Acorn User 1996 Interactive Fiction Competition
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| Acorn User 1996 Interactive Fiction Competition | |
|---|---|
| Competition | |
| Organisers | Graham Nelson, Steve Mumford |
| Event dates | |
| Submissions due | 1 Aug 1996 |
| Results announced | 1 Oct 1996 |
| Results | |
| 1 | BSE |
| 2 | The Wedding |
| 3 | Leopold the Minstrel (Inform port) |
| Edit this infobox | |
This competition ran in summer 1996 and was organized by Steve Mumford and judged by Graham Nelson, in Acorn User (a UK computer magazine).
Rules
From the April 1996 issue:
The Rules of the Grand Acorn User IF Competition
- Write a short text-only adventure game. Any style or genre is allowed. We're looking for games that show originality as well as creating a good atmosphere.
- 'Short' might mean having 10 to 20 locations and something to do in each of them. A good player ought to be able to win through in one rainy Sunday afternoon.
- Don't use characters or situations from books still in copyright, or from films or television. A parody is legal if you change all the proper nouns.
- Your game must be playable on an Acorn machine under RISC OS — either send us an Inform-compiled story file or a stand-alone program which can be clicked on to run.
- Along with the game, send a file containing a solution — that is, a list of commands which will win the game if played through.
- You retain copyright on your work, but grant Acorn User permission to include it on a future cover disc or CD ROM. If you've used a commercial package, please check that you're allowed to distribute the run-time tools in this way.
- Send your entries, by July 1 please, to the IF Competition, Game Show, Acorn User, IDG Media, [ancient address elided]. If you've got any questions, just drop us a line.
- Entries may also be submitted as uuncoded [sic] archives by e-mail to [email address elided] put IF Competition in the subject line and ensure you include your full name and physical address.
(The entry deadline was later extended to 1 August 1996, to allow for an Acorn build of Inform 6 being published on a cover CD later than planned.)
Entries
This is unlikely to be a complete list (from results announcement: "There's no space here to mention every entry").
The most popular design system was Inform (helped no doubt by its availability for RISC OS and having been shipped on various Acorn User cover discs); other works used Trellis, ALPS, and homebrew BASIC and C.
Entries with known rankings
Versions of all of these were included on the cover CD of issue 188 (December 1997).
- Ranked:
- 1st place: BSE (Chris Smith; Z-code 5). (Also 'award for best locked door'.) Included on the cover disc of issue 175, Dec 1996.
- 2nd place: The Wedding (Neil James Brown; Z-code 5). (Also 'award for best room description'.)
- 3rd place: Leopold the Minstrel (Jamie Murphy; Z-code 5).
- Runners-up (in no particular order):
- Wearing the Claw (Paul O'Brian; Z-code 5). (Also 'award for best end-game twist in the plot'.)
- Transporter (Andrew Laker; Z-code 5).
- Black'n'White Rag or, A Study in Something-or-Other (Jonathan Nowell; Z-code 5). (Also 'award for best CD-related puzzle'.)
Other known entries
e.g., mentioned in the magazine.
- Cave Of Doom (A. Macfarlane Smith).
- Conspiracy - An Interactive Adventure (Robin Stout).
- Fake Pratt! (Mark Randall): 'award for most unusual scenario'.
- The House of Doom (Andrew Hunt).
- MFI (Damian LeGresley): 'award for best do-it-yourself lamp'.
- New Years Day - The Challenge Of The Year (Chris Armitage): 'award for most unlikely breakfast-preparation puzzle'.
- Panda (David King): 'award for computing industry satire'.
- Simon the Siphoning Squirrel (Paul Dunning).
- Town Life (Nick Rice): 'award for close encounters of the third kind'.
Links
- Acorn User articles:
- Competition announcement (pp59-60, no 167, Apr 1996).
- As of the July issue, the entry deadline was extended from 1 July to 1 August.
- Results (pp61-62, no 173, Oct 1996).
- The next issue with a cover CD, no 188 (Dec 1997), included the top 6 games on it (among other IF works and tools). Cover CD - description (p65).
- R*IF announcements:
- Acorn User IF Competition - by Steve Mumford, March 7, 1996.
- IF Authoring FAQ - April 2, 1996. Section 2.4 contains info about this competition.
- Acorn User IF Competition - by Graham Nelson, July 3, 1996. Reminder about the competition.
- Other R*IF threads:
- Planning Ahead for 1997 I-F Contest. (Thread mentions this contest in passing)
- Announcement: BSE Version 3 - January 16, 1997.
- AU Competition winners - October 28, 1997.
- Acorn User 1996 Interactive Fiction Competition - at IFDB.
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TODO: Most of the games were never uploaded to IF Archive. What we know has been extracted from Acorn User magazine, The Z-Files Catalogue, and the help menus for The Wedding.
TODO: Most of the games were never uploaded to IF Archive. What we know has been extracted from Acorn User magazine, The Z-Files Catalogue, and the help menus for The Wedding.