Win target platform Build bug?

I am new to VS, so forgive me if I am missing something obvious. I don't know if this qualifies for a bug or just my own stupididy.

on Win 7 (64 bit) I tried building the game for windows using '/assets/' for the subfolder in an export directory.  So I could have all player and .dll files in the >root  and the game data files in a subdirectory of the same root called: '/assets/' 

e.g.
Game object output file:  \assets\gam
Video output file: \assets\vid
Scene output file: \assets\scn
Character output file \assets\char

I set each to 'store ... in a separate output file'

However, whenever I use introduce a subdirectory for either  'Scene' or 'Character', the Application (*exe) player can't locate the Scn or Char files (which are there!) and I either get a blank scene or a Blank player.  If I put the character and scenes in the root directory, all is fine

Scene output file: scn   
Character output file: char

I wonder why scenes and characters needed to be in the root directory and the games and videos don't? Is this a bug or by design?

I am new to VS, so forgive me if I am missing something obvious. I don't know if this qualifies for a bug or just my own stupididy.

on Win 7 (64 bit) I tried building the game for windows using '/assets/' for the subfolder in an export directory.  So I could have all player and .dll files in the >root  and the game data files in a subdirectory of the same root called: '/assets/' 

e.g.
Game object output file:  \assets\gam
Video output file: \assets\vid
Scene output file: \assets\scn
Character output file \assets\char

I set each to 'store ... in a separate output file'

However, whenever I use introduce a subdirectory for either  'Scene' or 'Character', the Application (*exe) player can't locate the Scn or Char files (which are there!) and I either get a blank scene or a Blank player.  If I put the character and scenes in the root directory, all is fine

Scene output file: scn   
Character output file: char

I wonder why scenes and characters needed to be in the root directory and the games and videos don't? Is this a bug or by design?

Should work, though you shouldn't need the additional \ at the beginning of the path.



Quick note: you can change the name of the .exe file to whatever you like. The main .vis file should reflect the name of the vis file in the config.ini that gets created when you compile & export your game. You can change the name in the config.ini file too if you like.

Sometimes it's better to bang everything in the main .vis file, like when exporting for mac, but on windows it should export fine when generating individual files.

Doh!

So it was the leading "\" that was the problem.  Thanks for that, working now.

I suppose I could throw it all into one file, at this stage. But I was trying to develop a workflow that allows easier updates and patches, without sending the full file each time.

Such that the .dll's don't change, but the assets do!  I can then put each build in a versioned folder and use something like WINMERGE to spot the differences and put those differences into another subdir which is picked up by my INNO Script (windows installer) to build an *exe installer which only holds the updates/patches to install. Hmm....I think I need to learn to walk before I can run!

Cheers for that though 

You need to be careful when it comes to updates. Cosmetic updates such as replacing images/animations & things that don't matter too much are ok, but if you start adding new data or editing old data then it can sometimes cause conflicts with save game files because existing save files will be trying to read bits of data that is no longer accessible - whereas new data will default to the default conditions/values, etc that you specified.

Anyway, just keep that in mind. It's probably best to try & iron out as many kinks as possible before you actually get around to releasing your game. As a compromise, you could probably play your game yourself after & create some save games at various spots to upload & share so that people don't have to start from the beginning of the game in case their save files aren't working correctly after an update.

I believe games going digital plus the internet has made developers lazy, hence the majority of early access games floating about that are chock-a-block full of bugs & severe optimization issues compared to years ago when the only form of release was on cartridges, floppy discs or cd, as those games needed to be near perfect. Even console games these days get to be released while they are still buggy because most people have access to internet & can download update patches.

Good advice. Thanks!