Interactive Fiction Communities (with Andrew Plotkin)

Warm weather is on the way and you need to stay hydrated. As a start, take a sip of water every time you hear the phrase "in the 90's." This week we're learning about Interactive Fiction - its history, communities, and transformations over the years - from living archive of the medium, Andrew Plotkin. As a bonus, Stephen discovers that he isn't the only one who is wrong about things! Credit for this episode's extra-thorough show notes goes to Andrew. Thanks, Andrew!Interactive Fiction CommunitiesEventsIRLNarrativeColossal Cave Adventure - William Crowther and Donald Woods, The Interactive Fiction DatabaseThe Visible Zorker: Zork 1Interactive Fiction Competition (ongoing since 1995!) - Interactive Fiction CompetitionInform IF language launched around 1993 (https://www.inform-fiction.org/). You can find the modern version at https://inform7.com/ This allowed people to create games for Infocom’s original Z-machine, which was invented as a proprietary system in 1979 but is now open-source.The modern version of the IF community's FTP site - Interactive Fiction ArchiveInteractive Fiction Technology FoundationNarrascope ConferenceTwine - Chris Klimas, TwineryRise of the Video Game Zinesters - Anna Anthropy, AmazonThe Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman) - Elizabeth Sandifer, Eruditorum PressAndrew's Interactive Fiction and Game recommendations - IFcomp 2025 winners - Type Help - Roottrees are dead - Return of the Obra Dinn - Murder at the Birch Tree Theater