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Interactive Fiction Competition 2001 Results

Posted by michael on from the lie-down-in-front-of-bulldozer dept.

david.given writes: "The results of the annual text adventure game competition have been posted (remember when the competition started? You've played them, you've voted for them, now see who won. Much kudos go to Jon Ingold, whose game "All Roads" placed first. As someone who didn't come first (33rd, actually) but had a lot of fun anyway, let me extend my warmest thanks and gratitude to everyone who took part. Without you, none of this would be possible."

6 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. If 'yall haven't played this stuff, try some time. by cduffy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm curious as to how many of 'yall haven't played interactive fiction. I got started back in the Infocom games (with Zork and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) and still spend some time playing with the competition's results each year.

    If you're new to IF and looking for some good games, let me reccomend a few from past year's winners:

    The Meteor, The Stone And A Long Glass of Sherbet (by Graham Nelson) is far and away my all-time favorite short piece of IF (though it still took long enough to get through that I had a great deal of fun -- not *too* short, by a long shot!). Photopia is one I also introduce to friends who are more interested in the artistic/story-telling aspect of IF -- it's a really, really beautiful story.
    Forgive the rambling, but if you're new to IF (or have been away for a while), try these games; they really allow one to see how imagination compares favorably to the flashy graphics that all so often leave nothing to it.

  2. You are sitting at a terminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The glow of the screen illuminates your fingers.
    > FP
    I don't know how to 'FP'.
    > Post 'FP'
    Your post has been received.
    Moderator: -1 Offtopic
    Moderator: -1 Redundant
    Moderator: -1 Overrated
    You are dead.

    You are sitting at a terminal.
    The glow of the screen illuminates your fingers.
    >

  3. Almost all of them run on Linux. by cduffy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One of Infocom's innovations Way Back In The Day was "z-code", a bytecode (much like Java has) that they could distribute their games in with only a platform-specific interpreter that needed to be written for each platform. A great many of these games are still distributed in Z-code form, and thus can be run practically everywhere (even my Palm Pilot!). TADS, another popular language/platform for these games, also has a Unix interpreter available.

    There might be others with different interpreters that aren't cross-platform capable, but most (almost all?) of them are.

  4. My opinions by gblues · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I don't know how the hell "All Roads" won. It's a confusing, pointless game that does a very poor job of storytelling. More of my opinions on the IF competition entries can be found in my diary: here.

    Nathan

  5. Explanation of the Z5 format by Tsar · · Score: 5, Informative
    Z5 is the an interactive fiction story file format (Z for Zork). You need an Infocom/Inform interpreter to run it. These include Frotz and Zip, and are available for many platforms, such as: Run the appropriate interpreter, load the story file, and off you go.
  6. My Top Three Faves by Yekrats · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Being one of the entrants to the Competition (5th place, yay!) I was not allowed to vote, but we were allowed to send in our top three favorites for a "Miss Congeniality" vote. In that light, here were my three favorites:


    1. Earth and Sky: Designed to be an interactive fiction version of issue 1 of a super hero comic book. Fun stuff, if you're into the super hero genre.


    2. Moments Out of Time: A time travel story, allowing a character to go back in time before an apocolypse and record data for the future. You start the game, choosing from a collection of gadgetry to help you on your mission.


    3. No Time To Squeal: Please, no jokes about the title for a second or two. This story (though a bit linear) packs an emotional whallop about a husband, his very pregnant wife, and his psychotic business associate.


    Kudos to all of the authors. Personally, I think it was a pretty good year for the IF Comp, but some will argue with me on that point.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une pipe.