Dedicated Server - How to properly initialize GameState?

[0xsomeone]

Hey everyone, I am sure this is a newbie question but how is someone meant to initialize their game state BEFORE any clients connect on the server side?

I tried doing this in the GameMode until I learned that this is not replicated on the clients so I want to do it in the GameState.

I have a custom GameModeBase and GameState setup for my project but in the GameMode::InitGame hook, the GameState is a nullptr so I cannot really configure it.

I have read multiple guides, videos, UE source code, graphs, but nothing seems to point in the right direction when initializing your server before clients log in.

[0xsomeone]

Never mind, managed to solve this on my own. The AGameModeBase::StartPlay hook was what I was looking for. I introduced my logic before invoking the Super::StartPlay hook to ensure any play hooks are invoked after I have properly set up my GameState.