How To Win The IF Comp (a work in progress)

Jamespking · November 5, 2012, 10:28am

Only worthwhile rules:

make a game and make it seriously (no trolling, please)
enter the Comp
Place somewhere (who cares) and have people play and, sometimes, enjoy your game (even ONE is enough).

Addendum:

Have very skilled people make a game on your setting.
Blush.
Be king.
Rule the world.

maga · November 5, 2012, 11:04am

It is not 1978 any more. A good chunk of the voters weren’t even born then, and this is not primarily a retrogaming audience. Games that mostly set out to recreate the style of early text adventures are unlikely to do well. (It’s possible for a game with old-school sensibilities to match up to new-school expectations, but you should be aware of modern concerns.)

Don’t enter coding exercises. It is a good idea to write a simple game to teach yourself a new IF language. It is not a good idea to enter that game in the comp. (In particular, don’t do this if your game is set in your office or apartment.)

The first screen is the most important part of the entire game. What the player sees before they ever enter a command will set their expectations for the whole work. Go over this with a fine-toothed comb, because you need to get this right. A good first screen will give the player a strong sense of what the game’s about, without overwhelming them with a wall of information. Concise, clear writing is invaluable here; weak, error-riddled writing will make the player feel pessimistic about your game before they’ve even started to play.

Make your game player-friendly. This is a big subject, but some easy ways to improve it include:

Include as many likely synonyms as you can for objects and actions. Combine verbs where possible. Don’t force the player to adopt your specific phrasing.

…

Homebrew systems have historically done poorly. If you enter a homebrew system, it should offer two things:

It should be a system that genuinely offers something to the player that established platforms don’t.

It should be a good, substantial game on its own merits, not just a demo of the system.

If you include feelies – supporting documents or images outside the game itself – make sure the player knows about them in-game Don’t expect players to read them before they start playing. If there’s any essential information you need to convey, it’s best to make it accessible within the gamefile.

The IF community is traditionally a community for parser-based games. In recent years, the community focus has broadened somewhat to accomodate (whatever word we want to use for CYOA), but this is far from a settled issue. In general, most voters are receptive to high-quality works of CYOA, some of which have done well in the past. However, some reviewers and voters are sceptical about CYOA entries in the comp, while others are downright opposed; even if you don’t agree with their concerns, you shouldn’t be disappointed by them.

(early on) Work out how ambitious you’re being. Comp judges are interested in big ideas, but they’ll only reward them if you’re able to pull them off. A more modest idea, done really well, is a much safer bet.

emshort · November 5, 2012, 11:23am

I realize this was meant as, er, a provocation, and that this point in particular is not true on the face of it – a majority of winning past games had puzzles. But if one is concerned about this problem, there are some things that address it:

– ramp your puzzle difficulty; make the first puzzles your player encounters fairly easy, and then test them to make sure that your beta-testers experience them as easy. A player who has successfully solved a few things is likely to have more faith in the author when he gets to harder stuff; and

– write your hints and walkthrough well, as Wade describes above. Being able to look up single puzzles and have it explained how and why they work makes it much likelier that players will access only the part they absolutely need and will have faith that the game is fair. David Welbourn’s annotated, multi-section walkthroughs are an especially good example, as they typically explain game logic and are divided into clear headings, as well as giving the exact commands required to win.

maga · November 5, 2012, 11:32am

This is more like what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules.

Ghalev · November 5, 2012, 12:12pm

Man, I really did show up late to the party [emote]:([/emote]

Jamespking · November 5, 2012, 12:17pm

Well, I thought it was quite obvious I was joking…

maga · November 5, 2012, 12:23pm

It seemed as though you were making a serious point in a jokey way, which is why I made a serious response in a jokey way.

Jamespking · November 5, 2012, 12:44pm

oh, well, yes. The first part is a serious point. The second, obviously not.
But guess you are right. Nit-picky, but right [emote]:)[/emote]

Ned_Yompus · November 5, 2012, 1:22pm

I also think that testing other people’s games is useful for empathizing with the person on the other side. It is nice for when you need a break from coding etc.

I also know, from briefly talking to one of the authors of Rover’s Day Out, that having one person do the game script and one person do the game coding can help people focus. I mean, I think both of them are capable people who could do both the script and the coding. It would just take them longer. And like most creative projects, it’s important to have a long chunk of time to focus on one particularly tough thing.

So collaboration is very much a good thing, and I’d like to see more of it, because I bet there are a lot of people with great stories who have trouble coding, and great coders who’d just like a story.

Also, this YouTube link of John Cleese’s lecture on creativity may or may not be helpful. The main point is that any creative endeavor needs a block of time, likely several, but–well, it’s just plain boring to be told that by any old person. Cleese seems to say it the right way. I suspect most people here have seen this, but it’s a boost for those who haven’t.

YouTube link: youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg

Transcript, for if you have watched enough of his skits, etc., that you can just sort of picture how he says what he says: github.com/tjluoma/John-Cleese- … t.markdown

Roody_Yogurt · November 5, 2012, 1:43pm

I apologize that this post doesn’t doesn’t really fit into the thread’s original theme, but I’d like to mention it anyways. For many of us, when we go enter the IF Comp for the first time, there’s the undeniable hope that our game will be loved by everyone. Sure, some people do see this happen, but for most of us, we find teaspoons of praise buried in (seemingly) heaps of criticism. Still, I think it’s actually kind of empowering when your game wins over the few and not the many- especially when your future works are likely to be just as divisive. You can give up the idea of trying to please everyone right then and there and know, hey, there are people out there who get it. That’s really all you need.

maga · November 5, 2012, 1:50pm

I was going to put No matter what you do, you are not going to please everybody in there; thanks for bringing that up.

emshort · November 5, 2012, 2:33pm

I think there’s also room for establishing an area for reviewing/feedback that focuses on positives; this is something we’ve occasionally talked about in previous years but not gotten anywhere with. I’ve taken a few experimental steps in that direction here:

sparklyifreviews.wordpress.com/

…though it’s not as long on content yet as it could be. But the idea is to supplement (not replace) existing critical feedback mechanisms with a non-spiky one that acknowledges a) writing IF at all is hard; b) putting it out in public is an act of courage, and we could use more voices; and c) there is something worth celebrating in most IF, whether or not we want to turn around and recommend that particular piece as a representation of the best in IF to a wider audience.

I’m sure there will be some people whose reaction is “why should we coddle authors??” – but the point is that there’s already plenty of feedback that addresses problems or offers players advice about which experiences are most polished; what the community doesn’t have much of, in comparison with a lot of amateur art and fandom communities, is a sense of safe space for authors.

I don’t know whether this will seem useful enough to pursue in the long run, but if people like the idea and want to contribute, let me know.

Ghalev · November 5, 2012, 2:54pm

I’m not a comp guy at all … but I’m an encouraging-writers-is-at-least-as-important-as-schooling-them guy. I’d pitch in what I could (though I’m not sure what I could).

emshort · November 5, 2012, 3:32pm

Well, the key thing we need, really, is more content. I’d be happy to get you posting access if you’re interested; posts don’t have to be super-long or involved.

Ghalev · November 5, 2012, 3:51pm

Sure thing. I could probably commit to at least a little something every 4-6 weeks. There are certainly lots of IF efforts out there I’m happy to slather some constructive praise on [emote]:)[/emote]

emshort · November 5, 2012, 3:55pm

Woot, thanks! Invitation sent.

Jamespking · November 5, 2012, 4:59pm

I live this thing. If still in need I can be the pleasing guy with no effort.

emshort · November 5, 2012, 6:18pm

Er, are you volunteering to write positive feedback, or to be the recipient thereof?

Jamespking · November 6, 2012, 1:38am

A bad typo made this thing unreadable. It figures. [emote]:)[/emote]

I LOVE this thing. And volunteering to write. Of course, not now.

emshort · November 6, 2012, 1:54am

Cool. PM me or email (emshort@mindspring.com) with your preferred email address, and I’ll send you an invite.