It looks like you get $25 for completing an Honorable Mention game within a year. However, only one IntroComp game a year gets completed.

One such game that got finished was Choice of Zombies.

That's the full version. The IntroComp version is in here, though it may take time to download. Compare as you wish.

Well, basically--it'd be a neat possibility for people to trade testing efforts.

I mean, you don't have to write a parser game to ask for testing over there. And by testing I mean proofreading etc. That goes for anyone who writes something here and needs a proofreader there--you don't have to trade efforts, but it might be interesting to see how parser games work & what to look for. Or not.

Well, IFComp is still a way away. Maybe you could hone your current idea and see how that turns up. I bet you could trade ideas or testing with people at intfiction.org...there's a subsection devoted to that. I think you could be a good tester for a parser game, because experience isn't everything, and it's useful to trade ideas in any event. Testing/proofreading is more a matter of asking questions than being a connoiseur.

Well, that'd be optimal for making money. But there's a sort of honor system, that you want the game to be reasonably far along, but you may just be looking for instruction. The money comes from the organizer's pocket, and I'm pretty sure she's a writer herself, so it's probably more, if you have a good chunk of a game but maybe need a little guidance, this comp is good for that.

Normally, over the web. But the IFComp people are upgrading their site, and Jacqueline's site is linked to that. So it looks like email, for now. You'll probably get confirmations etc.

Firt, forget if I said congratulations. So, congratulations!

There is a help module in some games (type HELP)--and depending on how interested you are, you could visit playfic.com to see basic games and their source code. Good games also should have some information on what verbs they use in the ABOUT command or even VERB/VERBS. As for how to learn what to say/do...

Here is a great example of the most-used verbs. Programmers are encouraged not to add to them as that creates "guess the verb" puzzles which aren't about the story and are no fun.

Playfic.com has one example of a tutorial. I also recommend anything by Ryan Veeder and Wade Clarke's Six as good introduction.

Finally, Aaron Reed, the organizer of the competition, wrote a really good book on Inform 7. I'm not associated with him in any way, but his game Sand-Dancer is a great tutorial for making games and describes how to implement things and what to implement, as well as how parser games evolved over the years so they don't sprawl with verbs.

Sand-Dancer

I will get no kickbacks if anyone orders the book, and it looks like y'all probably have ideas of your own to write up ahead, but I found it was great for understanding games in general, what the player should expect, and what the programmer should do to help prospective players.

Based on the prize list below, it will probably be something to shake a nice heavy book or computer game package at, though. Have fun with whatever you choose.

http://www.springthing.net/2014/prizes.htm

Well, most people think of ST as the closest one to IFComp. It's probably about 30 entrants or so, and you'll have a lot more reviewers. You might need a thick skin for some of them, but you also may find more people to help with your games now you've got some exposure.

Happy writing, proofreading, and idea-chasing, everyone, whether you all enter IFComp 2014 or Spring Thing 2015 or just want oto write.

Beat me to it. Congrats to you guys! It must've been tough to wait.

It was good to see even the lower scores clumped in the middle. I think anything over a 5.5 is a good score.

YOU MISSPELLED MY NAME DUDE, WELCOME NOT ACCEPTED LEARN TO SPELL, YOUR SPELLING'S SO BAD IT MADE ME USE BAD GRAMMAR.

Seriously, though, this is totally so much better than getting labeled a weird person for no reason. Ok, not 100% seriously. (And yeah, I'm used to misspellings :).)