Skip to main content

Distribution Situation

There are two ways to distribute softwares today: independent distribution and package managers/stores.

CherryGrove supports multi-instancing. More on that at multiple instance support.

Windows​

Independent Distribution​

Currently we are using the Inno Setup installer framework to create an instanced installer, in which users can choose the installation directory and disable registry entries and desktop shortcuts to enable multi-instancing.

We also provide a compressed archive.

Package Managers & Stores​

There is really no good package manager for Windows, so we only plan to distribute on Microsoft Store.

Linux​

Independent Distribution​

Unfortunately, there is no better way to distribute an instanced software on Linux other than providing a compressed archive. All the package managers just don't support it.

What about AppImage? It is only useful for setting the icon of the program, as far as we know. It disrupts the file structure of the program if we choose to embed assets in the AppImage. So it still needs to be put into a compressed archive.

Package Managers & Stores​

To simplify the situation, we only planned to distribute on Snap and Flatpak, which may or may not realize until 2035.

macOS​

Independent Distribution​

We are stuck with the same problem as Linux: there is really no better way to make it other than providing a compressed archive.

We will also provide a compressed archive later.

Package Managers & Stores​

We plan to distribute on Mac App Store when we can afford it.

Android​

Independent Distribution​

CherryGrove provides the main APK files, as well as APKs with different package names for every version for some basic multi-instancing support.

Note that CherryGrove don't support x86 or armv7a architectures. See support table. There's just no row for them.

Package Managers & Stores​

We plan to distribute on Google Play and F-Droid.

iOS & iPadOS​

Independent Distribution​

Are you serious?

Package Managers & Stores​

We plan to distribute on App Store when we can afford it.

Multiple Instance Support​

As an game that tries to be as "open" as possible, CherryGrove needs to support multi-instancing, i.e. users can install and run multiple fundamentally separated instances of CherryGrove on the same device, at the same time. This is a very important feature, however some platforms are just hostile to duplicated installations.

The most easy way for multi-instancing is the green software approach, i.e. a compressed archive that users can decompress to a directory and run the executable directly without installation. We will provide such an archive for all desktop platforms.

But theoretically the best way is an instance manager, or "launcher", just like Prism Launcher or the official Minecraft Launcher. We plan to develop one called Beehive in the future. It will allow users to install and manage multiple instances of CherryGrove. It is currently in early development planning. Don't expect it to be available soon.

Cross-Platform Distribution​

Steam​

That's a last resort. It's not a good way to distribute a free game that's not like a game and more like a tool. It's planned anyway, but not a priority.

We still don't know whether we can distribute Beehive on Steam, but we plan to do so instead of distributing CherryGrove itself.

itch.io​

That's also a last resort.