I was sure I’d seen such a list gathered by someone here on this forum – I was going to link it from IFWiki – but now I can’t find it. Did I dream it?
The tension from IFComp not making an exception for IntroComp definitely seems like a shame. I get the impression that’s a considered decision, though, although I’ve not followed the reasoning.
But, the timing doesn’t seem great if we make an exception allowing a work in the same year’s Intro- and IFComps:
You’d have to declare your intent to enter IFComp (deadline ~1 Sep) before formally getting feedback / results from IntroComp (start of Sep). (OK, you could always declare your IFComp intent speculatively, then maybe withdraw, but it feels like you’d have to feel fairly committed to entering IFComp from the start);
You’d have a month or less to finish your work, including reacting to IntroComp feedback. (And be under pressure to release now nonetheless, because you’re not going to get another chance to get the exposure of an IFComp.)
(And, allowing the work into the following year’s IFComp wouldn’t be ideal either, as you’d definitely miss the IntroComp prize deadline of the start of September, because your work cannot be published until October.)
That’s right! We were talking about a making a list in that thread. I completely blanked on it. Please forgive the oversight, @StJohnLimbo , I’ve had some distractions in my personal life recently.
Some years ago at the Boston IF meetup (aka PR-IF, the People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction), Nick Montfort suggested the idea of meetup members releasing games under the imprint of PR-IF, akin to a record label or book publishing house. I don’t think anyone ever ran with this idea, but I think something along those lines could work as a way to release IF works outside of competitions/jams but still get some amount of attention: find/arrange a group of authors and release your games together under some sort of umbrella as a common brand.
You could either release them all at once, as an event or compendium, or release them sequentially over time, maybe with “catalog numbers” even, which might encourage people to “collect” them all. Or combine both approaches and put out periodical “magazines” of releases. The games wouldn’t have to have anything in common, although it might be good for the brand to have some sort of commonality so people know what to expect when they play a new game fron that brand. Maybe the authors could pool resources to hire a designer to do cover art in a particular style, for example (think 4AD album covers).
I think things like this have been done in the past, before my time, e.g. the IF Art Show, or TextFire? Anyway, I figured it was worth bringing up the idea again and maybe it will inspire someone.
In the offline (or less-online) part of my life, I write paper-based COYA books, and those are released under just that sort of arrangement, and receive — I am sure — far more in the way of attention than if I did it solo. So I’d assume that would work well.
