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Sharing Your Source Code and Assets

  • Article

Presents information about sharing your game's source code and assets with other XNA Game Studio users.

Quick Information

Platform Source code visible Format Windows user requirements Xbox 360 user requirements Windows Phone User requirements
Windows, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone Yes .zip or other compressed format
  • Must have XNA Game Studio installed.
  • Must have XNA Game Studio installed.
  • Must have an active membership in the App Hub.
  • Must have XNA Game Studio installed.

Sharing your entire project, including source code and content, is useful when you want other users to review your code or content, or to make modifications. In some cases, however, you may not want others to see your source code or assets. If you want feedback on gameplay or existing game art, and do not explicitly need your code to be reviewed, consider using the method described in Sharing Your Game Package.

Sharing with Another User

To share your project, including source code, with an XNA Game Studio user

  1. In XNA Game Studio, open the project you want to share.

  2. On the Build menu, click Clean Solution.

    This removes any built and intermediate files, leaving only the source code and assets. If you do not have this menu item, see "Cleaning the Solution Before You Build" in Deploying an Xbox 360 Game.

  3. Open Windows Explorer, and then select the folder that contains the project you want to share.

  4. Right-click the project folder in Windows Explorer, click Send To, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder.

The compressed file is ready to share.

Sharing from Another User

To open a project with source code as an XNA Game Studio user

  1. Upon receiving a compressed file with source code and assets, extract the contents to a folder.

    Tip

    If it is a .zip file, you can right-click the file in Windows Explorer, click Open With, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folders to begin the extraction process.

  2. After the files are extracted, start XNA Game Studio.

  3. In XNA Game Studio, on the File menu, click Open Project.

  4. Use the dialog box to locate the project folder you specified in Step 1, and then select the .csproj file.

  5. Click Open.

The project is loaded into XNA Game Studio and ready for viewing or modification.

See Also

Sharing Your Game Package
Distributing Your Finished Windows Game