How to make the Phone / Table App?

So I’m still new to figuring this all out, but how are you supposed to save your CoG files as an app for phones/ tablets? (Android, iPhone, iPad, etc.)? I’m getting close to wanting to get feedback on my game and want it accessible in multiple formats, but app stuff isn’t really something I know anything about. Thanks!

@Lglasser

To have a demo you just need to use dropbox. Thats what a lot of people here use when they are beta testing their games.

@Lglasser To expand on that a little, the process for turning a ChoiceScript game into an app is not an easy one, but it is easy to stick it on the web for a playtest (which can of course also be played by just about anyone with a smartphone or tablet).

However, when the game development is complete and tested, Choice of Games will then ‘publish’ it on your behalf as a ‘Hosted Game’ in various formats, including iOS, Android, etc. More about that here:

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So the only way the game can be made available as an app is if Choice of Games converts it as a hosted game for you? I am planning on releasing this completely free (from specific dowloadable locations only) for the Interactive Fiction competition. I work in the gaming industry and it’s thorny to get permission to do outside projects, Thornier still when other companies come into the picture.

I’ve looked into this a little in the past, since if I ever actually get a ChoiceScript game done I’d want to distribute it for free. It doesn’t seem like the ChoiceScript license would prohibit you from using the source in a non-commercial app, but you’d have to do all the work of converting/packaging it as an app yourself. (Or pay someone to do it for you.)

@Lglasser First, as @aetheria says the license means that any distribution of a CS game for free is always going to be fine, so, as long as you intend to release you game for free, there’s nothing hindering you from doing anything you want except for technical know-how (as a reminder, strangers on the internet are generally not lawyers, so take everything with a grain of salt and always do your own research. Such as in this case when we say ‘free’ we mean ‘non-commercial’ which in the legal world is and entirely different beast, but the short of non-commercial is that no one can accept any money for it in any way, shape or form).

That brings me back to your original question, which seems to be one about the technical aspect of packaging a game for release on platforms such as iOS. The short is that only a handful of people have actually done the packaging, and know what go into it, and from my understanding, it’s a complex thing.

That said, virtually any modern device can run a CS game just by hosting the game on the web somewhere, and sending them to a link, rather than to an App Store.

Let me give you an example: Pull out a phone (or any device with a web browser) and go here, and click on any picture. It will take you to a game (a demo for most of them, but that’s all based on what you put up) without any app store or anything else to get in the way. This is the easy way that most everyone uses for their betas or works in progress, and is covered in on the wiki with dropbox, but any web site hosting can handle it without problem.

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Awesome! Thanks for all the useful advice. :slight_smile: