Updated 9/5:
Unfortunately, there were no organizers for the traditional AIF Minicomp this year and last year, so an alternative event was held instead, the AIF Minifest and Writing Salon. Instead of the traditional Minicomp author gladiator battles put on for the amusement of the readers, the Minifest was designed as a communal space for authors where they could get together to support each other as they wrote some games and released them at the end. Although there was a lot of creative story ideas generated by many authors at the beginning, only two games were completed by the end. You can trace the development process of these works as part of the AIF Writing Salon.
The two games that are being released as part of the Minifest are
ADRIFT 5
After hitting it off with the lovely Katherine on an online dating site, you are going to meet her for a first date at Benscamo's Cafe.
Note (9/30): To play ADRIFT games, you need to run the ADRIFT interpreter program. Then, open the .taf file in that program. To find out where to download an ADRIFT interpreter, please consult the AIF FAQ.
and
Mrs. Harrow and the Rake by Lost Trout
HTML (Twine)
Seduce Mrs. Harrow as a Victorian era rake.
Original:
I'm still in the process of uploading the Minifest games to a proper site, and I won't make a proper announcement about the Minifest until then. But for those of you who want a head-start over the weekend, I've temporarily uploaded the games into Dropbox.
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These authors participated in the AIF Writing Salon, so if you're interested, you can trace the development process of these works there.
I was hoping for a bigger turnout but I had a good time doing this! I think having the community involved in the development helped a lot with actually getting the work done. For me at least.
ReplyDeleteCongrats guys! Never got a chance to play them yet (just downloading them now), but getting something finished is a HUGE step!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lot of fun with the process and getting something out there, and maybe we can hope for some more in the future? In the mean time, I'm going to get to playing these ones! ;)
Since the game sizes are quite small, I've decided to just keep the files in Dropbox for now and do the official announcement.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say thanks for running this - I tried to get something done but unfortunately real life got in the way. However what it showed me is that I can do it - and I fully intend on finishing my work, and potentially using it as a stepping stone to something else. So thanks for running the minifest!
ReplyDeleteI planned on getting my first game together but trying to find an engine and not finding the time got in the way... hey it might be ready for next year though :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for running this and thanks to the authors who participated! I enjoyed both games!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all who came out the other side with a published game or even a tangible effort to be proud of! Alas, too many speed bumps put paid to mine (For every element that was suited to Twine, another would have been better using TADS).
ReplyDeleteIt was still a worthwhile endeavour and I've already re-purposed scenes and mechanics into other projects, so a lot of it won't go to waste. I think I'm a better writer for the experience even if this one didn't transition beyond story into game. The concept and characters may still live on in other media.
I'll have a good play of the completed games and offer some feedback.
des thd games contain graphics?
DeleteNo. AIF games are generally text-based games. The pictures above are just some renders of some "box covers" that I threw together.
DeleteWhat is a .taf file?
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't get mine done. Unfortunately it edged to close to IFComp. I got a lot of "meh" feedback so I may scrap it and do something totally different.
It's an ADRIFT game file. Mostly people export a .blorb or .exe these days but .taf files are playable if you have ADRIFT installed.
DeleteI thought the premise was good, but I wasn't sure if you could find enough jokes to sustain a full-length game, which was the direction you seemed to be heading in. Unfortunately, in the current political climate, it would be hard to get the tone right because the line between funny satire and savage trolling has blurred recently.
DeleteI very much like the popover windows in Mrs Harrow AtR. Is it part of SugarCube or a plugin?
ReplyDeleteIt's Claretta's popup macro. It's a plugin that reuses SugarCube's file saving dialogs for game purposes.
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