I have recently picked up monogame, switching from regulat xna…
I’m using v.studio 2010 express on a new windows 8.1…
My finished XNA game, with loads of classes and content, has been copied into a monogame-template (windows game), and I can play my game from the editor,…
I can also launch the game from the debug or release folder…
Now I need to know the easiest way to make my game available to others, without installing v.studio and running my code in debug mode… I need a neat package/folder that I can just stick in a .rar file and pass around…
… I tried using the “publish” function within VS, but it just produces a useless installer, which in turn only creates a useless shortcut on my desktop/startmenu… In the publish-options tab, It doesnt seem to include anything monogame related in the prequesites, either…
I have looked for HOURS using 2 search engines and youtube… I cant find anything…
Should I just ask people to install monogame, and then just hand out a copy of the “release” folder…?
-if so, do I need to include png or xnb content files or both…?
How do I get from debug to release…? Whats the EASY way, nothing fancy, just a simple process for a simple game…!
Hi there
Have you looked into click-once deployment?
That’s my deployment method of choice, and should allow your users to download prerequisites too.
Though I believe that the MonoGame assemblies don’t need to be installed as a separate framework the way XNA used to.
Hi xnafan, thanks for your reply… Yes I have… I even gave it another go just now…
I have tried watching multiple videos and looking at various posts and blogs, but I cant find ANYTHING usefull…
Seems most people are using more advanced vesrions of visual studio, with features/buttons and tabs not found in my express edition…
When I follow the click-once publishing wizard, all I get is a neat little folder with a setup program, a manifest, and a application files folder, which looks good… But when I run the setup, and it appears to install my game, (progress bar completes the some-hundred mb install)
all it achieves upon completion is a dead shortcut on my desktop and start menu…
This shortcut does nothing…
Why doesnt the monogame site just have a page titled:
“This is how to share your game”…
I know installers can be varied, but you would think a standard solution exsisted for folks like me…
Could you publish it to a URL somewhere on the web, where I can access it?
Then I can try to install it on my windows 8.1, and if it fails, take a look at the deployment files for you to see what’s missing.
Thanks for the generous offer, but I’m afraid thats something I dont know how to do…
I’m one of those non-social media, unconnected types, without a smartphone…
I have no idea how to share ANYTHING on the interwebs…
I would still be programming if the world ended, I’m the “secluded programmer”…
I always send people files (like my previous XNA game) over skype… Thats about the extent of my online-skills…
Do you know of a simple+easy way? -Maybe you have a junk email adress I could send it to or something? Or perhaps a torrent…
I could send you smaller version, without most of the levels and their graphics…
that puts it at around 230 mb…
BTW, on a related note…
I have a folder in my debug/publish folder that contains end-user stuff like levels and highscores and settings, which I need outside the program for easy end-user modding…
However, when I publish, this folder is not included in the publish…
…Not that that matters to much, since only a short-cut is being installed, despite the installation process completing…
I thought I would just place the folder within the install directory, but yeah, there is no install directory…
So… I need to send you some stuff… How to proceed?
…and it might take me a few days, theres christ-day to celebrate, with the tree and the social-setting, and the fun…
I wish I had seen this thread earlier. I’m encountering similar difficulties, which I posted about in a separate thread : How to publish a Monogame project
The easiest way I’ve found to share files is to sign up for an account at dropbox.com. You can upload files there, and share the link with others.
I’m not sure if we’re experiencing the same problem or not, but they look similar. I think my project is just missing the content files, but I’m not sure how to configure Visual Studio to include them.
So theres a slight update… Appearantly, i have to drag+drop ALL the files my game uses into the IDE content browser thing…
(setting them to content-copy if newer)…
I had previously accesed those files using a simple navigation-path and within my code…
So now it seems to work…
However, when I publish, the produced setup-file seems to just install a folder exactly like my release folder…
…And a short cut on the desktop and startmenu…
However, it installs the game on some obscure default path…
So why not just X-xopy my release folder, and people can just put it where they want?
What good is a setup file, if it just reproduces the release folder, and puts the copy in some hidden user/app folder?
-And btw, you can still have a copy of my game if you want…
What good is a setup file, if it just reproduces the release folder, and puts the copy in some hidden user/app folder?
Because it doesn’t just do that.
It automatically downloads any missing requirements from the web (ie. .NET framework) and I believe can also check for and automatically download your latest published release every time the user launches your app.
