How to make pictures show up when playing online.

Question

I recently submitted a game to IFComp, and I noticed when trying the 'play online' option that pictures aren't showing up -- instead I get lines that say [Picture 3 goes here], etc. The file should include the proper materials (they show up fine in the download version), so I'm not sure why they're not appearing when playing online. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Comments

I'm not sure, but maybe the interpreter that's being used to play it online doesn't support graphics. Did you "release along with an interpreter" in Inform? If so I'm guessing the interpreter is Quixe (if your story file is a blorb file). Or when you go to play it online, does it play the file via iplayif.com? That would be Parchment.

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The file extension is .gblorb and playing it online goes to another part of the ifcomp site--I do get the message 'Parchment is loading' at the beginning, so it sounds like it uses that.  I haven't done anything special to release it, just the standard release you get from clicking the purple button in Inform.  I can't post the link publically since it's a competiton, unfortunately, but I'm hoping this'll make sense to someone!

Answer 1

Parchment doesn't support graphics.

I would try Quixe instead--see §25.11. A playable web page in the manual to "release along with an interpreter." You can try it on your own computer to see if it displays the pictures (the game doesn't have to be online--you can open it offline in a browser) and then if the pictures work, you could ask the comp organizer whether it's possible to set up Quixe instead of Parchment for online play of your game.

There's a sample game here http://eblong.com/zarf/glulx/quixe/ called "Sensory Jam" that shows graphics in Quixe, so it seems like it ought to be possible to display pictures. But the version of Quixe that comes with Inform isn't the latest, I don't think, so if that one doesn't support graphics you could try a more recent version of Quixe.

Comments

Thanks, I'll try that!  I'm not sure how many people play online vs. downloading, and the pictures aren't necessary to the gameplay, but I think they add a lot and I'd hate for people to miss them.