Spring Thing
Encyclopedia
Spring Thing is an annual competition to highlight works of Interactive Fiction
(text adventure games and other literary works).
Adam Cadre
, author of several works of Interactive Fiction
, including Photopia
and Varicella
, announced the Spring Thing in 2001, both to promote works that would be longer than those entered into the Interactive Fiction Competition
, and to encourage authors to submit works to the general public during other times of the year. It was run in 2002 and 2003, but Cadre did not host it the following year. Greg Boettcher picked up the slack, and hosted the Spring Thing from 2005 onwards.
As with the better-known Interactive Fiction Competition, works submitted to the Spring Thing must be released as freeware
or public domain
. Unlike that competition's limit of two hours per work, judges may spend as much time as necessary with an entry in the Spring Thing. The authors need to submit a small fee to enter.
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
(text adventure games and other literary works).
Adam Cadre
Adam Cadre
Adam Cadre is a U.S. writer. He gained prominence in the world of interactive fiction with works like I-0 , Photopia and Varicella , for which he has won several XYZZY Awards and been the subject of academic study . Photopia additionally won the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition...
, author of several works of Interactive Fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
, including Photopia
Photopia
Photopia is a piece of literature by Adam Cadre rendered in the form of interactive fiction, and written in Inform. It is regarded as a pioneer in narrative-driven, rather than puzzle- or challenge-driven, interactive fiction...
and Varicella
Varicella (computer game)
Varicella is a 1999 work of interactive fiction by Adam Cadre, distributed in z-code format as freeware. It is set in an alternate history which features roughly modern technology mixed with Renaissance-style principalities and court politics...
, announced the Spring Thing in 2001, both to promote works that would be longer than those entered into the Interactive Fiction Competition
Interactive Fiction Competition
The Interactive Fiction Competition is one of the best known of several annual competitions for works of interactive fiction. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours playing a game before deciding how many points to award it...
, and to encourage authors to submit works to the general public during other times of the year. It was run in 2002 and 2003, but Cadre did not host it the following year. Greg Boettcher picked up the slack, and hosted the Spring Thing from 2005 onwards.
As with the better-known Interactive Fiction Competition, works submitted to the Spring Thing must be released as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
or public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. Unlike that competition's limit of two hours per work, judges may spend as much time as necessary with an entry in the Spring Thing. The authors need to submit a small fee to enter.
List of winners to date
- 2002 -- Tinseltown Blues, by Chip HayesChip HayesChip Hayes is an American soap opera writer, producer and director. He is married to actress Deborah Adair, with whom he has two adopted children...
- the sole entrant in that year - 2003 -- Max Blaster and Doris de Lightning Against the Parrot Creatures of Venus, by Dan Shiovitz and Emily ShortEmily ShortEmily Short is the pseudonym of an interactive fiction writer, perhaps best known for her debut game Galatea and her use of psychologically complex NPCs, or non-player game characters...
- 2004 -- No competition
- 2005 -- Whom the Telling Changed, by Aaron A. Reed
- 2006 -- De baron / The Baron, by Victor Gijsbers
- 2007 -- Fate, by Victor Gijsbers
- 2008 -- Pascal's Wager, by Doug Egan
- 2009 -- A Flustered Duck, by Jim AikinJim AikinJim Aikin is an American science fiction writer based in Livermore, California. He is also a music technology writer, an interactive fiction writer, freelance editor and writer, cellist, and teacher...
- 2010 -- No entrants
- 2011 -- The Lost Islands of Alabaz, by Michael Gentry