Zarf Updates

I'm going to the World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle! And speaking!

It's the first Worldcon I've attended since 2009 (Montreal). After the Hadean Lands kickstarter, I figured I should spend my travel budget on game dev conferences rather than science fiction conferences. I missed Worldcon, but GDC was better biz networking.

But hey, in this futuristic era of 2025, we can have both! Worldcon has a solid track of videogame programming now, and yers truly will be on it.

---

The Indie Video Game Scene

• Wed Aug 13  •  6:00–7:00 pm  •  Room 420
• Justin Bortnick (M), Andrew Plotkin, Martin Klima, Sam Stark, Vivian Abraham

Independent studios are creating some amazing works of fiction and adventure using the medium of video games. What makes a studio “indie”, and what are some of the stand-out titles that fandom can sink their teeth into?

Best Game or Interactive Work Hugo Potentials

• Thu Aug 14  •  10:30–11:30 am  •  Room 423
• Eleri Hamilton (M), Andrew Plotkin, Erica L Frank, Justin Bortnick, Remy Siu

The “best game or” Hugo Award is pretty new, and unlike stories and TV shows, there’s not a long, well-documented history of discussion of games in literary sci-fi communities. We’ll discuss what makes something a good “best game” nominee and review some of the games of 2024 that might make your nomination list for next year in Los Angeles.

Interactive Fiction: Video Game Storytellers

• Sat Aug 16  •  12:00–1:00 pm  •  Room 420
• Justin Bortnick (M), Andrew Plotkin, Langley Hyde, Stephen Granade, Tina Connolly

Interactive Fiction (or IF) is narrative storytelling through computer text adventures, where players navigate the story, influence the scene, and converse with characters using text commands. With its origins in classic Infocom games like Zork and Planetfall, the IF community is alive and well today, creating adventures that have even been called “Game of the Year” by Time Magazine.

As you see, I will be joined by Justin Bortnick, IFTF president and NarraScope co-conspirator. Also Stephen Granade, who you know from IF history but he's also been doing science programming at DragonCon forever. And Eleri Hamilton, who's been on-and-off involved with Mysterium for just as long. (And is the programming lead for Worldcon's gaming track! Thanks to Eleri for inviting Justin and me to participate in the first place.)

And other people, just as cool, some of whom I've even met.

Of course I'm interested in the whole con, not just the videogame track. I'll be running around the whole week, attending panels and science talks and browsing the used-book tables and chatting with people. Say hi! It'll be awkward but I promise we'll get through it. I'll be wearing the green hyperspace jacket.

---

To address the inevitable question: yes, there was a kerfuffle about the use of AI tools in program participant selection. I wrote about this back in May. At that point, I was already registered for Worldcon as an attendee and a potential speaker. You can read the Worldcon admins' statement on the subject, which is the most recent update as far as I know.

Anyhow, I haven't changed my position, which is that (a) this is an emotionally charged subject, but (b) not very important in the grand scheme of how Worldcon is run, and (c) Worldcon is a lot of fun so I want to go and be on panels and stuff. So there we are.

Also I have to finish a couple more books before the Hugo voting deadline. And games! I can play through Caves of Qud real fast before next Wednesday, right?