So I have been working on a few projects using audio and images from files in Visual Studio C++. As of now they are just test projects, but I am going to be moving now towards making 2D games for fun using SFML and a few different audio libraries. The problem is this, I want to give out my games to others so they can play and test them, and I may try to develop some sort of Multiplayer for some, thus increasing my desire to give it out to others, however I do not know how I can give them the games with all the files included. I used to just be able to grab the exe files out of the debug or release folder, but these projects have files they rely on.
So here is my question, is it possible to export an exe file that contains all the other files (wav’s, jpg’s etc.)? If this question sounds overwhelmingly stupid then tell me, because I have very little idea of what an exe is, and whether it can hold those files (I am used to java, where u can simply export something into a runnable jar and because it is an archive, with all of the resources prepackaged in there, I don’t know if an exe shares these traits). If this is not possible, or there are better alternatives, what are they? I have seen things and know how to load sounds from arrays of data, would that be a better solution? Or are there other options? On top of that, in the debug and release folder there are several DLL files which I need to run the project, is there a way to compress these into the exe or will those have to be in the same folder as the exe no matter what?
The real question here is what is the best way to export an exe file of my project so that I can utilize all of my sound and image resources as well as the dll’s into an easy to distribute copy? Thank you in advance to any advice.
It’s not possible to export an exe that contains your exe and multiple other files. You can use an installer (such as InnoSetup, which is free), or bundle the extra files into a resource and load them from resource at runtime. (The first has the benefit of being able to ask the user where to install, create shortcuts and folders, Start Menu items, etc.).