AdventureMaker.com

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:43 am

Hi, I am writing to know if this is possible, or if not currently possible, then if you guys can 1 day make it possible?

What I mean is, I would like to make my game into a standalone exe file, and the exe distribution that AM currently has can only make installation exes...

The reason I want a standalone is because I found a site named gamejolt.com that has a "quickplay" feature that allows developers to upload a game exe, and the players can play the exe without having to download it! The quickplay feature even works if the exe is in a zip folder... but it will not work if the game needs to be "installed".

Anyways, this would make lots of people happy im sure, since they could then make thier adventure maker games go online! But i dont know if its doable for AM to make standalone exe...

is it doable(either currently, or in the future)?

by **Mystery** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:46 am

You can create a standalone executable with the full version of Adventure Maker

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:01 am

Really? I must be dumb then because I cant figure out how lol (I have the full version).

So I click "create executable" in the project menu, and then what do I select under "distribution options"?

The only 4 options I see are:

"Single installation file"
"Installation split into several parts"
"Floppy disks distribution"
"CD or DVD distribution"

And when I tried to make my game I tried the 1st option and it created an exe but it was an installer not a standalone. It then created a bunch of folders along with the actual game exe, but that game exe isnt standalone for it cannot run without the rest of the folders, and so wouldnt work if I tried to put it on that site I mentioned.

by **Mystery** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:05 am

Single installation file

This will compile your project into one .exe file.

The other options are for special cases (e.g. split up a huge project into different .exe's, distribute your game on floppy disk or CD/DVD).

I don't know what that quickplay feature does, so I'm not convinced yet that it will work. Let us know about your experience

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:20 am

Oh...

By "standalone" I meant the actual game exe not the installer file... because after its installed it then becomes many files not just one anymore, and the exe alone cannot run without the rest of the files. so by standalone I mean just 1 file with all the game data (Thats the limitation of the quickplay thing).

Its not possible for AM to create just a single exe that can run without being "installed" huh? Like, the .am1 file you can make with the free version is closer to something that would work with that site I mentioned since it does not need to be installed... except that it is not an exe so it will not work without adventure maker. If only it could, then that file might be workable for web play.

Basically, here is the text from that site on the quick play page:

"Note that only standalone executable files or ZIP archives that have an executable file in them will work with Quick Play. If your game requires an installation, it will not work with this feature. We don't support any other archive format besides ZIP at the moment."

So I suppose now my question is that, is it possible (or will 1 day be possible?) to create a standalone exe that doesnt require installation (like the am1 type thingy)?

by **Mystery** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:24 am

No, at the moment you can only create an executable that needs to be installed.
I can't tell about future features as it's GM-Support who has developed Adventure Maker, so only he knows what is planned for the near future, or what will be possible one day.

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:32 am

Ah thats a shame then, so close to getting my game to be playable online, yet so far...

Thanks anyways though, and perhaps (being a staff) you can reccomend this feature to him if you think it would benefit people, but its entirely up to you.

by **Mystery** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:39 am

There are indeed some users of Adventure Maker who would like to create a complex game playable online with the software.

You can post your suggestion in this thread:
http://www.adventuremaker.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=2377
It's not part of the old poll, but you can make a post with your request

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:50 am

Ok thanks, I posted there, as well as sent a PM to GM Support.

by **Lyberodoggy** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:59 am

You could install the game on your machine, then zip up the entire game folder located in C:\Program Files\yourproject and upload that. Still I don't think it would work because some dll and ocx files need to be registered...

by **The Enigma** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:29 pm

I tried it and youre right... on my own machine it actually works fine when i try to visit the page, but my friends who tried it get errors and cant make it work

Is it possible to integrate those dll and ocx files into the game so that it can work with gamejolt?

I guess the exe that AM creates really isnt a standalone after all, if it still needs registered AM files to support it...

by **Mystery** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:39 pm

Suicune did upload his game there, and I'm able to play it

So let's get back to testing I guess to figure out to what extent it works.

by **Lyberodoggy** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:51 am

All modern games and apps use external libraries such as dlls. A workaround for this problem is to have users install the needed files. But that's not convenient at all

Some brainstorming needed here...

by **Mystery** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:58 am

Well, Suicune told me now, that so far the game seemed to work only on machines with AM installed, and not on others.

So far we have only a too small sample though (2 machines with AM, and 3 without) to draw final conclusions.
What do you think?

by **mercedes** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:24 am

What about the AM transformer..? I don't know if u can run scripted games with it though...? Or if this is even useful in this situation..?...Not sure..lots to read on about it here..~

http://www.adventuremaker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1240

by **Suicune** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:42 pm

Mystery wrote:Well, Suicune told me now, that so far the game seemed to work only on machines with AM installed, and not on others.

So far we have only a too small sample though (2 machines with AM, and 3 without) to draw final conclusions.
What do you think?

i have found the answer!

it seems that on my old comp it wouldnt work at 1st, but when i downloaded gif89.dll and put it in my system32 folder, my link

http://gamejolt.com/games/quick-play/1298/

worked just fine! (just have to hit "run" when the java popup appears)

someone else from EG24 who didnt have AM installed was able to make it work too, they probably already had gif89.dll on thier comp im guessing.

by **Mystery** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:49 pm

Isn't gif89.dll only necessary for animated GIFs?

by **Suicune** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:01 pm

i dont know, but that made it work in any case!

the error message i got before was something about gif89.dll, so instinctively i went to download it and it worked after i put it in my system32 folder...

i dont have animated gifs in my game but for whatever reason it didnt work without that file.

other people got the same error too i think so im gonna see if i can talk to 1 of the admins on EG24 and get my game up with a warning that gif89.dll needs to be downloaded if the game doesnt work.

by **Mystery** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:03 pm

Ah okay, maybe it's just required for AM games in general

Can you tell us how you uploaded your game? Did you install it on your pc and then zipped up the .exe and all project assets?

by **Suicune** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:08 pm

yup thats how i did it, exported the exe file, installed it to my comp, then zipped up everything and then uploaded it to gamejolt and used the quickplay feature

by **Mystery** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:09 pm

Okay, thanks for the info Suicune

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Standalone exe file.

Standalone exe file.

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