Migration from VS 2012 to VS 2015

[monobeginner]

Hey,

I have a problem with migration of my project from VS 2012 to VS 2015. VS 2015 Conversion Wizard cannot load library project that I'm using in main game project. I though that I could add new project manually. I've tried to add Class Library C#, Portable Class Library projects but I can't attach reference of this project to my main project. My game targets Windows Phone 8.0. How to solve this problem ? How it works in VS 2015 ?
When I try to add reference I've got error:
"Unable to add reference to project XXX. The current project's target is not one of or compatibile with the targets of Portable Library project "XXX-Library".

Portable Library project targets WP 8.1, android, iOs and many others but there is no option for WP 8.

[MrValentine]

Probably a stupid question but did you install the Windows Phone 8.1 install package during installation? and the Toolbox?

EDIT

I don't think WP8.0 is even supported anymore...

[monobeginner]

Yes, I've checked WP 8 and WP 8.1 SDK during installation of VS 2015. In my game project that was created in VS 2012 I can switch target from WP 8 to WP 8.1 but when I switch to WP 8.1 it is not possible to restore to WP 8. I've created Portable Class Library and checked Windows Phone 8 Silverlight and it was possible to add reference of this library to my game. PCL has Windows Phone 8 Silverlight, Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight, Windows Phone 8.1 but there's no Windows Phone 8 target. What's the difference between Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight and Windows Phone 8.1 target ? If I choose target Windows Phone 8.1 it will be possible to run game only on WP 8.1 and higher ?

[MrValentine]

Why is WP8 so important? we are transitioning to WP10 soon...

[raizam]

wait...Windows Phone is still alive?

[MrValentine]

@raizam please don't troll on this forum, it just makes an intelligent person look stupid...

I would suggest you took a look at the Surface Phone information and rumours, by the looks of it, looks like it will be an x86-64 platform, I am hoping for Desktop grade applications being able to be run on them, as the base models will house 3GB RAM minimum, the only reason Windows Phone never caught on, aside from consumers not wanting change is the marketing department at Microsoft has never been overhauled and needs some serious User Interaction in my opinion...

Been using a Windows Phone worry free for over 2 years now... Running Windows Phone 10 on my LUMIA 735, was going to upgrade to something newer but holding off for a Surface Phone with 8GB RAM and 512GB Storage... not long to wait now really... if they get Visual Studio working on it, and I can code for MonoGame on it, I will have a new main system... [Albeit slightly slower than my custom RIG, but not entirely slower... I can have a Surface Book if needs be] as well as being able to literally work ANYWHERE in the world with a solar panel, a USB Type-C Monitor, not bothered with an internet connection just something basic and viola, total freedom... I do not see anything like this possible on ANY other platform, so the joke is in the other platforms...

Heck I could just go with a Surface Book and a Solar Panel and work anywhere warm and sunny

[monobeginner]

If I set target of my project to WP 8.1 my game will be not running on WP 8 devices, only on WP 8.1 and higher, right ?

[MrValentine]

Yes, and honestly you need to think hard about supporting a deprecated platform, besides pretty much all WP8 devices were able to upgrade to WP8.1 and it was free so no use supporting it as nobody else is keeping it alive anyway... pretty sure the DevCentre stopped accepting WP8 submissions earlier this year too...

Any reason you want to waste time supporting it?

[monobeginner]

But it seems to work, so why not use it ? ... Game target is WP 8, Portable Class Library targets Windows Phone 8 Silverlight. It just works. What's the difference between targets Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight ?

[MrValentine]

Silverlight is DEPRECATED Perhaps that is why not to use it?

This Article from 2014 should give you an indication of where 8.0 now sits

Here you will see Paragraph 2

states:

Microsoft announced the end of life of Silverlight 5 in 2012. In 2013, Microsoft announced that they had ceased development of Silverlight except for patches and bugfixes. Microsoft has set the support end date for Silverlight 5 to be October 2021.[6] Silverlight is no longer supported in Google Chrome since September 2015.[7] Since Microsoft Edge does not support plugins, it also does not support Silverlight.[8]

So I really do not know what more to tell you regarding Silverlight [Trust me I used to be a fan of it but now it sits in the bin with Expression, Money and Encarta among other discontinued projects...]

For your other question:

http://firstfloorsoftware.com/Media/DiffLists/Windows%20Phone%208.1%20(Silverlight)-vs-Windows%20Phone%208.1.html

Do people not do any research these days?

Here is a useful website for you...

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search?alpha=windows%20phone%208

As you can see, it would be pointless to develop for Windows Phone 8.1 as well since again unlike other platforms, Windows Phone 10 will be another free upgrade for Windows Devices [Some lower end handsets may not get the update however, but do you really care for a small percentage?]

It is not like it is not similar to any other platform, Apple killed EVERY application when they enforced x64 support, which meant if your app was 32bit it would no longer be allowed on the store [I could be wrong about this one but I am pretty sure that is what happened], and don't get me started on Android.......

So I would evaluate your development choices before you embark on a project that when completed has no platform let alone no audience...

I can see you have fixed ideas so I will leave this thread now, but good luck to you.

[monobeginner]

Thanks for reply, I would like to support at least WP 8.1 and higher. I'm little confused, just to clarify, if my game targets WP 8, Portable Class Library targets WP 8 Silverlight, so game will be runnable on:
- WP 8
- WP 8.1
- WP 10 ???
I'm not sure if it will run on WP 10 ? Or I need to create other project called UWP - "Universal Windows Platform" ? Sorry if it's stupid question ...

[Halofreak1990]

For WP 10 you need to add a UWP project to your solution.

[monobeginner]

So, for WP 8 and WP 8.1 I will have old type of project and for WP 10 I will have UWP, right ? Two different applications ? Then, is it possible to publish it to Microsoft Store as one application that support WP 8, WP 8.1 and WP 10 ?

[Halofreak1990]

So, for WP 8 and WP 8.1 I will have old type of project and for WP 10 I will have UWP, right ?

That's right

Then, is it possible to publish it to Microsoft Store as one application that support WP 8, WP 8.1 and WP 10 ?

I haven't published anything to the store before, but I'd assume you can specify which WP versions you support and then upload the applicable packages for each OS version.

[MrValentine]

OK, I went to check the store, and dug this out for you...

https://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/uwp/publish/upload-app-packages#device-family-availability

Choosing which device families to support
You can uncheck the box for any Windows 10 device family if you don’t want to offer your submission to customers on that type of device. If a device family’s box is unchecked, new customers on that type of device won’t be able to acquire the app (though customers who already have the app can still use it, and will get any updates you submit).

Note There are no checkboxes for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows Phone 8.x and earlier. If your submission includes packages that can run on those OS versions, those packages will be made available to customers. To stop offering your app to customers on earlier OS versions, you’ll need to remove the corresponding packages from your submission.

In my store I can confirm there are no checkboxes for anything below Windows 10 or XBOX...

You can just create the packages and upload them, it is up to you really which it appears you will, so good luck to you. If you want to know why I say so, Amazon has dropped the Windows 8/8.1 platform entirely this year, that should be an indicator for you to not bother...