Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The Game directory should hold the release build and every game data file your game
needs to run and anything that will get distributed to your players. You should be
able to send the contents of the Game directory to a separate testing group or to
someone in the press, and they
d have everything they would need to run and test
the game. You also want to ensure that they don
'
t get anything you want to keep to
yourself, such as confidential project documentation or your crown jewels
'
—
the
source code. Generally, you
ll place release executables and DLLs in Game and store
all your game data and config files in Game/Data. If you take the time to set up a
directory that stores the files that you may be providing to others from time to
time, you
'
ll likely avoid sending out your source code or internal project design docu-
ments. Documentation that will get sent to your players on disc or downloaded, like
help files, also should be stored here. Printed documentation should be stored sepa-
rately; I
'
d suggest in its own hierarchy inside the Assets directory.
The Test directory should hold special files only for the test team. It usually contains
test scripts, files that unlock cheats, and test utilities. Some games have a logging feature
that writes diagnostic, warning, and error messages to a text file
'
the Test directory is a
great place for them. Most importantly, it should contain the release notes for the latest
build. The release notes are a list of features that work, or don
—
t work, in the latest build.
They also contain quick instructions about anything the test team needs to know, such
as how to expose a certain feature or a part of your game that needs special attention.
As you are developing your project, I strongly encourage you to keep the release notes
up-to-date. If you hand your game over to a testing team, they won
'
thavetopullout
their hair trying to figure out how to get your project to work. You
'
'
ll discover that
Visual Studio has to be convinced to use this directory structure, and it takes a little
work to create projects under this standard. Visual Studio assumes that everything in
the project lives underneath the directory that stores the solution file. It may be a pain
to get Visual Studio to conform to this structure, but trust me, it is worth it.
C# Projects Are Tougher to Reorganize
While you can tweak the directory structure of C++ projects under Visual Studio,
C# projects are tougher. There is a way to reconfigure the solution files to make
my recommended directory structure work, but it isn
'
t exactly supported by
Microsoft. Perhaps Microsoft will
in their great wisdom figure this out
someday, but don
'
t hold your breath. For more on this topic, visit
the
companion website for this topic.
The directory structure I propose is useful because it caters to all the different people
and groups that need access to your game development files. The development team
gets access to the whole thing. Executives and press looking for the odd demo can
