Last September, IFTF opened up the microgrants program for the very first time! People were able to apply for up to $1000 in funds to go towards helping them realize a cool IF project that would align with IFTF’s mission. Today, we’re happy to announce the results of that first grant cycle!
Four projects were funded: one focused on interpreter testing/development; one on documentation accessibility; one to chronicle community history; and one to mentor and create bridges with Indonesian writers. A total of $2400 was disbursed by IFTF to these projects following the recommendations of our independent Grant Advisors (a big thank you to them!). We are overall delighted by the proposals that were submitted and extremely happy to fund this very diverse slate of projects!
Blog post announcement with more details on the projects is here: IFTF Blog
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Thank you all and congratulations to the projects that were funded!
All 4 projects are cool. I could live without that history project, but I do find it cool anyways, because understanding the history of IF improves both the playing experience and the writing. All 3 other projects are simply fantastic, each in its own way. Not that my opinion should be overrated, but anyway.
This also helps people new to the IF community, to know and understand the players, (pun intended) authors and their works that help build up the scene that we now know today. In particular the more recent era, from 2016-2023 that saw the proliferation of choice-base entries, amongst other things, and new insights.
Oh forgot, hearty congratulations to all who got their projects launched, the rocket has taken off!
My view on this is: History helps categorize games. And that helps players and writer.
As you probably know, a ton of categories exist. And this categorization is helpful. Just one example: Older IF (for example from Infocom) tend to be a bit cruel and perhaps even unfair to players (puzzle, dying, need to restart etc.) Whether you like or hate hard gamed, knowing this part of history helps
It helps understand conventions that grew over the decades, in-jokes about hollow voices or being eaten when your flashlight goes out, and references to adorable robot sidekicks.
