Current events

Game Releases

June 2005 Game Releases

• CCAB Comp 2005 released three games sometime between June 19th and June 22nd. Download from either of the competition's homepages and vote for:
  • Lauren's Awakening (TotalDirt2000; Jun-2005; ADRIFT).
  • Sex Artist (A. Ninny; Jun-2005; TADS 2).
  • Those Annoying Aliens (EvilBob; Jun-2005; TADS 3).
• Escape to Freedom (Richard Otter; 16-Jun-2005; Adrift). This is an Adrift port of a Commodore 64 game by Mario Moeller originally created in 1989. Download from Delron page.
• Space War!...and the PDP-1 (Paul Allen Panks; 15-Jun-2005; MS-DOS).
• Decisions (David Whyld; 05-Jun-2005; Adrift). ShadowVault Download.

May 2005 Game Releases

• Little Falls (Alessandro Schillaci, Roberto Grassi, Simonato Enrico, publisher: Mondi Confinanti; 27-May-2005; Glulx). Italian. Download from the Little Falls page.
• Segment Mini-Comp released 4 of the planned 6 games on May 26th. Download the games from the Segment Mini-Comp page:
  • Snowman Sextet Part I: But For A Single Flake a.k.a. Segment 1 (Roger Carbol; TADS 2).
  • Snowman Sextet - Part II a.k.a. Segment 2 (Jess Knoch; Z-code).
  • Kaboot's Story a.k.a. Segment 4 (Josh Giesbrecht; Z-code).
  • Fran and Bart Want a Snowman! Part V: Halfway Back Again a.k.a. Segment 5 (Tommy Herbert; Z-code).
• Weekend (Pierre; 26-May-2005; TADS 2).
• Dawn of the Demon (Paul Drallos; 23-May-2005; Z-code). Go to Paul Drallos' website for info and downloads.
• ADRIFT Intro Comp 2005 games were released on May 21st. Download the entries, and vote!:
  • The Final Question (David Whyld).
  • Murder Mansion (Reelyor).
  • Must Escape! (Robert Rafgon).
  • Outline (Robert Rafgon).
  • Point 2 Point (C. Henshaw).
  • Rift (Red-Sith).
  • Silk Road Secrets: Samarkand to Lop Nor (C. Henshaw).
  • Zack Smackfoot (Ken Franklin).
• In The Claws Of Clueless Bob (David Whyld; 18-May-2005; Adrift). Download from the Adrift website
• All Hope Abandon (Eric Eve; 07-May-2005; TADS 3). Download from IF Archive or here.
• Creepy Mansion (Kevin Lyons; 03-May-2005; MS-Windows). Requires .NET. Download from the Creepy Mansion website. Note that this is a free demo version, and that an expanded version for a small fee is planned.

April 2005 Game Releases

• Things that Don't Exist (Nicholas Matteo; 30-Apr-2005; Z-code). Awarded "Holy, A Text Adventure" at the Things That Don't Exist Excellent Remix Contest. A one-room joke, not a game.
• Praser 5 a.k.a. Fifth Praser Maze (Andrew Plotkin; 29-Apr-2005; Z-code). Zarfhome link. This is a Z-code port of a word and logic game that Zarf originally created in 1989.
• One Room Game Competition 2005 has concluded, and its only submission has been declared the winner:
  • l'Armando (Andrea Rezzonico; Apr-2005; Z-code). Italian.
• InsideADRIFT Spring Comp 2005 games have arrived! Vote before 1500 GMT, Sunday, May 1st, 2005:
  • A Day At The Seaside (Matthew Hunter; 17-Apr-2005; Adrift). InsideADRIFT Download.
  • Fire in the Blood (Richard Otter; 17-Apr-2005; Adrift). InsideADRIFT Download.
  • Frustrated Interviewee (Robert Rafgon; 17-Apr-2005; Adrift). InsideADRIFT Download.
  • The House Husband (Christy Henshaw; 17-Apr-2005; Adrift). InsideADRIFT Download.
  • Private Eye (David Whyld; 17-Apr-2005; Adrift). InsideADRIFT Download].
• Conan Kill Everything (Ian Haberkorn; 13-Apr-2005; Z-code). The title is the runner-up winner of StupidTitleComp.
• Mini-Adventure Demo Collection (Inform Version) by Jon Ripley. These games were originally written by Jon using Mini-Adventure; he has recently ported them to Inform:
  • Enchanted Castle (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • Graveyard Escape (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • House (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • Prison (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • Quest for the Holy Grail (Jon Ripley; 1996; Z-code).
  • Secret Maze (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • Secret Maze II (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
  • Shack (Jon Ripley; 1995; Z-code).
• The Grand Prix 2005 games were released! This is a German comp; see the textfire.de Grand Prix website:
  • Bananenrepublik (Christof Menear; 01-Apr-2005; Glulx).
  • Das Kopialbuch (Maximilian Kalus; 01-Apr-2005; Z-code).
  • Die Queste I (Jonas Engels; 01-Apr-2005; T.A.G.).

(See also Games Released in 2005.)

Review & Article News

Reviews and News in July 2005

• Review Exchange - Issue 5 (July 2005) is now available from David Whyld's Shadow Vault. Contains reviews of The Adventure Of Space Boy!, Escape To Freedom, The Final Question, The Fire Tower, Future Boy, Halloween Hijinks, In The Claws Of Clueless Bob, Lauren’s Awakening, Murder Mansion, Must Escape!,Normville, Outline, Point 2 Point, Rift, Sex Artist, Silk Road Secrets: Samarkand To Lop Nor, The Will, Zack Smackfoot: Escape The Jungle Terror.

Reviews and News in June 2005

• IF-Review. Charon reviews Firebird (Bonnie Montgomery; 1998; TADS 2).

Reviews and News in May 2005

• InsideADRIFT 23 Articles by David Whyld, Richard Otter and Christy Henshaw.
• Review Exchange - Issue 4 (May 2005) is now available from David Whyld's Shadow Vault. Contains reviews of Authority, Bedlam, Bolivia, Castle Quest, A Day At The Seaside, Fire In The Blood, Flat Feet, Frustrated Interviewee, House Husband, How It All Started, The Monster In The Mirror, The Mystery Of The Darkhaven Caves, Private Eye, The Prostitute, Selma’s Will, Threnody, Whom The Telling Changed.

Reviews and News in April 2005

• The latest issue of SPAG is out! SPAG 40 features interviews with Roberto Grassi of the Italian IF community, and with Ruben "Urbatain" Nieto of the Spanish IF community.

(See also: Reviews and Category:Publications.)

Competitions & Contest News

Results of Recent Competitions

• CCAB Comp 2005 a.k.a. Christopher Cole and A. Bomire's AIF Comp had three entries. 15 people voted on June 27th, and the winning game was Sex Artist (A. Ninny; TADS 2).
• Segment Mini-Comp released four of the six planned games on May 26th, where authors were to write up sections of a larger story. See Segment Mini-Comp. Organizer: David Cornelson.
• ADRIFT Intro Comp 2005 was a minicomp for beginnings of ADRIFT games. The results were announced on May 28th, and the winner was Silk Road Secrets: Samarkand to Lop Nor (C. Henshaw).
• Spring Thing 2005 concluded on May 2nd. The winner was Whom The Telling Changed (Aaron A. Reed; Z-code).
• InsideADRIFT Spring Comp 2005 concluded on May 1st with a three way tie for first place: Fire in the Blood (Richard Otter), Frustrated Interviewee (Robert Rafgon), and Private Eye (David Whyld).

Upcoming Competitions

Authors should be working on their entries for:

• LOTECH Comp 2005. Submission deadline: June 30th, midnight GMT. Organizer: Roberto Grassi. It was announced on July 1st that Roberto had received no entries, but later that day, he acknowledged receiving one. It's unknown whether the deadline has been extended or not. The late entry has not been released at time of writing (July 5th).
• IntroComp 2004 winners have until July 18th, 2005 to submit completed versions of their games in order to claim their prizes.
• IntroComp 2005, for introductions of new games. Intent deadline: July 1st. Submission deadline: was July 17th, now July 23rd. Organizer: Jacqueline A. Lott.
• French Mini-If-Comp, announced April 17th. Submission deadline to be determined; originally, June 21st was proposed. Potential authors should visit the submission date voting page and vote when they want the new deadline to be. The earliest proposed submission deadline is July 20th. Final submission deadline around September 30th. Organizer: Otto Grimwald (original idea by Stab).
• InsideADRIFT Summer Comp 2005, for new Adrift games. Submission deadline: August 21st. Organizer: Ken Franklin.
• The 2nd Annual (2005) 1 to 2K Classic Text Adventure Competition: Submission deadline: September 10th. Organiser: Paul Panks
• MedievoComp is a comp for Spanish IF with a medieval theme. Submission deadline: September 11th. Organizers: Baltasar and Urbatain.
• 11th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition is the big competition in October. Intent deadline: September 1st, 11:59pm EST. Submission deadline: September 30th, 11:59pm EST. Donate prizes. Organizer: Stephen Granade.
• Finish The Game Comp 2005 for Adrift games. Submission deadline: Saturday, 24th September 2005. Organizer: David Whyld.
• InsideADRIFT End of Year Comp 2005, for both new Adrift games and any Adrift game released during the 2005 calendar year. Submission deadline: December 18th. Organizer: Ken Franklin.

Competition Rumours

• Rumours are buzzing about a possible Hugo Mini-Comp? Suggested submission date: July 4th.
• Will there be an IF Art Show this year? Probably, but no announcement has been made yet. Details here when we have 'em.

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

Website News

• IFCollab is the new home of the IF Collaborators List, currently maintained by Mike Snyder.
• Game of the Week is a site suggesting one game each week to discuss on rec.games.int-fiction. The idea is to get more attention to non-comp games, to the benefit of authors and players alike.
• Renga in Blue is Jason Dyer's new IF blog. Check it out!
• IFWiki officially open to the public on Feb. 10, 2005.
• Plover.net gets hacked twice, hampering efforts to move accounts to a new machine. Seebs is working hard on the problem.
• IF Primogenesis- Mind's Eye Adventures IF Gold a brand-new IF community site dedicated to preservation of IF public heritage works as a new WIP Database. Similar efforts have preserved games on other platforms, eg. the Classic Amiga Preservation Society is one model community. This one is being developed, so stay posted for go-live updated website soon.

Tech News

• Rumour: Inform 7 is in the works. No release date is known.
• Windows Frotz 2002 1.06 released on Feb. 8, 2005 by David Kinder.

See also:

• Informary by Roger Firth. Latest news and developments concerning all aspects of Inform.