If so, this may interest you: I am collecting contributions of cover
art for existing games, in the hope of making it easier to showcase IF
on independent game blogs, magazines, and other venues that are
starting to show an interest in IF. These places almost always want
some kind of illustration; screenshots of text are rarely compelling.
Details, guidelines, and caveats -- and a link to the cover art that's
already been submitted -- may be found here:
http://emshort.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/cover-art-drive/#more-227
Might I suggest an additional role for you to play as organizer of the
drive? As of now, only three (that I've seen) authors have asserted
that they want cover art for their games. I'm not sure how many
artists your post has reached, but another potential frustration for a
cover-creator would be spending all of that time working on a cover
for a game that another artist is also working on.
If the goal is to have as many covers created as possible, perhaps you
could make a "dibs" list, so that artists can spread their talents
further?
--Eric
> If the goal is to have as many covers created as possible, perhaps you
> could make a "dibs" list, so that artists can spread their talents
> further?
Maybe it could be possible to set a page about this on http://
www.ifwiki.org so people could register ?
I want cover art for my WIP, but I've already contacted the artist I'd
like to have do it, so it's well in hand.
Adam
Emily,
What is the best procedure for getting old I6 games repackaged with
cover art into the IF ecosystem-- just to upload the repackaged
version to the IF Archive? Should they have a different ID number or
"release" number than the original I6 version, if they are unchanged
other than adding the bibilographic info? (My understanding is that
the old I6 version would have an auto-generated ID number, which would
differ from the one I7 would generate, leading to two different IDs
for the same game... or is this not what happens?)
--Aaron
I think the simplest thing would be for artists who want to place dibs
to comment on the same post -- it would keep everything in one place.
(If it really gets to where there're a gazillion comments and it's
hard to follow, I'll make a separate page. But we should be so lucky.)
That is an interesting question. It is possible for one game to be
assigned more than one IFID, so that's not inherently problematic, but
I don't know what the Babel treaty types would think ideal here --
maybe one of them will jump in on this thread, and if not, I'll ask
around a bit.
The Treaty of Babel (sec. 2.2) would seem to imply, though, that this
would be inappropriate:
"As with published books, where an ISBN remains the same even if the
book is reprinted with corrections, the IFID should be associated with
a project, _not_ a specific story file compiled from it. A re-release
with bug fixes should have the same IFID."
Is there a way to make the new release such that it uses the IFID of
the old release? (Or does Inform's "Release along with an existing
story file" do this already
--Aaron
> Is there a way to make the new release such that it uses the IFID of
> the old release? (Or does Inform's "Release along with an existing
> story file" do this already
>
> --Aaron
It seems that you can put pretty much anything you want into the
uuid.txt file in your project directory, and I7 will happily use it as
the IFID of the resulting piece.
--chipjack
"A siamese cat and an african elephant are standing here. "
When the cat is not in the room, TADS tells me :-
"The african elephant is standing here."
I would like have the african elephant referred to as 'an african
elephant.'
How do I switch between the definite and indefinite article is this
situation?
Cheers
Here's the library code. theNameFrom is called by theName:
theNameFrom(str) { return (isQualifiedName ? '' : 'the ') + str; }
This is a method in the Thing class. Unless it's overridden by something
in Actor (if your elephant is an Actor), you could put this in the
elephant object:
theNameFrom(str) { return (isQualifiedName ? '' : 'an ') + str; }
Or, since you know the elephant isn't a qualified name, you could
simplify it:
theNameFrom(str) { return 'an ' + str; }
--JA
I want to follow up on this because a couple of people have now
expressed some concern, though I tried to make it clear in the rules:
No, I am *not* adding any contributed art for any game by any author
to IFDB or anywhere else official without the explicit consent of the
author.
It is not my intent to change anybody's work (or the context in which
their work is presented) behind their back. I wouldn't like that to
happen to me, and I don't want to do it to anyone else. Submitted art
goes only on the project's Flickr site unless/until authors adopt it,
and the Flickr site itself is not permanent; it's only there for the
duration of the project, to let people view what's been sent in.
Thanks very much to the artists who've participated so far -- I am
really enjoying seeing the great material that gets sent in. Here is
the current state of the drive:
===
Cover art submitted and accepted so far:
A Fine Day for Reaping, by James Webb
The Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
Fate, by Victor Gijsbers
Cover art submitted:
Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry
All Roads, by Jon Ingold
Aisle, by Sam Barlow
The Chinese Room, by Harry Giles and Joey Jones
Janitor, by Peter Seebach and Kevin Lynn
Degeneracy, by Leonard Richardson
The Tarot Reading, by Michael Penman
Sting of the Wasp, by Jason Devlin
Cover art submitted by the author:
Fine Tuned
To Hell in a Hamper
Cover art requested/"opted in":
Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri (in progress by Rikard Trumgottist)
Chicken and Egg, by Adam Thornton
Coke Is It!, by various
A Dino's Night Out, by Aris Katsaris
The Edifice, by Lucian Smith
An Escape To Remember, by IF Whispers
Goldilocks is a FOX!, by J.J. Guest (to replace existing art)
The Gostak, by Carl Muckenhoupt
In the End 2, by Adam Thornton
House of Dream of Moon, by IF Whispers
King of Shreds and Patches, by Jimmy Maher (see comments for suggested
features)
Legerdemain, by Nathan Jerpe
Losing Your Grip, by Stephen Granade
Persistence of Memory, by Jason Dyer
Photograph, by Steve Evans
Revenger, by Robb Sherwin (to replace existing art)
Scavenger, by Quintin Stone (line drawing by J. Robinson Wheeler
currently on IFDB, not as part of this project)
Sins Against Mimesis, by Adam Thornton
Undertow, by Stephen Granade
Voices, by Aris Katsaris
Waystation, by Stephen Granade
Any work by Mark J. Musante
Any work by Paul O'Brian
Cover art "opted out" (please do not submit covers for):
Building, by Poster
Gourmet and Whom the Telling Changed, by Aaron Reed
====
Rule details can be found at
http://emshort.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/cover-art-drive/#more-227
and the images themselves are at
Just a reminder, for people who thought they might be interested in
contributing: the IF Cover Art drive is about halfway through its run,
and will continue accepting art through the end of April.
The current status is as follows:
Cover art submitted and accepted:
Attack of the Yeti Robot Zombies, by Øyvind Thorsby
A Fine Day for Reaping, by James Webb
The Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
Fate, by Victor Gijsbers
LASH, by Paul O'Brian
Voices, by Aris Katsaris
====
Cover art submitted by the author:
Being Andrew Plotkin
Fine Tuned
To Hell in a Hamper
Gourmet and Whom the Telling Changed, by Aaron Reed
====
Cover art submitted:
Ad Verbum, by Nick Montfort
Aisle, by Sam Barlow
All Roads, by Jon Ingold
Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry
Bad Machine, by Dan Shiovitz
The Chinese Room, by Harry Giles and Joey Jones
Coke Is It!, by various
Deadline Enchanter, by Alan DeNiro
Degeneracy, by Leonard Richardson
The Edifice, by Lucian Smith
Enlightenment, by Taro Ogawa
Firebird, by Bonnie Montgomery
The Gostak, by Carl Muckenhoupt
Janitor, by Peter Seebach and Kevin Lynn
Lost Pig, by Admiral Jota
Mother Loose, by Irene Callaci
The One That Got Away, by Leon Lin
Rematch, by Andrew Pontious
Shade, by Andrew Plotkin
Sting of the Wasp, by Jason Devlin
The Tarot Reading, by Michael Penman
====
Cover art requested:
Act of Murder, by Chris Huang
Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri (in progress by Rikard Trumgottist)
Chicken and Egg, by Adam Thornton
A Dino's Night Out, by Aris Katsaris
An Escape To Remember, by IF Whispers
Goldilocks is a FOX!, by J.J. Guest (to replace existing art)
In the End 2, by Adam Thornton
House of Dream of Moon, by IF Whispers
King of Shreds and Patches, by Jimmy Maher (in progress by Josh
Lawrence)
Legerdemain, by Nathan Jerpe
Losing Your Grip, by Stephen Granade
Luminous Horizon, by Paul O'Brian
Persistence of Memory, by Jason Dyer
Photograph, by Steve Evans
Revenger, by Robb Sherwin (to replace existing art)
Scavenger, by Quintin Stone (line drawing by J. Robinson Wheeler
currently on IFDB, not as part of this project)
Sins Against Mimesis, by Adam Thornton
Undertow, by Stephen Granade
Waystation, by Stephen Granade
Wearing the Claw, by Paul O'Brian
Any work by Mark J. Musante
====
Cover art "opted out" (requesting no art):
Building, by Poster
There are still quite a few authors who would like covers for their
work, though, so if you're feeling energetic and inspired, please
consider contributing.
====
Rule details can be found at
http://emshort.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/cover-art-drive/#more-227
and the images themselves are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23900105@N05/
====
The current status is as follows:
Cover art submitted and accepted, or submitted by author:
Adventurer's Consumer Guide, by Øyvind Thorsby
All Roads, by Jon Ingold
Attack of the Yeti Robot Zombies, by Øyvind Thorsby
Balances, by Graham Nelson
The Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
Being Andrew Plotkin, by J. Robinson Wheeler
Blue Lacuna, by Aaron Reed
Coke Is It!, by various
The Edifice, by Lucian Smith
Fate, by Victor Gijsbers
A Fine Day for Reaping, by James Webb
Fine Tuned, by Dennis Jerz
Gourmet, by Aaron Reed
LASH, by Paul O'Brian
Lost Pig, by Admiral Jota
Nothing But Mazes, by Greg Boettcher
To Hell in a Hamper, by J. J. Guest
Treasures of a Slaver's Kingdom, by S. John Ross
Voices, by Aris Katsaris
Whom the Telling Changed, by Aaron Reed
Cover art submitted and declined or supplanted by other art:
Aisle, by Sam Barlow
Cover art submitted:
Ad Verbum, by Nick Montfort
Anchorhead, by Michael Gentry
Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri
Bad Machine, by Dan Shiovitz
Blighted Isle, by Eric Eve
A Change in the Weather, by Andrew Plotkin
Chicken and Egg, by Adam Thornton
The Chinese Room, by Harry Giles and Joey Jones
Christminster, by Gareth Rees
Deadline Enchanter, by Alan DeNiro
Degeneracy, by Leonard Richardson
Delightful Wallpaper, by Andrew Plotkin
Delusions, by C. E. Forman
Desert Heat, by Papillon
Downtown Tokyo, Present Day, by John Kean
Elizabeth Hawke's Forever Always, by Iain Merrick
Enlightenment, by Taro Ogawa
Firebird, by Bonnie Montgomery
For a Change, by Dan Schmidt
The Gostak, by Carl Muckenhoupt
Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin
In the End 2, by Adam Thornton
Janitor, by Peter Seebach and Kevin Lynn
Katana, by Matt Rohde
Lost New York, by Neil deMause
Masquerade, by Kathleen Fischer
Mother Loose, by Irene Callaci
The One That Got Away, by Leon Lin
Rameses, by Stephen Bond
Rematch, by Andrew Pontious
Shade, by Andrew Plotkin
Square Circle, by Eric Eve
Sting of the Wasp, by Jason Devlin
The Tarot Reading, by Michael Penman
Theatre, by Brendon Wyber
Cover art in progress:
King of Shreds and Patches, by Jimmy Maher (in progress by Josh
Lawrence)
Cover art requested:
Act of Murder, by Chris Huang
A Dino's Night Out, by Aris Katsaris
An Escape To Remember, by IF Whispers
Goldilocks is a FOX!, by J.J. Guest (to replace existing art)
House of Dream of Moon, by IF Whispers
Legerdemain, by Nathan Jerpe
Losing Your Grip, by Stephen Granade
Luminous Horizon, by Paul O'Brian
Persistence of Memory, by Jason Dyer
Photograph, by Steve Evans
Revenger, by Robb Sherwin (to replace existing art)
Scavenger, by Quintin Stone (line drawing by J. Robinson Wheeler
currently on IFDB, not as part of this project)
Sins Against Mimesis, by Adam Thornton
Undertow, by Stephen Granade
Waystation, by Stephen Granade
Wearing the Claw, by Paul O'Brian
Any work by Mark J. Musante
Cover art "opted out":
Building, by Poster
I don't know if I get the Chicken and Egg cover....is the font and the
cover just playing with the theme of "cracked eggshells" ?
As far as ITE2 goes, yes, I think faux-distressed emo is probably right
for it, although I think a brown cracked-leather background, rather than
bruise-purple velvet, perhaps, to go with the whole "brown study" theme.
But, um, I could be wrong too.
Adam
I think so. Though someone on ifMUD pointed out that the ideal Chicken
and Egg cover is unknowable until there is a Spider and Web cover off
of which it can knock.
There seems to me to be some merit in this attitude.
That attitude is entirely correct.
Although a James-Bond-style gun barrel with dripping blood and
Col. Sanders in the center would also work.
Adam
I think you meant "dripping yolk."
katre
>>There are still quite a few authors who would like covers for their
>>work, though, so if you're feeling energetic and inspired, please
>>consider contributing.
I'm not sure how to opt-in, exactly. Is it too late? I'd defnitely
appreciate better cover art for any of my prior IF.
--- Mike.
> I'm not sure how to opt-in, exactly. Is it too late? I'd defnitely
> appreciate better cover art for any of my prior IF.
That's how, and no, it's not too late. There's no guarantee that any
specific opted-in thing will get covered, obviously, but it raises
your chances if artists know you're looking.
I'll put you on the list.
Ok. Thanks!
--- Mike.
This project has been amazingly fruitful, I must say!
Regards,
Victor
If the pieces of cover art could be provided in high resolution, they
could be put in a design template of a Cd jewel case inset (both the
front inset and the back inset with the folded spines). From this
template a printable PDF-file would be outputted and made available
for download. This way anybody would be able to download Cd insets for
the games, print them out, burn the games on Cd:s and thus collect
them in the bookcase as real tangibles. A kind of feelie!
The design templates should be made available for download to the
artists, and could be provided in both the Photoshop format and the
InDesign format. This way the artists themselves can do the layout
work. The actual output to PDF files is probably best done by the
project administrator for the sake of consistency.
Well, could this upgrade of an already brilliant initial idea be
something to follow through?
(I have posted this at both rec.arts.int-fiction and in the discussion
on Emily Short's web site.)
I can see how this might be cool for people who burn their games off
to CDs (I don't, mostly, but that's just me). I'm going to nix the
part where I create template files and PDFs, though, for the cold and
unfeeling reason that I don't have time.
Of course, that doesn't mean that someone else couldn't start a CD-
template project (which would then be free to include art not
submitted to the cover art drive, too).