So I've been judging IFComp 10. The games have been interesting--even the bad ones seem to have a spark, or somthing I wish I'd thought of, or something I think I could add my own twist to.
The one that made me think the most, though, is decidedly mediocre: "Ninja's Fate" by Hannes Schueller. It's a memorial game for an IF writer. We're not very good at the concept yet, because the Internet was largely developed by younguns. Even the original IF writers from the 80s--were young. About the only IF writer who died is Douglas Adams, who was more than an IF writer.
Paul Allen Panks, the IF writer memorialized, was apparently not a very good writer--the "about" section mentions this. He apparently had mental troubles, and he clashed with a lot of IF personalities. He stayed with BASIC and a two-word parser for his games, often submitting only slightly updated versions of old games to new yearly competitions. His magnum opus, Westmont, apparently spanned 1700 rooms. 400 were too many in Sir-Tech's stinkbomb, Mines of Qyntarr.
So the game about him is, well, purposely stilted. And it's difficult to see if this is making fun or not. All sorts of silly copouts and room paddings are on display. Maximum score=1000 points. You can lose after one move. One puzzle gives 10000 points, then takes them away. A whole complete area has random rooms and a random map. You get points for the same activity done three times in a row. You get 203 points for examining a bust.
Yet there are several different endings--each a bit sad and a bit silly. It's not hard to figure out because there's not that much to do. It's not a perfect tribute to bad IF, but it made me laugh at my own. And made me scared of what a tribute to me might be--or if anyone would bother.
And the games in general have made me want to enter for '11--the good and bad, for different reasons.
The resources out there are free and wonderful:
http://www.musicwords.net/if/InformHandbook.pdf
http://inform7.textories.com/sand-dancer/
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zigfried - October 11, 2010 (05:52 PM) I'll enter the 2011 competition. //Zig |
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zippdementia - October 11, 2010 (10:12 PM) Forgive my ignorance, and help me remove it, but what is an IF? I think I know what it is, actually, but I don't know the terminology. Is it basically a text-only game? |
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zippdementia - October 11, 2010 (10:13 PM) Interactive Fiction. Got it. |
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aschultz - October 12, 2010 (10:38 AM) Zig, regardless of your joking level, I'd love to see you write an IF. In fact I suspect you already have when young, even if the game might embarrass you now. And not just because it'd allow for an HG voting bloc. |
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CoarseDragon - October 12, 2010 (12:45 PM) That is a very interesting site. Not many people go for all text adventures any longer so it is good to see some interest and some competition in that arena. |
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zigfried - October 12, 2010 (03:55 PM) I wasn't joking, actually. //Zig |
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aschultz - October 12, 2010 (04:14 PM) Awesome! I plan to, too. |
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Leroux - October 12, 2010 (04:41 PM) Haha. (Sorry. That one wrote itself). |
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hmd - October 12, 2010 (09:12 PM) For those of you who haven't seen this yet: |
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zippdementia - October 13, 2010 (12:05 PM) Thanks for the vid. Playing Lucuna now. I love IF games, always have. |
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aschultz - October 13, 2010 (01:58 PM) I haven't seen it. Thanks for this. I have to admit I'm not sure what I want to play as I have a huge backlog. |
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