IntroComp

Last updated: July 1, 2011

***** IntroComp 2011 is Now Underway! *****

The introductions are now available and can be found here in a single zipped file:
http://www.allthingsjacq.com/IntroComp11

There are thirteen entries this year. They are as follows:

Bender, by Katz
Choice of the Petal Throne, by Danielle Goudeau
Choice of Zombies, by Heather Albano
Chunky Blues, by Scott Hammack and Jessamin Yu
The Despondency Index, by Ed Blair
Exile, by Simon
Gargoyle, by Simon
Of Pots and Mushrooms, by Devi and Maya
Parthenon, by Charles Wickersham
Seasons, by Poster (MT)
Speculative Fiction, by Thomas Mack
Stalling for Time, by Dominic Delabruere
The Z-Machine Matter, by Zack Urlocker

The voting deadline is midnight Eastern on July 17, 2011. You can log in to vote.

Thank you for playing and voting!



***** IntroComp Rules and FAQ *****

The General Idea

The requirements of IntroComp are deceptively simple: All entrants must submit the beginning of a new, never before seen work of IF. This can be as short or as long as the author likes, so long as it is 1) a working, playable game and 2) interactive fiction.


Voting and Judging Rules

Authors may not vote.

Beta testers are allowed to vote, but only on games they did not test.

Everyone else in the entire world may vote on as many or as few entries as they like, on the usual 1-10 scale (10 being the best). However, they are asked to judge games with one thought in mind, and one alone: "How much do I want to play more of this entry?"

Reviews may be posted during the voting period, but authors must refrain from discussing any entries in a public Internet forum during the voting period and may not canvass for votes. Once the competition has begun, authors should refrain from posting their thoughts on any entry until the deadline for voting has passed.


PRIZES

1ST Place: $100
2ND Place: $60
3RD Place: $40
Honorable: $25

All values in US funds, minus any currency conversion fee that might be required. Void where prohibited by law. Some assembly required. No other warranty expressed or implied. Although the bag does not appear to inflate, rest assured oxygen will be flowing to the mask.

Oh, and in order to win you not only have to enter, but also finish your game. You will have one year (until June, 2012) to do so. No completed game? No money - and somewhere in the world, a fairy dies.

An explanation of the 'Honorable' category. Anyone who enters but doesn't place in the top three will fit into this category. We want everyone to have an incentive to finish their game, so the first Honorable to complete their game will receive the $25 Honorable prize, provided that the entry isn't incredibly buggy and just sort of slapped together. (Since the money will be coming out of my pocket, I have the final word on that bit. No questions asked, and no complaining. Submit your solid, finished game in the spirit of the comp and you'll get the cash; submit something you obviously wrote for a SpeedIF and I shall mock you and keep the $25 for the next person who finishes their game.)


REALLY IMPORTANT: Contacting Jacqueline

ALL questions should be sent to my e-mail account. I am not a terribly frequent visitor to rec.arts.int-fiction or intfiction.org , so please don't post questions there and then complain when I don't reply. :)

So, to reiterate:

ALL CORRESPONDENCE
should be done by e-mail to my gmail.com account:
jacqueline.a.lott


Please also note that I'm also sometimes in the wilderness (that's right, the wilderness, where Internet is but a twinkle in some grizzly bear's eye) for several days at a time, so if you don't get a reply right away, it probably means that I'm in the woods and will reply as soon as my hiking boots or a small fixed-wing aircraft bring me back to 'civilization.'


GENERAL FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS*
*for very small values of "frequently"

SO HOW LONG/SHORT SHOULD AN INTROCOMP ENTRY BE?
There are no strict length requirements. If you want to enter a complete game, or merely an opening screen or just a title, there's nothing technically stopping you - though given the voting rules, this may not be the best strategy.

WHAT'S TO STOP ME FROM JUST ADDING "AND THEN THEY ALL DIED -- THE END" TO MY ENTRY AND THEN CLAIMING MY PRIZE? BWAHAHAHA!
Nothing... except the ridicule and ostracization of your peers. Also, keep in mind that you have to send me your address in order to get your prize, and you'd be surprised how easily it is to acquire smelly, rotten salmon here in Alaska.

CAN I SUBMIT A SECTION FROM THE MIDDLE OF MY GAME INSTEAD OF THE BEGINNING?
No, that would be ExcerptComp.

HOW ABOUT THE ENDING OF MY GAME?
Next question, please.

WHEN I FINISH WRITING MY GAME, CAN I SUBMIT IT TO IFCOMP?
No go, my friend. It would run afoul of the spirit of IFComp's "no prior release" rule. You may be allowed to enter it in other minicomps, though - ask your local minicomp dealer.

CAN I SUBMIT MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?
You may enter more than one entry, but only your top-voted entry will be ranked and eligible for a prize. So, have more than one game you're working on right now and you're not sure which one to focus on? Find out which premise will be the best received by the community by entering them here.

Of course, unless you wish to incite the wrath of the IF community and, more importantly, the competition organizer, any and all entries you enter should be well-tested and created in earnest. Please don't spam the competition with lots of half-baked entries. Need I reiterate that, as an Alaskan, it is really easy for me to acquire a high volume of rotten salmon and mail it to you. Please, don't tempt me.

BUT I STILL WANT TO KNOW MORE!
That wasn't exactly a question, that was more of an exclamation... Okay, I get your point. Maybe you should take a look the ifWiki to learn more on previous years' IntroComps: [LINK]

If you still have a question after that, drop an e-mail to my gmail.com account: jacqueline.a.lott

Thanks!


***** IntroComp 2010 Summary *****

The results of the 2010 IntroComp were as follows:

1st: Tourist Trap, by Iain Merrick
2nd: Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin - COMPLETED! ROBB GOT $60! HOORAY ROBB!
3rd: A Fleeting Case of Self-Possession, or, Memento Moratori, by Lea Albaugh

Honorable entries:
Closed Circles, by M. M. Kathrel
Fang vs Claw, by Oliver Ullmann
For the Love Of Ornery Blue Yaks, by Doug Jones
Peanut Orchestra, by Fiadotau and Bychkov
Plan 6 from Inner Earth, by Adrien Saurat
Waker, by Kevin Jackson-Mead

Download the whole shebang:
- All the introductions (35.7mb)
- All the introductions for non-Windows users (28.5mb)


Interested in reading the awards ceremony transcript? It can be found here.