I’ve tried my hand at drafting a new featured article for the ifwiki homepage that’s a little more up to date. Still a work in progress. Any important things I’ve overlooked or systems I’m mischaracterizing?
It’s a thriving time for interactive fiction right now. An explosion of new platforms and forms have arrived on the scene in the last few years. [[Varytale]] and [[inkle]] let writers create typographically gorgeous [[Choose_your_own_adventure|CYOA]]-style stories; [[StoryNexus]] makes more procedurally assembled, stats-based worlds that unfold slowly across weeks of play. [[Andrew Plotkin]]'s [[Seltani]] is a web-based multiplayer ecosystem for easily creating living worlds, while [[Versu]] (co-created by [[Emily Short]] is driven by complex AI for stories about character and social interactions. Existing platforms for interactive storytelling like [[ChoiceScript]] and [[Twine]] have become increasingly popular, rediscovered by new groups of makers and increasingly receiving recognition in the wider indie gaming world. 2012 [[XYZZY]] winner [[howling dogs]] by [[Porpentine]] was a 2013 IndieCade selection, while the prior year’s festival featured [[Christine Love]]'s [[Analog: A Hate Story]], a text-driven [[visual novel]].
Of course, parser-based IF is still thriving, too. [[Quest|Quest_(Language)]] now has a web-based authoring and distribution platform for text adventures, while [[PlayFic]] provides a similar service for [[Inform 7]] games, and [[TADS]] authors can now make use of robust networking capabilities. The [[Vorple]] library lets authors interface with [[Parchment]] and JavaScript code to create beautiful interfaces or multimedia content for IF. Community projects like [[Apollo 18+20: The If Tribute Album]] or the continuously evolving IF roguelike [[Kerkerkruip]] bring authors and players together online, while meetup groups like Boston’s [[People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction]] and San Francisco’s [[SF Bay Area Interactive Fiction Group]] provide real-life chances to connect and introduce text games to new crowds. Annual competitions from [[IF Comp]] to [[Spring Thing]] and [[IntroComp]] are still going strong, and a few favorite IF authors have returned to the scene (try [[Adam Cadre]]'s [[Endless, Nameless]]).
If people are generally liking this general direction, I can incorporate suggestions, clean this up (needs more of a conclusion) and send it to someone with admin access to the ifwiki homepage. (Is that just David Welbourn, or are other people in that camp too?)
(Oh and also, if I left you or your favorite new thing off the list, it’s probably because I forgot about it, not because I hate you.)
minghua
September 28, 2013, 7:43pm
4
Great write-up. I was wondering why the front page has been featuring a 3-year-old piece.
A suggestion: you probably want to link to [[TADS 3]] instead of [[TADS]] page when mentioning the networking features.
Eriorg
September 28, 2013, 8:24pm
6
Thank you for your work!
aaronius:
If people are generally liking this general direction, I can incorporate suggestions, clean this up (needs more of a conclusion) and send it to someone with admin access to the ifwiki homepage. (Is that just David Welbourn, or are other people in that camp too?)
There’s a list of IFWiki admins , but you don’t actually need an admin to edit the featured article: just create a Template page (similar to Template:Outreach 2010 , but with your own text), then edit Template:Feature article and replace “{{Outreach 2010}}” with “{{}}”.
Great!
I say post that on the wiki straight away and let people add to it later if needed. (That is the point of a wiki, no?)
Done!
Anyone want to help fill in some of those red links?
