IFComp 2021 water cooler

You are at the water cooler.

You have taken a break from your cubicle, where you’re programming your IFComp 2021 entry. You see MATT, a handsome devil with a goatee.

Your cubicle is SOUTH. Matt’s cubicle is EAST.

> ASK ABOUT PRIZES

“Oh, did you donate something to the prize pool, too?” Matt says. “I emailed the Prize Coordinator with my donation, and when he didn’t reply after a while, I emailed Jacqueline. She said Thomas is in the middle of moving but received my email. If you donated something, I’m sure you’ll hear back soon.”

> ASK MATT ABOUT ENTRY

“This my second year ,and I’m excited!” Matt’s massive pectoral muscles move as he sighs. “Last year, I programmed my parser entry in Quest, and this year, I’m delving into Adventuron. How about you?”

> TELL MATT INFORM

“That’s great! I’ve heard a lot about that platform. Say, what you do you think about authors also being able to serve as judges this year?”

> SAY GOOD IDEA

“I think it’s a good idea, too, but of course it’s an experiment. I’m impressed with the honesty and enthusiasm of the IF community so far, though, and I’m sure this will be a great way to evolve the contest.”

> X

You are at the water cooler. Your cubicle is SOUTH. Matt’s cubicle is EAST.

> S

You return to your cubicle. Post-it notes and other things related to your entry line the walls.

> WORK ON ENTRY

You sit down and get back to work on your entry, vowing to return to the IFComp 2021 water cooler for more stimulating discussion whenever you need a break. That guy Matt is magnetic!

> X NOTES

One note says “Competition Schedule” and gives a link: IFComp - Competition Schedule

The next deadline is September 1, 2021, the last date authors can register their intent to register. After that, it’s September 28, the last day to upload games to the competition site.

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> READ UPDATED IFCOMP PRIZE POOL

You visit IFComp - Prizes and discover the donation of A short (up to 5000 words or 30 minutes) audiobook of a story by the author.

“What?!” you scream. “That’s crazy! I hope I place well in the competition!”

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> GIVE MATT A HIGH FIVE

You select an appropriate altitude and prepare to give the proper number. An imperceptible twitch of Matt’s enviable biceps, fantastic lats, and exquisite carpals is all it takes for him to reciprocate in perfect choreography. As the completely socially appropriate gesture of mutual affection comes to an end, you mentally note that in a different life he could be a harsh but fair sea captain defending thousands almost single-handedly from hordes of sinister invaders of the most treacherous kind, outsmarting his enemies just as often as he outmuscles them.

TELL MATT THAT IS AN INTERESTING AND UNIQUE PRIZE
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> TELL MATT I AM WORKING ON SPEED-IF JAM INSTEAD BUT THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING WELL

I didn’t understand that sentence.


Edit: Full disclosure though, the game I plan on submitting to Speed-IF is a short prequel to the more complex game that I’ve been steadily plugging away at. So if all goes well :crossed_fingers:, you’ll get the prequel for this event and the actual game submitted to IFcomp next year.

Unless everyone hates the prequel, maybe. >_> Or maybe I’ll release it to spite you all anyway.

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That’s the spirit!

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> PUT FISH IN WATER COOLER

You remove the bottle, slip the goldfish in, and replace the bottle. Nobody has noticed you did anything naughty. The goldfish swims around in the water cooler bottle.

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That’s naughty? You saved a goldfish…

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Whether it’s saved really all depends on how observant the people partaking of the water are.

> DRINK WATER

Cheap disposable plastic cup (from dispenser near cooler): Taken.

Water (from cooler) (into cheap disposable plastic cup): Taken.

You taste nothing fishy. Refreshing!

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> CHALLENGE MATT TO ARM WRESTLING

“IF is great and all, but are you up for a different kind of competition? Two arms enter, one arm leaves.”

“Sure!” His steely talons firmly grasp the end of your appendage, fitting perfectly, like the pieces of a fully-assembled George Foreman grill. “Good luck!”

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> WAKE UP

You wake up from a long nap to discover Nathan Summers has ripped off your arm. Damn.

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You snooze, you lose.

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> X TABLE

You’ve never seen marble dented like that before.

XYZZY

That’s not a verb I recognize.

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STAUNCH MATT BLOOD

There is no blood to staunch. Out of the shoulder socket a knot of Twizzlers hangs limp; assorted candies have spilled out and litter the ground. Some have already been unwrapped.

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> EAT CANDY AND TALK

Matt opens one of the candies one-handed and eats it. The amputated arm immediately grows back in the form of melted chocolate and then solidifies. He’s like the T-1000 but more fun.

He tosses the candy wrapper 10 feet across the room, neatly into the trash can. “So, how’s everyone’s IFComp entries coming? I reached a milestone yesterday by completing my alpha programming. Then I put my poor wife through a two-hour beta test in which she stubbornly refused to use the game’s tutorial mode. She might have been ready to shoot me once we were done. But I got a lot of useful data.”

1 Like

12 posts were split to a new topic: IFComp 2021 Beta Testing

So, I was thinking about this speed jam thing Fun Summer IF Speed Jam #1 and I was thinking about the prior release rule, specifically how IntroComp says it qualifies for the prior release rule. Is that, like, categorically true, or a general rule? It seems kinda weird that somebody might have, I dunno, a 38-room game but showing the first seven rooms counts as a prior release. How different does it have to be to not be a prior release? Could this hypothetical IntroComper like, just rename a bunch of things and then it counts as not prior released, or…

I guess, like, why shouldn’t somebody be able to test out an intro in IntroComp, go “okay cool! the intro works!” and then write rest of it and submit it as a novel work? Uh, to be clear, I’m not saying it should just changed or anything, it just surprises me.

IntroComp is an interactive fiction competition that was conceived by Neil deMause. Entrants submit excerpts of unfinished games, which the public votes on. Currently, only the top three games in the voting receive placements and are called the ‘winners’. Winners have a year to complete their games before they can claim their prizes.

(reference: IFwiki)

As you can see, it’s not just an intro you’re entering. For it to be a valid entry, you also need to complete the game within the year. So if you entered it into both, you’re legitimately entering a completed game into two competitions simultaneously.

Hi everyone, hopefully it is okay if I cross-post this here for visibility. I didn’t think it would do much good to start a new thread with the same topic in the same subforum.

I am seeking a second round of testers for my IF Comp entry, “Cygnet Commitee.” Details are under the link. Compensation is available if time is an issue.