A tradition with the French Comp is to interview the winner of every edition. Since I won Best Game, I got to partake in this tradition, and answer a bunch of fun questions about my entry and my creation process.
The interview is now available on the French IF community website:
Since it is in French, here is the translation, under the cut. Spoilers ahead. Note: the French article was over 2k words...
Interview with manonamora, winner of the contest 2023
This year, manonamora won the competition, with her entry, DOL-OS. We spoke with her to learn more about her creative process and her future projects!
Can you introduce yourself in a few words? How did you discover interactive fiction?
My name is Manon, a netizen under the pseudo manonamora for years.
I fell into the "cauldron" of interactive fiction in the spring of 2021, when a close friend had sent me the link to the game A Tale of Crowns. I liked this type of game, and it made me rediscover the pleasure of writing, so I stayed. Itās really nice in this pot, weāre having fun!
People appreciated the different levels of depth of your participation and the care taken at the interface, in particular. How long did it take you to design it?
It was a bit of a sprintā¦ š
I think I started scribbling my ideas on pages about a month before the entry deadline.
I wanted to try to incorporate both themes (archives and trahison) into the game, just for fun. So I took the easiest path and went on to create an archive of different documents, all linked by the theme of betrayal. Of my list of documents that I wanted to include, I was only able to include half at the end (the other remained in draft, due to lack of time).
The idea of using a computer as a framework and interface for the game came up fairly quickly and organically, since the archive alone was not enough, to my liking. This led to the possibility of adding puzzles (something I didnāt necessarily do in my other games) that I could also link to the theme (like the hangmanās solution or opening ThĆ©ophileās account) and creating animated and pixelated visuals (like a fake virus downloaded). I even made a list of puzzles and minigames to add so that the computer looks like a real computer (thatās why there is a sudoku in the "games" folder, or the keypad to open one of the programs).
From there, I thought I would just do two blocks of archives: one on the guestās account, where some of the documents would look corrupt, and another on Theophilus' account, where those missing documents would be. But by writing certain documents, such as the note in the trash and the journal entries (which were not separated from the archive initially), I had fun looking for the links between all the different parts and thinking more about the universe in which this old computer was. Thatās how the Jupiter-Broker project became an artificial intelligence project, more than a virus.
What are the things that inspired you?
Other than a title I had written down in my drafts, Iām not sure which source inspired me to choose this genre or framework or use of the theme in this way. Iāve been a big fan of science fiction for as long as I can remember (I had swallowed Asimov in middle school/junior highā¦ and now Iām stuck with the anthologies of short stories) and video games in general (especially the history and universe of these games). Everything that has to do with robots, the advancement of technology, futuristic stories, and human dilemmas that have to do with these first points, Iām passionate about it! I wouldnāt be surprised if, somewhere in my brain, I could pick up stuff from Portal or System Shock or Fallout or Asimovās Robot Cycle, or even WALL-E and Alien, without really realizing it.
In my notes, the only concrete thing I could find was one of the entries of the Intertact-IF 2022 game jam: Logical Choices, especially in terms of its simplicity, and, finally, the newspaper too.
For the visual, I wanted from the start to have something simple, with the look of old computer in black and green, like my grandmotherās minitel. I really tried to search for minitel page images (I even found a page editor!). On the other hand, trying to code everything, it didnāt really go well with Twine, especially the animation of the blocks that appear one after the other. I was quickly tempted to create the game in minitel pages, but well, I only had 2 weeks leftā¦ It was a bit short to learn a new system. So I just took pictures of old computer screens.
Are there any secrets the players might have missed?
There are several little secrets in the game.
The first category concerns the names in the game: the title, Ā«DOL-OSĀ», is based on the Greek deity of the same name, Dolos, personifying treachery (and bam, the theme of the contest; and it sounded good as operating system name). The AI is named Janus, the deity with two faces. The program of Theodoreās diary, in which he was summoned by his organization to write his days, is named Ā«Ind.icĀ», coming from the French word indic, a person who informs the police.
Something a little more fuzzy can be found in the writerās draft, which is related to one of my other games, Exquisite Cadaver, where the player plays this writer, who has not been able to write for months. This is not the first time I have included a link to this game in my projects, like the "cocktail" Renaudās Nightmare in The Thick Table Tavern.
Where do you get your ideas, generally speaking?
A bit everywhere. Sometimes, it comes organically enough looking at the theme or the constraints of a game jam (La Petite Mort, Goncharov Escapes!). Sometimes, itās just the desire to push a kind of puzzle or a type of gameplay into a project (Exquisite Cadaver, well it was also the theme). Sometimes itās typing ātrope [genre]ā in Google and taking the first thing that comes out (SPS Iron Hammer). Otherwise I have some ideas that have been inspired by books (P-RIX ā SPACE TRUCKER, by StanisÅaw Lemās Tales of Pirx the Pilot) or films (Meeting the Parents, inspired by Meet the Parents). Other projects or ideas for future projects are inspired by books on my nightstand, or conversations with loved ones, or even just random thoughts that come and go.
Iām not trying too hard to think. If it doesnāt inspire me or amuse me, Iāll move on. Creating interactive fiction is all about fun. And I already have a super long list of ideas I want to doā¦
You only use Twine. Is there a particular reason? Do you intend to try other creative systems in the future? Maybe some of the other entries gave you some ideas?
For the moment, yes. Twine remains my favourite, having been the first program I hooked up with when I started creating interactive games. The software was easy to navigate and rather playful to use (Harlowe has extra help to code in the program) and the program is open source. It was really important for me, who didnāt have any code or programming knowledge that went any further than that techno hour to the colleague where a substitute had taught us to create a basic HTML page. With Twine, it stuck from the start.
And then, personally, I love that the customisation aspect can be pushed as much. You can do hypertext or multi-choice games, dungeons, RPGs, etc. I created a cocktail bar for my participation in the IFComp last year, and there I did a puzzle. I have a friend who has recreated Minesweeper and another who has made Snake with his sauce. Almost anything is possible with Twine!
When I get tired of Twine, I think Iāll try other systems, especially those to create parsers (because making one with Twine is a bit of a messā¦ /did and done that). And then also test programs made in France. Already during the ECTOCOMP and the Feldo streams of the games of the old competitions, Donjon had intrigued me a lot. And also ink, to make stories that extend to infinity (it takes too much tinkering with Twine for it to work...).
But my Twine fling isnāt over yet. Iāve only been playing with the interface since last summer, and I donāt feel like Iāve discovered the bottom of the iceberg yet. There are still a lot of things I havenāt tested yet, whether itās in different formats or gameplay. I would like to do some kind of escape room or RPG in the future. I still want to push the envelope a little furtherā¦
You participated in the IFComp (the largest English-language event) before participating in our contest. Are there any differences that particularly struck you between the two?
By missing the inclusion of a theme (which the IFComp does not), I think the biggest difference between the two contests is the attitude of the participants and the players. The atmosphere of the French competition is really relaxed and I noticed a lot of support in the Discord. Or even have a person stream all the games on Twitch (itās very convenient for me who is a loser in parsersā¦). Itās really positive!
On the other side, there is the IFComp which is really considered the event of the year, where the authors exhibit their best creations, without any real constraints, some having been in development secretly for years. The atmosphere is more professional and harsh towards its participants. There is really a lot of expectation from the entire interactive fiction community. Itās supposed to be the crĆØme of the crop in interactive fiction.
After that, even if the atmosphere of the French-language competition is more chill, I found the level of entries much more uniform in terms of quality. While the IFComp will often have very poor or even zero entries (the bottom of the ranking having an average of below 2.5 out of 10), the overall French competition had a very high level (a sentiment shared by one of the critics on intfiction.org). The attention to each game had a lot of merit, especially as regards writing.
Another thing that struck me as well was the diversity between the systems and formats usedāit is possible that the competition, having three times fewer bids than the IFComp, may have influenced my perspective on the subject. But between the French programs (Moiki, and Donjon), the more popular ones (Twine, Inform, ink), or even made from scratch (like the participations of AZ and Narkhos), there were many choices and important differences between uses. It was a fascinating experience that really made me want to try something new.
Finally, I had a very different attitude towards the two competitions. After taking a little slap during the IFComp (arriving in the middle of the stack and having received fair but also severe feedback, read more here), the expectation I had with myself with the contest was less trying to get to a certain position in the standings, but no more fun creating something different. It was much easier to look a little moreā¦ healthy competition, with all the lessons learned during the IFComp and new knowledge and experiences between the two competitions.
And on top of that, you regularly participate in game jams like ECTOCOMP or Partim 500, you co-organize the SeedComp! , and youāre going to participate in the Spring Thing. Is there a secret to such productivity?
Delusion that all this is doable in the allotted time. Free time. And spite. But especially the first point. š
(this was the gif that came into my mind when I wrote my answer, not part of the actual interview)
Frankly, Iām not helping my cause either. As soon as I find a project that is a bit interesting, I can get all in on it quite quickly and put all my energy and free time into it. Itās not recommended, actually. Even if all these participations taught me a lot of things (and especially to learn quickly), it tires a lot in the end... I am often emptied at the end of each new jam/comp.
Itās probably a little psychological, too. The will to create a lot to leave a trace behind me, a trace that will represent everything I could accomplish, everything I could be able to do or try to do. The desire to prove to others and especially to myself that I can create stuff that I as a child could not have imagined; especially since before 2021, I really didnāt have any programming knowledgeā¦ Willingness, or perhaps duty, to prove that I can solve a challenge in a short time (for example: in 4 hours for ECTOCOMP, or two quiet afternoons for Partim 500), or with significant constraints (One-Button and Two-Buttons jams), or just because thereās a piece of spaghetti code that taunts me about unravelling it.
Anyway...
Do you have other projects underway or coming soon? Perhaps you plan to participate in the contest next year?
Of what happens soon, hopefully, The Roads not Taken, a parser made with Twine, will be finished in time for the Spring Thing. I really want to talk about it, but at the same time, itās more fun if itās still a little secretā¦ [note: it is now out!]
Otherwiseā¦ Too many projects in progress. Between the demos not yet completed, the translations of my old games finished, the organization of game jams (SeedComp! will not be the only one this yearā¦), and the hope of participating in the next IF competitions, I have given myself a lot of work (too much) to do.
Ha ha haā¦
Thank you for answering these questions! Congratulations again, good luck and donāt forget to take care of yourself!
