What the Game Sends

Google Analytics

Shows how many people visit and play, which pages they use, and where they came from.

Goes to: Google. When: On each page, on the website and in the desktop app. Never in the itch.io version.

• The pages you open and how long you stay on them
• The site that linked you here
• Your browser, operating system, language and screen size
• A rough location (country and city) that Google works out from your IP address
• Whether you are on the website or in the desktop app
• Two cookies, _ga and _ga_4GZ3P8QEF4, that let Google recognise the same browser next time

This is the only part that goes to another company. Google decides exactly what its script records; the list above is what Google documents. The script is not loaded at all unless you say yes, and saying no later removes its cookies.

Page views

Our own count of which pages are read, kept separately from Google.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: On each page of the website. Never in the itch.io version.

• A random visitor ID kept in this browser (stored as sos_vid), so two pages read by one visitor count as one visit
• The page you opened
• The site that linked you here
• Campaign tags from the link you followed, if it had any
• The name of your browser and operating system
• Whether you are on a desktop, tablet or phone
• The size of the browser window
• How long you stayed on the page

If you are signed in, the server also records which account the page view belongs to.

Match statistics

Shows which factions, maps and modes are played, and how matches go, so balance can be tuned.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: When a match starts and when it ends.

• A random ID for the match
• The game mode, your faction and the opposing faction
• The difficulty and what kind of opponent you faced
• The map type, size and biome
• The number of players and the team format
• Whether the match was a standard one (custom maps, cheats and AI-only matches are marked)
• The result, how long it lasted and your score
• Units killed and lost, and resources gathered and spent
• The detailed end-of-match figures shown on the score screen
• The size and shape of the game window
• Your browser and operating system, including the full browser identification string
• Marketplace trades made during a match

If you are signed in, the match is recorded against your account. A signed-in player's match results are sent whatever you answer, because your profile and achievements are built from them; saying no leaves out the window size and the browser details. A guest who says no sends nothing.

Performance figures

Shows where the game runs slowly, and on what kind of hardware, so it can be made faster.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: Every few seconds during a match.

• A random ID for the match
• The version and build of the game
• The game mode, factions, map and difficulty
• Your browser and operating system, including the full browser identification string
• Whether the device is a phone or has a touch screen
• The name of your graphics card and how much memory the browser reports
• Your screen resolution, the resolution the game draws at, and the pixel ratio
• The graphics settings in use
• Which mods are active
• Your account ID, if you are signed in
• Frame rate, frame timings, counts of units and effects, long pauses and automatic quality changes
• How the match ended, and whether cheats were used

Loading times

Shows how long a match takes to load and how much had to be downloaded.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: Once, when a match finishes loading.

• A random ID for the match
• The game mode, factions and map, including the map seed
• How much was downloaded and how much came from your browser's cache
• The total loading time and the time each stage took
• The full browser identification string, the device memory and the connection type your browser reports (such as "4g")
• Whether the game is running on a developer's own machine
• Your account ID, if you are signed in

The server stores a scrambled (salted and hashed) form of your IP address with each record, to spot abuse. The address itself is not stored.

Crash reports

Tells us what broke, and where, so it can be fixed.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: When the game hits an error.

• The error: its type, message and the technical trace of where it happened
• The version of the game
• What you were doing: the screen, mode, difficulty and the match or mission you were in
• The custom map you were playing, if any
• 2D or 3D mode, the size of the game window and the state of the multiplayer connection
• Your browser and operating system, including the full browser identification string
• Your screen resolution and pixel ratio, and whether the device is a phone or has a touch screen
• The name of your graphics card and how much memory the browser reports
• Your account ID, if you are signed in
• A random ID that lasts until you reload the page, so repeated errors from one visit can be grouped
• The address of the page the error happened on

Failed downloads

Tells us when a picture, sound or model fails to load, so broken files get noticed.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: When a game file cannot be loaded after several tries.

• The address of the file that failed, what kind of file it was and how it failed
• How many times it was tried, and when
• The full browser identification string and the connection type your browser reports
• The page you were on

Multiplayer desync reports

When two players' games stop agreeing, a copy from each lets us find the exact cause.

Goes to: Shards of Stone. When: Only in multiplayer, and only when a match falls out of sync.

• The ID of the match, your seat in it and whether you were playing or watching
• The version of the game
• The turn the games disagreed on, and the checksums each player reported
• What is needed to replay the match: its seed, who sat where and every command each player gave
• A snapshot of the state of the game at that moment
• The full browser identification string, 2D or 3D mode, and whether the game is running on a developer's own machine