What's the right way to distribute IF in Java?

I’m working on some projects written in Java.
Is there a standard way to package Java games for the Interactive Fiction community? I can, or course, just post a .jar file somewhere but it won’t have all the Babel metadata, cover art ,etc. etc.

No there isn’t.

I would think you would contact an archive and then make sure it works on someone elses machine.

In theory you could put a .jar file into a .blorb file, along with metadata, but there’s no software set up to deal with that combination.

The practical answer is: just upload the .jar file as is, and then make an IFDB entry with the bibliographic information.

You could post the java applet on a web page with some sort of password to prevent it from being played, then when the IFComp starts, release the password. You should probably ask the organizer if this is ok, though.

I’m actually working on a Java game, myself… I’m planning on uploading it in two ways:

  1. as a zipped jar file, with any other files and information it needs packaged inside
  2. as a java applet on my website, which will be opened the day of the comp (or thereabout)

That will at least get my game released; I’ll worry about IFDB entries and the like later.