[WIP] Single Executable for RPG Maker

Started by KK20, September 22, 2016, 02:02:48 am

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KK20

I'm guessing when it comes to distributing your games, most people would like to just hand a single file to their users. It's simple, organized, and hard to access your game files (cuz we all know how to extract assets from compressed games and modify them with our own :P). Following this tutorial, you will be able to do just that! This guide uses the freeware Enigma Virtual Box to achieve this effect. I'm also using RPG Maker XP as the example because, let's face it, it is the superior RM around /bias. The tutorial should work for any version though.


Step 1: Download Enigma Virtual Box
Go to the website http://enigmaprotector.com/en/downloads.html and download said program. Run the installer, choose a place to install it to, couple more clicks, and done. Really easy.
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Step 2: Load Your Project
Upon running the software, you should see something similar to this:
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At the top, hit the Browse button next to the "Enter Input File Name" textbox. Select your project's Game.exe file and OK. It will auto-generate an Output File Name in the same project directory. Go ahead and change it so that it outputs elsewhere (like to your Desktop) and rename it to "Game.exe".

Now click the Add button below and choose to Add Folder Recursive.
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Locate and select your project folder.
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You will get a pop-up that looks like this:
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It is okay to leave it as is, so go ahead and OK it. %DEFAULT FOLDER% will ensure that your game's files will be "extracted" in the same location as your single executable (this is what we want).



Step 3: Finalize
Go ahead and remove the Game.rxproj as this is not needed. Mess with the other options if you know what you're doing, but you're pretty much done here. Click on Process to compile everything together and generate your stand-alone EXE.
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A new Game.exe file should have appeared on your desktop. Try running it and see if your game works. Now give that to a friend!



Step 3a: RPG Maker ACE and Gothic Font
If working with RPG Maker VXA or XPA, you'll probably see a "Unable to find VL Gothic font". Right click the two VL Gothic font files, select Properties, and change their Virtualization Method to Write to Disk if not Exists.
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This will create a Fonts folder containing these two files when you run the Game.exe. Not exactly a single file anymore but...I don't know any other way to resolve that error message. Of course, you could just tell your players to install the font instead of having to do this.



Just a reminder: Your stand-alone EXE has to have the SAME FILENAME as your INI file. If it's ChaosProject.ini, it will have to be ChaosProject.exe. Otherwise, the game will not work.

Other Projects
RPG Maker XP Ace  Upgrade RMXP to RMVXA performance!
XPA Tilemap  Tilemap rewrite with many features, including custom resolution!

Nintendo Switch Friend Code: 8310-1917-5318
Discord: KK20 Tyler#8901

Join the CP Discord Server!

Nath

This is pretty neato. I'll try it out if I actually make it through to completing something!

Metalgalamoth

When I create a .exe file, other computers detect the file as a threat... Any idea why?

KK20

May 29, 2021, 12:26:54 pm #3 Last Edit: May 29, 2021, 02:49:00 pm by KK20
That's actually really common. It's not doing anything malicious if you're worried. Most antivirus use telemetry data to guess how safe a file is if its internal or cloud definitions can't detect anything. This is called "reputation", meaning popular files will naturally have high positive values. Since you're essentially creating a new EXE that no antivirus has seen before, its reputation will be low and be marked as potentially suspicious or given some generic reputation-based detection name.

If you want to avoid this, you'll need to look into digitally signing your EXE and going to all the antivirus vendors to request proactive whitelisting.

I'd like to add that using Enigma isn't really recommended for commercial distribution. It's more of a convenience factor or "neat discovery" made. For one, it assumes the game is being launched from the C drive, otherwise the game won't launch. And I think someone has found a way to get the packaged files, so coming up with your own encryption method is the better way to go.

Other Projects
RPG Maker XP Ace  Upgrade RMXP to RMVXA performance!
XPA Tilemap  Tilemap rewrite with many features, including custom resolution!

Nintendo Switch Friend Code: 8310-1917-5318
Discord: KK20 Tyler#8901

Join the CP Discord Server!

Jaiden

Quote from: KK20 on May 29, 2021, 12:26:54 pmThat's actually really common. [...] For one, it assumes the game is being launched from the C drive, otherwise the game won't launch.
I'll just weigh in here, having used Enigma for a couple of years, I ran into both of these issues. I had users who were less interested in playing my game's demo because it was both being flagged as a virus and because of the C drive requirement.

Quote from: KK20 on May 29, 2021, 12:26:54 pmAnd I think someone has found a way to get the packaged files, so coming up with your own encryption method is the better way to go.
And yeah, Enigma Virtual Box has been cracked as of last year, unless they updated. So there is no real benefit of using it over standard RGSS encryption (which is also cracked).

Not to mention, every time you make a slight change to your game, be prepared to redistribute a several-hundred megabyte packaged EXE to your players. It's really a poor solution overall.