Upload your game to Dropbox

3

Stats

21,713 visits, 38,514 views

Tools

License

This tutorial is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Please refer to the license text if you wish to reuse, share or remix the content contained within this tutorial.

Published on 18 Jul, 2011. Last updated 24 Feb, 2019

Have you finished your game and want to share it with the world? If you have your own website and some HTML know-how, you probably are comfortable integrating the exported files to your site. However, if you don't have your own website, you can share your games on Dropbox!

You can also upload your game to Google Drive.

Get a Dropbox account

If you don't have one already, head to Dropbox.com and sign up an account. It's free, and you get about 2GB of storage (that's plenty for our games!).

While you're getting a Dropbox account, it is strongly recommended to set up a daily backup to your Dropbox folder to keep your work safe no matter what happens. For more information, see the tutorial Keep your work safe with Construct 2's backup options.

Install the Dropbox app

As part of getting a Dropbox account, you'll install the Dropbox app for your computer. It should make a Dropbox icon appear in the system tray (the icons by the clock in the start menu).

Double-click the icon to open your Dropbox folder. This is a folder on your computer which is automatically synchronised with Dropbox's servers. So any files you copy to this folder will be automatically uploaded shortly after (providing you're connected to the internet).

The Public folder

All files and folders on Dropbox are private, so nobody else can access them unless you invite other people to share. However, the exception is the public folder, which can be seen by anyone on the internet. If you want to share your project publicly, this is where to put it.

Note: new accounts signed up to Dropbox no longer have a Public folder by default. Older accounts should already have it, but if you're missing it, you can enable it by signing in and clicking this link to enable the Public folder on your account.

You must put the entire project in the Public folder - it can be in a subfolder too, but it must be under the Public folder, otherwise the exported project will not work. Even if you place your project in a private folder and get a public link for index.html, it still will not work: you will have only made that single file public, and none of the other many files required for the game to work will be available.

Export your project

Open the game you want to share. In the File menu, click Export project.

Export as a HTML5 web site (usually the default). Set the folder to a subfolder in the Dropbox Public folder, e.g.: C:\Users\Ashley\Dropbox\Public\MySuperAwesomeGame

Click Export, and your project is exported. The Dropbox icon in the Start bar should change to an "uploading" icon. Hover your mouse over the icon for status. After a while, it will change back to a "complete" icon, with a green tick. Your project is now uploaded!

Getting a public link

In Windows Explorer, open the folder you exported to, where index.html is. Right-click index.html and select Copy public link.

Now you have a link to your publicly viewable project on your clipboard!

Sharing the link

You're now armed with a public link to your game that you can paste anywhere. Paste it to your friends, send it by email, link to it from your blog, tweet it, put it on Facebook, Google+ it, do what you like! Your game is now accessible to the whole world. Have fun! :)

Bandwidth limits

Dropbox is a convenient way to share your project with a small number of people. However, note that Dropbox is a personal file host, so the free account has some fairly low bandwidth limits. If too many people play the game, Dropbox will shut down your public folder with a "bandwidth exceeded" message. If you want a more reliable host in case your game is popular, have a look at the tutorial Publishing and promoting your Construct 2 game for some alternative ideas.

  • 0 Comments

Want to leave a comment? Login or Register an account!