Spring Thing deadline passed! The games have dropped!

I’m sure people do play to completion, but if you upload a game and are upfront about it being an incomplete demo, and then past some point have an ending that says “Thanks for playing! This is the end of the demo!” then everything should sail smoothly.

EDIT: You could probably try to submit anyway and then send an email to the organizers that you rescind your bailout. (“Bailout”? “Ejection”? “Dropout”? English, how do?)

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This is literally what I did for last year’s SpringThing.

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The above is all true, but I will say, it is the case that games released for one of the major
events tend to get way more plays and attention than those released outside of them, unless the author is already pretty well known. So if you’re deeply invested in folks seeing the best/most complete version of your game, it might be best to wait for IFComp (or ParserComp, if your game is parser-based), especially since many events do have rules saying they only accept games that haven’t been previously released, even partially (IntroComp is an exception).

Sorry to be a downer - it sucks to miss the deadline this close to the end! And FWIW on the strength of your last game I’m definitely looking forward to this one, too.

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If you consider this option, you could also add TALJ #3. You’d just need to add a tutorial if you don’t already have one.

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I did think about that… But IFComp is so huge and there’s so many games! It feels like it would be difficult to get noticed, especially as a new player in the scene with only one other game under their belt. (Even if it was well received— thanks!!)

TALJ and ParserComp aren’t in the running this year, I’ve planted my flag on Twine and that’s unlikely to change. I suppose I could wait for EctoComp, but that’s half a year away… closer than IFComp though.

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I certainly do. My initial selection of games, mostly the longer ones, I’ll play fully. I’ll happily put off other games in the comp just to finish the games I’ve selected.

Maybe you’re thinking of IFComp, with its 2-hour playtime limit?

I think Ectocomp comes just after IFComp, with a little overlap even. (IFComp in october, Ectocomp in november?) Has something changed about the dates?

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Perfect time to plan out a Grand Guignol entry and then channel all the adrenaline into a last-minute Petite Mort :wink:

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Mom??

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I think you should just be brave and put it in IFComp. I mean, I haven’t played The Hole Man, but I have heard of it and I do remember the reviews (so I will play it one day) - so it’s not like you’re a complete novice or an unknown. No reason why your new game wouldn’t do well in the big competition.

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Yeah, that was the conclusion I came to too. I’m still bitterly disappointed I didn’t make it this time, but hopefully I can use the six extra months to polish it until it SPARKLES. (And won’t totally forget about it until two weeks before.)

In lieu of that, here’s a little of what you’re going to have to wait six months for. I don’t think this counts as a partial release… and if it does, you didn’t see nothin.

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After a brutal week-long marathon i just accepted some performance issues and clutter and propped my piece up neatly in the back garden,

Naturally most of the actual «Oh so THAT is how it works» realisations came at ~6 hours before the deadline so there was a lot of panicked spring cleaning happening after that…

Sidenote: So cleaning up the piece and adding all the extra bits and bobs and claiming it wasn’t a garden feauture but rather a fully functioning car, is an option?

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My entry last year was a garden entry.

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Oh I outright covered my game with neon signs that say “This car has lawn chairs for seats and the windshield wipers are actually just me with a rag, strapped to the front of the vehicle. But this not-car car-like vehicle will still get you from A to B, so I’m hesitant to park it in the garden”, lol.

Although the engine block was kind of a dice roll for a bit. Almost had an interesting garden ornament to contribute, up until 3 days before the deadline.

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I had so much trouble getting my I7 game to release the way I wanted that I forgot to run a spell check before I submitted it

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I have done truly nothing else but work on this game for like the last two weeks and now I have to remember how to be a person.

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With IFComp 6 months away? Why, you’ll just be forgetting and remembering it all over again.

And by “you” I totally don’t mean “me.”

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Even when I finished the game (give or take a few details) two weeks ago, I continued to dream in Inform 7, and thus have not gotten to the stupid work that actually pays the bills.

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I’m still working on getting things set up and will email people if there are any problems, but I should say that things are looking pretty great! All the games I’ve seen so far during testing look well-done and amazing. I think people will enjoy this comp!

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In general, moreso for IFComp but any competitive situation (and I’m not intending to single out @inventor200) it’s best to refrain from making excuses or apologizing for your game’s potential shortcomings in the blurb or reference materials. In IFComp when there are 70-100 games you don’t need to talk someone out of trying your entry. If there’s something wrong with it, they’ll find out. The whole point of entering a comp is for feedback and if you already know what’s wrong with your game, that’s kind of moot and “please accept my deformed and meagerly imperfect gift because it’s the thought that counts!” isn’t the really the expectation you want to set for players.

Ideally you don’t want to release in a situation where you have to warn players how not to crash the game or apologize for unfinished parts.

I understand the impulse is to pre-warn, but that’s like going into an audition for American Idol and saying “this song isn’t perfect but I’m going to do it anyway just in case your standards happen to be low today…” :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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The impulse to apologize in advance for one’s work when submitting it to be judged/evaluated in some way seems to be very common for writers. I’ve heard veteran editors and agents complain about how annoying it is to get manuscripts with cover letters that are like “well, this isn’t that good, but….” And then of course the recipient, who probably has dozens of manuscripts on their desk right now, can’t help but go “Well, why should I spend my time on this if even you don’t think it’s any good?”

I feel very fortunate to have heard these complaints back when I was in my early 20s, because I’m pretty insecure about my writing and my general impulse is to apologize for everything all the time, but I also have a mortal fear of Being Annoying, so this was an extremely effective way to convince me to never preemptively apologize for my work. (Playing your insecurities against each other is great and healthy and I recommend it! :stuck_out_tongue:)

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