Ifcomp games are up! Long Live IF!

Android emulators - Brilliant, I’ll hunt some down!

Life on Mars - If it helps, I was able, with WinRar, to simply remove the question mark on the folder before unzipping. I can’t imagine it’ll throw any problems now…

CressidaHubris - FWIW, there’s another way - you don’t have to be a power user, but it’s beyond the scope of a casual user. You can use a file manager app (I use FileApp) and put all the ZMachine games in there, and the app should allow you to “Open file with…”; and you should be able to open them with iFrotz. It’s still one-by-one, but it’s much more like “opening the game you want to play when you want to play”. And if you can’t add the files to your file manager using iTunes, you can use one of the alternatives floating around the desk* - I used DiskAid, and very happily purchased its successor iMazing.

Anyway - this whole process is non-trivial, but it’s not too complex either, and once it’s set up you have a framework for any future games; you load a bunch into your file manager and then you just play them as you open them in iFrotz. They’re stored in your iOS device, and it loads very quickly.

*Web. I meant “floating around the web”. I’m leaving the word, though, instead of editing it out, because I still haven’t figured out why the heck I wrote “desk”, and will be mulling it over

Mostly, I just didn’t like to use platforms as a primary organizational method any more. I preferred the thought of all entires on equal footing, at least at first sight.

I introduced this change last year, and didn’t hear much complaints about it, so I did it again!

Could someone who was having problems extracting the ZIP on Windows please download a fresh copy and try it again, and tell me if Mars rises as expected this time?

Works fine this time - thanks!

This year looks promising! Can’t wait to give the games a try! [emote]:D[/emote]

Sorry to bring it up again, but I think it got lost in the noise:

What will the updates be like? I mean, there were silent updates yesterday, and silent updates today. Will, at some point, a changelog become available saying which games have been updated so that we know which games we may have to re-download when it gets time to play them? Like, every couple of days, a bump saying “Since the last update post, the following games have been updated:”.

I see there are update dates on some of the entries. Maybe a “sort by most recently updated” option for the list of games?

That’d help, yeah. [emote]:)[/emote]

It looks like last year’s thread is no longer sticky. Time for a new one I guess.

The weird thing about To Burn in Memory is that it’s only playable online, but only has a “Download” link, which just downloads the URL.

There was a “Play online” link before the last update. I suspect that something went wrong in the updating. I’ll beep Jmac about it.

A new sticky is now in place.

Huh? Then what are all those files in the big downloadable Comp zip?

EDIT - Hey, BTW, what happens to the big zip file after the updates? Is it updated too? How often?

Guys, guys!..

I can tell from the title alone that To Burn In Memory is obviously a conceptual piece about how you can only store a copy of the game in your brain, using your memory.

Your fretty attempts to lock it down with such tawdry concepts as ‘files’ and ‘browsers’ are mock-worthy.

-Wade

I can confirm that “To burn in memory” works well offline from the big zip file.

…however, if the download button only comes up with an .url file, that may mean I can’t access the offline updated version (there was an update yesterday), unless I’m missing something…

Just a note to say that if anyone’s been having problems accessing the url for the final To Burn in Memory release (toburninmemory.com/), just try again, the issues have been resolved, it should work fine now. Also, please only play the game at that location as the version in the zip file cannot be completed and is quite broken (I only uploaded it as to not be disqualified, in retrospect I should have just put up a url like for the current download).

If anyone’s curious as to why it has to be like this, if you try playing the “offline” version without an internet connection it will not function since it references webfonts and online libraries.

Bump re update notifications?..

I’m holding off playing/sorting any comp games until this is addressed, so I know what to expect. If it will always be silent updates please just let me know already so that I go on an updating binge after the 15th of November so I can start playing then.

Update for those not following along on Twitter or Planet-IF: Emily is Away has been withdrawn from the competition.

Ongoing maintenance of the ifcomp.org website is the product of a single person, who works on it on his spare time. As much as I’d like to implement every single interesting feature request I hear, I only have so much attention to spare on it – and even then, the task of adding new features or improvements without making the site too complex or hard to use is always a daunting one. It’s not a task I ever wish to rush.

As always, anyone may feel free to file both bug reports and feature suggestions on the software’s GitHub repository: github.com/jmacdotorg/ifcomp I hope to give everything shared that way due consideration.

Peter,

The best way to encourage people to stop doing major updates in the middle of the competition is to play the games early, review them, and then refuse to change your reviews after the updates; right now, there’s really no disincentive to updating.