When you submit a game what is the .exe?

[Lunawolfcomics]

Hey everyone quick question. When you submit a finished game what is it that you submit? I know you have to submit the .exe file, is that the file with the dragon icon? Thanks

-JAD

 

[That Bread]

Yes it is, .exe stands for Executable or a program that executes an action. In this case it executes the action of unloading your game with everything in it onto a specified area... which is specified by the person who runs it.

 

[Lunawolfcomics]

Do I have to include any other files? Like the system file, or the game.ini file?

 

[That Bread]

No, just the Exe. it should have everything that you compressed into it.

 

[Lunarea]

Note that you really do need to compress the game in order to get an .exe. You can't just pull a file from the project folder. It needs to be compressed in order to turn into an .exe.

 

[Lunawolfcomics]

Ok thank you. I only ask because whenever I copy the .exe onto my desktop it wont open the game. yet when the .exe is in the game folder with all its contents then it loads

 

[Rhaeami]

I'm a bit confused by this discussion - those answering seem to be talking about the compressed file - that one with the cube icon - whereas the OP seems to be talking about the "Game" file, inside that compressed stuff.  The one with the red dragon icon.

For both of our sakes, could we please get a little clarification?

 

[Lunarea]

You need to submit the compressed .exe file -- the icon looks like the blue cube.

 

[Rhaeami]

Okay, thanks Lunarea!  So then, OP, to answer your original question:

"I know you have to submit the .exe file, is that the file with the dragon icon?"

...The answer is "no", it's the file with the blue cube icon.

 

[??????]

File -> Compress Game Data -> Create Encrypted Archive - YES, Include RTP - YES.

By following these steps, you will be able to select a location to save the .exe file to (the blue cube icon). The compression and encryption stage will then begin..

Afterwords, when you click the blue cube... It will 'unpack' the contents of your game into the specified folder. This is what people will download. Then, and only then, will people be able to properly download and play your game. The aforementioned contents include your games 'System' folder, the 'Audio' folder, the Game.ini file and the Game application (the dragon head one that you click to play the game)

Note :

You don't have to include the RTP; however, if you do not, someone who does not already have the RTP will not be able to play the game without first downloading it.

Sufficient clarification on this issue yes?

 

[Lunawolfcomics]

Ok thank you. I didn't compress the game haha , noob mistake.

 

[Lunawolfcomics]

.

 

[Lunawolfcomics]

And thank you everyone for answering , I finally got it.

 

[??????]

Yes, include the RTP, not everyone who downloads and plays you game will have it.

In future, you should just edit you last post rather than double posting. Mods will throw big blue letters at you for that :/

Edit:

If your using steam though, if actually includes the RTP files in the compressed exe... But thats a whole nother issue...

 

[Rhaeami]

Just to be sure, Dekita, when you say:

"It will 'unpack' the contents of your game into the specified folder.  This is what people will download."

Do you mean that one should host the 'unpacked' files for download, NOT the original, blue cube, compressed exe?

 

[LoneWolfDon]

Is it okay to submit it as a zip file for the contest? In this way I can remove a lot of the RTP files from my game that I'm not using for it, thereby making the overall filesize smaller. Plus I'll also be able to include a game-manual / readme file as well.

 

[??????]

@Raemyi

No. One should upload the blue cube executable. Then whomever downloads the .exe will unpack the contents on their computer.

@LoneWolfDon
Considering that we are allowed to use alternative game engines - which will most likely offer an alternative form of game compression,, I would assume that having it within another type would be fine; however, not everyone has winrar/winzip installed on their computer.

Dont really want to make it even harder for them to play...

Personally... I am including an installer with my game - you download the installer and choose the destination... you know, like a real program would do ^_^ The installer handles all my game extraction process

Also, my game file is tiny... In the installer its 15.898 MB, when installed the folder contents are 18.5MB - it takes like 6 seconds to fully install in my selected location.
 

 

[LoneWolfDon]

@Dekita: Right, good idea. I was considering to use Inno Setup Compiler. So, I'd be able to remove the RTP files I'm not using in my game, be able to include a game-manual/readme files, and still have it as an exe that would extract all the files automatically (as I understand that not everyone will know what to do with a zip file). I was thinking, it would be a good idea to be able to include both options, the exe and a zip format, so the User can choose which one they prefer to download, as some browsers and anti-virus programs don't like any kind of exe file that it doesn't recognize and "assumes" it could be a potential virus (whereas a zip file can usually get around that problem). I may include it (an alternate download to a zip format) in the description for my game's submission for people who might encounter such a problem trying to download a exe file.

 

[??????]

"Inno Setup Compiler" Never heard of that one.

I am using "Install Creator". It gives me everything I need and only shows a little message saying 'Made by install creator' at the end of setup ^_^

Thats a good idea though about the zipped option.

Personally, I think even the zipped option should have the installer inside. Then the user can choose where to extract the files to and have a desktop icon etc..

 

[MistressDarna]

File -> Compress Game Data -> Create Encrypted Archive - YES, Include RTP - YES.

By following these steps, you will be able to select a location to save the .exe file to (the blue cube icon). The compression and encryption stage will then begin..

Afterwords, when you click the blue cube... It will 'unpack' the contents of your game into the specified folder. This is what people will download. Then, and only then, will people be able to properly download and play your game. The aforementioned contents include your games 'System' folder, the 'Audio' folder, the Game.ini file and the Game application (the dragon head one that you click to play the game)

Note :

You don't have to include the RTP; however, if you do not, someone who does not already have the RTP will not be able to play the game without first downloading it.

Sufficient clarification on this issue yes?

Now you're confusing me.

Do you mean that after the encryption & compression process I have to open up my own .exe file and give people the .exe file with the blue cube that's in there?