Interactive Short Fiction Contest Announcement
puzzler
community for a long time may remember me as the author of a popular
TADS 2 tutorial about 9 years ago.
I feel there aren't nearly enough short, beginner IF games. In an
effort to expand this niche, I'm holding a contest and offering a
small cash prize.
The deadline is February 15, 2008. The prize is $50.
Design Criteria
1. The entry must be written in TADS 3 or Inform 7.
2. The source code must be included with the submission, so that
students may study and learn from these games.
3. The entry must be in English.
4. The approximate length of gameplay for a beginner player should
be under 1 hour.
5. The game map should be sufficiently simple that the player is
not required to draw a map. 20 locations or less is recommended.
6. Emphasis should be on interactivity, not long pages of prose.
Specifically, most descriptions should be only one paragraph in
length. The introduction and other key dramatic sequences can be
longer, but still should be no more than about three paragraphs in
length.
7. The game must have a clearly defined goal, and the player should
understand this goal from the introduction, or from information given
in the first several turns of gameplay.
8. The game must have at least one puzzle. (The definition of
'puzzle' is intentionally left vague here, but most people would agree
that IF generally falls into two categories: puzzle-based and
puzzleless. This contest is for puzzle-based interactive fiction).
9. The language and content should be appropriate for a middle
school audience.
10. It should not be possible for the player to reach a state in
which the game is unwinnable. Note that this rules out games in which
the player character can die.
11. The game should have a "polished" feel, providing entertaining
and reasonable responses to a wide range of sensible inputs.
12. And last but not least, the game should be exciting and fun to
play.
For additional details and rule clarifications, visit the website:
http://mark.engelberg.googlepages.com/interactiveshortfictioncompetition
Thanks!
Mark
Leslie Viljoen
> I feel there aren't nearly enough short, beginner IF games. In an
> effort to expand this niche, I'm holding a contest and offering a
> small cash prize.
Thanks for investing money into the IF community!
Is this for new games only? Perhaps if there are already games written
that comply to your rules, the authors would consider releasing the source.
puzzler
> Thanks for investing money into the IF community!
> Is this for new games only? Perhaps if there are already games written
> that comply to your rules, the authors would consider releasing the source.
Although I certainly hope this inspires the creation of new games, I
am not requiring that the games be new. Games that have already been
publicly released and/or entered in other contests are eligible for
this contest as well.
--Mark
leslie...@gmail.com
> I'm Mark Engelberg. Some of you who have been part of the IF
> community for a long time may remember me as the author of a popular
> TADS 2 tutorial about 9 years ago.
>
> I feel there aren't nearly enough short, beginner IF games. In an
> effort to expand this niche, I'm holding a contest and offering a
> small cash prize.
>
> The deadline is February 15, 2008. The prize is $50.
I have almost finished a very small game that probably conforms to all
of your restrictions, but is unfortunately based on a published
children's story. I am waiting for permission to release the game, but
even if I get permission I can't then accept any rewards. Perhaps it
could be entered and judged, but not be considered for the prize? If
it wins (unlikely I think) - the prize could be held over for another
comp.
Les
puzzler
> I have almost finished a very small game that probably conforms to all
> of your restrictions, but is unfortunately based on a published
> children's story. I am waiting for permission to release the game, but
> even if I get permission I can't then accept any rewards. Perhaps it
> could be entered and judged, but not be considered for the prize? If
> it wins (unlikely I think) - the prize could be held over for another
> comp.
>
> Les
Assuming you can get permission to release the game, I hope you will
enter it into the competition. If your entry wins, I will award the
prize money to the second place entry.
Mark