I went to the ifcomp.org website and did ‘inspect’ on some of the images. It looks like they display most of them at 700 pixels tall, with 700x700 being the most common size. There are also wider and skinnier examples, but they are all 700 pixels tall except for on 600x600 I saw (The Only Possible Prom Dress).
I’d say 700x700 would be nice. Inform 7 documents suggest 960x960 as an alternative size. But that should give you a general gist of things.
Also cover art needs to have credits to ensure it’s not copyrighted. I’m the one currently checking this for IFComp, and it’s a big hassle to track down art when someone doesn’t credit it, so please put the art credit either in your blurb (when you enter) or in the credits section of your game. If using AI art (which was allowed last year and I don’t think currently has any new rules about it), please say which ai tools you use.
(Speaking now from a purely personal voice and not officially, I’d avoid AI because its copyright status is up in the air, and whatever it comes down to legally IFComp will have to enforce in the end. I’ve used AI for one previous game’s cover art but will change it just in case).
I think the largest that Inform 7 will let you do is 1024x1024 (or thereabouts), which gives some room for the image to be displayed in a larger-than-thumbnail form without looking noticably low-res on a modern HiDPI display.
There was a thread about AI art on here recently that you can look up if you want to increase your blood pressure, I guess. Let’s just say that using generative AI (be it for images or text) in your game would invite controversy bordering on outright hostility.
Just like to chime in and say I’d like to volunteer to do cover art for peoples’ entries. Not sure how many I’ll be able to do, or if it’s against the rules to do covers for more than one entry, but I’d be up for it if anyone is interested!
One thing that’s also been done in the past is a bunch of thumbnail-size images, one for each of the, say, top 45 games. Obviously this is for after the end of the comp, and you probably will not want to do this.
I don’t intend on submitting to 2023 but for the future - we announced the title and synopsis of our game + a few not-in-the-game drabbles for a bit on tumblr before switching tack. would that make us ineligible to submit to ifcomp in the future? no gameplay has been released
That sounds like a similar amount of information to what you’d post here when asking for beta testers. So long as the game itself hasn’t been publicly posted, it should be fine.
(Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with the Comp or its organiser.)
My general feel is yes, though you may wish to write Jacqueline to make sure.
From what I remember of the rules, you can even compilable source code provided, and there, people could pretty easily comb it for important events/clues (and even, if it’s in Inform 7, test commands that provide a walkthrough–or, in fact, just a walkthrough.txt). You just can’t have a binary that people can download and run, or a webpage people can open and start clicking through.
I’ve seen people share details about their entries beforehand, and it did not violate the spirit of the competition.
Publicly shared source code does not count as a release. The competition considers translations of previously-released works into another written language as new works. Therefore, this rule does not disqualify such translations from entry.
If you are unsure whether your game meets this rule, please ask the organizers.
I’d like to see more clarity on situations or examples where someone is pretty sure they’re not violating the rule, such as: does having a public repo with a tweego game in it count as public exposure? Does an actual HTML file? But I think you’re well clear, if you’ve discussed general ideas and no big plot points.
But as @ArdiMaster says, I’m not affiliated with IFComp!
Oh IFComp, how I (will) miss thee. I won’t be able to complete my entry on time, however this motivates me even more for next year. Also, I look oh-so forward to playing and rating everyone’s submissions. Yay!
How long does it normally take for people to start entering stuff into the prize pool? I’m wondering if I should enter in something like a cameo in my next game. Is it too early or am I just fretting about the comp and keep checking the rules for any changes (then glancing at the pool out of sheer boredom)?
