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Has anyone successfully published to Xbox Live through Creator's Program?

Discussion in 'Windows' started by DrivingSim, Sep 27, 2017.

  1. DrivingSim

    DrivingSim

    Joined:
    May 28, 2013
    Posts:
    32
    Hi all, we are looking to talk with an expert who has actually published a full game to Xbox through the ID@Xbox or the Creator's Program. Would like to hear from someone who really understands and has experience on this topic from Unity to UWP to finish and willing to discuss and possibly even consult with us.

    We've found some of MS documentation on the Creative Program to be confusing. We've scoured the internet and found lot's of old info and little examples of things, but get the sense not many indie developers are actually publishing games to the Xbox using Unity. And we are starting to suspect that few are actually using the Creative Program at all.

    Microsoft seems to have changed information or they're not updating technical docs and we are beginning to suspect they're not really supporting this program. So we're looking into moving to the ID@Xbox program which has been around longer and perhaps has a better implementation on the technical side.

    We are aware of the limitations of the Creator's Program as stated in this thread:
    https://forum.unity.com/threads/xbox-creators-collection-01.490193/#post-3195826

    And are currently dealing with glitches as stated here:
    https://forum.unity.com/threads/xbox-live-creators-program.459014/

    Would love to hear from the community.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2017
    DrivingSim, Sep 27, 2017
    #1

  2. Tautvydas-Zilys

    Tautvydas-Zilys

    Unity Technologies

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    They're apparently lifting the restrictions with Fall Creator's update: https://blogs.windows.com/buildinga...-windows-platform-games-fall-xbox-one-update/

    What kind of glitches are you running into? The thread you linked isn't talking about any particular problems.

    I know that multiple games shipped using creator's program, but I agree that Xbox Live integration is somewhat complicated.
     
    Tautvydas-Zilys, Sep 27, 2017
    #2

  3. DrivingSim

    DrivingSim

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    May 28, 2013
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    Thanks for the response. So our current main issue is we are converting a driving sim from desktop to Xbox. We've stripped and modified it heavily and have gotten a version to at least run on the Xbox in dev mode at 3 fps.

    We didn't know if that's what the fps would be on the published version so we decided to run a test by publishing a beta version to see how it would run on an Xbox that isn't running in dev mode. We are building to IL2CPP because some of our plugins won't work with .NET

    Well, in order to publish you have to link the Xbox Live user account stuff. So we followed the links to the Unity Xbox Plugin repository and set it up. We cannot get it to build in IL2CPP. We've upgraded to U2017 hoping the new updates might help. So far we are unable to get a successful "final" publishable build. My co-developer informs me they have been all over the MS site, the forums, and tried multiple work arounds. I don't have anymore details than that - sorry.
     
    DrivingSim, Sep 27, 2017
    #3

  4. Tautvydas-Zilys

    Tautvydas-Zilys

    Unity Technologies

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    3 fps? That's 330 ms per frame! Did you by any chance run it in debug configuration, rather than release or master? It's either that, or there's some 1 part of your game that makes it stall every frame for a long time (and you'll need to use the profiler to see what it is). Though, it's much more likely you accidentally built in debug config.

    If you tell me the specific build error messages, I can tell you how to work around those.
     
    Tautvydas-Zilys, Sep 27, 2017
    #4

  5. DrivingSim

    DrivingSim

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    May 28, 2013
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    It's possible we ran it in Debug mode - did the first tests a couple months ago then got pulled into other things. We are new to the Xbox / UWP - IL2CPP - build process and not yet familiar with all the pitfalls/important setting between Unity and VS. But will try it when/if I get put back on the builds. Also, we were running about 15 - 20+ AI vehicles in the scene so I won't lie was CPU intensive. We barely get 35-40 fps on desktop with 25-30 vehicles. I was trying to find the performance "edges" of the Xbox so we could determine the size of the world and tune the AI.

    Anyway, sorry, I can't give you more specific details because I am not the primary dev on this problem at the moment. Was just trying to help out. Was just informed the devs on github opened a ticket for whatever incompatibility she's dealing with.

    Thanks for the link on the Fall Creator's update - I wasn't aware - nice improvements.
     
    DrivingSim, Sep 27, 2017
    #5

  6. robertseegrist

    robertseegrist

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    I am a solo developer that just got published.

    As of today, my game Vorlauk is searchable but has not actually appeared in the Creators Collection store front.

    Apparently, it takes a few days after you get published for it to appear as a New Game.

    Once you figure out the process, it is actually fairly easy to publish to the Creators Program.

    Anyone needing assistance can contact me at robtodd.vorlauk@gmail.com.
     
    robertseegrist, Feb 7, 2018
    #6

  7. rrabassa

    rrabassa

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    Jul 17, 2013
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    I'd love assistance! I just signed up for the creator's program and the documentation (and MS support site) is terrible.
    Some basic things are not obvious like what apps do I need installed on my Windows machine? Do i really need Visual Studio? I don't know the first thing about Visual Studio and I really don't care to learn it :)

    I Installed the dev app on my Xbox and switched over to dev mode bur I can't accesses my xbox remotely from a browser.

    Are there any tutorials online for this process?

    Thanks,
    rich
     
    rrabassa, Feb 14, 2018
    #7