[IF Art Show 2003] Rules & Deadline
Marnie Parker
I am sorry, I meant to get this posted on Monday.
Instead of three months to do your entry for the
fifth IF Art Show, you only have two months.
The deadline is Friday, April 25th.
The judges still have to be assembled. I will
announce them in about two weeks.
I will also post a reminder before the deadline.
These rules and an accompanying FAQ are also
at http://members.aol.com/iffyart/
Depending on how this post new lines, the rules
may be easier to read at the web page.
THE RULES ---------------------------
IF Art Show 2003 Rule Changes
Rules are almost the same as the IF Art Show
2001 Rules, with these exceptions:
1 A new category has been added -- the
event category.
2 A foreign-language piece translated into
English will be considered a new piece as far as
English-speaking judges are concerned. Any judge
who also speaks the original language and has seen
the piece before, shall not vote on it.
IF Art Show 2003 Rules ****************
IF Art Show 2003 (Juried)
(or How to Build a Better Mouse Trap)
You have entered a hushed art gallery with pale
walls and subdued lighting, except for bright
spotlights aimed at pictures and various pedestals
around the room. At first the raised displays look
like ordinary sculpture, until you notice the
intriguing "Flash Gordon" ray gun in the center.
As you glimpse flashing lights and hear rustling,
you discover even more unusual forms: a Cubist
futuristic booth and what appears to be an outdoor
setting, complete with storm clouds rolling over
wind-tossed trees. But it is only when you spot
the burly man in the flannel shirt chopping
wood that you fully realize that this is
sculpture unlike any you have imagined before.
These 3-dimensional displays are IF sculptures,
modeled with text.
PURPOSE:
To explore the I in IF, the Interactivity of
Interactive-Fiction (without the obscuring
framework of too much structure). To run one's
hands over an "IF sculpture". TO EXPERIENCE
INTERACTIVITY AS A MEDIUM.
This explorative venture is intended to be
two-way: for you to explore the various
interactive techniques you can use to involve
players, and for players to interactively explore
your piece in turn.
See the following Q&A for more on interactivity.
(Only available on at the web page gallery.)
JUDGES:
This is a juried show. Juried shows are judged
BEFORE the entries are shown to the public.
Judges to be announced.
AWARDS/HONORS:
Only the top four (possibly eight) places are
awarded. All other entries are not ranked, but
are put on display.
Best of Show
Any category for which there are three or
more entries will also have a best of category
award. Or these honors may be awarded depending
on the total number of entries (the more entries
-- the more awards).
Best of Still Life (Objects)
Best of Landscape (Scenery/Rooms)
Best of Portrait (NPCs)
Best of Event (Activity)
Also, to encourage newbies -- although these
honors will not necessarily be presented
exclusively to newbies -- if there are
enough entries, honorable mentions will also be
awarded.
Honorable Mention for Show
Honorable Mention for Still Life
Honorable Mention for Landscape
Honorable Mention for Portrait
Honorable Mention for Event
RULES:
1 MULTIMEDIA - Multimedia is now *allowed*,
even encouraged. However, it is not
required, because: 1.) not all IF authoring
systems offer it; 2.) not all platforms
support the various graphic & sound
capabilities of the IF systems which do
offer it; and 3.) "text modeling" is an art
form.
Suggestion: If using multimedia, make sure
your entry can stand alone without it,
because judges with incompatible platforms
may play it without graphics and/or sounds.
This can be accomplished either by employing
programming switches, or by providing two
copies -- one with multimedia, one without.
It is also recommended that you avoid static
multimedia objects. For example, an object
represented by just a picture might be
considered static. Objects represented by
graphics and/or sounds should also usually
have accompanying textural interactivity --
not only to fulfill this show's purpose --
but for the same incompatibility reason
mentioned above.
See the following Q&A for more about
multimedia IF. (Only on web page.)
2 ORIGINAL - All entries must be original
works. Plagiarism is frowned on. However,
pieces may be excerpts from works in progress
that will be released at a later date.
3 LENGTH - "Playable" in 45 minutes or less.
Shorter is usually better.
4 CATEGORY - To make your exploration of
interactivity easier, choose one of the
following:
Still Life - Object
Landscape - Scenery
Portrait - NPC
Event - Activity
1 Style - The presentation of your
selection may be: realistic,
impressionistic, expressionistic,
surreal, etc. The style is up to
you -- your entry need not be
experimental, only experiential.
2 Number - There is no maximum on the
number of items per category (i.e.
Still Life objects), but fewer is
better.
Other types of items (inventory
objects, stationary objects, and
locations) may be used to support
your selection (except for interactive
NPCs, which are solely for portraiture).
Suggestion: To keep your entry short
and your focus tight, it is best that
supporting items be limited in number
and "sketchy."
Remember: Judges will focus on how you
explore and present your choice, not on
the "background." So you will do yourself
a favor if you avoid wasting time on extra
items. An excellent entry might have none
at all.
3 New Event Category - The event category
is a bit hard to escribe -- its closest
art analogy is "performance art."
Instead of focusing on the details of
interacting with: objects, scenery, or npcs;
your interactive focus should instead be on
an activity. The player may be a participant
in and/or an observer of this event. Examples
of events: a wedding, fencing, dancing,
swimming, a war, sculpting.
5 PEDESTAL OR FRAME - To isolate your piece on
a pedestal and/or put it into an artistic "frame",
feature a minimal plot with a restrained use of
puzzles.
This has often been the least-understood part of
the IF Art Show. Entries are not intended to be
"full-blown games", but more vignettes -- exploring
interactivity in greater depth by narrowing the
focus to one type of IF/artistic subject matter.
A heavy plot could divert players' attention to
the writing (the F in Interactive Fiction), and
might also make a piece more static. While, on
the other hand, tricky puzzles, even if highly
interactive, wouldn't really EXPLORE
interactivity -- as that is the form that we are
all already familiar with.
Convoluted puzzles can also function as "stoppers",
halting players' exploration.
The following *guidelines* are offered for
clarification.
1 Plot - No overriding, compelling, "world saving"
goal that hurries players on, encouraging them to
bypass experiences.
1 Introduction - Minimal or optional; to set
the stage and provide players with some
motivation to explore.
2 Middle - Experiential.
3 Ending - Minimal or optional; a finish to
give players closure.
2 Puzzles
1 Stumpers - Absolutely no "brain twisters".
If players need to figure out an
object/conversation, guide them to the
appropriate action/topic with subtle hints
(not too subtle) in descriptions/responses.
Suggestion: Make complicated/very complicated
puzzles optional, so players need not solve
them to finish. Or provide a graceful exit
(other than quit) in case they are unable to
finish.
2 Scoring - Optional; a "task achieved" score, to
give players an idea of when they have explored
as much as possible.
Remember: The entry with the cleverest puzzle(s)
will not be an automatic winner, as judges will be
looking for a complete exploration of interactivity.
For instance, a realistic piece should probably
implement a fair number of verbs in order to avoid
too many standard library responses.
>>> STUMPING PLAYERS IS NOT THE GOAL.
ENCOURAGING EXPLORATION IS. <<<
6 SHOW - All entries will be displayed at the IF Art Gallery
for a two-week show. Afterward, they along with the judges'
reviews, will be uploaded to http://www.ifarchive.org.
7 DEADLINE - The deadline is Friday, April 25th, at midnight
EDT (Eastern Daylight Savings Time -- four a.m. Saturday,
April 26th GMT).
8 DESTINATION - E-mail your entry in a zipped file to:
doea...@aol.com. You will also need to specify which
category (Still-life, Landscape, Portrait, Event) you are
entering.
9 EXAMPLES - Past entries function as IF Art examples. To
see how others have previously defined "IF Art", read more
about the concept, and peruse past judges' reviews, visit:
http://members.aol.com/iffyart/
doea...@aol.com
IF http://members.aol.com/doepage/intfict.htm
(An Iffy Theory | Glulx/Glk for Duncies | unglklib | Inform Primer)
IF Art Gallery http://members.aol.com/iffyart/
IF Review Conspiracy http://zork.plover.net/~textfire/conspiracy/
David Welbourn
-- David Welbourn
J. D. Berry
news:v5qjute...@corp.supernews.com...
> yay! I'm very pleased to see the return of the IF Art Show.
Me too. I'm especially interested in the new category--activity.
Jim