Interactive Fiction Comp 2002 Open for Signup

MarkedMan writes "The 2002 Interactive Fiction Competition is now open for author signup and prize donation. http://ifcomp.org/ For those who are not in the know, interactive fiction is sometimes known as text adventures. In general these are games like Adventure, Zork or Photopia where there are no graphics, just text descriptions. (On the semi-rare occasions when graphics or audio accompanies the piece, it is almost always just for atmosphere.) Yes, there used to be commercially viable computer games that were like... books. As opposed to current games, which are like... television. And although these text pieces are no longer commercially viable, they are certainly still being produced..."

Text is nice

[ObviousGuy]

Sometimes the best way to improve gameplay is to take out the superfluous graphics.

Of course, I wouldn't want to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein in text mode.

Re:Text is nice

[Jester998]

"I wouldn't want to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein in text mode."

You mean you don't play TTYquake [mr.net]???

First Person Shooter Interactive Fiction

[Diet Rapture]

You're in a maze of high-resolution passages, all photo-realistic. > N You come across a twitchy bodybuilder in tattered fatigues. He appears to be part of a vaguely evil paramilitaristic cabal. He's wielding a huge chain gun and coming at you in a zigzagging formation. > Esc Q So, you can't handle the adrenaline rush of first person shooter interactive fiction? Are you sure? > Y

books and television

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

Yes, there used to be commercially viable computer games that were like... books. As opposed to current games, which are like... television.

But truly the best and most successful games, from tetris to the sims, look like neither books nor television, but like games

I'd probably be more interested in interactive fiction if I found more reason why a work of interactive fiction would have been better as plain old noninteractive fiction. I'm sure such reasons exist, anyone care to offer their favorite reason?

Re:books and television

[drekmonger]

>more reason why a work of interactive fiction
>would have been better as plain old
>noninteractive fiction.

Interaction creates a sense of immersion, drawing the reader into the story--literally linking the fate of the main character and the reader.

Plus, some people enjoy solving text adventure style puzzles.

Try Photopia by Adam Cadre, generally regarded as being one of the best pieces of modern interactive fiction. Like most IFComp entries, it's a short game--playing it all the way through will only cost you an hour or two of time.

If you end up enjoying Photopia, try downloading other past winners of the IFComp.