View source for How to distribute Inform Glulx games as standalone apps

<p>
When distributing a Glulx game (or a Z-code game for that matter), one
may reasonably want to offer a Mac or Windows native app, rather than
a game file with some instructions on downloading an interpreter.
</p>

<p>
(You should always make the portable game file available too, of course.)
</p>

<h3>iOS</h3>

<p>
Use Zarf's IosGlulxe interpreter. Here are 
[https://github.com/erkyrath/iosglulxe/wiki/How-to-Turn-Your-Inform-Game-Into-an-iOS-App instructions for building an IosGlulxe app],
and similarly
[https://github.com/erkyrath/iosfizmo/wiki/How-to-Turn-Your-Inform-Game-Into-an-iOS-App for IosFizmo] (for Z-machine games).
</p>

<h3>Android</h3>

Use [https://github.com/SimonChris/AndroidIF Simon Christiansen's AndroidIF project]. Instructions are available there.

<h3>Windows</h3>

<p>
Build a Windows installer using
[http://nsis.sourceforge.net NSIS].
This installs Gargoyle, the game file, and shortcuts to tie them together.
</p>

<p>
(NSIS is particularly convenient in that it can be run on Mac or
Linux, creating a Windows-ready <code>install.exe</code>.)
</p>

<p>
The setup is a directory with these files:
</p>

<ul class="MonoList">
<li>GAMEFILE.gblorb
<li>READ-ME.html
<li>cover.ico
<li>play-if-card.pdf
<li>Licenses.txt
<li>SDL.dll
<li>SDL_mixer.dll
<li>SDL_sound.dll
<li>freetype6.dll
<li>garglk.ini
<li>git.exe
<li>libgarglk.dll
<li>libjpeg-8.dll
<li>libogg-0.dll
<li>libpng14-14.dll
<li>libvorbis-0.dll
<li>libvorbisfile-3.dll
<li>mikmod.dll
<li>smpeg.dll
<li>zlib1.dll
</ul>

<p>
Most of these files are in the 
[https://code.google.com/p/garglk/downloads/list Windows Gargoyle]
distribution. You can drop all the interpreters you're not using. (For a
Z-machine game, keep <code>frotz.exe</code> instead of <code>git.exe</code>.)
</p>

<p>
You can condense all the license files into one <code>Licenses.txt</code>.
The <code>play-if-card.pdf</code> is available from
[http://pr-if.org/doc/play-if-card/ the PR-IF web site].
Also write a <code>READ-ME.html</code> and create a <code>cover.ico</code>
(cover art icon).
</p>

<p>
You then create a file <code>wininstaller.nsi</code>. This is the config
file that NSIS uses to build the installer. Feel free to snarf
[http://eblong.com/zarf/glk/wininstaller.nsi Zarf's <code>wininstaller.nsi</code> template]
and modify it to your needs.
</p>

<p>
When customizing this, be sure to distinguish between "GAMETITLE" --
a software key, no spaces -- and "GAME TITLE", the human-readable
title of the game.
</p>

<h3>MacOS</h3>

<p>
TODO. For Hadean Lands, Zarf offered a zip file containing the game file and 
[https://code.google.com/p/garglk/downloads/list Mac Gargoyle].
This is not ideal -- the player has to launch Gargoyle and then select
the game file manually.
</p>

<p>
You can launch Gargoyle with a given game from the command
line:
</p>

<code>open -a Gargoyle GAMEFILE.gblorb</code>

<p>
So this might be rigged up with a shell script. But it would be better
to wrap everything, Gargoyle and game file and all, as a Mac application
bundle.
</p>