The game is ready...now what?
terumi
Let's say that a person has written his first if game.
He went through the process of beta testing. Read the transcripts,
corrected the mistakes and all.
After that, what he can do?
Where can he be informed about the if competitions?
Is there any reason to participate in any?
Which are the competitions anyway?
Cheers!
Jan Thorsby
"terumi" <tpro...@yahoo.gr> skrev i melding
news:1171067475.5...@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> Let's say that a person has written his first if game.
> He went through the process of beta testing. Read the transcripts,
> corrected the mistakes and all.
> After that, what he can do?
You can upload the game to the archive http://ifarchive.org/ and announce it
on rec.games.int-fiction, but not if you want to enter it in any
competitions.
> Where can he be informed about the if competitions?
The If Wiki has news about competitions. http://www.ifwiki.org , see current
events. See also rec.games.int-fiction.
> Is there any reason to participate in any?
Prizes if you win, and probably more reviews of your games. Some people
don't like that so few games are released outside the competition though.
> Which are the competitions anyway?
The big one is the annual interactive if competition. The judging of the
game tends to start around October 1. The competition is supposed to be for
small-ish games, the judges has to base their score on 2 hors of play or
less. But it is not against the rules to enter a game that takes longer,
that game would just has a disadvantage. The homepage has lots of info
http://www.ifcomp.org/
The other (sort of) big one is the spring thing. It tends to be annual.
There is a fee to enter, and a limit for how many games that can enter and
buggy games can be disqualified. The idea is to discourage bad games I
guess, and also have a competition where you can enter long games. Here is
the homepage http://www.springthing.net/2007/
There tend to be other comps from time to time. They tend to not be annual.
They often have a theme like make a game about chickens or something. The
games in these competitions are often few and often small.
J. J. Guest
> "terumi" <tproto...@yahoo.gr> skrev i meldingnews:1171067475.5...@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
> There tend to be other comps from time to time. They tend to not be annual.
> They often have a theme like make a game about chickens or something. The
> games in these competitions are often few and often small.
Does Speed IF still go on? If so where are these comps announced?
Jan Thorsby
"J. J. Guest" <jason...@gmail.com> skrev i melding
news:1171111425.5...@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
There was 3 in 2006. They are mostly anounced on the ifMUD I think, I don't
go on the MUD.
J. J. Guest
> There was 3 in 2006. They are mostly anounced on the ifMUD I think, I don't
> go on the MUD.
Neither do I, much. When I do I always feel like someone who's turned
up at a party where he doesn't know anybody. I wander around, trying
to join in conversations, completely fail to grasp what the discussion
is actually about, make a few random interjections that are generally
ignored, and then slope off unnoticed. Somebody ought to build a
kitchen in that place.
I always suspected the Speed IF comps were announced there, but I'm
surprised they're not announced here as well.
Poster
You don't really need to participate in the competitions, honestly. I've
received plenty of traffic (still even to this day) without entering
a competition. My stuff's on both Mac and PC gaming download sites. What
you're looking at now is advertising/PR/getting the word out.
Here's what I did (in no order):
1) Announce it on RGIF.
2) Get it listed as freeware or shareware on several sites, like
MacGameFiles, Download.com.
3) Put the word out on adventure-related sites, like BrassLantern.org.
4) Create a site and update it regularly. Including downloadable feelies
helps, I think.
You won't need to work hard to get at least one review -- the guys over
at SPAG usually catch any new releases. Other reviews you will have to
work for.
If you release your game outside of a competition, you get more of the
bandwidth devoted to discussing games.
-- Poster
www.intaligo.com Building, INFORM, Seasons (upcoming!)
Bert Byfield
>> don't go on the MUD.
> Neither do I, much. When I do I always feel like someone who's turned
> up at a party where he doesn't know anybody. I wander around, trying
> to join in conversations, completely fail to grasp what the discussion
> is actually about, make a few random interjections that are generally
> ignored, and then slope off unnoticed. Somebody ought to build a
> kitchen in that place.
It's a clique.
Mark Tilford
I think Speed IF comps are declared spontaneously and are very short
term. There's not much point to announcing something on the newsgroup
when the deadline will expire before most people even read it.
Vivienne Dunstan
> I think Speed IF comps are declared spontaneously and are very short
> term. There's not much point to announcing something on the newsgroup
> when the deadline will expire before most people even read it.
But couldn't they be announced a bit in advance i.e. think of it
spontaneously but set a deadline for say a week or two's time? That
would at least give other people the chance to participate, rather than
just those who happen to be on ifMUD at the right moment.
Viv
(another one who's never on ifMUD!)
Andrew Plotkin
If you want to announce a SpeedIF, announce it. That's what the people
on the MUD do.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
It's a nice distinction to tell American soldiers (and Iraqis) to die in
Iraq for the sake of democracy (ignoring the question of whether it's
*working*) and then whine that "The Constitution is not a suicide pact."
Emily Short
> You don't really need to participate in the competitions, honestly. I've
> received plenty of traffic (still even to this day) without entering
> a competition. My stuff's on both Mac and PC gaming download sites. What
> you're looking at now is advertising/PR/getting the word out.
>
> Here's what I did (in no order):
>
> 1) Announce it on RGIF.
> 2) Get it listed as freeware or shareware on several sites, like
> MacGameFiles, Download.com.
How have these worked out for you, and are there other sites you also
used? (I didn't know about MacGameFiles until you mentioned it, for
instance, though I haven't looked into this very heavily.) Are there
sites that were particularly effective in getting you traffic, if
you're tracking that?
Blank
Andrew Plotkin
It's a clique *and* a cabal! But don't ask us to wax floors, please.
We hate that.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
If the Bush administration hasn't thrown you in military prison without trial,
it's for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because you're an American.
Adam Thornton
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>It's a clique *and* a cabal! But don't ask us to wax floors, please.
>We hate that.
Do you top desserts?
Adam
Andrew Plotkin
Bet your bottom dollar on it.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
It used to be that "conservatives" were in favor of smaller government,
fiscal responsibility, and tighter constraints on the Man's ability to
monitor you, arrest you, and control your life.
Adam Thornton
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>Here, Adam Thornton <ad...@fsf.net> wrote:
>> In article <eqve2h$ca2$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
>> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>> >It's a clique *and* a cabal! But don't ask us to wax floors, please.
>> >We hate that.
>> Do you top desserts?
>Bet your bottom dollar on it.
You probably don't want my *bottom* dollar....
Adam