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[Oddball]

I'm looking for information on developer best practices for the three main operating systems. By this I mean where Microsoft, Apple, etc. would like me to put the various data, settings and save files that my game uses. Developers seem to put these things in all sorts of places, but I'm trying to find out where they are officially supposed to go. I assume this information is freely available for developers, but I'm not sure where to find it. Some key locations I'd like to know are:

• Executable. The .exe/.app file itslelf.
• Fixed media/data. Graphics, sound effects, music, level data, etc.
• Game settings. The preferances and settings usually set by the user.
• Dynamic media/data. User created and downloadable content.
• Game saves. The player's saves and progress data.
• Documentation. Read me's, EULA's, and stand alone manuals.
• Anything else I may have missed.

Also any links to where this information can be found would be much appreciated.


Here is what I have so far.

• Executable In general this should be decided by the end user, but there are recommended locations.
  
  • Windows /Program Files/AppName/
  • Mac OS X /Applications or ~/Applications/
  • Linux /usr/bin/AppName/ or /usr/games/AppName/
  
  
• Essential media/data This is media or game data that your game could not run without. Usually kept in the App's directory(see above), but on Mac OS X in the .app bundle.
  
  • Windows AppName/
  • Mac OS X AppName.app/Contents/Resources/
  • Linux AppName/ or /usr/share/games/AppName/
  
  
• Support media/data This is media or game data that is not essential for the game to run. It could be settings files, game saves, downloaded content or user generated content. This content is user specific, for shared media/data see below.
  
  • Windows %APPDATA%/AppName/
  • Mac OS X ~/Library/Application Support/AppName/
  • Linux ~/.AppName/
  
  
• Shared media/data This is similar to support media/data above, but with the difference that all users can have access to it. Useful for highscore tables, UGC, etc that all users can use.
  
  • Windows ? ? ? ?
  • Mac OS X /Library/Application Support/AppName/
  • Linux /var/games/AppName/
  
  
• Temporary media/data This is any media or game data that your game creates temporarily during runtime.
  
  • Windows ? ? ? ?
  • Mac OS X /tmp/
  • Linux /tmp/
  
  

And here are some useful links on the subject.

• Mac OS X Where to put files
• Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

Please post corrections or any additional information below.

[Average Software]

• Executable. The .exe/.app file itslelf.

Mac: Generally goes in /Applications, but Mac users can run programs from pretty much wherever they want.

Windows: Program Files, on the main drive.

Linux:  Varies by distro, common locations in include /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/games, /usr/local/games

• Fixed media/data. Graphics, sound effects, music, level data, etc.

For some Mac OS programs this is bundled in the app at Contents/Resources.  Otherwise, in the same location as the bin.  Windows usually puts it with the bin, Linux distros vary, once again, but with the bin is generally fine.

• Game settings. The preferances and settings usually set by the user.

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/yourgamename, or sometimes ~/Library/Preferences/yourgamename
Windows: $APPDATA/yourgamename
Linux: ~/.yourgamename/

• Dynamic media/data. User created and downloadable content.

Generally the same as game settings.

• Game saves. The player's saves and progress data.

Generally the same as game settings.

• Documentation. Read me's, EULA's, and stand alone manuals.

Not sure, I just bundle the manual with the program.

These should be pretty close.  Above all, never assume that you have write permissions to the binary's directory.  On a properly configured system, you almost certainly won't have them.

[Core Xii]

But if user-made content goes in users' home directories, others won't have access? The point is that they are shared, like official content.

[Average Software]

But if user-made content goes in users' home directories, others won't have access? The point is that they are shared, like official content.

That's just the way it works.  The user's home directory is really the only place you can assume you have write permissions to.  Every game I've played that offers user-made content either puts it with the binary (which is wrong, and will break on a proper multi-user system) or puts it in the home directory.  If you want to share after-market content, each user needs their own copy.

[Oddball]

Thanks Average, it's a good start. I would still like to find any official word on this. I have found this relating to Mac OS X, but nothing for Windows yet.

[jmp]

I would still like to find any official word on this.

For Linux, check out the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.

[Klaim]

If I remember well, there is still ways to have shared files for an app on Windows (even Vista/Win7 that otherwise will create a user-specific folder anyway if you write in the program files directory to manage old apps behaviour).

Have to check that too.

[PGGB]

But if user-made content goes in users' home directories, others won't have access? The point is that they are shared, like official content.

That's just the way it works.  The user's home directory is really the only place you can assume you have write permissions to.  Every game I've played that offers user-made content either puts it with the binary (which is wrong, and will break on a proper multi-user system) or puts it in the home directory.  If you want to share after-market content, each user needs their own copy.

OS X and Windows have a shared directory, but yeah on Linux you don't have that and it's probably not a good idea either way to use those (though Blizzard uses that in SC2 on OS X).

[Core Xii]

What about /var? /var/games?

[PGGB]

What about /var? /var/games?

/var is only for temporary files like logs and such.

[Klaim]

This thread (with a sum-up at the first post) should be sticked. It's really useful information.

[Oddball]

I have updated the first post with what I have so far, but there are still a few blanks. I would also be interested in finding the official logos that Microsoft let you use to show that your game is compatible with their OS. I have found the Mac logo license, but nothing official for Windows or indeed Linux.

[PGGB]

Linux doesn't really have an official logo so I guess you would probably use the mascot. For Windows I found this.

[jmp]

/var is only for temporary files like logs and such.

/var isn’t only for temporary files, it’s for variable files. Many games use /var/games for storing high scores, saved games and such. According to FHS, static files belong to /usr/share/games whereas variable files belong to /var/games.

Anyway, I searched for a bit and found this document:
Linux Games Install And Directory Guide (more specifically this page)

It’s rather old but seems like it could still be useful.

[Ivan]

I would also be interested in what the proper way to create and distribute Linux binaries is (if there is one). Like bundling all the dependency libraries without having to compile them for a specific distro.

[Average Software]

I would also be interested in what the proper way to create and distribute Linux binaries is (if there is one). Like bundling all the dependency libraries without having to compile them for a specific distro.

The proper way is to make individual packages for distros.  Bundling dependencies is highly frowned upon in the Linux world.

Most projects that I've seen distribute source, and rely on other people to package it for various distros.  For example, somebody made an Arch Linux package for one of my games.  I had no involvement in this, the dude just did it.

By the way, /Library/Application Support is not where you want to put shared resources and what not on a Mac, that directory requires admin access.

/Users/Shared might work, but I haven't played there in a while.

[Ivan]

Right, but what if you don't want to distribute source? I remember downloading quake2 binaries from iD before it went open source and they were just plain old ELF binaries all together in a zip file. Libraries in the same folder as the executable will override global path libraries like in any other OS, right? Why don't people just do that?

[Ivan]

By the way, /Library/Application Support is not where you want to put shared resources and what not on a Mac, that directory requires admin access.

/Users/Shared might work, but I haven't played there in a while.

I'm pretty sure the standard on the Mac is ~/Library/Application Support/YourApp

EDIT: Oh wait. This is for shared. I was thinking user-specific. Nevermind.

[Average Software]

Right, but what if you don't want to distribute source? I remember downloading quake2 binaries from iD before it went open source and they were just plain old ELF binaries all together in a zip file. Libraries in the same folder as the executable will override global path libraries like in any other OS, right? Why don't people just do that?

You asked about the proper way.  Not everyone does it the proper way.  A lot of Linux people won't play games that they can't get source for, on philosophical grounds.

I always distribute source, so I don't know the details of other approaches.

[Ivan]

A lot of Linux people won't play games that they can't get source for, on philosophical grounds.

( ._.)