Sharing/Distributing Games and Gamasutra resources
CS 583 05March AH1112

Microsoft incorporated a distribution of media model into XNA. Today, we will examine the steps you must take to create a Clean Solution and creating a Zip-file of the code and assets.

MSDN XNA Development Center - path = Development Tools & Languages / XNA Game Studio/ XNA GS 4.0/ Using XNA Game Studio/ Sharing & Distributing your Game msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb464157.aspx

There are a variety of ways to share and distribute your game.
* For all platforms, you can use the XNA Game Studio Package utility (xnapack.exe) to create a special package that other XNA Game Studio users can unpack and play. Using this utility allows you to share your game without exposing your source code or assets to other XNA Game Studio users.
You can share games packaged in this format with XNA Creators Club members through the XNA Creators Club Web site for peer review, and possible listing on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
* For all platforms, you can choose to share your source code and assets with other XNA Game Studio users. This is useful if you would like someone to review or modify your code or assets.
* For Windows games only, you can make your game available to any Windows user (referred to as independent publishing) by distributing your completed game executables, along with a set of prerequisite software (called "redistributables"). All Windows users can play your game, even if they do not have XNA Game Studio installed on their computer.

Sharing with Another User
To share your project, including source code, with an XNA Game Studio user
1. In XNA Game Studio, open the project you want to share.
2. On the Build menu, click Clean Solution.
This removes any built and intermediate files, leaving only the source code and assets. If you do not have this menu item, see "Cleaning the Solution Before You Build" in Deploying an Xbox 360 Game.
3. Open Windows Explorer, and browse to the folder that contains the project you want to share.
4. Right-click on the project folder in Windows Explorer, click Send To, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder.
The compressed file is ready to share.

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