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Packaging and Distribution¶

Wayward Crown offers two packaging methods to compile the game into directly distributable executables.

Method Comparison¶

Item	PyInstaller	Nuitka
Build speed	Fast (seconds to minutes)	Slow (5–15 minutes)
Runtime speed	Same as Python	Slightly faster (+5%–30%)
Source code protection	`.pyc` can be decompiled	Compiled to C, extremely hard to reverse
Distribution size	Smaller	Larger
C compiler required	No	Yes
Recommended use	Development and testing	Production releases

Prerequisites¶

pip install -r requirements.txt
python setup_ext.py build_ext --inplace   # Produces game/_ccore.*.pyd

The C extension must be compiled first; otherwise the game will fall back to a pure Python path (lower performance).

PyInstaller¶

Installation¶

pip install pyinstaller

Build Command¶

pyinstaller --noconfirm --clean --name WaywardCrown ^
    --noconsole ^
    --icon "assets/Icons/WaywardCrown.ico" ^
    --add-data "assets;assets" ^
    --add-data "game/content;game/content" ^
    --add-data "game/lang;game/lang" ^
    --add-data "plugins;plugins" ^
    --add-data "campaigns;campaigns" ^
    --add-data "maps;maps" ^
    --add-data "steam_sdk;steam_sdk" ^
    --add-data "THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md;." ^
    --add-data "LGPL-3.0.txt;." ^
    --add-data "GPL-3.0.txt;." ^
    --add-binary "game/_ccore.cp314-win_amd64.pyd;game" ^
    --hidden-import PySide6.QtWidgets ^
    --hidden-import PySide6.QtCore ^
    --hidden-import PySide6.QtGui ^
    --hidden-import PySide6.QtOpenGLWidgets ^
    --hidden-import PySide6.QtMultimedia ^
    --hidden-import OpenGL.GL ^
    main.py

Output¶

dist/WaywardCrown/
├── WaywardCrown.exe
└── _internal/
    ├── assets/
    ├── game/
    │   ├── _ccore.cp314-win_amd64.pyd
    │   ├── content/
    │   └── lang/
    ├── campaigns/
    ├── maps/
    └── plugins/

Nuitka¶

Installation¶

pip install nuitka zstandard ordered-set

Requires a C compiler (Visual Studio Build Tools or MinGW64).

Build Command¶

python -m nuitka ^
    --standalone ^
    --plugin-enable=pyside6 ^
    --include-data-dir=assets=assets ^
    --include-data-dir=game/content=game/content ^
    --include-data-dir=game/lang=game/lang ^
    --include-data-dir=plugins=plugins ^
    --include-data-dir=campaigns=campaigns ^
    --include-data-dir=maps=maps ^
    --include-data-dir=steam_sdk=steam_sdk ^
    --include-data-files=steam_sdk/steam_api.dll=steam_sdk/steam_api.dll ^
    --include-data-files=steam_sdk/win64/steam_api64.dll=steam_sdk/win64/steam_api64.dll ^
    --include-data-files=game/_ccore.cp314-win_amd64.pyd=game/_ccore.cp314-win_amd64.pyd ^
    --include-data-files=THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md=THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md ^
    --include-data-files=LGPL-3.0.txt=LGPL-3.0.txt ^
    --include-data-files=GPL-3.0.txt=GPL-3.0.txt ^
    --include-qt-plugins=multimedia ^
    --include-package=OpenGL ^
    --include-module=PySide6.QtOpenGLWidgets ^
    --include-module=PySide6.QtMultimedia ^
    --windows-console-mode=disable ^
    --windows-icon-from-ico=assets/Icons/WaywardCrown.ico ^
    --output-filename=WaywardCrown.exe ^
    --output-dir=dist ^
    --lto=yes ^
    --jobs=8 ^
    main.py

Required Files¶

Type	Path	Description
C extension	`game/_ccore.cp3XX-*.pyd`	Core acceleration for A* pathfinding, spatial hashing, etc.
Game content	`game/content/*.json`	Class, enemy, and building definitions
Language packs	`game/lang/*.json`	15 language translations
Art assets	`assets/`	All images, music, and sound effects
Campaigns	`campaigns/`	Built-in tutorial campaign
Custom maps	`maps/`	User maps
Plugins	`plugins/`	Third-party extensions
Steam SDK	`steam_sdk/`	Steamworks DLL
Licenses	`THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md` etc.	LGPLv3 compliance documents

Python Version

The .pyd filename includes the Python version (e.g., cp314). After switching Python versions, you must recompile the C extension and update the filename in the build command.