I just saw that caranha posted a reminder for Unity users that they should consider exporting standalone versions of their game for each major operating system. The process inside Unity is extremely simple and goes a long way to help other people play your game. At the very least, export a Linux version for your game – Unity’s webplayer isn’t functional on most Linux distros. It is definitely worth the minimal effort that it takes.

The following is a guide I wrote up for LD27 to outline how best to package your Linux export. This process puts the package in a format preferred by most Linux users, shrinks file size, and properly configures file permissions all in one fairly straightforward process.

1: Download 7-zip.  This will allow you to create archives in Linux-supported formats (.tar and .gz).

2: Export for Linux in Unity:
I’m not going to post a tutorial for doing this, as Unity’s interface is fairly self-explanatory.  But you should end up with a folder that looks like this.

3: Put both files together in one folder and name it something that makes it easily identifiable.  LD27-YourTitleHere should be adequate

4: Right-click on this folder, select 7-Zip>Add to archive…

5: This will bring up a prompt that allows you to package the directory in a variety of ways.  For archive format, select “tar”.  Leave everything else with the default settings and click OK.  This should give you a new file called LD27-YourTitleHere.tar

6: Repeat step 4 on this new file (Add to archive), but in the prompt, select the Archive format of “gzip”.  Leave everything else default and click OK.  You should now have a file called LD27-YourTitleHere.tar.gz

7: Upload your new Linux-friendly game to your hosting site and link it on your page.

This may look like a bit of work, but keep in mind that the few extra minutes this takes can really improve people’s impression of your game and open the door to a broader audience.