As much fun as extracting a zip file and finding the executable amongst the other 20 different files is, does anyone know of a relatively easy to use game installer?
All I need it to do is unpack/unzip the game files into a specified directory and create a short-cut on the desktop (to the executable).
A solution that will work on all platforms (windows, mac, linux) would be preferable.
Thanks 
Yeah I was curious about this too, any links to encrypting files if anybody knows hot to do that, so that if I gave the game to somebody I could give them a version that wasnāt just all the unencrypted resources with an exe. there was some game on youtube, an rpg called like, overlord or something, an rpg in blender that was made with a custom installer
I suggest to use an internet search engine to find such a tool. Iām pretty sure there is something. Just replace āgameā with āapplicationā.
There might be tools with versions for different platforms (Blender provides version for different platforms as well).
A solution that will work on all platforms (windows, mac, linux) would be preferable.
No such thing exists becouse the way programs are installed is deferent in each OS. On linux there is no such thing as installers, on windows there is no such thing as pakages. You will need specific software for each OS. Anyway I donāt see the problem using a compressed file. If the problem is āfinding the excutable amongst 20 diferent filesā that actually means that you need to use a launcher and put all blenderplayer files on a subfolder. Check BGECore Framework for that.
I guess I can look into options for each OS then. The problem with having to un-compress a file is for the end user who might not be familiar with how it works or where to find the executable. I want to make the process to play the game as simple as possible (hence the shortcut). While sorting the executable into a parent directory would help the usability, it still is inconvenient.
At the end of the day we have to remember not everyone knows how to do simple stuff like extracting etc. so to make it the most appealing I want to try make this process as simple as possible.
The problem with having to un-compress a file is for the end user who might not be familiar with how it works or where to find the executable
that is 99.9% a Microsoft Windows user PROBLEM
most people KNOW to read a text file called āREADMEā in all cap letters
For Mac you can put your dependancies straight into the app file and use BPPlayer to protect your assets. You can then put it into a DMG file and compress it (remember those arrow backgrounds pointing to an alias of Applications?). All of this is do-able using utilities that come with OSX.
Inno Setup is a nice tool that can create good installers for windows.
It can create shortcuts (on desktop and start-menu)
It creates a de-installer
And a lot more.