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Welcome to the jam!

A topic by subQmag created Oct 21, 2018 Views: 1,141 Replies: 40
Viewing posts 1 to 16
Host (1 edit)

Hello!


This is just a message to say welcome to everybody who's decided to join us on this wild interactive fiction adventure!


Feel free to introduce yourself here, and to let us know if you have any questions. We're excited to see what's in store for our editorial staff!

Submitted

Hello! I'm excited to take part in this jam with such a cool theme. Thank you for hosting it! I'm finding that game jams are a great way to learn to write and structure games within constraints, even if it's nerve-wracking putting my work up.

Jam Judge

Agreed on the nerve-wracking part! Once you get past that, you're rewarded by getting some decent feedback from your fellow devs. It's a great way to grow your skills.

Jam Judge

HERE WE GO!!! WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO SEE WHAT EVERYONE COMES UP WITH!

Submitted (1 edit)

Hello!

I have a question: what if I send English translation of my older Russian work, would it be valid as an original work?

Jam Judge

Hello! Sorry for the delay but the  Holiday week has been hectic!

It's ok to submit the translation. I am still looking into the pay rate if you win, whether it would be paid as an Original or reprint work. I will let you know as soon as I do. Thank you for the question.

Submitted

Thanks for the good news! 

Jam Judge

Even better news, it will be paid at normal Original work rates for first U.S. publication. So the same as Original works. Looking forward to seeing it! :D

Jam Judge

Checking with the EIC. I'm leaning toward it not being original because generally works of fiction give up their publishing rights upon first publication no matter what language they are published in. I will respond when I know more with regard to the jam. Thank you for the question.

Submitted

Hello! I'm working on my submission, and I have two quick questions about the word/art limit.

- I've been adding up all the words that could be presented to the reader across all playthroughs and keeping them under 1000. I have one passage (let's say 50-words long) that the reader can go to a few times across the story, which I counted as 50 words. I just wanted to check you don't think it should count as 200, 250 or 300 words, depending on the number of times the player finds that same passage. 

- Are cover and/or background images okay for a prose submission?

Thanks, looking forward to seeing other people's entries!
Flo

Jam Judge

Repeated phrases / paragraphs / passage descriptions should only be counted ONCE! Good question!!

(4 edits)

Will humor stories be accepted? Somewhat crude humor, but without sex or violence.

Or, as alternative, will parody on famous book be accepted? Is there a difference between fan-fiction and parody?


Can @subQmag or @proseninja answer, please?

Jam Judge (1 edit)

Humor is most definitely welcome. Parody is fine if it's something along the lines of Red Shirts by John Scalzi. He basically riffed on the Star Trek universe without using any existing characters or place names or delving too deep into similar technologies.

Published my text-adventure. Based on one of my old stories, Hope it's funny!

Submitted(+1)

Hello all. I am new to itch.io. (And this will be my first interactive fic). I'm hoping to meet some other fun writers and learn more about this cool form. 

Welcome to  itch.io and the jam! Sure, write something good, and I'll be happy to read it!

Jam Judge

Welcome! And have fun!

Submitted (1 edit)

Okay, this may be a silly question. But is there a certain setting we are supposed to use when we upload the games? Because they are supposed to be unpublished, but once they are public on the itch platform, wouldn't they be considered published? 

Jam Judge (1 edit) (+1)

Nope.  Just upload as usual. For the purposes of this jam, any original author-submitted work will be considered not previously published as long as it's not found elsewhere on the net or previously available on the net.

Submitted

Thanks

Submitted

Hi there! I'm Conor, and I'm a Twine developer/writer-guy. I've finished up a draft of a story but am not completely certain about word count. It's listed at 1080 words right now but the Twine counter seems to be including code text as well. I'm not sure if there's a way to count text without including code, if I should do it by hand, or if the word count DOES include code as well. Any advice? Thank you!

Jam Judge (1 edit) (+1)

The Twine word count does include code so you should be good to go. If you want to check for sure. Do a play-through of the game and highlight then cut and paste the text from each new page into say Notepad++, then you should be able to see the wordcount on the Summary page.

Also keep in mind that any repeated phrases like room descriptions or link text or page headings only count once. So if you use the same link text several times, it only counts once toward the total. 

I wouldn't stress too hard about it at this stage, if you win we'll be editing prior to publishing anyway.

Submitted

Thank you!

Who will choose the winner? I guess it's jam host, or the magazine owners? Or we vote for each other? Since there is a money prize, I doubt it's a good idea to let participants vote for each other.

Submitted

I understood one winner will be voted, the other chosen by the magazine editors. 

(1 edit)

Interesting. I wonder how the voting will go.

I actually have a proposition. I don't know if the host can change the voting system, but that's what I saw on one literature contest.

People do vote for each other, but everyone must put ALL possible grades.

Like, there are 6 of us for now, so each votes for 5 games. So, he or she must put ALL grades between 1 and 5.

This way the host can be sure that no one will put all 1 or all 5 grades.

Jam Judge (1 edit)

We opened it up to Game Authors as well as Judges and the process follows the  standard itchio voting where Judges (editors) and Game Authors can vote. We felt it was a good thing for Authors to get their eyeballs on other works and to view them with a critical eye. That helps Authors grow and to familiarize themselves with what else is being produced.  A game author can only vote on other entries by design. We ask that you vote on a minimum of five entries according to the criteria we have in place on the voting page.

The winning entry prize is payable upon publication of the game (after any requested edits from your assigned editor).  The game will go through our normal editorial and contract process which is available on our website. I linked the submission process in the jam page info. Our target date for Publication is February 2019 near Valentine's day to play up the highly interpretative "Love" theme of the jam.

We have an editorial staff of seven editors including our EIC and our slush readers who will be voting for the Editors Choice Award. Both prizes are awarded the same standard pay structure and contract as described in our submission process for the magazine. 

If you have any other questions, just ask.

PJ

Submitted(+1)

Sorry for the bother, but where can we see the voting criteria? I don't see a voting page linked anywhere. Thanks!

Jam Judge

The only criteria is how well you think the game represents the theme of the jam which is 'Love'.   It has to be interactive, ofc. Beyond that, it's just how well you like each game. The voting panel is shown above. 

Submitted

Hi!

I've almost finished my game, but as a non-native speaker, I need help with the proof-reading. Is there anyone kind enough to lend me a hand with it?

Jam Judge

Hey K-Kat! None of the editors can help with that ahead of the submission. You may be able to find someone by asking in the Twine Game or Narrative Games discord servers or the https://www.intfiction.org/ forums.

Submitted

Got it!

Submitted

Hi, Kat!

I'm no professional, but I would be happy to give it a quick look! It would be a welcome break from working on my own entry. :)

Submitted

Great! How can I contact you privately?

Submitted

You can use my email: ocdunlap@gmail.com! :)

Jam Judge(+1)

Thanks Olivia! You're the best!

Submitted

<3

Submitted(+2)

Hi everyone! I'm new to itch.io as well (joined for this jam.) Looking forward to reading all the entries :)

Jam Judge(+2)

Welcome! I'm looking forward to the entries, too!!

Submitted

As the clock ticks down on the voting timer (and the year), best of luck to everyone who entered, and thanks for all the inspiring stories!

Thank you, good luck to you too!