Current events

Game Releases

August 2008 Game Releases

• What Happens in Vagueness ("The IFW4 Team"; 26-Aug; Z-code). The 4th IF Whispers game.
• The Phoenix Move (Daniele Giardini; 21-Aug; Glulx). Download.
• IntroComp 2008 released six games on August 21:
  • Bedtime story (Marius Müller as "Taleslinger"; Z-code 8).
  • The Bloody Guns (Stuart Allen; JACL).
  • Fiendish Zoo (Elizabeth Heller; Z-code).
  • Nine-tenths of the Law (Jack Welch; Z-code 5).
  • Phoenix's Landing: Destiny (Carolyn VanEseltine; Glulx).
  • Storm Cellar (P. F. Sheckarski; Z-code).
• A AAAAA AAAAAAAAA ("AAAA AAAAAAA"; 17-Aug; Z-code). It was found here at glorioustrainwrecks.com.

July 2008 Game Releases

• InsideADRIFT Summer Comp 2008 released five ADRIFT 4 games on July 6:
  • Door (Richard Otter as "Eric T. Dorrath").
  • Happy Valley (Jacqueline H. as "Lumin").
  • Hunting Ground (Dannymac247).
  • The Marlin Affair: Prologue (Jacqueline H. as "Lumin").
  • Wolves At The Door (David Whyld).

June 2008 Game Releases

• The Abbey (Steve Blanding; 26-Jun; Glulx).
• Dog Saves Baby (Alex Kriss; 23-Jun; Glulx).
• The Foggy Banana Adventure (DaveH; 22-Jun; ADRIFT 4).
• 30 Minutes (Anastastia Trombly; 22-Jun; Z-code).
• The Gallery of Henri Beauchamp (Mike Vollmer; 17-Jun; Z-code). Website.
• Students of Literaturkurs 12li4 at Liebfrauenschule Köln created several German games using the T.A.G. authoring system by Martin Oehm. Find out more from their games page:
  • Ab in die Berge? (Julia G; 02-Jun).
  • Abenteuer von Antonius Bartscher (Anika and Simon; 02-Jun).
  • Aladin, oder der Orient mal anders. (Meli and Jule; 09-Jun).
  • Colonia mortalis (Kilian Zilkens; 13-Jun).
  • CRAZY??? (Wiebke; 02-Jun).
  • Das eindeutig unbestreibar individuell ablaufende Leben (David; 02-Jun). Download missing?
  • Der Brief (Christian Kuckertz and Maximilian Strehle; 02-Jun). Download missing?
  • Der Fall LFS (Blacky and Lenny; 02-Jun).
  • Die Karte (Sebastian & Stephanie) (Sebastian Mielke; 02-Jun).
  • Die Suche nach dem Glück (Inga Hilbrandt; 02-Jun).
  • Die Zeitreise auf den Spuren von Bartholomäus (Julia Hoffman and Nora Hager, both as "Findet Nemo"; 02-Jun).
  • Ein beschwerlicher Aufstieg (Sven; 09-Jun).
  • Er trug schwarz... (Helena Held and Franziska Schulin; 02-Jun).
  • Fahrt nach Irgendwo (Alina) (schnix; 09-Jun).
  • Giftiges Dinner (lauramax; 02-Jun).
  • wüste (Maren Uhle; 02-Jun).
• Taunting Donut (Kalev Tait; 12-Jun; Z-code).
• Flawed Addendum (Jalbum; 11-Jun; Z-code).
• Macrocosm (Shaun W. Donaldson; 07-Jun; TADS 3).
• Inventory (Christopher Armstrong; 06-Jun; Z-code).
• The Comp With No Name 2008 released 3 games on June 4:
  • Pieces of eden (Nicodemus; ADRIFT).
  • Beanstalk the and Jack (David Welbourn; ADRIFT).
  • The Perfect Spy (Blackmaster; ADRIFT).
• French Speed-IF (3rd edition) released 4 Z-code games in French on June 1st:
  • Agent de la Paix Terrestre (JB).
  • La quête du Baal (Benjamin Roux as "Yoruk").
  • Citronille (Samuel Verschelde).
  • La route des vins (Eric Forgeot as "Otto Grimwald").
• 2008 AIF Mini-comp released 9 games somewhen around June 1st?:
  • Bad Day to be a Princess (Evil Bob; TADS 3).
  • A Lady in Waiting (Knight Errant; TADS 3).
  • Lusty Lovers (Negative Slippy Slide; Z-code).
  • A Night With Kes (Purple Dragon; Z-code).
  • Office Fantasy: The Boss' Wife (A. Bomire; TADS 2).
  • Office Fantasy: Working Late (A. Bomire; TADS 2).
  • Riding Home (Raul; ADRIFT 4.0).
  • Sexual Awakening (Tanner V. Chorus; ADRIFT 3.9).
  • Winter Break (Dudeman; Z-code).

May 2008 Game Releases

• 1st Time (DaveDKW; 31-May; ADRIFT 4). AIF.
• Cincinatti County Day School's Historical Simulations class produced some student projects using Inform 7 during April and May (all listed together here):
  • Greensboro Sit-In (Abby Kreiner, Sara Tanzer, and Becca Moura; 18-Apr).
  • Apollo 11 (Brooke Heinichen; 03-May).
  • Cortes's Creed (Varun Kejriwal, Utsav Hedge, Brad Buechner, and Adam Karram; 18-Apr).
  • A Mission from God (Baldur, Elliot, Grant, and Greg; 30-May).
  • Conversion of the Franks (Alexandra, Sophie, and Gabby; 20-May).
  • Wychurst Wanderings (Will, Cody, Daniel, and Alex; 20-May).
  • Paulinus (Gretchen, Kate, Alanah, and Will; 20-May).
  • Missionaries (Kevin, Mick, Trevor, and Jordan; 20-May).
• A very informal Speed-IF called bouchercomp produced a few games:
  • Escape from Lowell Prison (Doug Jones; 01-Jun; TADS 3).
  • Lowell Prison (Emily Short; 27-May; Glulx).
  • Lowell's Paradise (Jesse McGrew; 28-May; Z-code).
  • Pick up the pine box and die (Taleslinger as "Alan Smithee"; 28-May; Z-code).
  • Seeking Solace (Justin Larue; 27-May; Z-code).
  • The Wide-Open Gate (John Cater as "katre"; 28-May; Z-code).
• Il rovo (translator: Enrico Francese; 23-May; Z-code; Italian. Italian translation of The Thorn (Eric Mayer; 2003).
• Attack of the Terror Tabby!!! (Eric Mayer; 15-May; Z-code).
• in the woods (Anna Anthropy (is this correct?); 01-May; MS Windows). Homepage. Requires .NET. Written in C#.

April 2008 Game Releases

• Klub Karisma (Christian Bluemke; 25-Apr; Z-code; German).
• Le Pantin Electrique : Prologue a.k.a. The Electric Puppet (Christophe Géradon; c.22-Apr; Z-code; French and English).
• A day in life (John Goettle; c.06-Apr; Z-code).
• Spring Speed-IF 2008 released three games on April 6th:
  • EXTERMINATE! (Michael C. Martin; Z-code).
  • Gardening for Beginners (Juhana Leinonen; Z-code).
  • Spring Cleaning (Roger Carbol; Z-code).
• You Have To BURN ROPE WITH TORCH a.k.a. You Have To Burn The Rope (Michael Cook; v1: 05-Apr, update: 08-Apr; Glulx).
• Spring Thing 2008 released three games on April 2nd:
  • Blue Lacuna: Sneak Preview (Aaron A. Reed; Glulx).
  • Pascal's Wager (Dave as "Doug Egan"; Z-code).
  • Without A Clue (David Whyld; ADRIFT).

(See also Games Released in 2008.)

News and Reviews

News and Reviews in August 2008

• The third PDF issue of SPAC 2.0, the Spanish IF newsletter, has been published.
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 4 Number 8 (August 2008) in pdf and text formats.

News and Reviews in July 2008

• SPAG #52 - Includes A Blind Man's Take on Interactive Fiction by Ari Damoulakis; Works of Wisdom: A Comparison of Nate Cull's "Planner" and Aaron Reed's "Intelligent Hinting" by Ron Newcomb; an interview with Mike Rubin; reviews of An Act of Murder, Child's Play, Deadline Enchanter, A Fine Day for Reaping, Ghost Town, Gun Mute, Hors Catégorie, Lost Pig, Suveh Nux, Treasures of a Slaver's Kingdom, and Varkana; and SPAG Specifics of Metamorphoses.
• Terra d'IF, the Italian IF newsletter, returns! (View PDF.) It's no longer only about IF but about all possible forms of interactive narrative.
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 4 Number 7 (July 2008) in pdf and text formats.
• InsideADRIFT Issue 38 (View PDF) is published.

News and Reviews in June 2008

• Zork I Speedrun - 7min46sec - Yes, it's someone playing Zork I really quickly. Watch it on YouTube.
• English 401: Viking Studies - Whoa. There's SEVENTEEN Inform 7 games about Vikings here, thanks to an English class at Gettysburg College, PA in 2007. Or perhaps they're more like travelogues than games; we'll just have to play them and see. (Thanks to Emily for discovering the site.)
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 4 Number 6 in pdf and text formats.

News and Reviews in May 2008

• The second PDF issue of SPAC 2.0, the Spanish IF newsletter, has been published.
• Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 4 Number 5 in pdf and text formats.
• The Textfyre interactive fiction company has released the source to FyreVM, their implementation of Glulx written in C#. See this RAIF thread.
• The latest issue of the PC Format magazine features a 4 page article on IF. See this R*IF thread.
• Travis Hall announces a new IF/RPG hybrid Retro Text Game or RTG. You can read about his progress at his blog.

(See also: News in 2008, Reviews, Category:Publications, and Category:Websites.)

Competitions & Contest News

What's Hot

Competitions currently in their voting or judging stage:

• Xcomp 2008. The Spanish Xcomp focuses on experimental IF works in the Spanish language; exploring new possibilities, either in technical or in the literature aspects. There are 8 entries. Voting deadline: last week of August 2008. Organizer: Jenesis.
• IntroComp 2008. Intents deadline: July 20th, 2008. Submissions deadline: August 20th, 2008, 11:59 PM EST. Six games. Voting deadline: September 5th, 2008. Winners will be announced on ifMUD, September 7th, 2008, at 2pm Eastern (7pm UTC). Organizer: Jacqueline A. Lott.

Results of Recent Competitions

(Most recent comps are listed first.)

• InsideADRIFT Summer Comp 2008. Submission deadline: was 2000 BST Tuesday 1 July 2008; later extended to Sunday 6 July 2008. Voting deadline: 2000 BST Thursday 31 July 2008. Five games. Organizer: Ken Franklin. Competition for ADRIFT games. Winner: Happy Valley (Jacqueline H. as "Lumin").
• 2008 AIF Mini-comp. Nine games were submitted, and the results have finally been announced in the latest AIF Newsletter. The overall winner is Winter Break (Dudeman; Z-code), which also scored at the top of the Writing, Technical, Sex, and Enjoyment categories.
• The Comp With No Name 2008. Organizer: Cowboy. Three games were submitted. A juried panel voted on them. Games were publicly released on June 4th. Winner: Beanstalk the and Jack (David Welbourn; ADRIFT).
• Spring Thing 2008. Intents to enter may be sent to the organizer beginning from September 30, 2007. The intents deadline was March 1, 2008. The deadline for paying the entry fee electronically was March 15, 2008. The deadline for authors' finished games to be sent (and for authors' entry fees if sent in the mail) was April 2, 2008. The deadline for voting was May 5, 2008, 11:59 PM EDT. Organizer: Greg Boettcher. Winner : Pascal's Wager (Dave as "Doug Egan"; Z-code).

Upcoming Competitions

Authors should be working on their entries for:

• IF Comp 2008. Intents deadline: September 1st, 2008. Game submissions by September 29th, 2008. The organizer is once again Stephen Granade.
• The Odd Competition. Competition for ADRIFT games. Submission deadline: September 17, 2008, 11:59 PM (PST). Organizer: Abbi Park.
• French Minicomp 2008. Competition for games in French. Submission deadline: September 21, 2008. Organizer: Eric Forgeot.
• 2008 IF Art Show. Submission deadline: was May 2nd, 2008; now postponed to c. October/November 2008. Organizer: Marnie Parker.
• InsideADRIFT Game of the Year Comp 2008. Competition for any ADRIFT games that have been written and/or released during the calendar year of 2008. Submission deadline: Sunday 7th December 2008. Voting deadline: midnight 31st December 2008. Organizer: Ken Franklin.
• BBBen's 2009 AIF Threesome Comp. Submissions deadline: January 31, 2009. Organizer: BBBen.
• La Comp Más Monstruosa. Spanish Monster Comp. Submissions deadline: October 15, 2008. Organizer: Mel Hython.

(See also: Category:Competitions, Category:Minicomp, and the Competition Calendar.)