Ectocomp2024 is live!

Hi!

UPDATE:

Games are available.

Spreadsheet for all the reviews in this thread:


Ectocomp2024 is live! You can now proceed to join. (and start working in the games, if you have not already started ;))

As you may know, this year we pay tribute to 40th anniversary of Ghostbusters, with the fantastic keyart by artist, Daydreamy Crustacean.

Also, this year we have a huge change in how we organize the comp. This year we have only one itchio page with all languages in. This is a leap of faith and letā€™s hope itchio filters are up to the task at hand during the competition. Ideally, we would discriminate by filters to see the selected games, and this year we have 4 languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, plus ā€œothersā€. So practically anyone can enter any game in any language, and we optimize for games with multiple languages on the same game page.

Finally, I want to thank IFTF staff for kindly moving the IFcomp schedule.

Also, @OlafNowacki for suggesting adding German to the comp, and kindly translate the rules. @smwhr for translating the rules to French and helping with the host in past editions. And overall to all the comminity that every year works to do this event something special.

Thanks a lot!

36 Likes

And a plea:

The website is still very fresh, please, report any bug, typo or forgetfulness, you can send any suggestion in a private message.

Also, Iā€™m moving to a new house, living between crates and the cracks in the walls, so this year I have less time than ever, so all the help you can bring to mantain the comp, fill files at IFDB, keep a list of reviews, and such, will be very VERY welcome. Overall, I will limit myself to post something here and there at twitter, so feel free to use the hashtag ectocomp2024 and spread the word (better if it is within the community, I mean, Iā€™m thinking in Mastodon, really, I have no time to go there right now). And of course, please, join in, participate, give feedback to authors, etc. Thanks in advance!

16 Likes

Someone of the community pointed that the use of generative AI in the La Petite Mort category would not be fair for the rest of humans participants. So, we have added a new rule that only applies to La petite mort:

ā€œGenerative AI is strictly forbidden for La Petite Mort. You know, this is designed to be a test for the human resilience. Machines have nothing to do with it!ā€‹ā€

Also, this point is under the rule for ā€œwhat counts for the 4 hour limitā€, that isā€¦ text and programming. That means that you can still use generative AI for the cover, but not for programming or text input.

And thatā€™s it. For Le grand guignol it is allowed.

Thanks!

9 Likes

Does CSS/styling count as ā€œcodeā€ for the 4-hour limit?

In past years, it specifically has notā€”weā€™ve been able to take our time styling things after writing the text.

3 Likes

My favourite IF competition! (Sorry, IFComp)

Iā€™m not sure I will be able to take part this year, alas. But I might try a 4-hour game anywayā€¦ Surely by the end of October I can manage that. Right?

8 Likes

I decided to make it my first comp ever. Am I stressed? Yes. Am I excited and hyped? Also yes. See you all there.

14 Likes

Itā€™s part of why I love ECTOCOMPā€”there are a lot of expectations around an IFComp entry, but the four-hour limit forces me to scope projects appropriately and not let that scope creep, and it keeps me from sinking hours and hours and hours of time into it.

This year Iā€™m doing a Petite Mort entry with Ada and Sarah (from Labyrinthine Library) and a Grand Guignol entry with Anais (from Loose Ends) and I canā€™t wait!

10 Likes

I love Ectocomp! It is one of two comps I have entered. I am totally immersed in writing a game for PunyComp. I wonder if I could do two?

We will see. Iā€™ll ponder whether or not I have the capability between now and Tuesday.

Thanks for organizing the Ecto again this year!!

I already have a seed idea. ;)__

9 Likes

Does CSS/styling count as ā€œcodeā€ for the 4-hour limit?

Nop.

1 Like

We canā€™t wait to see those, either!!!

2 Likes

Iā€™m entering the Le Grand Guignol category for the first time this year. My original plan was to write the game that became PARANOIA for La Petite Mort, but since I, uh, have now already written that (and a good thing I did, since it took much longer than four hours), plans had to change!

7 Likes

We have some news to share.

Italian has been added to the competition, so this year we have 5 languages supported.

Italian has been added on behalf of Sophos Ioun y Raya (RebelNightmare), who translated the rules to italian.
Thanks.

12 Likes

I think there might be a problem with the language section of the submission form. I checked off English, but when I clicked Submit, it said I had to check Spanish as well if I wanted to proceed. And then when I had both English and Spanish checked, it said I had to check off French as well. So I checked all the languages, and it let me submit the game.

4 Likes

Thanks for reporting this, Iā€™m gonna take a look.

1 Like

Hey, looks like itā€™s fixed!

4 Likes

Every year I think Iā€™m too busy find time to enter Ectocomp, and every year it gets me because ā€œItā€™s only a little speed written game. I can put aside a few hours to work on something like this right?ā€ So I wrote up an entry :sweat_smile:

Agree, I think this is one of the reasons why I love ectocomp. It gives me permission to write something short and quick and makes me keep a limit on it so it doesnā€™t scope creep out of control (like the rest of the projects Iā€™m working onā€¦)

12 Likes

I have a game for EctoComp 2024 almost finished. I am on the lest section and working through several ā€˜ifā€™ statements and getting their logic properly configured. After that, I have to polish the narrative and then beta testing.

9 Likes

I think Iā€™m officially moving from the Petite Mort to the Grand Guignol category for this year. Thereā€™s just too much debugging to do and not enough time left to do it!

11 Likes

Iā€™ve started on a game! Weā€™ll see if I can finish it by Wednesday. :laughing:

7 Likes