The People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction convened on Friday, Oct 27, 2023 online. Zarf, anjchang, Kirill, Josh, Hugh (StrandGames), Dana, Kathryn, Kaylah (NEU) welcomed newcomer Sara, a sci-fi writer. Warning: What follows is probably not proper English, but just my log of notes from the meeting to jog people’s memories.
What we’re playing: Josh working on an Ink Visual Novel Template tool. Josh did a Twitch interview about it on the HandEyeSociety’s channel. Also working with Geoffrey Golden on minigames from https://adventuresnack.substack.com— sign up for the newsletter to receive text adventures by email. Also mentioned Fix Your Mother’s Printer We’re enjoying these tiny games, quick to play! Sara, a sci-fi writer, is interested in the art of narrative design and interactive narrative. Looking into Porpentine. Played Horse Master recently. Zarf update: playing Gnosia a sci-fi deduction RPG. Reviewing the dystopian game The Archivist and the Revolution by Autumn Chen. Sara noted that how that game uses daily tasks and time passing to provide a commentary or critique of modern life.
If anyone is hiring, please send to the email list and let us know of opportunities for game designers, illustrators, etc.
Ecto Comp underway https://itch.io/jam/ectocomp-2023-english (we did a short play-through; see notes at the end of this meeting).
Zarf also working admin stuff for IFTF. There’s an IFTF grant competition, deadline today! https://iftechfoundation.org/committees/grants/grants-guidelines/
People from Tumblr were inspired by Naked Twine Jam, check out the Bare-Bones Jam https://itch.io/jam/bare-bones-jam
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision is the buzz. The IF world is hoping for transparency about what is happening with Infocom. Trademarks history. https://xkcd.com/927/
Halloween discussion:
- Know by Heart game released last year.
- Ice-Pick Studio behind pathologic released a new game https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=franz.mystery.horror.interactive.story&hl=en_US Ice Pick was also mentioned for Nicolai Dybovsky,
- Alien Melon’s Everything is Going to Be OK
Zine discussion:
- Josh recommends ChoiceBeat Zine https://willyelektrix.itch.io/choicebeat-issue-9 is out!
- Kirill recommends Natalie Lawhead’s Everything is Going to be OK https://alienmelon.itch.io/everything-is-going-to-be-ok
For those who don’t know, check out the IntFiction forums https://intfiction.org Forums
Narrascope planning is happening, feel free to volunteer for positions. Hopefully will have more news in November. Join the discord and get involved.
Group play-through: Sara has an Ectocomp game entry. A playthrough of Mothman, Sara’s EctoComp game, was enjoyed. The novelty of multiple choice! The pacing was great. Is it an unreliable narrator. We got a 63% as a group, how close we got to figuring out the true narrative. Discussion of explanation from the teacher or ambiguity or expecting multiple playthroughs. Maybe an image of the moom with percentage of how much you got right. Waxing and waning moons… is a full moon possible, is the narrator reliable? Good fun!