Notebook 4: Creating and uploading a Unity application/build
When collecting data in the lab, we often run VR tasks directly within the Unity Editor. This is convenient and quick, as it,for example, allows us to manually enter participant numbers or assign participants to specific conditions. However, to distribute the VR task remotely, we need to package it into a “build”. This process compiles the assets and code from the project into an executable file, creating a standalone version of the experiment that can be shared (or, in our use case, uploaded to the Steam store).
This notebook covers how to turn a Unity experiment into a build and how to upload it to the Steam store. As such, this notebook is intended for researchers who usually run their experiments from within the Editor.
Overview
Packaging a Unity project into a build is standard practice for most developers. After all, most developers using Unity do so to create games or applications intended for distribution to consumers or players. In that sense, running projects exclusively from within the Editor is an exception rather than the rule. Thankfully, this means that the process of creating and uploading a build is extensively covered in the documentation from Unity and Steam. In the next two pages, we summarise steps we believe are common challenges for researchers and point to further resources where needed.
However, these steps are in no way exhaustive, and we recommend also consulting up-to-date documentation, especially since specific implementations may change with future updates.