What's New In IF? Issue 1 (2024)
By Erika, Marjorie, Alex, Zach and Noi
Now Available!
Itch.io - Google Drive - Keep Reading below
EDITORIAL
We were always just lurkers…
But no more!
We were always just lurkers…
But no more!
We had been talking for a while about the Interactive Fiction community, and wondering what we could to do… you know, do our part to help it become its best self.
And out of all the things available out there, between the directories and the group chats, the forums and the discord servers… it can get pretty overwhelming to be part of it all, to keep track of everything. And we realised there wasn't really a newsletter for IF. Something that tracks of what is happening…
RIGHT NOW!
So why not just… make it happen?
Like a lot of things, What's New in IF started on a whim. But we hope we can turn it into something great. Something that can help the community keep track of what's happening.
And we hope that you will join us too!
PS: we did cheat a bit on some dates for this edition :{
ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXEL, ZACH, AND NOI
EVENTS
~ CONFERENCE ~
You can now register for the Narrascope! It is happening June 21-23, in hybrid. They've also released the schedule of talks!
The Interactive Narrative Exhibition is looking for IF pieces to be
displayed in a Museum in Poland!
~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~
Until mid-May, the Spring Thing is welcoming players to check out the entries vote for the “Best in Show”!
Do you speak German? The annual Grand Prix has released its submissions and is looking for voters!
~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~
The Dialogue Jam by the @neointeractives group is open for submission until the end of the month. Only Dialogue is allowed!
In less than two weeks, the window to submit for the Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2024 will end. The goal is to make a parser for beginner
players.
Also ending at the end of the month is the Amare Games Festival 2024, which is all about love!
On the Choice of Game Forum, the Diversity Jam is running. They accept any CScript game… as long at is not in ENGLISH!
~ ENDED ~
After months of hiatus, the 79th edition of the Bitsy Jam finished recently. The theme was: long distances.
The Second Edition of @seedcomp-if recently released its results.
Congratulations to the winners!
~ OTHER ~
The Interactive Fiction Showcase is running throughout the whole year, where you can submit and/or play IF games from a wide variety of authors. It is happening on itch!
GAMES
New Releases
The Dice (Twine) is a psychological horror short game. (@stanwixbuster)
Summoned at 2 (HTML) is a short game where you must complete a summoning circle.
Giving Yourself Away (HTML) is the newest release of the Domino Club.
The Wretched Bitsy (Bitsy) is short adaptation of The Trail of the
Wretched in bitsy.
How Do You Like Pain (RenP’y) is a visual novel about pain, death, and maybe nothing. Also part of the ‘Art Without Blood’ universe. (@catskets)
New Releases (WIP)
Corruptant (CScript) is a dark fantasy game, where you play as an amnesiac coping with their situation. (@cyn-if)
No Peace (CScript) is a ONE PIECE inspired pirate project.
The Psion (CScript) is a high-fantasy game, where you have Psionic abilities.
The Red and White Knight (Twine) is a Medieval Arthurian inspired project where you play as Lancelot du Lac. (@theredandwhiteknight-if)
Mutually Assured Destruction (Twine) is fantasy thriller about bonds and destruction.
Blackwood Manor (CScript) is mystery romance project.
Shattered Eagle: Fall of an Empire (CScript) is Roman Empire political intrigue.
hic est nihilum (Twine) is post-apocalyptic fantasy story, where you
struggle against dieties. (@nightingale-the-lurker)
Speck (CScript) is a Horror/Sci-Fi project inspired by ‘Alien & Spiecies’.
GAMES UPDATES
Agents of Lucifer (CScript) added chapters 4 and 5 to its demo. (@aprismaticodyssey)
Era of the Archdemons (CScript) added chapter 3 to the demo.
The One Chosen (CScript) added more content to their beta. (@parrotwatcher)
Echoes of Kingdom: The Last Stand (CScript) added extra scenes.
Dawn of Heroes (CScript) added chapters 21 and 22 to its demo.
Honor among Thieves (CScript) added extra content. (@leoneliterary)
Dawn of Heroes (Twine) completed its second chapter. (@bladeweaver-if)
Merry Crisis (CScript) has made its last update available to all. (@merrycrisis-if)
Remnants of the Past (Twine) uploaded the final chapter of Act 1
(limited release before sale). (@remnantsofthepast-if)
What lies in the past (Twine) added chapter 1 to the demo. (@maluarty-blog)
Fallen Light (Twine) latest update is available to all. (@fallenlightsif)
OTHER
Limerence (Twine) is back on Tumblr. (@limerenceif)
We apologize in advance if we missed something, and forgot to add projects to this list. Please, let us know if something should have been added to the zine, and we will shout it out next week!
HIGHLIGHT ON...
A couple of games that we thought were cool.
Social Democracy: An Alternate History
by Autumn Chen (DendryNexus)
That weird political game that took Twitter by storm, so strongly that
there's even a fan subreddit where you can share your stats. It's all
about what might have been…
i won't finish this game by Naarel (RenP’y)
An emotional visual novel about being a struggling indie dev game
developer and depiction of suicide in narrative games. It is very short
and hits hard.
Eat Me by Chandler Groover (Inform)
It was weird, it was gross… It's just genius. There's no way to describe how insane this game is. Maybe the most disturbing escape game ever made. No wonder it's so highly rated and won awards…
TG for walkthroughs!
Your favourite game here?
Do you have a favourite game that deserve some highlighting?
Tell us about it!
A old or recent game that wowed you so much you want to spam it to
everyone?
Tell us about it!
We'll add it to the page!
FINAL WORD
We... don't really know what we're doing.
Yes, it's true!
Not a lot of thought process went into making this.
We actually started putting this together at 3-4am after making the Tumblr Blog.
We haven't really made any plan on what should or should not be included in this zine. We just knew we wished we had something like this when we started.
So while it may seem bare right now, we hope, in time, to fill all the pages, and even add more, as we find more projects, and events, and other IF- related stuff to share!
But for that…
We need your help.
Did you find a cool game that was just released?
Or a project that shared a demo or update?
Did you come across some cool event?
Or found a neat article/blog post talking about IF?
Then, shoot us an ask or submit it on our blog!
THANK YOU!!
ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXEL, ZACH, AND NOI
WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 1
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you can & should be deeply suspicious of anyone trying to sell you the narrative that making posts or spreading information abt palestine and gaza is not doing anything or is not important, especially when it comes with the tagline that you're incredibly "misinformed" and don't understand the "history" of the subject. spreading information counteracts propaganda and misinformation campaigns.
the court of public opinion is not some abstract nonsense concept; public opinion in egypt being overwhelmingly pro-palestinian is giving its leaders pause when considering selling out to american promises of greater economic relationships in return for opening routes to permanently displace palestinians from their homeland (thus enabling and abetting genocide of palestinians). (btw american attempts to "secure" a safe route of exit for palestinians to egypt is not out of interest for palestinian safety, because israel refuses palestinians the right of return. this is america agreeing with israel - stay, and be killed, or give up your ancestral lands and home. IT IS COLONIALISM.)
so talk. keep talking. KEEP TALKING. bc you SHOULD be outraged that gazan children are being shelled to extinction, and have been for the past seventy five years. you should talk about the nakba. you should talk about how this is not about religion - christian Palestinians and jewish palestinians are being killed in droves. israel went so far as to shell areas where their own hostages are being kept - this is not about safeguarding israel. it is about land. it is about TAKING LAND from indigenous people. we are seeing, in real time, the violence of colonialism, and we should talk about it. we should RAGE. it is not acceptable, we cannot stay quiet. where colonialism happened before in silence, in isolation, the whole world is watching, and out unequivocal stance should be THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS IS A WAR CRIME, THIS IS GENOCIDE, AND WE CONDEMN THOSE TAKING PART AND THOSE COMPLICIT. talk about it on social media, show up to protests, give money, talk, talk, talk. sitting in silence while people are being genocided is not some sign of intellectualism or superior understanding of a "nuanced" stance on the subject - it is COMPLICITY.
to clarify - idc what you do on tumblr dot com. this is not really a platform for activism or whatever but im specifically talking abt people on socmed who tell you staying silent is better than doing something “uninformed”. like express support for palestine without 'understanding the nuance'. there is no nuance. it's a genocide. we are witnessing genocide. people telling you that talking abt a 'complex issue' does nothing are LYING TO YOU. it is NOT complex. and talking and expressing your opinion as a member of the public DOES do something. that's why the first thing oppressive states take away is your right to protest and congregrate. DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE LIES.
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I think it is very funny (and by funny I mean infuriating and appalling) that people's reactions to a mother being terrified to death for her children's lives is "boohoo Alicent is stupid!" and not "poor thing, that's not how a mother should be made to feel by HER OWN FAMILY"
This is such a problem with literally any TV show or movie, which is that people forget that we are an omnipotent audience. We see everything, we know everything, we are the only people involved in the story that have complete and utter control over all of the information of the story. None of the other characters do, and that's why they make the decisions they do, and if they seem somewhat nonsensical to us that's because we know everything and they don't.
(seriously, as someone who was in The Originals fandom for a time, season 2 was the hardest time to be Hayley fan when half the audience forgot that her decisions made total sense if you just looked at the information she had access to, not all the information of the entire story.)
Alicent's information is this: 1) Rhaenyra lied to her (lies by omission count as lies), and then 2) appears to have leveraged those lies to strip away the last of Alicent's support as well as anyone partial to her children's place in the line of succession. 3) Rhaenyra is then callous enough to drive a man to suicide and, in the process, get another man killed, with no outward remorse. 4) Over the next ten years Rhaenyra commits at best a huge social faux-pas and at worse an outright treason and 5) the products of that treason are cruel to her own sons which Rhaenyra has done nothing to stop (or really do anything to bridge any gap in their relationship) until 6) she proposes the Jace/Helaena marriage, which just looks like an attempt to take Alicent's only daughter hostage when you have an uncharitable view of her. 7) Rhaenyra then does nothing about her son maiming Alicent's and in fact 8) demands that Aemond be tortured for having eyes that can see and 9) vocally approves the plan to maim Alicent's son and Alicent herself for also having eyes that can see, because it helps her succession and that of her sons. And the coup de grace is in 10) Alicent seeing Rhaenyra murder her husband so she can marry who she wants and gather more strength to her side.
That is all the information Alicent has on Rhaenyra as heir to the throne. That she is callous, thoughtless, bloodthirsty in the pursuit of getting what she wants, uncaring towards others, with the capacity towards coldblooded murder to anyone who gets in her way (and who are in her way? Alicent's Targaryen children, especially Alicent's firstborn Targaryen son), and no remorse or thought to consequence for anything she does. Of course, we, the audience, see things from more than just Rhaenyra's point of view, we know that her thoughtlessness is borne out of being sheltered, that she's lighthearted and playful, that she is genuinely just trying to find love within the confines of an incompatible marriage, that the faults in her relationship with Daemon lie with Daemon as the adult and senior figure, that her attempts to reach out are genuine, that she's held the best belief in Alicent for a long time ("I do not believe Alicent is capable of cold blooded murder") that she did not murder Laenor, and that she has no intention of hurting Alicent or her kids and genuinely wants to be a good ruler and pass down the Targaryen legacy/Song of Ice and Fire (whether she can be a good ruler is debatable at best, and also God I hate the stupid prophecy fuck it so hard).
So to the audience, yeah Alicent's reactions can seem irrational, but most people with basic competence and understanding of storytelling can also understand that the impression we have of the story is something no one else in universe does, it's why I'm also willing to give grace to Rhaenyra for sometimes thinking the worst of Alicent because she doesn't have access to the information that we do.
But let's be real, ASOIAF/GOT/F&B/HOTD and all adjacent fandoms have been horrifically toxic and misogynistic, a mindset that extends far beyond characters and even to the actors, no matter which side of certain debates you fall under (yes this is a fandom wide callout I've seen all teams be gross as Hell), as I'm of the belief that insulting Matt Smith's looks and harassing his mother is in fact just as bad as bullying Emily Carey off Twitter, and relentlessly castigating Sophie Turner for no reason including when she was a child is in fact just as bad as mocking Emilia Clarke's brain injuries, this shouldn't be controversial. So I'm not surprised that this toxicity exists towards the character, and there's a lack of understanding in how yeah, Alicent should not be made to feel that her children are in active danger due to the actions of not just their sister but also their literal father, her husband (and that the worsening of the relationship post-Driftmark is entirely on Team Black for not doing anything to make amends for what happened to Aemond whatsoever and refusing to even be contrite years after the fact, Vhagar eating Luke was too merciful for him I said what I said).
A lot of the people who think this way are mostly casual watchers, or just really die-hard Team Black Twitter stans, so we can at least take comfort in the fact that most people with media literacy, whether they be regular fans or even critics, are more willing to extend Alicent the grace she deserves, and us Greenies can stan her hard enough to power a major metropolis in the meantime.
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