In the case of desktop gaming, Home windows dominates the market. In accordance with the Steam {hardware} survey, almost 97% of customers are on Home windows. Linux takes second place with round 2% of customers, with the bulk utilizing a Steam Deck. This market distribution highlights the significance of making exports for each Home windows and Linux to achieve the widest doable viewers.
Should you’re considering concentrating on the Steam Deck particularly, take a look at the tutorial on concentrating on the Steam Deck with Godot.
Getting Began
For this tutorial, you may both use your individual venture or obtain the pattern venture to comply with alongside.
If you wish to use the pattern venture, obtain the starter supplies zip from the hyperlink on the prime or backside of this tutorial and extract it. Subsequent, open Godot and import the starter venture. The venture is a small 2D shoot-em-up sport referred to as Aerixa.
Go forward and run the venture if you wish to take a look at it.
What’s Exporting?
In Godot, exporting a venture is the method of packaging your venture together with a binary that incorporates the Godot engine code. The binary is compiled otherwise for every goal platform, permitting your venture to run on programs that don’t have Godot put in.
Each supported platform has its personal export template, which is a set of recordsdata Godot makes use of to bundle and debug your exported venture. They’re important as a result of they include the Godot engine code compiled for every goal platform, permitting your venture to run on programs that don’t have Godot put in.
With the binaries in hand, you may then distribute your venture on platforms like Steam, itch.io, the App Retailer and Google Play.
Getting the Export Templates
If that is the primary time you’re exporting for the model of Godot you’re utilizing, you’ll must obtain and set up the export templates.
You may verify when you have the templates put in by choosing Editor ▸ Handle Export Templates within the prime menu.
This can open the Export Template Supervisor, a small device to handle your export templates.
On the prime left, you may see the model of Godot you’re utilizing; 4.3.steady in my case.
In case you don’t have the export templates put in but, you’ll see a pink textual content seem subsequent the model as is the case within the screenshot above. To put in the lacking templates, click on the Obtain and Set up button on the prime proper.
Doing so will obtain the templates for the model of Godot you’re utilizing and set up them domestically.
As soon as the obtain finishes, you may see the place Godot put in your new export templates.
Be aware: If in case you have export templates put in within the Different Put in Variations part for a model of Godot you’re not planning on utilizing anymore, click on the garbage can icon subsequent to the model title to delete them and get better some disk house.
With the templates put in, now you can export your venture!
I like to recommend going by the all sections beneath even should you’re solely considering exporting for Home windows as they include normal details about the export course of that I’ll reference to later.
Including an Export Preset
Exporting tasks is easy, however understanding the main points of the method helps you make knowledgeable selections about your export settings.
To begin off, open the Export window by choosing Undertaking ▸ Export within the prime menu.
The Export window can be virtually empty at this level.
So as to add a Linux export, click on the Add… button on the prime and select Linux.
This can add a brand new Linux entry within the Presets record and allows the choices on the proper facet of the window.
Export Settings
Time to take a better have a look at the varied settings Godot presents you with for exports.
Shared Choices
First up are the shared choices on the prime, this contains the Identify and Export Path fields. These are the identical for all platforms.
From prime to backside, the choices are as follows:
- Identify: A reputation on your export preset. That is helpful as you may configure completely different presets for a similar platform, so the completely different names make it simpler to tell apart between them.
- Superior Choices: For some platforms like Android and iOS, additional choices can be found. Toggling this on will present choices meant for energy customers.
- Runnable: If checked, this can allow one-click deploy for the export preset, enabling you to shortly deploy the preset through a single button click on. The precise perform of one-click deploy depends upon the platform. For desktop platforms like Linux, macOS and Home windows, it lets you deploy exports over SSH as soon as configured. For cellular platforms like Android and iOS, it lets you set up the export in your machine or emulator. Lastly, for net exports, it’s going to begin a neighborhood net server and host the exported venture. For extra info on one-click deploy, see Godot’s One-click deploy documentation.
- Export Path: The file path the place the venture can be exported to.
Choices Tab
Subsequent, check out the Choices tab.
Once more, from prime to backside, the choices are as follows:
- Customized Template: Right here you may set a path to customized export templates for each the Debug and Launch exports. Should you compiled your individual export templates from the engine supply code, you may set them right here. This can be utilized to optimize your exports for measurement or pace by stripping out the 3D engine for instance.
- Export Console Wrapper: When enabled, an additional executable can be included subsequent to the exported venture that may run your venture within the console. That is helpful for debugging and testing your venture.
- Embed PCK: A PCK file is an archive file just like a ZIP. It bundles the venture’s property like scripts, scenes and textures collectively in a single file. If allow this setting, the PCK file can be embedded within the exported venture as an alternative of being a separate file.
- Structure: This units the CPU structure of the exported venture. On desktop platforms, the most typical CPU structure is x86_64, which is the 64-bit model of x86. I like to recommend leaving this on the default worth. The export templates that Godot supplies solely help the x86_32 and x86_64 architectures. If you must export for a unique structure, you’ll must construct your individual export template. You could find extra information on that on the Constructing from supply web page.
- Texture Format: With these, you may select how textures are saved. Each choices right here mix two texture codecs into one. The S3TC and BPTC codecs are primarily used for desktop platforms and consoles, whereas ETC2 and ASTC are used for cellular platforms, embedded units and the net.
- SSH Distant Deploy: This selection lets you deploy your exported venture over SSH. This may be helpful to check your venture on a distant machine.
For many tasks, you may depart these at their default values, however I hope you’ll agree it’s helpful to know what you need to use these choices for.
Time to try the Sources tab.