If memory serves me right, as the turn of the century drew near, the introduction of Inform 6 – a free authoring system as capable as the commercially-offered TADS – produced a flowering of amateur and hobbyist works of interactive fiction. Many of these were of a quality comparable to store-bought products of the preceding decade.
As the internet became available to homes worldwide, fans of interactive fiction began to gather in two newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction and rec.arts.int-fiction. Serious authors tended toward the latter, which they nicknamed “raif” as a shorthand. Today’s challenger is one of many who flocked to that newsgroup and began to learn about the tools and techniques for producing IF, helping to establish the enduring community that lives on here in this forum today.
Lucian P. Smith (@lpsmith) is a venerable wise sage of the IF community, first descending to the masses in 1997 to dispense the glorious The Edifice to the 3rd Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. The game won the comp, and also gathered that year’s XYZZY Awards for Best Puzzles and Best Puzzle, the latter for the game’s ‘language puzzle’, now objectively calculated to be the greatest parser puzzle of all time. Realizing the awesome power of his abilities, and being unwilling to shame the community, he retreated, creating a couple instances of speed IF in the following year. Even that was too great a burden, so he then retreated even further into his ivory tower, emerging only to dispense his wisdom as a Reviewer Judge, or to participate in the collaborative projects, An Escape to Remember, House of Dream of Moon, and Cragne Manor. Finally realizing that retreat was boring and dumb, he escaped his ivory tower only to find himself newly trapped in the glaring lights of Keyboard Stadium, with nary a co-author in sight! Will his old-school sensibilities combined with his faltering grasp of Inform 7’s syntax and foibles allow him to prevail? Probably not, but let’s clap anyway. He’s old [1][2][3], and will probably appreciate it[4].
[Editor’s note: All claims in the preceding paragraph were 100% vetted and approved by lpsmith, who provided many particulars. Their veracity should not be doubted.]
Smith’s debut release took first place in a field of 34, outpacing Babel, Glowgrass, She’s Got a Thing for Spring, A Bear’s Night Out, Sunset Over Savannah and many other notable games from that cohort. Was it a lucky break – a mere fluke – or does it signify deep skill and untapped potential? The answer to that question begins today, as he boldly enters Keyboard Stadium to challenge Afterward, the defending Iron Chef for Inform 7.
Stay tuned for lpsmith’s pre-match interview, in which he’ll discuss his entry into the IF scene, his experiences as an author and player, and more!