[SOLVED][Releasing game problem]_How to do it without sharing the original arts?

[Dao_thao]

HI everyone! This is the first time I made a new topic, for asking one thing I've been confusing about. I have to say that I tried hard finding out if my problem has the answer already, but I couldn't. So excuse me this time.

Recently I've done a demo version for my game and released it . It's going well for mac version, but the pc version makes me confused , because it attachs all of my arts and music... I mean, when I play the game on mac, it appeared only the game icon and the player can only play and cannot take my arts and musics . But it's not the same if it is the normal pc version . It contains all the files, arts, and musics I've used. Is there anyway that I can share the game without giving all my things away??

Thanks for reading!

[isobellesophia]

It is really a game or a visual novel? Looks like you are talking about other games.

[philat]

You can archive your assets, but it's relatively trivial to un-archive them.

[korova]

Actually, it's rather easy to see your assets on Mac too (if you don't archive them), you just need to right-click the programme and select "Show Package contents" instead of "Open"
(Just to tell you your art is not safer in MacOs than in Windows)

[XxrenxX]

Reno doesnt release as an .exe like most games are so everything is viewable on both systems. If you want it as an exe where you cant easily see all the files n what not there's another thread in here about going about that.

[Dao_thao]

It is really a game or a visual novel? Looks like you are talking about other games.

It's a visual novel game I'm trying to make

[Dao_thao]

Actually, it's rather easy to see your assets on Mac too (if you don't archive them), you just need to right-click the programme and select "Show Package contents" instead of "Open"
(Just to tell you your art is not safer in MacOs than in Windows)

Oh, I didn't know about that. THanks a lot! By the way is there any way to keep it safe? I downloaded many games which are made by Renpy but the author managed to make it done somehow ( I wonder how they did it !

Reno doesnt release as an .exe like most games are so everything is viewable on both systems. If you want it as an exe where you cant easily see all the files n what not there's another thread in here about going about that.

So I need to search for how to make it as an exe file?

[Imperf3kt]

A starting point would be to look at the archive options found at the bottom of options.rpy

Wjile not exactly fool-proof and rather trivial, it is at least better than nothing and you can further improve upon that later.

Just be aware that locking things up too tightly can be detrimental to your user experience.
(joke example)
If I have to login with a new 2 factor password and sign some agreements in triplicate every time I start the game, and then rely on an online connection just to play, I will probably very soon after uninstall the game or look for ways to remove these nuisances, such as piracy.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Also worth thinking about WHY you'd want to lock everything away.

Like others have said, anyone that wants to access your game assets absolutely can, no matter what you do. Major game developers and publishers with tens of millions of dollars can't protect their games from being reverse engineered and ripped by players. The whole endeavor is just tilting at windmills.

If you are worried about players somehow spoiling themselves ... people that want to be spoiled will do so anyway, be it from online videos or tearing apart your files. Those that don't want spoilers won't look.

I see this with amateur artists too, plastering giant watermarks over everything they do because of the imagined hordes of thieves they believe are just waiting in the bushes of the internet to steal all their stuff. It doesn't do them any favors trying to build an audience and fan base. (And watermarks can be pretty easily removed too.)

Just relax...it'll all be okay.

[Dao_thao]

Thanks a lot for all of your advices!!!!

I think I've found a solution for myself!!!!