Comp Entries that Run on a Server

Competitions IFComp
21

Does anybody know if online TADS play via gs.tads.io is reliable, performance-wise?

The Quest system has a similar setup, where you either download the game and run it in a Windows-only interpreter, or play online at textadventures.co.uk. But the latter site is horrible: Gameplay gradually slows down to a halt, and the game occasionally restarts. This might be due to the increased traffic during IFComp, but still, that’s the one time of the year when online play needs to work absolutely flawlessly.

I don’t have a Windows machine, and I’m fed up with being kicked out mid-game during online play, so I always skip the Quest games when judging IFComp. Which is sad, because many of them have received favourable reviews, presumably from people on Windows.

As an author, I wouldn’t even consider writing in Quest until this situation is resolved. But I don’t know about TADS online play. Is it reliable? IFDB certainly seems reliable, and it’s hosted under tads.org, but it appears to be running on a different server.

1 Like
22

It might be in the specific author-submission guidelines which are only available when the comp is running, but I’m almost sure I’ve seen that one of the submission methods is to upload a PDF or similar document (plain HTML?) with a hyperlink to whereever the game actually lives.

23

You may want to cross-post this question to the TADS part of the forum. Nikos may have some information.

24

I similarly have had issues with Quest online. Large games can hesitate for a long time. I played one of Steph Cherrywell’s older games and I thought the parser had hung up when it took like 20-30 seconds to respond sometimes.

I’m in the same boat that I really like lots of what Quest offers, but really don’t want to dive in and use it if releasing is dodgy on non Windows systems.

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25

I’m developing a browser based IF game for the IFcomp, I’ll be making it from scratch so I won’t be using an engine or interpreter.

Is it allowed to just put it on itch.io and provide a link to the page?

26

You can, though I’m pretty sure itch.io only supports static webpages, so why not also upload it to the comp?

27

Thanks for the reply, but what do you mean with ‘static’ webpages? I’ve been using itch for a while for all of my browser games. It works really well, you can just play it on there without downloading stuff.

28

You can enter with a hosted game on an external website per the rules:

My entry runs on an online platform; it’s not downloadable. What should I upload as my entry’s main file?

Create an HTML file that links to your game, and upload that. This file can contain any style or content you like, so long as it clearly links to (or embeds?) your entry.

…but you can upload the game to the IFComp site so it will be available (and playable if it’s HTML or gblorb) there and release on itch simultaneously once the Comp games are available.

There are some IFComp voters who will only play games that are contained in the day of release zip file that they get from the IFComp, and won’t bother going to an external site. Others may be confused thinking they have to register if they’re unfamiliar with itch and will push back for that reason. The rules require that the game is available for free during the comp voting so I would set itch to “no payments” because even that donation nag will put some people off.

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29

Alright, that’s clear, thanks.

I did read that part in the rules but I was confused by ‘create an html file’. I can upload the files but I don’t think you can just download and play it by opening the index.html page without it being hosted as a package on a site.

So does this mean that the IFComp has a dedicated place for making these games playable on their servers, just as it would be playable on a site such as itch.io? Because the latter makes it really very easy.

30

A static webpage means it’s just plain HTML (with JS and CSS) but no PHP or anything other kind of dynamic back end.

And yes, the IF Comp will host static webpage entries - that’s half of them most years!

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31

Yes, just like itch. You can upload an HTML file to IFComp (or a zip file containing index.html in the top layer with supporting files) and it will play on the website. They host games during the comp, but they are taken down after the voting is over.

The submission section is open and working, and you can test upload and preview your game on the IFComp site right now if you want.

1 Like
32

OK, thanks. I just uploaded a test file, but the Play Online button is not there. There’s only a download button while I did follow the instructions.

So it doesn’t work exactly like Itch does. Too bad!

Guess I can just put a html page in there with a link to itch.io. Maybe not very user-friendly but it’s something at least.

33

Luckily the server is up way early so you can test these things. Did you upload bare HTML? I might be wrong and it might need to be in a zip file. It also has to be named index.html.

34

Hiya, yes, I did do all of those things. In as many combinations as I could think of :slight_smile:

But that’s fine, right now my plan is to just upload an HTML page that contains the link to where it will be hosted. That way you’ll still see the ‘Play Online’ button, so no big deal. This is fine by me!