Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 2 Number 2 February, 2006 Letter from the Editor This looks to be a light edition of the newsletter. So much has been going on with the Erins and with my RL that I haven’t had much time to solicit or work on other aspects of this edition. So, what we have for you this month are the bare basics: our “This Month” article by BBBen, the winners of the Erins (at least that’s a big news item), Chris Cole’s “Seven Seas” story, one review and our interview. Next month I hope to be back to normal weight, and since there are several new games, I expect to have those additional reviews in next month’s newsletter. Last year the newsletter published an “Erin Special.” I don’t plan a similar issue this year (mostly because I don’t have available time), but I will incorporate some of the features from that issue into next month’s normal edition; that should also serve to bulk us up to normal weight. Those features include blurbs on the winners and runners-up, statements from the winners and maybe a brief rundown/analysis of the voting. You’ll notice something different with our interview this month. Instead of talking one-on-one with a significant AIF personality, I conducted numerous short interviews with people who participated in the Erin voting. I hope you enjoy their insights into the many great games we had to choose from this year. My interview next month will be back to normal as well, -3-/GoddoG will be featured, and will talk both about his “O Erin” comic strip and his past and future AIF projects. Another change at Inside Erin is that Christopher Cole has been added as a staff writer, and Richard Gillingham has been removed from the staff list since he has been on hiatus anyway. We’re glad to have Chris officially on board. BBBen addressed the Erins fairly thoroughly in his article, but I wanted to offer my congratulations to all the winners, especially A. Bomire and NewKid for their co-sweep of eleven awards. Great job, guys. Voting in many of the categories was extremely close, and even those entries that came in fifth or sixth were extremely well-received and those authors should be proud of their accomplishment, despite not winning the award. I didn’t win any Erins for The Sex Artist but I feel very good about the results – my game was beaten out by superior competition and I believe all the winners were very deserving. I was happy to win the Beta-tester Erin – I feel it shows that I’m able to contribute to the community’s games outside of my own snail-paced game production. Some might say that I suggested this award be added just so I could win it, but you’ll never make me admit it... The awards ceremony was a great time, and it was very well attended this year. The transcript will be posted on the Erins web site in the next few days, along with the formatted winners page. We’ll post something in the normal spots letting everyone know that those pages are done. Congratulations to Chris Cole for his Badman Memorial Award. His numerous high-quality games, near-constant contributions to the community (notwithstanding his short departure), made him an overwhelming favorite choice this year. He’s reportedly back working on new AIF games, so we are all aquiver in anticipation. * * * This month in AIF by BBBen Mostly what we here at the newsletter have been concerned with this month has been the Erins. At the time of writing this article the awards ceremony has not yet taken place, so I’ll just say I hope it went well, and you should be able to check out the transcript at the Erin Awards website and see how it went for yourselves. http://erins.aifcommunity.org/ But before I get to the Erins I’ll discuss the month’s other news. First time author Dew had some bug problems with the release of his new game, but showed the appropriate attitude by trying to polish off and smooth out all those problems quickly with new versions of the game. It reached the point where Dew decided to withdraw the game and is now working on a revised version. It is often hard for new authors to get the technical aspects of their game right (I know from my own experience) so what is really important is the drive to improve, not technical perfection first time. It should be remembered that the authors who have, in AIF’s history, generated a great deal of aggravation over the bugginess of their games were not first timers – they were people who kept writing games that showed a disregard of bug reports and accurate, constructive criticism. As a community, I don’t think we can afford to tear into newbies. Not everyone works better under pressure, particularly in something as inherently voluntary as AIF and as inherently sensitive as creative writing. Anyway, that’s my rant for the month. Speaking of new authors, we actually got two this month – good news for the community. Check the new games section below for details. With the uploading of the “Fantasy” program, along with its stories and picture sets, to aifcommunity.org, the AIF community now has easy access to this interesting system. “Fantasy” is a system that allows the reading of certain erotic stories (written specifically for the program) but with many parameters open to alteration based on the user’s preferences – for instance the reader can design the names and appearance of the major characters. This does not fall within the classic and narrow definition of AIF, but I think it still counts as “adult”, as “interactive” and certainly as “fiction”, so there should be no issue with hosting it on our community server. The 2005 Adult Interactive Fiction Awards We’ve been talking about it all month – the Erin awards for the period from October 2004 to October 2005 were awarded this month, determined by a public ballot and awarded at a ceremony on the ifMUD. I actually won an award! Thanks very much to the voters. Ironically, I won the “Best Humour” award that I actually lobbied to have removed for this year. I won’t be doing that again. I’d like to say that considering the quality of this year’s games, I had a very hard time filling out my ballot. For numerous awards I could not really decide which game was the best, and I felt that in many categories more than one nominee (or all the nominees) deserved the award. Congratulations to all the winners, in particular A. Bomire for Tomorrow Never Comes, which won the most awards (6 in total) and also Newkid for Ideal Pacific Coast University, which won 5 awards including “Best Game”. The other big award of course is the Badman Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to the king of ADRIFT AIF – Christopher J. Cole. So I guess unlike last year, when we had something of a Sam Shooter IV sweep, this year we had two games competing for the sweep. Overall that made the results rather more evenly spread. New games for January 2006 Drone Academy, ADRIFT 4.0, by Dew, released 4th Jan 2006. You are a cadet in a futuristic training academy, trying to score with your uptight, blonde roommate. This game was withdrawn by the author for additional bug fixing. Look for an improved version upon its reappearance. Falcon: Mean Streets, TADS 2, by Girion, released 27th Jan 2006. You are a thief in the not-too- distant future looking for a big score, and there are some interesting obstacles along the way. This is more of a softcore AIF game. * * * AIFA Winners by A. Ninny “Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter” is proud to announce the recipients of the 2005 Adult Interactive Fiction Awards (the Erins). This year’s games were particularly good, and voting in many of the categories was extremely close. We’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the authors who wrote games in 2005 and offer wishes for many more games of similarly high quality from these and other authors as well. We’d also like to thank the nominating judges and everyone who voted this year. Thirty people turned in their ballots, a 20% increase over last year. Congratulations are due to all the games that were nominated and, of course, to this year’s winners. And now, the recipients of the 2005 Erins: Best Male PC Erin: Unnamed PC in Tomorrow Never Comes by A. Bomire Runner-up: Buzz in The Sex Artist by A. Ninny 3rd place: David Fever in Fever Cabin by GoddoG 4th place: Unnamed PC in Ideal Pacific Coast University by NewKid 5th place: Unnamed PC in Crossworlds Part III – The Final Far Far Away Frontier by BBBen Best Female PC Erin: Lauren in Lauren’s Awakening by TotalDirt Runner-up: Melissa in Choices, Decisions and Options by David Whyld 3rd place: Unnamed PC in Casting by fellatrix_uk 4th place: Rachel in Rachel’s Bad Day by Sly Dog Best Male NPC Erin: Calamaro in Tomorrow Never Comes Runner-up: Sir Richard in Weekend by Pierre 3rd place: Jim in The Sex Artist 4th place: Professor Stone in Ideal Pacific Coast University Best Female NPC Erin: Gertrude in Ideal Pacific Coast University Runner-up: Debbie in Crossworlds Part III – The Final Far Far Away Frontier 3rd place: Claire in The Sex Artist 4th place: Lori in Fever Cabin 5th place: Cathy in The Reunion by Moriarty 6th place: Heidi in Pool Party by Christopher Cole and A. Bomire Best Heterosexual Sex Scene Erin: PC with Gertrude in Ideal Pacific Coast University Runner-up: Buzz and Claire in The Sex Artist 3rd place: PC with Mona in Ideal Pacific Coast University 4th place: PC with Janet in Tomorrow Never Comes 5th place: PC with Heidi in Pool Party 6th place: PC with Amanda in Weekend Best Lesbian Sex Scene Erin: Betty with Veronica in Archie's Birthday - Chapter 1: Reggie's Gift by Purple Dragon Runner-up: Heidi with Alanna in Pool Party 3rd place: Lauren with Ashley in Lauren’s Awakening 4th place: Lauren with Hannah in Lauren’s Awakening 5th place: PC with Anna in Casting Best Threesome/Orgy Sex Scene Erin: David with Lori and Kim in Fever Cabin Runner-up: PC with Tina and Tonya in Ideal Pacific Coast University 3rd place: Malcolm with Verrin and Hensley in Escape Pod by LoveLettersToLove 4th place: Buzz with Liz and Jim in The Sex Artist 5th place: Buzz with Toni and Claire in The Sex Artist Best Sex Overall Erin: Ideal Pacific Coast University Runner-up: The Sex Artist 3rd place: Pool Party 4th place: The Reunion 5th place: Crossworlds Part III – The Final Far Far Away Frontier Best Writing Erin: Tomorrow Never Comes Runner-up: Ideal Pacific Coast University 3rd place: The Sex Artist 4th place: Fever Cabin 5th place: The Reunion Best Technical Implementation Erin: Tomorrow Never Comes Runner-up: Ideal Pacific Coast University 3rd place: Fever Cabin 4th place: Escape Pod 5th place: The Sex Artist Most Innovative Game Erin: Tomorrow Never Comes Runner-up: Choices 3rd place: Fever Cabin 4th place: Weekend 5th place: Ideal Pacific Coast University 6th place: The Reunion Best Use of Multimedia Erin: Tomorrow Never Comes Runner-up: Fever Cabin 3rd place: X-Men: First Day at the Institute by Captain_Cranky_Pants Best Puzzles Erin: Ideal Pacific Coast University Runner-up: Tomorrow Never Comes 3rd place: The Reunion 4th place: Fever Cabin 5th place: Weekend Best Humor Erin: Crossworlds Part III – The Final Far Far Away Frontier Runner-up: Ideal Pacific Coast University 3rd place: Crawler’s Delight by A. Troll 4th place: Fever Cabin 5th place: The Reunion Best New Author Erin: Goddog Runner-up: Moriarty 3rd place: fellatrix_uk 4th place: Captain_Cranky_Pants Best Beta-Tester Erin: A. Ninny Runner-up: A. Bomire 3rd place (tie): Richard Gillingham, Germ Waster, Rob Loggie, Emily James Best Game of 2005 Erin: Ideal Pacific Coast University Runner-up: Tomorrow Never Comes 3rd place: Fever Cabin 4th place: The Sex Artist 5th place: Pool Party Badman Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Christopher Cole Most voters who nominated Chris mentioned the consistent quality of his games, the number of games he’s written and the attention he puts into his erotic writing. Others mention the extra things he’s done for the community, such as holding competitions and writing the interactive story in this newsletter. We’re all glad he’s still around and still contributing, and we’re happy he’s received this much-deserved award. Congratulations again to all. Laudatory descriptions of all the winners and runners-up will be posted on the Erins web site soon. Award Totals: A. Bomire, Tomorrow Never Comes: 6 Erins NewKid, Ideal Pacific Coast University: 5 Erins Goddog, Fever Cabin: 2 Erins TotalDirt, Lauren’s Awakening: 1 Erin BBBen, Crossworlds Part III – The Final Far Far Away Frontier: 1 Erin Purple Dragon, Archie's Birthday - Chapter 1: Reggie's Gift: 1 Erin A. Ninny, 1 Erin Interview with Erin Voters by A. Ninny This month, instead of featuring an interview with one significant AIF personality, we are going back out onto the street to talk to AIF players. Included in the Erins ballot was a request for voters to participate in a short interview about their votes and about AIF in general. I had time to interview a number of voters who expressed their willingness to be interviewed; five of those people provided their responses. Several others also indicated they wanted to be interviewed, and I apologize that I didn’t have time to follow up with them and send them questions. I thank E. Mann, Purple Dragon, Grimm Sharlak, Faraday and Stephan for their time and attention to their answers. A. Ninny: First of all, why did you pick the game you did for the ‘Best Game’ Erin? E. Mann (picked Tomorrow Never Comes as his first choice for ‘Best Game’): First off, let me say that every game nominated for Best Game this year was deserving of that nomination and an argument could be made for any of them to win, but in the end, you are only allowed to give one first place vote. For myself, and I'm sure for other voters, the difference between my first choice and second choice in many categories are incredibly small. That said, James Bond-style espionage is naturally a very sexy genre and Tomorrow Never Comes nails it. Playing it feels more like being in a Bond flick than even any of the commercial Bond games I've played (“Goldeneye,” for the N64 was a great game, but far less Bond-like than A. Bomire's work. Why, you didn't even have sex in it once!). I remained as intrigued with the plot and action and puzzles between the SSS's as I was with the SSS's themselves, and that combination of writing, puzzles, characters, and sex seems to be what this category should reward. We can all agree Tomorrow Never Comes is a very masterful work, but so are all the games nominated, so I suppose the appeal this particular genre has on me, the danger mixed with sophistication that is Bond and his world, gives it that something extra that I had to vote for, while someone who doesn't share a similar personal taste may have voted for another work. Or they may still have voted for Tomorrow Never Comes, regardless. I think the competition is that close. Grimm Sharlak (also picked Tomorrow Never Comes): While fanfiction/spoof/parody games are no new innovation in AIF, this is the first James Bond game I've come across, and it essentially nailed it. It helped that I'm a big fan of all things Bond, and of A. Bomire's work. The game was strong in every area it attempted, so it was always going to score high with me. Faraday (picked Pool Party): Pool Party made you feel like summer. You could taste the cold drink and feel the horniness in the characters. To be fair, Chris Cole and A. Bomire are probably the most experienced AIF writers. The combination of these two guys made a wonderful, hormone filled summer story. Purple Dragon (picked Tomorrow Never Comes): I don’t really like porno movies. This might seem to be a bit of a non sequitur but bear with me. In my whole life I’ve seen maybe 10 or 12 and I have never watched one all the way through. Why? Because they are boring. There is no plot, no story, just one sex scene linked to another by the flimsiest of threads. Now, some will no doubt argue that this is exactly the point of a porno movie, and of course, they would be correct. However, I do not believe that this should be the whole point of AIF. Most of the games have got the ‘A’ down (or even if the sex isn’t that great, there is at least a lot of it) but the ‘I F’ seems to be a bit (or a lot) weaker. I picked Tomorrow Never Comes because it incorporates all three aspects so well. Playing through the game, I really got the feeling that I was in a Bond movie. It had a plot and writing that would stand on their own even if you take the sex out. The sex scenes themselves are optional in the game, although I doubt that anyone actually opted to not participate in them. After all, what man reading this hasn’t drooled over a Bond girl or two in his time or dreamed about sticking it to Moneypenny? The writing and story (these are not necessarily the same thing) were great, the puzzles were unique and engaging, the graphics and sounds did a wonderful job of moving the game from scene to scene, and the sex scenes seemed to blend in well with the whole. I especially loved how the sexual tension builds up between the PC and Janet throughout the game just like in most of the movies. However, unlike the movies where there is a cut-scene at the bedroom and a witty quip by Bond as he leaves the room, here you get to follow through with it in the end. I guess the bottom line is, it was just a fun game to play. Great game A. Bomire A. Ninny: Hmm, no first choices for Ideal Pacific Coast University in this group. Still, most of you listed it as your 2nd choice [not surprising – it received far more 2nd place votes than 1st place votes]. Perhaps you could talk up that pick as well? Faraday: Just like A. Bomire and Chris Cole, the quality of NewKid's writing is evident. Here too, the youthful horniness is almost palpable. Professor Stone negotiating with grade-seeking beauties is priceless. And the way into Denise's pants amused me greatly. In my view NewKid is the best AIF author. Ideal New Englad Prep School is the best AIF game I know, followed (very) closely by his “Star Trek” spoof. Purple Dragon: As with TNC, I placed IPCU high on my list because it makes good use of all three letters in our acronym. This is not to say that there are not major differences between the two games. Two of the most sweeping differences are, first, while TNC is very linear (a necessary requirement since it was set up as scenes in a movie) IPCU is much more open. The basic framework is there but in several cases it is left to the player to decide which task to complete first, which really gives the feeling that you are in control of events rather than being swept along by them. Second, in TNC the sex scenes are all optional whereas in IPCU they are (for the most part) requirements for completing the game. I will not say which of these ways in general is the better way to go; only that in this case, they both work exceptionally well. I believe that one of the keys to a good game is variety. Variety in the characters, variety in the puzzles, and variety in the sex scenes. This is an EXTREMELY large game and if every woman in the game had breasts that “must be G or H cup at least” or every sex scene came down to “rub tits, suck tits, rub pussy, etc, etc, etc,” it would soon become rather tedious. Luckily, this is not the case here. It has its share of full sex scenes to be sure, but mingled in with them are a few teasers that bring the game along without loosing momentum. These are things like the voyeur scene with Stone or the strippers at the club. Having said that, one of the categories that I picked this first for was “Best overall sex.” Not just because there was so much of it, but because every scene added a little something extra to the mix. My answers seem to be running a bit long here so I’ll cite just one example -- the scene with Amanda. Using the book of erotic stories that she wrote to move the scene along was just a cool idea. I could mention several other examples but the point is that this is a game that is all about the sex while at the same time leaving me with the feeling that that was not all it had to offer. Grimm Sharlak: IPCU is a good game, and it's not just because it's NewKid's return. The line between a good game and a great game for me is innovation. IPCU was essentially a sequel, and so I think it came second because it was good fun, but not as new or innovative as other entrants. A. Ninny: A couple of you made interesting choices for the ‘Best Lesbian Sex Scene’, in which your first and second picks were the voyeuristic scenes rather than the participatory scenes. Was that deliberate? Why did you vote that way? Faraday: For us red blooded guys, lesbian scenes are a spectator sport. Just watching two hot bodies discover each other, seeing the girls knowing where to tease and please each other is great. Participating as a female PC would be intruding on holy ground. Grimm Sharlak: I don’t think it was really deliberate. I guess I related to those scenes better as in reality the only way I'd participate in such things as a spectator. Here’s a question for E Mann: You were outspoken about your choice of Scarlet Herring for the Badman award. Please support your selection. E. Mann: I'm a newbie to the AIF community, never posted to alt.games.xtrek, never even knew there was a community until early last year, but I've been playing AIF since 1999, and it never ceases to amaze me, as it must amaze anyone who discovered it around that time or before, just how many AIF games there are today. Not only the number of games, but their quality, that there are awards for them, multiple web sites dedicated to them, even a newsletter covering them, all of this seemed inconceivable when I first stumbled across a game on the if-archive posted with a warning about adult content and the suggestive name of Moist. Soon I was skimming the archive for anything with that warning, the only real way to find an AIF game back then, and discovered NewKid, Blowjob Drifter, and all the old AGT games. Now, seven years later, I have just finished casting a vote for the best in AIF games and am in the process of being interviewed about it by the author of a pretty good game and one of the nominees himself. I haven't published a game, haven't posted a hint, haven't done anything to advance AIF except play them, yet AIF is a big enough deal to enough people today that they actually care what I think, that my vote counts. And why am I in this strange position? Because of Scarlet Herring's Moist. This same story could be echoed by countless players of that period, and not just players but perhaps today's writers as well. Scarlet Herring was there because of X-Trek, but we're here because of Moist. All these games that have come since, many of them very good, yet, just reading through the past interviews in “Inside Erin,” so many players still list Moist as one of their favorites. Why is it that some of the best AIF games are written in TADS and virtually none are in Inform when Inform games always dominate the regular IF awards? Because Moist was written in TADS, and Scarlet released his code, begetting MMX and Rogue Cop and all that they begat. We've honored Badman, we've honored Choices, we've honored NewKid, and all rightfully so. We wouldn't be here without them, either, but, while there are still others whose contributions deserve to be honored, none now deserve it more than Scarlet Herring. A. Ninny: Similar question to you, Stephan. You picked Christopher Cole for the award. Why? Stephan: Why? Let’s face it, without him, most of the AIF games written in ADRIFT would simply suck (think of Vachon). He’s the only guy I know who releases his source code so other people can look at what he is doing and then take this and (hopefully) write decent games themselves. Also, I love his writing style and his way of crafting a scene. Plus, the orgy at the end of Mount Voluptuous was a milestone in AIF writing—well—at least in my eyes. So, to make things short, I can’t think of a better guy who deserves this award. A. Ninny: A couple of you were also nominating judges for the Erins. Do you think the process selected the best quality nominees? Are there any obvious omissions from any categories that you personally would have liked to have seen nominated? Grimm Sharlak: My own game? :D I certainly think we picked the best nominees. Think of a good game of AIF you played in 2005, then look at the list. It's on there. There were no obvious omissions for my money, but then again my memory kinda sucks in these situations. For example, if I played a game back in April, I certainly wouldn't recall if it had the best lesbian scene. But when I thought of games that I overall enjoyed for the year, they made it into the list. The games that I thought sucked didn't make the list, so I'm pretty happy with it. Purple Dragon: I was very pleased with the results of the nomination process. I believe that the process itself was very effective and left us with a great list of nominees. Just about every one of my selections made it onto the nomination list so I certainly have no room to complain there. A. Ninny: Another question for you, Purple. Your first and second choices for 'Best Orgy' sex scene were those from Fever Cabin and IPCU. These scenes are fairly dissimilar in style. What, for you, makes a great AIF orgy scene? Purple Dragon: Well, I’ve already said it, but it bears repeating that variety is important in creating a good game or a good scene. This becomes even more important when more actors are added to a scene. I don’t just mean having one blonde and one brunette but variety in the characters themselves, in the acts available, in their responses to those acts. Another aspect that goes hand in hand with this is interactivity. Even more than in a one-on-one scene, this is important for a 3+ scene. A threesome scene should not come across as two separate scenes where one girl just stands there while you’re doing something with the other. There should be interactivity between the other participants even when you haven’t explicitly commanded it. This is NOT an easy thing to do, but when accomplished it makes for a very engaging scene. A. Ninny: To E. Mann, I'm interested in your choice of Pool Party for Best Sex, especially considering you placed both of that game's entries in the individual sex scene categories (best m/f scene; best lesbian scene) fairly low. Why did you make Pool Party your choice? Also, was there another, better sex scene in Pool Party that you think should have been nominated? E. Mann: I did not realize I had done that when I was filling out the ballot, and that could seem like a contradiction, but the answer isn't all that unusual. I interpret the category Best Sex to mean the overall feel, quality, and impression of every SSS as a whole, while the best scene categories specifically judges that individual SSS regardless of whether the one before it was good or just ok or downright boring. If, say, your favorite Beatles song was something off “Let It Be” or “A Hard Day's Night”, but your favorite Beatles album was “Revolver” or “Abbey Road”, no one would say you were being hypocritical cause everyone knows a song is not an album, only a piece of one. To me, the scene categories represent just one song while the Best Sex category means the whole album. Again, when all the nominees are of high quality, you just have to go with your personal taste, what really sticks with you, and Pool Party has one small scene after another that keep it hot throughout and that left me with the impression of more overall hotness even though many of the other nominated games had an individual scene (or two) that wowed me more than any particular scene in Pool Party. (Too much individual greatness, in fact, seemed to hurt my opinion on the overall sex. There isn't a bad scene in NewKid's IPCU, but the scene with Gertrude, my vote for best m/f scene, was so excellent, a culmination of all the exotic dance scenes and Gertrude's own story, not to mention the fantasy of every male who has ever been to a strip club, that it made perfectly good scenes with other girls elsewhere in the game seem flat by comparison.) Specifically, with best lesbian scene, I found the scene nominated from Pool Party to be perfectly hot, but it was strictly a voyeuristic scene when others involved the PC and, thus, were interactive. Others will argue differently, but I just couldn't rank a strictly voyeuristic scene as high as an interactive one (though, as a male, I suppose voyeurism is the closest I'll ever get to lesbian sex). As for your second question, I am a big fan of Christopher Cole's Encounter 1: Tim's Mom, so I certainly enjoyed the return of Rochelle, preferring her ending to the Heidi ending, but I realize much of the hotness of that scene comes from having played that first game, and perhaps, to players who experience Pool Party before Encounter 1, the Rochelle scene, while still good, does not seem as exciting strictly in the context of Pool Party. So, I understand why that scene wasn't nominated; to do so would be like nominating the original game again, which would be unfair as the competition is for games released in 2005. Plus, I'm not sure which of the nominated scenes I would replace with it; everything nominated was done so for good reason. A. Ninny: Thanks for participating, everyone; we really appreciate your candor. E. Mann: No problem. I, for one, appreciate the work you and the rest of the Inside Erin staff put in each month to bring this publication out, and I hope my musings do a small part to give you guys a little less work this issue. Stephan: No, thank you, Ninny. You're doing a hell of a job. Great work, man. See you and greetings from Germany. * * * Seven Seas of Theah—Episode 3 by Christopher Cole OPTIONS: At the end of this story each month, you will be given a number of options. Choose the option that you like and vote in the poll at the Yahoo AIF Archive. The option that gets the most votes will determine how the story continues in next month’s newsletter. NOTE: You can read background information and other tidbits about this story here: http://ccole.aftermath.cx/theah.htm. Magnus stared at the door for a brief second, his hand wavering over Collette’s breast, his blood pounding through his body. He looked back into the wench’s eyes and then back to the door. Slowly his mind remembered something and his gaze drifted to the back door. Taking Collette by the hand, the two ran across the room, unbolted the door and closed it behind them as they appeared in the alley behind the tavern. There was a chill in the air, but not enough to cause any true discomfort. Collette giggled as Magnus backed her against the door and hefted her skirts. Her warm hand found his hard member and awkwardly freed it from the confines of his breeches. She gasped as he entered her with and upward thrust. He grasped her buttocks with both hands and pressed into her. She was lifted from the ground and she wrapped her legs around his body as best she could, the folds of her dress constantly getting in the way. With each thrust came a gasp, and with each gasp came a wisp of white breath in the cool night air. Collette grabbed Magnus’ hair as he thrust into her again and again. Magnus pressed his face into her ample bosom, kissing her and breathing onto her with teeth-clenched grunts. He was vaguely aware of the noise coming from the tavern, and part of him wondered what was going on in there. If it involved Violetta, he was sure the Raven could handle whatever is was. He decided to ignore it once and for all and gave his full concentration to the voluptuous wench he was furiously screwing. All thoughts faded from his mind, save one. He wanted to explode inside this young woman. And with that, his body stiffened, and his movements all but stopped. Collette moaned as Magnus emptied himself deep inside her. He pushed forward and held himself there as long as he could, and when his orgasm ended, he fell against her body, still inside her and still holding her in the air against the door. Collette breathed sweet nothings into his ear as she leaned against him. His breathing began to slow. “Magnus Rischen of Eisen,” a voice called out. Magnus dropped Collette who landed awkwardly on her feet and fell against the door. He spun towards the voice and spotted a man, flanked by two other men, at the end of the alley. They were armed with swords and they were drawn. Magnus had never seen the men before, but he recognized the type… government constables. The man who spoke made a disturbed noise. “Tuck yourself in, man!” Without taking his eyes off the men, Magnus realized his half-hard manhood was flailing in the wind for all to see. He also realized his sword belt was hanging down around his ankles, out of his immediate reach. With as much dignity as he could, Magnus tucked his penis back into his breeches, again without taking his eyes off the men who stood no more than twelve feet away. He made as if to straighten his vest, reaching inside for the familiar feel of his pistol grip. Alas, no pistol was found and he turned slowly to face Collette who had the gun trained on him. “Désolé,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Je ne pourrais pas refuser l'or.” “Ah, if you can’t trust a whore, who can you trust?” the man said, giving his long moustache a stroke with his free hand. “Magnus Rischen of Eisen. You are under arrest...” WHAT SHOULD MAGNUS DO? 1) Give up his sword and go quietly with the lawmen. 2) Draw his sword and attack. 3) Attempt to wrestle his pistol from Collette. 4) Try to talk his way out of the situation. 5) Run. * * * Game Reviews Falcon: Mean Streets, A Review by A. Bomire Game Info: Falcon: Mean Streets released January 26, 2006 Author: Girion Voeros Platform: TADS 2 Size: 1.3MB (with sounds) 289K (without sounds) Content: m/f Type: Puzzle Fest Length: Long Reviewed: January 2006 Extras: Sounds (can download a version without sounds) Basic Story You are Falcon, a thief, in the not-too-distant future. The corporations of the world have finally taken over, forming huge globe-spanning mega-corps. You are planning the biggest heist of your career - breaking into the penthouse suite of the president of Wyngarde Corporation. The bulk of the game is spent gathering the proper materials and finding your way into the building. Part II of the series (due out later this year) picks up where this game leaves off. Overall Thoughts This is the first game written by Girion Voeros. And the author warns all players that the A in AIF isn't that strongly presented - which it isn't, at least compared to some other games. But don't be fooled, there is plenty of adult action in this game, it just isn't as explicit as you may find in other games of this genre. The main focus of the game is on the puzzles and solving them. Normally, I don't play mainstream IF simply because I find the puzzle-intensive games less enjoyable. The character focus that AIF naturally has is more attractive to me (not to mention the "spice" provided by the adult nature), but this game has plenty of characters. In short, while the adult action may not be what you are normally used to, it was still an enjoyable game. Puzzles/Game Play This game is all about the puzzles. Despite Girion Voeros' claim that the difficulty is "Very Forgiving", don't be fooled. There are some very decent puzzles in this game. Most of them involve tracking down the right object to be used or given to the right person, but they are layered in interesting ways. For example, you may need to solve one puzzle to get a piece that is used to solve another puzzle. To me, the "Very Forgiving" nature means that there is only one very obvious method by which you can be killed, and that you can't reach a point in which it is impossible to win - not that it is easy! As far as game play is concerned, the flow of the game is a little erratic. Until you get pretty far into the game, it isn't really clear on why you are solving some of the puzzles you are solving. They are simply puzzles, so you solve them, and then afterward find out what was "locked away behind the door" (so to speak, although in one puzzle this is literally true). My advice to players is to wander around, seeing as much as you can and mapping the locations until you get a better idea of the whole game. This may help out in figuring out what you want to do and where you wish to go. The author helps you out by providing room-based hints, although they are just hints and not actual solutions. He also provides an in-game list of verbs you will need, which is very helpful in avoiding those "guess-the-verb" problems. There are a couple of instances where I knew what I wanted to do, but had trouble getting the syntax right (ex. "use this with that" instead of "use this on that"), but not too many to be annoying. Sex This is probably the section that your average AIF player will be disappointed in. If you are expecting a sex-filled romp, you will not enjoy this game. There is sex, but it is presented in a tasteful "hard R" instead of the normal "X X X" that usual AIF games employ. However, there is still plenty of sex to be had, and a bevy of willing women to bed. At first I was put off by this, but after playing the game through I found it a refreshing change. Technical This game is technically sound. While there are a few bugs, the ones that I found were more annoying than game stopping. For example, an article of clothing that I had left behind kept popping back into my inventory - no matter how many times I dropped it off. It had no affect on the game at all, other than I found it annoying. There have been some other similar glitches reported online, and the author has informed me that he plans on releasing a bug-fix version. Final Thoughts I would like to say that I enjoyed the game (because I did), but it is really more of a case of the game having won me over. As I mentioned, the lack of the usual sexual interaction originally put me off, but by the end of the game I found it quite refreshing. There is still plenty of sex in the game, just not what you may be used to. I found myself thinking about the game when I wasn't playing it, trying to figure out what I had missed or where a solution might be. For me, this is a good thing. Overall, I think this is a really good first effort for the author. I enjoyed it, and look forward to more from Girion Voeros. Rating: B+ * * * Erin! Adventures in Fantasy Download comic strip image from http://newsletter.aifcommunity.org/images/adv11.jpg * * * AIF Wants You If you can write game reviews, articles, opinion pieces, humorous essays, or endless blather, we want you. Contact the Editor for suggested content or just write what you want and send it to us. * * * Staff Editor: A Ninny is an AIF player, author of two AIF games and frequent beta- tester. His Parlour received an Erin for Best 'One Night Stand' game. Webmaster: Darc Nite is a newcomer to the AIF scene. He is an avid gamer who heard the call for help with the AIF Newsletter. Staff writers: A Bomire is the author of several TADS AIF games, including Dexter Dixon: In Search of the Prussian Pussy and The Backlot. His Games have won numerous awards and Erin nominations. BBBen is an AIF author. He has released six games, including the Crossworlds series and Normville High which won A. Bomire's 2004 mini-comp. Debbie, his popular character in the Crossworlds series won the 2004 Erin award for best female non-player character Grimm Sharlak is the author of two AIF games: Breakout and Of Masters and Mistresses: Abduction. Christopher Cole has written many ADRIFT AIF games, including Camp Windy Lake, Gamma Gals, and Mount Voluptuous. He is the 2005 winner of AIF’s Badman Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award. * * * Submitting Your Work to 'Inside Erin' Please direct all comments, articles, reviews, discussion and art to the Editor, A. Ninny, at aifsubmissions@gmail.com.