Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 18.14
Creating a build.
A Few Notes on the Output Files
When creating a Windows build, do note that there are actually two files. The
first is the .exe file—the actual executable that the player launches to play the
game. The second is a folder that is called NameOfYourGame_Data. To play
the game, both must be present and in the same folder. When distributing
the build, I find it helpful to take both files (the executable and the data
folder) and zipping them into one archive and sending that off. We have had
occasion here where we sent off a project to a client, who then tried to show it
to someone else by just sending the .exe—it doesn't work.
On the Mac side, things are a little more elegant for the final user. An .app in Mac
OS X looks to the user like a simple icon in their Finder. However, in reality it's really
a folder (that OSX calls a Package) that contains a bunch of things. When Unity
creates a Mac build, it creates an .app folder. On a PC, this will appear as a folder
(which I usually compress into a zip archive before sending it off to someone), but
when a Mac user unzips it to his machine, it will appear as a single icon that will
contain all the assets he needs. The user just double-clicks to launch it.
Finally, note that when creating a Web Player build, Unity won't ask for a simple
location to save the build—it will ask specifically for a Folder. The reason
for this is that there are some very closely linked files that Unity will output.
One will be the .html file that presents the Unity content (a .unity3d file). The
specifics of this .html file can be controlled in a general way via the Player
Settings in the Per-Platform Setting section. Specifically, the look of this html
file can be altered and customized manually via your favorite HTML editor.
