Publishing Apps

# Publishing apps on Genex

A game made in Unity, Godot or Unreal reaches Genex players as its Mac, Windows and Linux apps, which people install from Play in the Genex desktop app, and a Unity or Godot game also as a web version (an Unreal game too, where its Unreal can build one): Genex publishes them, so never send the person to itch.io or another store for this. To publish an app, build the player app into the game's folder (Unity: a macOS build at unity/Builds/Mac/<Game>.app, a Windows build at unity/Builds/Windows/<Game>.exe, a Linux build at unity/Builds/Linux/<Game>.x86_64; Godot and Unreal: their export into a Builds folder of the project), check that it starts where this computer can run it, then tell the person to press Publish on the stage strip. A web version goes in web/ at the game's root: Godot's web export makes it there; for Unity, build for WebGL into web/ with Compression Format set to Disabled, so the page loads from any host (it needs Unity's WebGL Build Support module; if it is missing, say so), and with a page that fills the window: Unity's own Default and Minimal templates draw the game as a fixed 960x600 box with a Unity logo bar under it. Before building, write a WebGL template at unity/Assets/WebGLTemplates/Genex/index.html whose html, body and canvas take the whole window (width and height 100%, no margin, no scroll bars) and that starts the build with Unity's template tags ({{{ LOADER_FILENAME }}}, {{{ DATA_FILENAME }}}, {{{ FRAMEWORK_FILENAME }}}, {{{ CODE_FILENAME }}}, {{{ PRODUCT_NAME }}}), then select it with PlayerSettings.WebGL.template = "PROJECT:Genex". Unity keeps the game's resolution matched to the canvas, so nothing stretches. An Unreal game's web version is Unreal 5.9's web build: call unreal__package-game with system: "web", which makes it in web/ or says what this computer lacks for it (an Unreal install that includes the web platform, the game's C++ module, the emscripten that Unreal names); pass on what it says. An older Unreal has no web export: say so plainly. An Unreal game made on a Mac cannot be packaged for Windows there; when Publish's window says its Windows row builds on Genex Cloud, the window's Build button has Genex build that app on its own computers from the game's project, beside the Mac app and before anything is published, so point the person to that press instead of a Windows PC; otherwise say a Windows PC packages it. For Linux: Unity builds it with its Linux Build Support (Mono) module (if it is missing, say so), as a 64-bit x86_64 player named <Game>.x86_64 beside its <Game>_Data folder. Godot exports it with a Linux preset into its own folder (Builds/Linux/<Game>.x86_64; godot__export-templates with linux gets the template first). Unreal packages it for Linux only on Windows, with the Unreal plugin's package-game and system "linux" (it needs Epic's Linux cross-compile toolchain; without it the tool gives the installer's link to pass on): on a Mac, say plainly it cannot, and keep the whole packaged folder (its <Game>.sh, <Game> and Engine folders) together. A Linux build cannot be started on a Mac or on Windows: check that it was written whole, and say so instead of running it. Publish's window lists the Web, Mac, Windows and Linux builds it found and sends each ready one to genex.games, listing the game in the gallery; you do not run any publish command yourself. An app built before the game's last change is not sent: when the person asks to build it again, rebuild it the same way. Genex opens a Mac app full screen. When the person wants it in a window instead, build it windowed in the engine's own settings, then set GenexWindowed in the app's Info.plist and sign it again ad hoc: plutil -replace GenexWindowed -bool YES "<Game>.app/Contents/Info.plist", then codesign --force --deep --sign - "<Game>.app". Remove the key the same way to open it full screen again. A Mac app goes signed ad hoc: Genex Play opens it, but a browser download of it meets macOS's "Apple could not verify" warning. When the person wants it to open from a download without that, they need their own Apple Developer ID (Apple's $99 a year, theirs; Genex never signs with an identity of its own): their Developer ID Application certificate in their keychain (Xcode, Settings, Accounts, Manage Certificates), then once in Terminal, which they run themselves since it takes their App Store Connect API key: xcrun notarytool store-credentials genex-notary --key <their AuthKey .p8> --key-id <key id> --issuer <issuer id>, then Sign and notarize Mac apps turned on in the Genex plugin's settings. Publish then signs and notarizes the Mac app under their name before it goes; if that fails, the app goes as built and the Publish window says why. The game's Genex cover is the picture kept with genex__cover (the cover skill); Publish sends it with the apps.

Only web/ holds a game's web version, for a Unity or Godot game and, for an Unreal game, only the build package-game made there: a page you write anywhere else in an engine's game (design mockups, a style board, notes) is never published as the game, so keep such pages out of web/. A web version on Genex outlives the files: while Genex holds one, the game's page plays it instead of the apps, and publishing the apps again changes nothing players see. When the person says genex.games shows a web page instead of their app, tell them to open Publish and press Remove on its Web row: it takes the web version off Genex and keeps the apps. You cannot remove it yourself, and deleting files in the game folder does not remove it.