Monthly Archives: October 2008

IFComp: Adventures in Capture

October 26, 2008

Venturing ever farther with the next batch of IFComp entries, as I review my initial impressions of each game’s opening (introduction, “About” screens, and the first location), summarized by the Capture Score from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable). Just a reminder, no spoilers here, just early impressions.

Games covered here include “Grief”, “April in Paris”, “Ananachronist”, and “LAIR of the CyberCow”.

“Grief”, by Simon Christiansen

This game starts by asking me if I’m male or female. I like when games do this, given the extra amount of work that this typically requires, although I don’t yet know how well this is incorporated into the game or what kind of impact it might have on the narrative. Still, it’s the kind of thing that could give the game some extra replay value.

The game begins in a dream, at least so I’m told, and there [More...]

Category labels: interactive fiction | Leave a comment

Monks, Manuscripts, and Modern Technology

October 19, 2008

And now for something completely different.

This has nothing to do with the IF Comp. Nor does this have anything to do with adventure games, interactive fiction, or indie game development. It does, however, concern a medieval European abbey and the intersection between monks, manuscripts, and modern technology, and if you haven’t noticed I just can’t help but be drawn to juicy stuff like that.

I caught this story in the NY Times while traveling on a cross-country flight, and thanks to the miracle of the web you, too, can partake. John Tagliabue reports that a vast collection of handwritten medieval books and manuscripts, one of the oldest and most valuable collections in the world, is going online with the support of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. (Link may require a login to the NY Times web site.)

The monastery in St. Gallen, Switzerland, is so [More...]

Category labels: miscellaneous | 1 Comment

IFComp: Capture Me This

October 18, 2008

Onward with the next batch of IFComp entries, as I review my initial impressions of each game’s opening (introduction, “About” screens, and the first location), summarized by the Capture Score from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable). Just a reminder, no spoilers here, just early impressions.

Hard to believe, but with this next set I find myself only halfway through all of this year’s entries — and I’m only reporting my initial impressions.

Games covered here include “Dracula’s Underground Crypt”, “Search for the Ultimate Weapon”, “Cry Wolf”, and “Snack Time!”.

“Dracula’s Underground Crypt”, by Alex Whitington

Upon opening the game, I’m notified immediately that this release may be less than ideal because of the author’s recently discovered requirement for a social life. Later, after typing HINT, I come across the FAQ list (well, more precisely it’s the QTIWBFAIAEAMQATG list, but never mind that), the first [More...]

Category labels: interactive fiction | Leave a comment

IFComp: EnCaptured

October 13, 2008

Continuing yet again with the next batch of IFComp entries, as I review my intial impressions of each game’s opening (introduction, “About” screens, and the first location), summarized by the Capture Score from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable). Just a reminder, no spoilers here, just early impressions.

Games covered here include “Violet”, “The Absolute Worst IF Game in History”, and “The Ngah Angah School of Forbidden Wisdom”.

“Violet”, by Jeremy Freese

“Violet” is a game that begins with a more minimalist approach; no long introduction, just what sounds like an initial conversation between two people. And I’m apparently a procrastinating writer; the ABOUT screen notifies me that I am the boyfriend of the character (Violet) narrating the game. It’s an interesting and not often used perspective, and it’s a nice touch to see everything, including the ABOUT screen, narrated in this voice. It is [More...]

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IFComp: Searching For Capture

October 10, 2008

Forging onward with the next batch of IFComp entries, as I review my intial impressions of each game’s opening (introduction, “About” screens, and the first location), summarized by the Capture Score from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable). Just a reminder, no spoilers here, just early impressions.

Games covered here include “Nightfall”, “Trein”, and “Red Moon”.


“Nightfall”, by Eric Eve

This is the next game from Eve, another veteran IF author with previous notable works like “The Elysium Enigma” and “All Hope Abandon”. I’m already biased, knowing the quality of his work, but even if I could evaluate the opening of this game objectively I’m sure it would score well. The quality and polish of his writing is quickly recognized, and the theme is strong and engaging: I begin on an empty train platform, in the early evening after the last train has left, taking [More...]

Category labels: interactive fiction | 2 Comments

The Winner: Frayed Knights

October 9, 2008

A few of the scattered individuals who stop by here every now and then might not be aware, but there was a year-long competition sponsored by MyDreamRPG.com, a group dedicated to developing tools to help indie developers create RPG games, including MMORPG games. The contest started in April 2007 and, I would assume, finished in April 2008, with the goal of creating the best CRPG game based on one of the Torque Game Engines. First prize was an impressive $10,000, and a number of groups entered.

I say that I assume it finished in April 2008 only because I never heard anything about a winner, and had completely forgotten about it. I do know that Jay Barnson of The Rampant Coyote had entered, and up until the April deadline was doing a fantastic job of grinding through the workload on his entry, “Frayed Knights”, an RPG “of [More...]

Category labels: indie games | Leave a comment

IFComp: Screening Capture

October 7, 2008

Forging onward with the next batch of IFComp entries, as I review my initial impressions of each game’s opening (introduction, “About” screens, and the first location), summarized by the Capture Score from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable). Just a reminder, no spoilers here, just early impressions.

Games covered here include “A Date With Death”, “When Machines Attack”, and “Berrost’s Challenge”.


“A Date With Death”, by David Whyld

Whyld’s game, subtitled “being the further adventures of the king who wished to die but whose subjects just weren’t ready to let him go”, is the third game in a series that began in 2004 with “Back to Life… Unfortunately” and continued in 2007 with “The Reluctant Resurrectee” (second place, Spring Thing 2007). I never played either one, but Whyld includes a short summary in the “About” screen of their bizarre premise: a king who had been [More...]

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IFComp: Capture Quest

October 6, 2008

After a brief intro yesterday, my filtering of this year’s IFComp entries shifts into gear as I continue to walk down my randomly generated list of games. No spoilers here, just some initial impressions of each game’s opening, which includes any introduction, “About” screens, and the first location, summarized by the Capture Score. The range is from 1 (intriguing; a definite play) to 4 (dreadful and forgettable).

Bear in mind that my intention is not to judge the the complete piece, only to report my first impressions of the entries to see which ones engage me enough to pull me in for more. I’ll play the ones that do to see if the experience matches the anticipation, and afterward if any games that I pass on place high in the competition, I’ll go back and see what it was that I missed.

“NerdQuest”, by RagtimeNerd

So my random game [More...]

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And In Other News, Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead

October 5, 2008

With October comes once again the start of the annual IFComp, this being the 14th competition. It’s hardly breaking news at this point, of course, what with the bevy of blogs and websites reporting it to the world and already posting early game reviews. We’re not even a week into October and I feel like I need to catch up.

Comp time is a sweet time, though, because once it arrives we get a huge bolus of new IF games to play, and who knows what we might discover in the collection. The IFComp is where we got Vespers, and some really fantastic games have won over the years. But unless you keep up with it you can miss some really entertaining games that don’t necessarily finish that high. Aaron Reed’s “Gourmet” finished 5th in 2003, and Andrew Plotkin’s “Delightful Wallpaper” finished 6th in 2006; both [More...]

Category labels: interactive fiction | 4 Comments