[SOLVED] Cannot Load Game At Path Error | Game Distribution with LOVE2D | Windows

 I came across this error when I was trying to distribute the LOVE2D game in Windows by creating an executable file.

Disclaimer: Your problem might be different than mine. So this might not solve it for you if the problem is totally different.

I will share what I did initially that had actually created the error. And I will share how I solved it.

I'm sure you were also going through this LOVE wiki to make the exe file.

This is what the wiki says.

To create a .love-file you have to create a zip file of the whole game directory. Make sure that your main.lua is in the root of the archive, e.g. if you have

   <somedir>\SuperGame\gfx\character.png
   <somedir>\SuperGame\main.lua
   <somedir>\SuperGame\conf.lua

then you must ensure the zip file contains

   gfx\character.png
   main.lua
   conf.lua

and not the directory SuperGame\.

Once you have your zip file you simply rename the ending from .zip to .love and you are done!

It looked simple to do. Just archive the contents of your game folder and change the extension to .love.

Here's what I did. First, I archived the contents into a .rar archive.

Then I renamed the file to birdx.love. 

Is this what you did as well? 

If not, you can leave this page. This solution  might not be for you. 
If you did the same as I did, get ready to be amazed at the solution. :D

When I opened up the birdx.love file - Oops! 

boot.lua:577: Cannot load game at path 'C:...'.
Make sure a folder exists at the specified path.


Traceback

[C]: in function 'error'
[C]: in function 'xpcall'
[C]: in function 'xpcall'

It took me a whole day browsing through the internet to search solutions. I tried literally everything. But nothing solved it.

Early morning, I sat down to try my hands again. I went through the LOVE wiki  again. I read each line carefully. I noticed that, in lots of places in that wiki and in other sites, it said "CREATE A ZIP FILE." It never said, "CREATE ANY ARCHIVE." 

So what happened was, I am so used to creating .rar files for archive that I never thought of difference between a .zip and a .rar . I thought when the wiki said "ZIP", it meant "ANY ARCHIVE". 

That's where the problem was. You have to make ZIP not any other archive files. 

• Create zip archive of the contents of folder.

- Select the contents of your game folder.

- Right click on the selection to see the options. Click on "Add to archive" .

Make sure you select ZIP. And rename the archive name to any_name.love.  You file can have any name, but MUST have .love extension.

REMEMBER! You're not supposed to archive the contents of the folder, not the folder birdx itself.

• Is a .love file created?
  
• Opening up the love file should open up the game. If it doesn't open. you won't be able to make the executable file. 
  

Did it work for you? I was completely amazed how such a small thing could make a big difference. I still haven't dived into understanding why ZIP and RAR made a difference. But, yes, I was amazed. But very glad that it worked.

I hope this works for you too.