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 letās 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 āothersā. 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.
The website is still very fresh, please, report any bug, typo or forgetfulness, you can send any suggestion in a private message.
Also, Iām 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, Iām 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!
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:
āGenerative 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!āā
Also, this point is under the rule for āwhat 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 thatās it. For Le grand guignol it is allowed.
Iām 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?
Itās part of why I love ECTOCOMPāthere 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 Iām doing a Petite Mort entry with Ada and Sarah (from Labyrinthine Library) and a Grand Guignol entry with Anais (from Loose Ends) and I canāt wait!
Iām 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!
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.
Every year I think Iām too busy find time to enter Ectocomp, and every year it gets me because āItās 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
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 doesnāt scope creep out of control (like the rest of the projects Iām working onā¦)
I have a game for EctoComp 2024 almost finished. I am on the lest section and working through several āifā statements and getting their logic properly configured. After that, I have to polish the narrative and then beta testing.
I think Iām officially moving from the Petite Mort to the Grand Guignol category for this year. Thereās just too much debugging to do and not enough time left to do it!