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Publishing a Windows/Mac/Linux Game
by Jon (Updated on 2015-10-17)
Contents
- Introduction
- Windows
- Mac
- Linux
- FAQ
Introduction
Stencyl supports the creation of native, standalone apps for Windows, Mac and Linux. These apps feature hardware accelerated graphics and consequently, better performance than their web or mobile counterparts.
Note: Publishing desktop games is a paid feature. Purchase a license to access this functionality.
Windows
Requirements
- Windows 7 or better
- We recommend Visual Studio 2013 for best results. The free editions are fine.
You can either install Visual Studio on your own, or if you attempt to run a Windows app from Stencyl, we’ll download the Visual Studio installer for you and then ask you to run it. We'll assume the latter.
Setup
-
After opening up a game in Stencyl, select Run > Windows from the main menu.
-
Stencyl will download the Visual Studio installer to your system. After that finishes, run the installer.
- Once you install Visual Studio, you’ll need to reboot your computer for Stencyl to recognize it.
Testing
To test your game, select Run > Windows from the main menu.
This step may take a while. You may find it useful to turn on the Log Viewer (View > Log Viewer) prior to running to see what's going on and catch any unforeseen errors.
Publishing
To publish your game, select Publish > Desktop > Windows from the main menu. This will export your game as a ZIP containing an EXE and the resources associated with the game.
Note: We don't support exporting the game to a single, bundled EXE. We tried to wrap them in the past using free solutions, but they were (wrongly) flagged by AV software, so we discontinued that experiment. If you must wrap an EXE, you can use a thid party utility such as Molebox to do this.
Mac
Requirements
- A Mac with Yosemite (OS X 10.10) or better
- The latest release of Xcode
- Registration in the Mac Developer Program (if publishing to the Mac App Store)
Setup
-
If you don't have Xcode, install it from the Mac App Store.
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Launch Xcode, go to its Preferences, flip to the Downloads Tab and install Command Line Tools.
- If you are publishing to the Mac App Store, you must set up your App on iTunes Connect.
Testing
To test your game, select Run > Mac from the main menu.
This step may take a while. You may find it useful to turn on the Log Viewer (View > Log Viewer) prior to running to see what's going on and catch any unforeseen errors.
Publishing
When publishing for Mac, you have two options. You can publish for the Mac App Store (.PKG) or export the game as an App Bundle (.APP) for providing on a personal website.
- If you are publishing to the Mac App Store, view our dedicated article on that process.
- If you are publishing an App Bundle (.APP), you can do so by selecting Publish > Desktop > Mac from the main menu.
Linux
Note: We’re not Linux experts, so if you run into issues or have edits to propose, please submit a pull request on Github. For additional tips, visit our Installing on Linux article.
Requirements and Setup
- Ubuntu 11.04 or better
- All standard build tools such as gcc/g++ should be installed.
Run sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch gcc-multilib g++-multilib to fetch those build tools if you are unsure.
On Ubuntu 12.04 or better? Run sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib g++-multilib instead.
Testing
To test your game, select Run > Linux from the main menu.
This step may take a while. You may find it useful to turn on the Log Viewer (View > Log Viewer) prior to running to see what's going on and catch any unforeseen errors.
Publishing
To publish your game, select Publish > Desktop > Linux from the main menu.
FAQ
Can I publish a Mac app from a Windows computer?
No. You’ll need to use a friend’s Mac or figure out other ways to do this. The same goes for any “cross” platform combination. You can only publish to the platform of your host computer.
Can I publish to the Mac App Store?
Yes. We have an article on that.
How about the Windows Store?
You can, but we don't directly export to a Windows Store ready format. You'll need to wrap the app up on your own.
I just installed Visual Studio, but Stencyl claims I didn’t.
Reboot after installing Visual Studio.
Print Article Edit Article How to Edit an Article20 Comments
I've clarified that point to say that those paths are relative to your Stencyl install directory. It's simply a copy -> paste of the entire folder.
0
I am getting an issue exporting to a Standalone App (.app) from using Stencyl Works on the Mac Pro. I'm getting a permission error when exporting to the Root Directory. I've also tried exporting to another folder using the chmod 777 command and restarting the computer. It did not resolve the problem. I attached an image to better explain my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1
I have a same problem :"Error
"Could not export, this may be beacuse of file permisions
the following page may help" Anyone, please Help me...!!!!
2
Why does the PC standalone export make more than one file for the executable? Shouldn't they all be compiled into a single AIR app? Ont he mac, I get just one file.
0
It says "Error
"Could not export, this may be beacuse of file permisions
the following page may help" or somthin, help? Ive tried running as administraiter and everything but it dosent help.
2
I think that the level of support and evaluation you get making Flash games for free is incredibly fair. I can tell you that just today I exported my game as a .app and .exe and .swf and the games perform identically.
0
Wait... so I can't make or publish a standalone game unless I got Stencyl Pro? Not feeling it, I mean I want to make my own length standalone/desktop game but to pay for it just to do so. I mean there shouldn't be any problems with that with making a desktop game even with Splash Screens or not.
Can you clarify for me, please?
-1
For 2.5, when we do a technology switch, we'll look into an evaluation mode with a constant watermark, so the functionality itself can be demoed at will. I don't think a one-time EXE does justice for someone wanting to test that something works.
0
