHandler); // Simulate a crash (Null Pointer Dereference) int* badPointer = nullptr; *badPointer = 42; // Shutdown Steamworks (will not be reached in this example) SteamAPI_Shutdown(); return 0; Use code with caution. Where Are the Minidumps Saved? Force exceptions in controlled environments to verify the
file in the game's install directory before attempting to upload it to Valve’s servers for developer review. Technical Implementation
“We can fix this,” Mara said. “Patch the agent to use safe temporary files, add a retry in the minidump writer, and move critical services to a different partition. We’ll make sure the server never tries to seal a dump again.”
Click "Debug with Native Only." Visual Studio will reconstruct the call stack and point you directly to the offending line of code. Best Practices and Limitations On Windows, wrap critical sections in structured exception
: An optional ID to track which version of the game crashed. Developer Access
The function requires three key pieces of information to be useful: