Putting Games on Your Zune

Posted in XNA, Zune on May 10, 2008 at 4:43pm.
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Since a lot of non-developers are looking to get games on their Zune, I thought I’d take a moment and write up a brief “How To”. Note: If you have a 64-bit machine, the CTP is not able to deploy Zune games. The final version of XNA Game Studio 3.0 will, but for now you are unfortunately unable to participate.

1) Follow this link to download Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008. It is very important that you get C# and that it is 2008 or else you will not be able to build and deploy games to your Zune.

2) Next follow this link to download the Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP. Take a moment to understand that a CTP is not a final release; it is a very early (pre-beta) release used to get feedback and bug reports from developers and users. If you experience some issues, that is why. The final release of Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 is scheduled for “Holiday 2008″. If you don’t want to use pre-beta software on your computer or Zune, do not install the CTP.

3) Now go to your Start Menu, go into All Programs, and find the entry for Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3.0 (CTP). In that folder open up the XNA Game Studio Device Center. In the device center click on Add Device when your Zune is connected to your computer. Click on the Zune button and then select your Zune and click Next. After the connection is completed click Finish and your Zune should appear in the main window. You can now close the device center.

4) Next find the Zune game you wish to deploy. For example you could download Alien Aggressors. Make sure you download and unzip the project to a standard directory such as the desktop or your documents folder. If you place the files in a location that has strange characters ($, %, #, etc), it may not work properly.

5) Open up the .sln file found in the download. This should open up Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008. If you receive an error, locate and open the .csproj file. Then click on Build in the menu bar and find the entry for “Deploy <ProjectName>” where <ProjectName> is the name of the project in the solution you wish to deploy. For example in Alien Aggressors the entry is called “Deploy Alien Aggressors [Zune]”. You do not want to hit the option that says “Deploy Solution”. The proper Deploy option is down below the break line.

At this point the output window for Visual C# should open to tell you how the progress is going. Your Zune will also display the status during deployment. When completed your Zune should return to a screen stating either “connected” or “waiting for computer”. In the bottom left corner of Visual C# it will also say “Deploy succeeded”. You may now click the center button or unplug the Zune to exit XNA Game Studio Connect on your Zune. Then you can browse to the games option and play the game you deployed.

That should get all of you non-Visual Studio people up and going with playing these Zunes. If you run into issues, check out the XNA forums because there have already been some problems people have had and solutions given.

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