games/competition98/readme.txt

Welcome to the 1998 IF Competition!

This file is your instant resource for any questions you
may have about the competition. Before writing to me or
posting to rec.games.int-fiction, check here for the info
you need.

Also remember to check http://www.ifcompetition.org/  for
all the latest news.

Thanks, and enjoy the fun!

- David Dyte (ddyte@swin.edu.au)

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Contents:

1. How to be a judge

1.1 Who can and can't vote
1.2 Playing the games in order
1.3 Rating the games
1.4 Where to mail your vote

2. How to play the games

2.1 Inform games
2.2 TADS games
2.3 Alan games
2.4 Hugo games
2.5 DOS games

3. Music to play by


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1 HOW TO BE A JUDGE
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1.1 Who can and can't vote

Everyone but authors is able to vote, including betatesters
for games entered. Beta testers may not, however, vote on a
game which they tested. All you have to do is play every game
that you are able to, bound on your honor to play as many as
possible and give each of them an equal chance.

Do not worry about how many games you played. If you played
as few as 5 games, you should still submit a vote.

STOP PRESS: As we have more prizes than games this year, we
will run a Miss Conegniality contest. Authors, please send
your picks for your favourite 3 games (not including your own)
in order to Dylan O'Donnell at dylanw@demon.net. AUTHORS ONLY.
Top 3 games get the 3 unclaimed prizes.

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1.2 Playing the games in order (thanks to Lucian Smith)

An Inform Z-machine module, "comp98.z5", made to resemble
another text adventure, has been provided in this directory
to act as a front end for the competition judging process,
a sort of starting point. The program puts all the games that
the user is able to run in a random order, and outputs a list
of them (alongside any scores you've given) as "rating.txt".

This way, if a judge plays the games in this order, but is
unable to play all of them in the voting period, no biases
will enter into the decision as to which games will need to
be left unplayed.

Can't figure out how to run comp98.z5? See section 2.1 for
help.

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1.3 Rating the games

Rate each game on an integer scale of 1 to 10 (not 0 to 10),
higher meaning better. You have 2 hours in which to rate each
game. At the end of 2 hours, if unfinished, you should stop
and rank the game immediately. You may continue to play the
game after that, but you may not change your rating of it based
upon anything you find after the 2 hours are up. 

If you very much want to finish the game inside 2 hours, some
games have also come with walkthroughs. It is not compulsory
to use the walkthrough!

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1.4 Where to mail your vote (thanks to Colin Turnbull)

Two voting formats are possible. Comp98, the front end, has a
feature for scoring the games, and will output a formatted text
file ("rating.txt") that can then be e-mailed to the vote counter
for the competition, Colin Turnbull, at ct@ecs.ox.ac.uk. Judges
may, of course, decide not to use Comp98, and simply mail their
votes the same way.

E-mailed votes should have a subject header of "VOTE", and each
game should be rated on a separate line. You may submit multiple
votes, but only the latest dated ratings of each game will be kept.

VOTES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY THE END OF SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1998.

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2 HOW TO PLAY THE GAMES
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First, some general instructions. Many of the competition games
have extra documentation files, which are there for you to read
before you play. Please check in each game's directory before
diving in and playing, to ensure that you get the full effect
the author intended.

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2.1 Inform games

Inform games are played with Z machine interpreters such
as Frotz, MaxZip or Jzip. On windowing type systems, you will be
able to load the game file from the interpreter. On command line
type systems, it is recommended that you place the interpreter in
the comp98\inform directory, and type something like:

   frotz monkey\monkey.z5

Interpreters for all types of machines are available from 

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/interpreters-infocom-zcode/

Please look through various directories there to find a
suitable interpreter for your machine. The frotz and zip
directories will prove most useful.

Various interpreters have differing capabilities, which may
result in problems with some games. Please check in the game's
directory for any special information you may require.

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2.2 TADS games (thanks to Dan Shiovitz)

TADS games are played with TADS runtime executables such as
tr, tadsr or MaxTADS. On windowing type systems, you will be
able to load the game file from the runtime. On command line
type systems, it is recommended that you place the runtime in
the comp98\tads directory, and type something like:

   tadsr alpaca\alpaca.gam

At least one game in this year's competition requires the
TADS 2.2.6 excecutables to run. If that doesn't mean a lot to you,
it's the very latest in TADS technology and is being moved onto
the IF Archive right now.

If you can run TADS with the full HTML display, this will give
you the total experience, but plain text TADS will not stop you
from completing any game.

Executables will hopefully be moved to 

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/programming/tads/executables/

They may not be moved in the next few days, however, in which case
they'll be in

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/unprocessed/

 or

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/incoming/if-archive/

The following programs have been compiled (ie, binaries) for TADS 2.2.6:
 for Macintosh, there's MaxTADS-113.hqx
 for Windows/DOS, there's tads2run-226.zip and htmltads-226.zip,
  the latter having full HTML display.
 for Linux, there's tadslinux-226.tar.gz
 for Sun, there's tadssun-226.tar.gz

If there's no binary for your platform, you can compile the source:
  tads2src-226.zip

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2.3 Alan games

Alan games are played with the Alan runtime, called Arun.
It is recommended that you place the Arun executable in
the comp98\alan directory, and type something like:

   arun corn\corn.acd

Arun executables for all types of machines are available from 

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/interpreters-other/alan/executables/

The game CC in the 1998 Competition requires Arun version 2.8 to
run correctly.

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2.4 Hugo games

Hugo games are played with the Hugo runtime, which has
been compiled for Linux, Amiga, RiscOS and Win/DOS machines.
On windowing type systems, you will be able to load the game
file from the runtime. On command line type systems, it is
recommended that you place the Hugo executable in the
comp98\hugo directory, and type something like:

   he shipping\shipping.hex

Hugo runtime executables are available from 

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/interpreters-other/hugo/executables/

The very brave on other machines could try compiling their own
version. Creator Kent Tessman would very much appreciate a Mac
port. Source is available at

   ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/interpreters-other/hugo/source/

Version 2.5 is the most recent Hugo runtime available. The game
Persistence of Memory in the 1998 Competition requires version
2.4 or later to run correctly.

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2.5 DOS games

These games will only be playable on DOS systems, or with a DOS
emulator on other systems. They should be run from a command line
by simply going to the correct directory and typing the name of
the .exe file, or choosing it from a Run.. dialog box in Win95,
or double clicking it from File Explorer/File Manager.

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3 MUSIC TO PLAY GAMES BY
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Sadie Hawkins is the official rock band of the 1998 IF Competition.
If you haven't heard their driving rhythms, searing guitar lines
and barely sane lyrics, please visit http://sadie.retina.net/ NOW!