Interactive Fiction Challenge: 2023!

[kittyeden]

Are you interested in text adventures, CYOA, Twine games, or other sorts of interactive fiction? Do you want to let your writer know you'd be happy to receive something along those lines? Are you looking for someone to write IF for? This post is for you.
 

 

(This is copy-pasted from previous years! Let me know if there's anything that needs updating!)
 

 

What is IF?

 

Interactive Fiction (IF) covers everything from text adventures through to visual novels, by way of all sorts of experimental works. It can be mostly a game, or mostly a story; it can be a way to immerse the reader, or to play around with the concepts of storyteller and audience; it can be an exploration of chance, or of fate; it can be a straightforward story, or something else entirely. From Healy's post:
 

 

[IF] is a term used for games which are made up primarily of text, like Adventure, Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and other text adventures, or more experimental hypertext works like My Father's Long, Long Legs, or even visual novels. Interactive fiction these days is generally divided into two groups based on how you interact with the game: parser-based IF, and choice-based IF.
 

 

Parser-based IF, more commonly known as text adventures, are controlled by typed in commands, like "GET KEY", "OPEN DOOR", "GO NORTH", "LOOK UNDER BED", and stuff like that. Not every command you type in will work, though, so they're hard to get used to if you haven't tried them before. To make things easier, here's a card of most of the common commands. Some good parser-based IF to try first would be Ryan Veeder's So, You've Never Played a Text Adventure Before, Huh?, Admiral Jota's Lost Pig, Andrew Plotkin's The Dreamhold, and Adam Cadre's Photopia.
 

 

Choice-based IF is simpler; you just pick from a number of options. This can be done through hyperlinks and other clicky selections, though more rarely you may have to type a number from a list. Good examples of choice-based IF include Anna Anthropy's Star Court, Alan DeNiro's Solarium, the various games hosted by Choice of Games, and most every given visual novel.

 

 

Writing IF for Yuletide

 

IF is considered opt-in for Yuletide - please don't write it for people who don't want it. If you aren't sure whether it would be welcome or not, ask a mod to check with the intended recipient.

 

You are still required to follow the normal rules, such as focusing on requested characters (unless the recipient has said you needn't include them all).  

It can be hard to figure out what word count an IF story really is - what you've written is full of code that doesn't count, and what your recipient sees may vary in length depending on their choices. If you're posting to the main collection, try to overshoot the minimum requirement a bit, just to be on the safe side. Say a minimum of somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 words. Or probably about 10 to 15 minutes play through.

 

If your post to the main AO3 collection is under 1,000 words (e.g. you're just linking to an online playable version elsewhere), please drop the mods a note so they know it isn't someone posting something under the minimum, and provide them with an estimated word-count.




If you're writing a treat, unless it includes over 1,000 words of text and you're also sure your recipient would be happy with it as a main gift, please post it to Madness

Your recipient does need to be able to access what you've created! Please link to a suitable IF interpreter if required, or if possible make a web-playable version.

 

Requesting IF for Yuletide

 

If you would be happy to receive IF this year, please leave a comment below, following this template:

 

<b>AO3 username:</b></div><div><b>Letter link:</b></div><div><b>Fandoms:</b></div><div><b>Anything else:</b> (optional - the sort of things you love about IF, specific IF prompts and preferences etc)

 

 

IF Canons Nominated for Yuletide

 

Plenty of IF canons get nominated for Yuletide! While it's still important to ask before writing IF for someone, someone who consumes IF already will probably be more interested in getting it. (Some of these canons were adapted into other mediums, so it's possible that someone who's interested in one of those isn't at all into the IF side of things. Thus why it's important to ask.) Consider requesting or offering one of these if you're interested in IF for Yuletide. I haven't had time to compile a list of tagset IF canons, but if you have any in mind, consider posting them to the comments so other people can see what you're thinking about!
 

Some IF Tools

 

A * means they can make web-based games.

 

Parser-based

Inform*: One of the biggest development tools for making parser-based IF. Has an English-like code. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Quest*: Another big IF development tool. Has a click-and-point editor with the option to check out the code. For Windows and web.

TADS*: A long running engine for writing interactive fiction, though generally not as easy to use as Inform. The latest version can make web-based games, although they need to be hosted on a non-https address or on the IFDB.

 

Choice-based

Twine*: Very popular tool for making choice-based IF. Has a visual editor, with some code-y bits for variables and the like. Can be extended with some Javascript passages. Available for Mac and Windows, and Twine 2 is web-based. See this comment for more notes.

ChoiceScript*: Used by the fine folks over at Choice of Games. Uses simplified Javascript to make games. It's very stat heavy. Requires a text editor. See this comment for notes.

Ren'py: Engine for making visual novels. Uses a simple scripting language. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and can make games for all those platforms.

Inklewriter*: A completely web-based engine for making CYOA-style games.

 

Comments

Interactive Fiction Canons

[kittyeden]

Got some favorite IF canons in mind - visual novel, text-based, or otherwise? Post them underneath this comment. Let everyone know what you're requesting, and what's possible to write for.

Re: Interactive Fiction Canons

[liyana]

A couple of IF canons in the tag set:

Stay? - E. Jade Lomax is a lovely text-only, choice-based IF game. It’s under ‘Books and Literature’ due to AO3 canonical tag wrangling.

Magical Diary is a choice-based visual novel.

CorinaLannister's IF opt-in

[corinalannister]

AO3 username:CorinaLannister

Letter link:https://corinalannister.dreamwidth.org/10875.html

Fandoms:First Kill (Calliope Burns & Juliette Fairmont), iZombie (Blaine Debeers & Peyton Charles), Vampyr (Carina Billow & Jonathan Reid)

Anything else: (optional - the sort of things you love about IF, specific IF prompts and preferences etc)Different choices are great, I find having them makes the fanfic experience feel immersive. I also love sort of like dating/friendship simulators. How does your choice affect your relationship/friendship with another character? I love those types.

[(Anonymous)]

I've just added "I like interactive fiction" to my letter. What I'd like most of all is IF in Latin for my Lingua Latina per se Illustrata :-)

[choirwoman]

Argh, didn't intend to be anonymous! Moderator, can you please delete the other comment with the same text? Thanks!

I've just added "I like interactive fiction" to my letter. What I'd like most of all is IF in Latin for my Lingua Latina per se Illustrata request.

[haptalaon]

that's such a cool idea...would the IF also be in Latin?

[choirwoman]

Yes! Don't object to subtitles in English though.

[sarriathmg]

AO3 username: sarriathmg

Letter link: https://sarriathmg.dreamwidth.org/13184.html

Fandoms: DC vs. Vampires (Comic 2021), Lord of the Flies - William Golding, Flowers in the Attic - V. C. Andrews, The Backrooms - Anonymous on /x/

Anything else: (optional - the sort of things you love about IF, specific IF prompts and preferences etc)I can see so many IF scenarios with my requested fandoms and characters. Pick different routes/"what ifs" with DC vs. Vampires or Flowers in the Attic, Simon's POV in Lord of the Flies as he chooses between good and evil, and The Backrooms is just an IF MAGNET with so many levels and possible outcomes!

[estirose]

AO3 username: estirose
Letter link: https://estirose.dreamwidth.org/785029.html#cutid1
Fandoms: My Time at Sandrock, Final Fantasy II, Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, Boyfriend Dungeon
Anything else: I'm up for anything! I've mostly written IF in Twine myself, but I'm open to any format. There are some IF-specific prompts in my letter.

lurking_latinist loves IF gifts!

[lurking_latinist]

AO3 username: lurking_latinist

Letter link:https://lurking-latinist.dreamwidth.org/25595.html

Fandoms:Barron's E-Z Math Textbook Series - Douglas Downing, Little Alchemy 2, The Love Child - Edith Olivier, Oxford Time Travel Universe - Connie Willis, Welcome to Our Village Please Invade Carefully (BBC Radio), Yes Minister

Anything else: Well, some of these might be more suited to IF than others, but anything you can think of will be super cool! I recently played a little choice-based puzzle that teaches computer debugging skills (https://jvns.ca/blog/2021/04/16/notes-on-debugging-puzzles/) and something like that, with some of the characters talking you through it instead of the narrative, might be fun for Barron's E-Z Math. And any of the others that you are inspired for will be very welcome! Choice or parser are both very welcome; I'm not picky about formats although I prefer things with a browser-based implementation.

[kittyeden]

AO3 username: TheBigCat
Letter link: http://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQLbp3Rwa3y_1itxPs6fJ9jT7CRsETaGw89_5sOXub8QShFHXHf-cqQRPhB83y5T-Yi8iNCS59fsC1D/pub
Fandoms: What Did Veronica Dream Of? (Video Game), Nightmare Academy Series - Dean Lorey, The Tribe Series - Ambelin Kwaymullina, Doctor Strange (2015) and Strange Vol 2 (2010)
Anything else: What Did Veronica Dream Of is a short surreal puzzle game with bizarre dream logic, which kind of lends itself to a surreal IF adventure. I also think an IF story for either of the Doctor Strange canons would be very fun, but I'm open to IF for any of the listed fandoms! I have a real fondness for Twine games, especially.

[keerawa]

AO3 username: keerawa

Letter link:

Fandoms: Adam Ruins Everything

Anything else: Adam Ruins Everything his truTV show is a series of short 24-minute episodes where Adam Conover 'ruins' topics by confronting common misconceptions, stereotypes, and urban legends about them. You can watch any or all of the episodes here. It verges on RPF, since Adam Conover, the main character and director/producer, is 'an investigative comedian exploring the weirdest and wildest reaches of human knowledge.' This guy made a career out of his own epic nerdiness and complete lack of social skills. (If he isn't on the spectrum, I'd be shocked.) Every time I watched an episode, I learned something new.

If there is anything, practical or professional, a hobby or passion, that YOU are an expert in, I would love it if you could teach me about it by creating your own IF episode of Adam Ruins Everything. Crocheting? Candy-making? 8th century Greece? Go for it! The show is inherently meta. Any version of 'Adam Ruins Fandom', 'Adam Ruins RPF', or 'Adam Ruins Yuletide' would delight me.

This show would make for a great IF vehicle, where it asks you a multiple-choice question about (Topic), and if you answer wrong, it debunks that particular misconception for you. It's fun AND educational!!!

[glitterpig]

AO3 username: glitterpig

Letter link: https://glitterpig.dreamwidth.org/2624.html

Fandoms: Visitor from the Future (web series), Deadloch (show), The Tick (show)

Anything else: any IF is amazing!

[ungefug]

AO3 username: ungefug

Letter link:

https://ungefug.dreamwidth.org/7586.html

Fandoms:

Vermis 1 - Plastiboo

Anything else: I have little experience with IF on AO3 and am happy to receive whatever you can come up with, whether that's choice based like the canon or some other form of IF.

[lielac]

AO3 username: lielac
Letter link: https://lielac.dreamwidth.org/20130.html
Fandoms:
• Bionicle (Generation 1)
• Outer Wilds
• Paleo Pines
• The Planet Crafter

Anything else:
I am just, in full generality, a fan of the CYOA/IF format. It's delightful! How different choices can result in such divergent outcomes, or alternatively how no matter what you do you'll come to the same result. I especially like when routes "rhyme", for lack of a better word; where, if you play through several, there are beats that reoccur even if they're mostly different.

I'd prefer choice-based over parser-based. I have a Windows 10 computer.

[nemali]

AO3 username: nemali

Letter link: https://nemali.dreamwidth.org/1876.html

Fandoms: Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, Rouge by Mona Awad, AI: The Somnium Files, Subnautica, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Xenoblade Chronicles

Anything else: Two of these fandoms (AI: The Somnium Files and Paranormasight) are both visual novels that have nonlinear timelines - IF used to create something similar would be really cool!

katekane would love IF fiction for Christmas :)

[(Anonymous)]

AO3 username: katekane

Letter link: https://katekane.livejournal.com/5235.html

Fandoms:

The Midnight Club (TV), The Bite (TV 2021), Badehotellet|Seaside Hotel (TV), Pride and Prejudice (TV 1995)

Anything else: I think especially "The Bite" would work really well for IF, as the tv show ended on a cliffhanger where we don't know what happens to our two main characters - who dies, who survives, and how (if at all) will whomever survives save humanity from zombie-covid? There are so many possible outcomes that only IF could actually do them justice.

[kitkaos]

AO3 username: KitKaos
Letter link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iGH69BpaRaaiB8N6enehiyvJZpdSuCP9Vb1RhdDwuzE/edit?usp=sharing
Fandoms: Batman: Wayne Family Adventures (Webcomic), Much Ado About Nothing (2011), Superman Returns (2006), Young Justice (2019 Comics), Zerophilia (2006)
Anything else: Since I'm pretty new to IF, I'm looking forward to anything you come up with :)

[shamanicshaymin]

AO3 username: ShamanicShaymin
Letter link: here
Fandoms: LISA, Fear & Hunger, Yume Nikki, Nanquest, Super Mario RPG, Omega Mart
Anything else: My fandoms can easily be used for text adventures/CYOA/visual novels! Nanquest itself originated in Questden. :3

[fiona15351]

AO3 username:Fiona15351

Letter link: https://fiona15351.dreamwidth.org/

Fandoms: Beyond the Light - Nyx Rising

Anything else: I would love a mystery IF set in this world, maybe exploring documents left behind by Jai or Chris & Harvey? Letters, journals, blogs, transcripts of videos, phone-calls, text exchanges, etc. would all make great elements for a slow-burn horror-mystery. Many of these are already used this way in canon, which I think could provide a great reference. I’d also be thrilled by a text adventure exploring the Hawthorne Manor or a similar site set in this world. (I think it would lend itself to a text adventure, but of course choice-based would also be lovely!)

[(Anonymous)]

AO3 username: ShrimpostorSyndrome

Letter link: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vStRGV4eAJ259YLvs1Dvkj0lfhGO9GmLRSXTZ2TeyzhuSoE2EdwHGfCEznQMDvUTU48WEHn_pC6Ri9c/pub

Fandoms: Asteroid City (2023), Calf Cleaving in the Benthic Black – Isabel J. Kim, LISA (Video Games), Mouth to Mouth – Antoine Wilson

Anything else: I love IF in all its forms and am up for anything you can think of (although I'd prefer a browser-based format as I'm on Mac!)

[hematophagefic]

AO3 username:hematophage

Letter link:https://hematophagefic.dreamwidth.org/2023/10/18/

Fandoms: Long Gone Days (Video Game), We Happy Few (Video Game), Bastion (Video Game), Fisheye Placebo (Webcomic)

Anything else: All these requests include characters I'd love to see interpreted in multiple conflicting ways. I love exploring possibilities in IF, but I'd also be happy to get even a minimal piece with no meaningful choices and a single ending. The very act of clicking my mouse or typing on my keyboard or tapping the screen of my phone can elevate my immersion in a story, so don't sweat it if your ideas aren't branching.

[quillori]

AO3 username: Quillori
Letter link: https://quillori.dreamwidth.org/33532.html
Fandoms:

Ancient Egyptian Religion
• There are a lot of different versions of most myths - maybe that would lend itself to IF?
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
• Worldbuilding for this fantastic, dream-logic otherworld would work well with IF
كتاب ألف ليلة وليلة | Kitaab 'alf layla wa-layla | One Thousand and One Nights
• Perhaps something exploring the different options open to Jafar, or the different motivations he might have?
Liao Zhai Zhi Yi | Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio - Pu Songling
• Maybe something with fox spirits (will they turn out to be good, evil or somewhere in between)? Or the whole from a philosophical/religious point of view reality itself is just another type of dream/story might work with IF.
Tang Dynasty RPF
• Another prompt about navigating a dream-logic world of ghosts and spirits

Anything else: I have far more experience with choice based than parser based games, but I'm open to either. I'm all mac though, so web based or works on a mac, please.

[shamebucket]

AO3 username: shamebucket

Letter link: https://shamebucket.dreamwidth.org/2023/10/21/

Fandoms: Arches (Visual Novel 2021), Echo (Visual Novel 2019), Wonderful Everyday (Subahibi)

Anything else: Hit me with whatever unusual thing you want to do with IF! I've gotten more used to doing parser stuff lately, but I am most familiar with and adore VN style IF. Don't feel shy if you want to use first and second person! Also, all of my requested canons are VNs...

[galaxyofroses]

AO3 username: galaxyofroses

Letter link: https://galaxyofroses.dreamwidth.org/3183.html

Fandoms: The Expanse - Corey (any), Gattaca (any), Knives Out (Benoit, Helen, Marta, Phillip), The Last Unicorn (Molly, Schmendrick, The Unicorn), Space Oddity - Bowie (any)

Anything else: Any interactive fiction would be amazing, but I especially love it paired with time loops, as way to explore a particular world, or solving mysteries.

Dark (TV 2017); Goncharov

[longwhitecoats]

AO3 username:longwhitecoats

Letter link:

https://longwhitecoats.dreamwidth.org/192007.html

Fandoms:

I'm interested in IF for Dark (TV 2017) or Goncharov (1973) dir. Martin Scorsese - beelzeebub.

Anything else: I'm not very technologically advanced and my browsers are all pretty old, so if it's anything more complicated than Twine I may need instructions about how to operate it.

Thanks!

[themangosity]

AO3 username: TheMangosity

Letter link: https://themangosity.dreamwidth.org/2813.html

Fandoms:

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Suzume

Paper Mario

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Anything else: I love all sorts of IF! Text adventures, choose your own adventures, and visual novels are what I imagine when I think of IF. I like little puzzles where you have to figure out what to do with items you find in the world (i.e. you find a book in a house and then later you meet someone who's bored, and the solution is to give them the book). I also like links that let you jump around the world so you don't have to keep typing "go left, go right." I've played a lot of Quest games in the past, but if you don't know Quest that's okay. Use whatever engine you're most familiar with and inspires you the most. If someone goes to all the trouble of making an IF gift for me, I'm sure I'll love it no matter what!

[quailfence]

AO3 username: QuailFence

Letter link

Fandoms:But I'm A Cat Person, Dracula, Pokemon Horizons, The Game of Rassilon, Leif & Thorn, Doctor Who (1996 TV Movie)

Anything else: More familiar with choice-based, but willing to try out a parser!

EK_Braveman

[e_k_braveman]

AO3 username:EK_Braveman

Letter link:https://e-k-braveman.dreamwidth.org/4937.html

Fandoms: Monster Train, W.I.T.C.H. Comics, Chonny's Charming Chaos Compendium, Shining Nikki, Leif & Thorn, The Most Popular Girls in School

Anything else: My favorites are VNs and CYOA, but I love playing all sorts of games, so whatever you make, I'll probably like :D

[tigerlily]

AO3 username: LittleRaven

Letter link: https://tigerlily.dreamwidth.org/66375.html

Fandoms: Black Magician Trilogy - Trudi Canavan, Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Wheel of Time (TV)

Anything else: (optional - the sort of things you love about IF, specific IF prompts and preferences etc)

Any adventure prompted in my letter would be fun with IF, or any conversation between my requested characters! That would be so cool.

I use Windows 10 and Apple mobile devices. Most of my experience is with choice games--like Alabaster, The Book of Guenevere, Affairs of the Court, visual novels like Oxenfree and Cinders, dating sims like Long Live the Queen and Magical Diary , and paper books where you turn to a page for every choice--but I’d be delighted with a parser game too. Get me to move the characters around! Puzzles, mazes, and timers aren’t a strength of mine, so I would enjoy a walkthrough if those are present.

[jjhunter]

AO3 username: Idhren

Letter link: Letter

Fandoms: We Are A Picturesque Small Town And We Refuse To Be The Setting For Your RomCom - Rachel McKenny; Scarlet Hollow (Video Game); Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later (Podcast); Emelan - Tamora Pierce; Nine Worlds Series - Victoria Goddard; Trice Forgotten (Podcast)

Anything else: I keep coming back to how the Black Tabby Games team (creators of Scarlet Hollow and Slay the Princess) keep doing increasingly clever things with how the 'choice' of their interactive fictions are sometimes no choice at all (choices narrowing down to the narrator - or narrative - forcing you through a particular choke point of experience everyone must experience), while still making even small, seemingly throwaway choices feel like they're genuinely important by including call-backs to particular details. (They write neat meta about how they do what they do! highly recommend checking it out. I remain In Awe of the decision tree / 'decision braid' of Scarlet Hollow episodes 1-4.)
Go meta, go weird, have fun spoofing a dating sim or some other narrative structure common to an interactive fiction genre you like in ways that play with something that draws you to a particular canon. Emelan dating sim when, omg. I feel like Picturesque Small Town and Scarlet Hollow are the more obvious choices for this out of my requested fandoms, but I could also see something, say, involving Aya from Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds being really neat (she's a mystery writer! IF of her brainstorming process for an upcoming novel; some offstage (relative to canon) scenes from her canonically fascinating live; some favorite sections from the Lays or her past apprenticeship with Tovo going off the rails / having multiple versions of possibilities; all kinds of possibilities there...). Trice Forgotten IF where you try to catch a particular fish, or make a successful potato dish, or find just the right shell, or a certain missing map. Cry Havoc! IF where you're trying to help the Palatine Players just get through one successful staging of this new play freshly written by Octavia - all kinds of possibilities...
In addition to my current fascination with Black Tabby Games' games, I grew up on Choose Your Own Adventure books, I play TTRPGs and do the occasional bit of GM'ing as a hobby, and I've watched quite a few streams of Hatoful Boyfriend and other dating sims. Definitely have a soft spot for more retro games as well, and am up for trying new things! I tend to prefer browser-based or Steam games over mobile apps; my personal laptop is a mac.