Using 64-bit STK Engine with Visual Studio Versions 2013 and 2015

STK 10 is the last 32-bit version of Systems Tool Kit. STK 10 also runs under .NET Runtime 2.0. As a result, the STK 10 Programming Interface help instructs developers to change the version of .NET Framework to 3.5 and build the platform to x86. For STK 10, these instructions are necessary because the default settings for Visual Studio versions 2010 and 2012 are .NET Framework 4.0 and Any CPU platform.

STK 11 is available as both a 32-bit and a 64-bit application; in either case, STK 11 uses .NET Runtime 4.0, so you do not have to worry about the version of the .NET framework. However, you still need to be careful about platform settings. In theory, if you have the 64-bit version of STK 11 installed, you should be able to create a new project and create the STK Engine application without changing any settings. While this is true for Visual Studio versions 2010 and 2012, Microsoft added a new platform target option to Visual Studio versions 2013 and 2015. The option is labeled Prefer 32-bit, and it is located on the Build tab of the project properties. When the option is enabled and the platform is set to Any CPU (which are the default settings), your application will build as a 32-bit application. This means that if you only have 64-bit STK installed, your application will not work. To fix the problem, disable the Prefer 32-bit option to build your application as a 64-bit application.