Make a standalone version of an AM game easily
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:27 pm
Hi everyone !
As you probably know, I've been working for a long time on a way to make a standalone version of ASA: A Space Adventure, in order to release it on Desura (and other similar portals like Steam).
Here's my method to create easily a standalone version of ANY AM game ! (standalone = no previous install needed ! Can run in ANY folder, you can copy/paste your game where you want : it will play)
Method :
1 ? Create your game with Adventure Maker, build it and install it like you usually do.
2 ? Move to the folder where you installed your game, select the whole content (exe, files and folders) and make an archive of it (rar or zip)...
3 ? Keep your archive in a safe place, and uninstall your game properly.
4 ? Delete all the files related to your game (unless the saved games if you want to use them later)
5 - Extract your archive in the folder of your choice. You can name it how you want, and you can even rename the .exe
6 ? Try to launch the game : an error should happen, asking for a dll or ocx. That is normal !
7 ? Download all the AM dependencies from here : http://www.adventuremaker.com/systemfiles and keep them in a same folder.
8 ? Create a new empty txt file (notepad) next to your game EXE, and name it [name_of_your_exe].exe.local (example : ASA.exe.local if the exe is ASA.exe) ?> This will force a VBS exe to look for system files in the local folder, instead of the system32 folder ! So your AM game exe will search for the dependencies in the game folder, not in the Windows system32 ! Great, uh ?
9 ? Copy the AM dependencies (dll and ocx - see point 7) next to your exe and exe.local
10 - Run the game !!!
11 - It should play normally, so you can create an archive for distribution. No more install needed, you can play your AM game everywhere, from any media (CD, DVD, USB, etc...)
It worked for me on Windows 8. Also I wasn't sure that I had deleted all the previous installed dlls and ocx (from ASA or from AM), so I made another check :
I formated an old PC and installed Windows XP on it. It's a clean install, where there has never been AM or an AM game.
I copied my standalone version of ASA, and it worked too !
So, to conclude, this method will create your AM game standalone version, and it will work on Xp and win8 for sure.
I'm not sure about the others, but tell me !
Update :
Looks like it will only work if you don't use spaces or special characters in the name of your EXE (and so the exe.local file). So to be sure that this trick will work, name your exe using a dos filename (8.3 filename, I think), that is to say : no spaces, 8 letters max, no special letters (* - + / ? ! etc...)
Example :
First time I tried, the game exe was named : ASA - A Space Adventure.exe
I created with notepade the ASA - A Space Adventure.exe.local
--> it didn't work.
Then I renamed the exe into : ASA.exe
And renamed the notepad file in : ASA.exe.local
--> it worked !
As you probably know, I've been working for a long time on a way to make a standalone version of ASA: A Space Adventure, in order to release it on Desura (and other similar portals like Steam).
Here's my method to create easily a standalone version of ANY AM game ! (standalone = no previous install needed ! Can run in ANY folder, you can copy/paste your game where you want : it will play)
Method :
1 ? Create your game with Adventure Maker, build it and install it like you usually do.
2 ? Move to the folder where you installed your game, select the whole content (exe, files and folders) and make an archive of it (rar or zip)...
3 ? Keep your archive in a safe place, and uninstall your game properly.
4 ? Delete all the files related to your game (unless the saved games if you want to use them later)
5 - Extract your archive in the folder of your choice. You can name it how you want, and you can even rename the .exe
6 ? Try to launch the game : an error should happen, asking for a dll or ocx. That is normal !
7 ? Download all the AM dependencies from here : http://www.adventuremaker.com/systemfiles and keep them in a same folder.
8 ? Create a new empty txt file (notepad) next to your game EXE, and name it [name_of_your_exe].exe.local (example : ASA.exe.local if the exe is ASA.exe) ?> This will force a VBS exe to look for system files in the local folder, instead of the system32 folder ! So your AM game exe will search for the dependencies in the game folder, not in the Windows system32 ! Great, uh ?
9 ? Copy the AM dependencies (dll and ocx - see point 7) next to your exe and exe.local
10 - Run the game !!!
11 - It should play normally, so you can create an archive for distribution. No more install needed, you can play your AM game everywhere, from any media (CD, DVD, USB, etc...)
It worked for me on Windows 8. Also I wasn't sure that I had deleted all the previous installed dlls and ocx (from ASA or from AM), so I made another check :
I formated an old PC and installed Windows XP on it. It's a clean install, where there has never been AM or an AM game.
I copied my standalone version of ASA, and it worked too !
So, to conclude, this method will create your AM game standalone version, and it will work on Xp and win8 for sure.
I'm not sure about the others, but tell me !
Update :
Looks like it will only work if you don't use spaces or special characters in the name of your EXE (and so the exe.local file). So to be sure that this trick will work, name your exe using a dos filename (8.3 filename, I think), that is to say : no spaces, 8 letters max, no special letters (* - + / ? ! etc...)
Example :
First time I tried, the game exe was named : ASA - A Space Adventure.exe
I created with notepade the ASA - A Space Adventure.exe.local
--> it didn't work.
Then I renamed the exe into : ASA.exe
And renamed the notepad file in : ASA.exe.local
--> it worked !