The 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition
Introduction
------------
What began seven years ago as an effort to encourage the
development of short works of interactive fiction has grown into a
competition involving some fifty authors and around two hundred
judges. Each year people from around the world write text
adventures that can be played in two hours or less. In recent years
the definition of what interactive fiction is has changed, as each
year more games with graphics and sound are entered in the
competition.
Whether you've never played a text adventure before in your life,
or you've judged in every competition since 1995, we're glad you're
taking part.
Welcome to the Seventh Annual Interactive Fiction Competition.
Playing The Games
-----------------
(Note: for the latest information, please visit the competition
web site at
http://www.ifcomp.org)
You may play the competition games in any order you
choose. However, if you don't think you'll have time to play all of
the games before the end of the voting period, you are encouraged
to use Comp01.z5. Comp01 is a front end for the competition which
is designed to look like a text adventure. It has information about
all of the games, and will present them to you in random
order. That way, even if you don't play all of the games you will
have played a random sampling of them. Comp01 can also keep track
of the scores you give each game. You don't have to use Comp01, but
if you decide to give it a try, load it using a Z-machine
interpreter (more on Z-machine interpreters in a moment) and type
ABOUT for more information.
There are two types of competition games: interpreted games and
platform-specific executables.
Interpreted Games
Interpreted games are written using a computer-independent
language, and can thus in general be run under many different
operating systems. To play an interpreted game, you need an
interpreter. There are several types of interpreted games in the
competition.
The first are TADS games. They are found in the tads folder of the
competition directory. The filenames of TADS games end in .gam, and
they are run using a TADS interpreter. You can find TADS interpreters
at
http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXprogrammingXtadsXexecutables.html
The second are Inform, or Z-machine, games. They are found in the
inform folder of the competition directory. The filenames of Inform
games end in .z5, .z6, or .z8, and are run using a Z-machine
interpreter. Z-machine interpreters can be found at
http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXinterpreters.html
The third are Glulx games. They are found in the glulx folder of
the competition directory. The filenames of Glulx games end in .ulx
or .blb, and are run using Glulxe. You can get a copy of Glulxe
from
http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXprogrammingXglulxXinterpretersXglulxe.html
The fourth are ALAN games. They are found in the alan folder of the
competition directory. ALAN games consist of two files, one ending
in .acd, the other in .dat, and are run using an ALAN
interpreter. You can find one at
http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXprogrammingXalanXexecutables.html
The fifth are ADRIFT games. They are found in the adrift folder of
the competition directory. ADRIFT games run only on Windows
systems. You can get the ADRIFT Runner at
http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~jcw/adventure/
The sixth are Quest games. They are found in the quest folder of
the competition directory. Quest games run only on Windows
systems. You can download the Quest package from
http://www.axeuk.com/quest/
The seventh are web-based games. This year there is one game
written in Java. It can be found in the web folder of the
competition directory. You can play the game on any computer that
has the Java VM installed. To play it, load the .htm file from that
directory in a browser.
Platform-Specific Games
This year there are two types of platform-specific games: MSDOS and
Windows games. The MSDOS games are found in the msdos folder of the
competition directory. The Windows games are found in the windows
folder of the competition directory. They are playable only on DOS
and Windows systems or with a DOS or Windows emulator.
Rating The Games
----------------
Rate each game you play by giving it a whole-number score from 1 to
10. Larger numbers are better. Your rating must be based on no more
than two hours of cumulative playing time. If, after playing a game
for two hours, you want to keep playing it, you must give it a
score *and not change that score later if you resume play*.
Comp01 can keep track of your scores for you, which will make
submitting them easier. You must submit them before the end of the
day on November 15th, 2001.
Submitting Your Scores
----------------------
Once you have played and rated as many games as you can before the
November 15th deadline, you need to submit your scores. You do not
have to play all of the games to vote; however, you must play at
least five games. There are three ways to vote. The first is to use
the web-based interface located at
http://www.plover.net/~textfire/comp01/cgi-bin/vote.cgi. The second
is to use Comp01. Comp01 will create a file called rating.txt with
all of your ratings. You can e-mail that file to the vote-counter,
Mark Musante, at
[email protected]. The third is to put all of your
ratings in an e-mail message and send that to Mark. You may submit
different ratings, and only the last one you send in will be counted.
If you choose to e-mail your votes to Mark and you do not use
Comp01's rating.txt file, use the following format for your
e-mail. In the subject line of your message, put "VOTE". In the
body of the message, put the name of each game you are rating
followed by its rating, with one game name and rating per
line. Send your message as plain ASCII. Do not use HTML or send
your votes as an attached non-ASCII file like a Microsoft Word
document.
Remember, you must vote before the end of the day on November 15th,
2001, where "end of the day" means "by 11:59 P.M. EST." Votes
submitted after that date will not be counted, so if you won't have
access to the Internet around that time, be sure to vote early. You
can always change your votes at a later date.
T-Shirts
--------
As in years past, I am selling competition t-shirts. They will be
short-sleeve cotton shirts with the competition logo on the front
and a list of the top games and their authors on the back. The cost
in US dollars will be $15 for people living in the US or Canada,
$20 for people living in other countries. The shirts will be sent
out after the competition ends. We will be taking orders through
November 10th, 2001.
If you would like a shirt, you have two payment options. One, you
may use the online service PayPal to pay via credit card. You will
have to sign up with their service to do so. You may sign up at
http://www.paypal.com. Should you wish to pay in this fashion, pay
the appropriate amount ($15 for each shirt if you live in the US or
Canada, $20 for each if you live outside the US or Canada) using
PayPal and send an e-mail to
[email protected] containing your
name, shipping address, a list of what you're ordering, and
requested shirt sizes if necessary (S, M, L, XL).
If you would prefer not to use PayPal, send a check, money order,
or cash for the appropriate amount ($15 for each shirt if you live
in the US or Canada, $20 for each shirt if you live outside the US
or Canada) along with a card containing your name, shipping
address, and requested shirt size if necessary (S, M, L, XL) to:
Stephen Granade
1221 C Rosedale Ave.
Durham, NC 27707
U.S.A.
(Shirts larger than XL are available for an additional $1 per X
above XL.)
I can only take cash, checks, or money orders outside of PayPal,
and they must be in US dollars. If your order will not reach me by
November 10th, do not send it. This is a very limited-time
offer.
