Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter Volume 2 Number 4 April, 2006 Letter from the Editor I’m very glad to see that, all of a sudden, the community is awash in activity. It may seem more so to me than you because I’ve been so busy organizing, beta- testing and compiling Mini-comp entries on top of preparing this issue of the newsletter. But clearly, there has been a good solid batch of news worth discussing here. I was extremely happy to see Lucilla Frost’s new game come out this month, especially because gave us some high quality AIF entertainment (hey, even David Whyld gave it a “highly recommended”) in the midst of the renewal of the vitriolic argument over what to do about sub-par games. This newsletter’s mission, as you can see on every page 1, is “To encourage the production of more quality AIF games by providing advice from game developers, and by offering constructive criticism that is specifically relevant to AIF.” This means, in my view, that we should try to suppress our apparently innate desire to react in a knee-jerk fashion by saying ‘this is crap and you’re an idiot’ or even ‘this is crap because of x and y’. Rather, what we ask of players is to be honest about your opinions but to be constructive in your criticisms. It doesn’t help us keep and develop authors if they’re greeted by epithets with every new release. Accompanying the release of this edition of the newsletter are eight mini-comp games. Five of those games are by first-time authors. I welcome Inkybus, Herrdu, der’morat’aman, Priapus Rex and Rip_CPU to the ranks of AIF authors and encourage all of them to begin work on their next AIF game as soon as possible. As is the case with every mini-comp AIF has had, some games are more ambitious or more technically pristine than others. Players are going to have differing opinions about them, but I can say for certain that none of the games are so bugged up to the point of being unplayable or, as the recent parlance goes, ‘crap.’ I know for a fact, and this is an extremely positive development, that all eight games were beta-tested. I tested seven of them myself. So, at the risk of being repetitive, it’s my sole wish this month that all players treat the mini-comp authors with respect. This means that you are encouraged to provide constructive criticism and feedback to all the authors, even if the games aren’t up to your personal standards or a good match for your personal tastes. Also, I ask that all of you vote in the mini-comp balloting. You’re going to play all the games anyway, so take the extra few minutes to fill in the ballot and send it in. * * * This month in AIF by BBBen Perhaps this article should be titled "This Month Plus One Week in AIF" since we're one week late this time. Of course, this delay is because we decided to hold off this edition in order to include the entries of Inside Erin's 2006 AIF Mini-comp! The mini-comp has received eight entries, which is fewer than the last two mini comps (9 entries in 2003 and 13 entries in 2004) but still a pretty good turn-out. Those games are listed below in the "new games" section - a particularly crowded area for this edition. EVERYBODY MUST VOTE IN THE MINI-COMP! It won't take you long to play through all the games and get a fair idea of which are the good ones, so there's no excuse for not voting. If you're playing the games, we want your vote. In the 2004 mini-comp, even though authors were allowed to vote there were fewer votes than there were entries! It's a pretty interesting batch of games; in past mini-comps the entries have been mostly by new authors but this time we have three games by Erin award- winning authors in there as well. It also seems to me that at least three of the games are fan-fics, which is a novelty for AIF comps as well. At the time of writing, I have only played one of the games, and that was because I helped beta-test it (as a general rule I don't beta-test, but I had a bit of time on my hands). I'm really looking forward to playing the rest, and may the best pervert win! A discussion about mind-control erotica provoked a brief moral debate on the AIF Archive, while a post feeling out interest in computer game fan-fic AIF caused a number of authors (myself included) to speculate on how great a "Baldur's Gate 2" fan-fic AIF game could be. I do hope to see a well-done BG2 game some day, but somehow I think it might be too difficult to put together something that would be faithful to the characters, atmosphere and gameplay of the RPG classic. March was really a month for bile to be spewed out on the AIF Archive. Yes, the great AIF debate lives on! Should we be harsh on weaker games, or should we be supportive? Is AIF of poorer quality than IF, or is it trying to be something totally different? These issues have been argued back and forth on AIF’s different forums repeatedly over the past few years, and since nobody seems to be changing anybody else’s opinion it’s probably not worth getting stuck into the debate all over again. Every now and then someone makes a provocative remark and the argument flares up again, but I think most people would rather we just let it lie, so I will for now. If you’re wondering what all this is about, there was much arguing on the AIF Archive about a new game this month. What was really weird was that in March we got three game released that dealt with super-heroes in one way or another. What’s with that? We’ve been stuck in a period of few game releases for a while now, but it seems to me like the activity might be out there in the community to break the drought sometime soon. I certainly hope so. AIFGames.com is coming along well now that Orgun has put in the work to upload all the old AIF Portal games to the site, along with some basic information about each game. David Whyld’s long-standing complaint that he was credited for writing The Burbs when he didn’t (it was actually written by Red Hog) has finally been corrected, and a good thing about AIF Games’ archive system is that games can be back-dated when uploaded, so that the archives represent a more or less correct display of the age of the games. There are also user templates now available that allow members to view the site differently if they don’t like the current layout, so check them out. We’ve been trying to get the forums a little more active, but there’s still not much activity beyond what’s posted by a some of us authors. Next time you want to post something to the AIF Archive, try posting it to AIFGames.com first. I promise you that people will pay attention to it. New Games Vengance by Steel Mamba, ADRIFT 3.9, released 11th March 2006. You are a supervillain, looking for revenge on the superheroine who captured you. To Cage a Magpie by Lucilla Frost, TADS 2, released 12th March 2006. Magpie from British Fox and the Celebrity Abductions gets her own game, in which we see her old life as a super thief. Folly of the GameMaster by Nite_Owl, ADRIFT 3.9, released 16th March 2006. You are a superhero who is sucked into a video-game world. NOTE: This game was withdrawn for retooling. 2006 Mini-comp games, released 7th April 2006: 1. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Nightmares by der’morat’aman; TADS 3 2. Warlock by Christopher Cole; ADRIFT 3.9 3. Super Blow by Herrdu; Inform Z-Code 4. Shamelessly Slutty: Teacher by Rip_CPU; ADRIFT 3.9 5. A Dream Come True by Purple Dragon; ADRIFT 3.9 6. The Clairvoyant by Priapus Rex; ADRFIT 3.9 7. WWE – RAW’s New GM by A. Bomire; TADS 2 8. Detention by Inkybus; TADS 2 * * * Sly Dog Interview by A. Ninny Sly Old Dog (or Sly Dog) is one of the most prolific AIF authors, having composed over a dozen games. He’s also one of the most controversial authors – his releases are often followed by vociferous debate over the importance of technical cleanliness in AIF. We thought it would be interesting to talk to the author himself about the ruckus and get his take. AN: Thanks for participating in this interview. First, can you please tell us who you are and what brings you to AIF? SD: I’m a middle aged British male, clearly at times with too much time to spend in front of his PC. I stumbled across AIF several years ago and played some of the old games in Inform and so on. Later I realized that ADRIFT was the fashionable format and having played some games in this, decide to do some myself. AN: Middle aged? In your game Truck you described a woman older than 22 and younger than 45 as middle-aged. Is that when middle age starts and ends? SD: That spans middle age in my view I guess and puts me in late middle age, but I suspect that middle age lengthens as one approaches the upper limit! AN: Here’s the question that I’m sure is on everyone’s mind: you’ve been heavily criticized in the past. To paraphrase the criticism: “your games are frustrating to play because they’re riddled with guess-the-verb and other coding bugs. Furthermore, you’ve been loathe to beta-test your games.” How would you respond to this? SD: I have been criticized, although I have received lots of supportive messages. As time has gone by, I’ve tried to avoid the guess-the-verb problems, even by putting the obscure ones in bold, although none are really obscure if the player reads the responses to previous tasks. Some coding bugs always occur and I regret them. I have not been loathe to beta test, but have been frustrated by the process: of those players that offer to test, only a minority (to whom I am very grateful) actually make any useful comments. Other never reply or simply say “hey, this was great” which is nice but does not help me develop the games. AN: You’ve seemed to by and large withdraw from the community of late, reducing your participation in the forums and choosing to upload your games on your own web page instead of the common archives. Is this a response to the criticism you’ve received? SD: I have tended to load them to my own page for this reason: it’s inevitable when some comments on the technical aspects or storylines are so bruising. Reading the forum can be tedious and disheartening. My web page is currently offline, altogether although most of my games are up at the forum. I would be happy to have someone else host them temporarily. AN: On the other hand, you have supporters who praise your games for their writing and dismiss the critics as being too picky. How well does this correspond to your own philosophy? SD: What a deep question! These games are only fun and that’s why I have written them. AN: Most of your games include exploitation or violence as their main theme. Why do you like to explore that element of behavior in your games? SD: Another deep one. I guess this is what fantasy offers us: a chance to consider things we would neither do or wish to do in real life. AN: You have now given two very brief answers to what you described are 'deep' questions. Why the brevity? Is it your opinion that I (and others) take this too seriously? SD: I think this is a little serious about a few silly games, although I admit that this is hypocritical considering the hours I spend labouring over them! As you can guess, like many others, I also wish to remain anonymous and replying thoughtfully to what are searching questions tends to reveal more about me than I would wish. AN: On your web site (before you removed it) you claim you feel Midsomer Manor is your best game. What about that game do you feel gives it its strength? SD: I think it has a reasonable plot and the characters are developed to a fair degree. The setting is also more interesting than many other games. AN: What are your favorite AIF games? SD: Chris Cole’s are all great. AN. Are you going to continue producing AIF? What projects do you have in the works? SD: I’m pretty much out of it at the moment. There are a couple that are done that I haven’t released but may in the future. Circumstances for me have changed and I’m less interested in writing more now. Perhaps I’ve explored the areas I’ve been most interested in? However, I gather ADRIFT 5.0 is due later this year and it may offer some new approaches. Thanks to Sly Dog for participating. Though his web site is down, his games are available from the AIFgames.com web site. * * * AIF Wayside by BBBen I've worked on numerous games that at one time or another I've been very enthusiastic about, but because of having more ideas than time, energy and motivation, I've had to abandon them. I thought I'd outline some of these ideas that have fallen by the wayside during my AIF writing 'career'. I Dream of Jeannie - Don't Bottle it Up! I'm particularly sorry to abandon this one. It was a fan fiction of the old TV show "I Dream of Jeannie", in which I was going to explore the inherent sexual tension that made the show so compelling to me. Jeannie was always showing a lot of interest in Major Nelson, but he kept pushing her away - as if any red blooded man could resist a beautiful woman offering to fulfil his every desire! In Don't Bottle it Up! (and how I loved that title!) Jeannie's repressed sexual energy takes on corporeal form as a slutty clone of Jeannie, called Jeannie Too. She uses her magic powers to make her breasts even bigger, and then Major Nelson and Jeannie have to try and control the hijinks as Jeannie Too runs amok. It all culminates in the end when Major Nelson finds the only way to sort things out is to have a threesome with Jeannie and Jeannie Too. I had some cool multimedia, including sounds such as the theme tune to the show, and even a laugh track that I would have put in whenever there was a joke. There were also pictures of Barbara Eden (in costume as Jeannie) and sound files of her voice from the episodes. Why was this one abandoned? Firstly, I wanted to make the player take the role of Major Nelson, but the plot sort of had him in a rather passive role. Jeannie was always the dynamic one, and the one who should be trying to solve the problems. Secondly, I meant to do some research by watching the show, but soon after I took on the project the repeats that were showing on TV at the time ended, and I was left without access to the source material. Third, and partly because of the first two points, I simply couldn't come up with much in the way of interesting plot events. Basically the plot was just: Jeannie Too is created from Jeannie's sexual tension, she runs amok, this is solved with a threesome. So I'm sorry, but I don't think Don't Bottle it Up! will ever be made. Nouveau Riche What would you do if you found six billion dollars? That's the premise of this game, or at least it was at first. Peter Hitchcock finds six billion dollars and it turns his life around, but for some reason he still feels as empty and out of touch with the world as before. Then a wealthy acquaintance gets murdered by someone who is coming after the money. This game was designed to be a mystery in which Peter, with his bookish sidekick Sally, discover where the money actually came from and who is after them. The AIF part of the plot has Peter being seduced from all sides by women with various agendas. In the end Peter realises that Sally is the only person who had been with him since before he found the money, and they live happily ever after. Of all of my abandoned games, this is the one I have done the most work on, and it's a bit of a shame because this was the game idea that made me resolve firmly to actually complete and release a game. It just happened that while I was working on it I got kind of lost, because of the size of the project, and then I came up with the characters for Sleep Over and I went and wrote that in a frenzy. Later I came back to the game and did quite a bit of work on it, reworking the idea so that it would be much better in structure and characters. I ran into trouble with the size again, and so left it for a while. I came back with another rework that made it even better, but ran into trouble with structure for a third time. Now I've simply decided it's not worth the effort, and I'm stealing the best bits for other projects where I can. Bon Voyage This was designed as a sequel to Nouveau Riche in which you play as a nameless PI. He takes a false name (I can't remember what that was) when he takes up a job from a money man named Heinrich Braun to investigate a wealthy and powerful secret society. The only character in common between Nouveau Riche and Bon Voyage was to be Braun, who works for Peter Hitchcock and was commissioning the investigation on his behalf. The PI manages to befriend a sleazy playboy who happens to have family connections to the secret society. This playboy has a beautiful, sweet, blind girlfriend who quite literally can't see what's going on right in front of her as her boyfriend carries on with every woman he can. By living a life of debauchery for a while with this playboy, seeking out new women every night, the PI manages to get close enough to infiltrate the society, while the blind girl takes a liking to him and (in a scene I stole from a movie, I think it was "Purple Moon") gets angry at her boyfriend, trying to make him jealous by pretending she's having an affair with the PI. Presumably the PI would actually have sex with her at some point, and I wanted to do a scene where she kind of 'felt it out' since her old boyfriend had just thrust her away and never let her enjoy herself. Eventually, the PI winds up at a meeting of the secret society at a nunnery, where they have sex with the nuns as part of their rituals. The PI discovers that the society planned to destroy the world's economies with the six billion by buying and selling in strategically destructive ways. The PI manages to foil their plans, but in the end rather than going off into the sunset with the blind girl, he reveals that he is not who he pretended to be at all, and that she should not be with a man like him. This game was abandoned basically because it was a sequel to another game that I had abandoned. I actually think this one is rather better than Nouveau Riche, but sometimes we have to control the scope of our work load. The Strike The Strike was about a labour shortage in the forties. Why would this be good material for an AIF game? Well, I don't really know. I had been watching some old British movies at the time and found some of the women quite sexy, so I thought I'd try to make a short game out of it. It didn't work out at all, so I cut my losses on this one without having done too much work. I still might poach a couple of ideas from this game, though. Deadworlds The popularity of Debbie from Crossworlds made me think about putting her in her own game. This idea was going to be about Debbie going out one night and being caught up with vampires. Along the way there was going to be plenty of sex, my favourite scene being one between Debbie, a busty, lesbian vampire and a clay golem sex toy who shot custard from his cock. I abandoned this game because I didn't really feel like I was doing a very good job with it. It just didn't seem like good writing, and I was running out of ideas for Debbie. I still may use Debbie again sometime, but apart from committing her to Crossworlds Part 4 I won't say anything. Virtual Erin This game was supposed to be a bit like One Girl but in which you actually design the girl by making choices along various parameters. There would be three different figures - slim, athletic and voluptuous; three ages - 18, 29 or 40; three personality types - shy, horny or dominant; and various other small points like hair colour/style and so on. This would have been great if I could have pulled it off, but it was just too much work for something with no plot. I wasn't able to get much work done on it at all, beyond getting a grip on the technical side. * * * 2006 AIF Mini-Comp Release by A. Ninny “Inside Erin: The AIF Newsletter” is proud to announce the release of the entries to the 2006 AIF Mini-comp. After eight weeks of work, eight authors have sent in games, which are hereby available for download from the Newsletter web site. All eight games are archived into one zip file, which includes the games, authors’ readmes, an index file and the competition ballot. We’re very excited and grateful that so many authors chose to participate, especially since the past few months have been fairly slow in terms of new game releases. We’re also very glad to see five new authors submit games and we invite them to continue producing games in the future. It is our hope that this mini-comp will breathe some life into a fairly moribund community and help it begin to thrive once again. Without further ado, I present the entries to the 2006 AIF Mini-Comp: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Nightmares by der’morat’aman; TADS 3 Warlock by Christopher Cole; ADRIFT 3.9 Super Blow by Herrdu; Inform Z-Code Shamelessly Slutty: Teacher by Rip_CPU; ADRIFT 3.9 A Dream Come True by Purple Dragon; ADRIFT 3.9 The Clairvoyant by Priapus Rex; ADRFIT 3.9 WWE – RAW’s New GM by A. Bomire; TADS 2 Detention by Inkybus; TADS 2 Everyone who downloads the file and plays the games is encouraged to vote in the competition. The authors of these games are also permitted (and encouraged) to vote. The voting deadline is set for April 21, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. CDT. In addition to voting, players (whether they actually vote or not) are asked to provide feedback to the authors through the competition organizers. There is a space provided at the end of the ballot for your comments. The organizers will see to it that all comments are routed to the correct authors. Communications During Voting Period The competition organizers respectfully request that no comments about the games or requests for help be made on the message boards during the voting period. This is to avoid influencing the vote. Any requests for hints may be emailed to ninnyAIF@core.com. In addition, authors will not be permitted to post updates to their games during the voting period. If serious bugs are identified in any games, their authors may post a bulletin advising players how to work around said bugs. Authors are asked to request approval by e-mail for the text of their technical bulletins. Voting Procedures Voting will be done in 5 categories: Concept/Writing, Characters, Technical, Hotness, & Enjoyment. Voters are asked to rank all eight games in each category in order of their preference. In a change from previous years, the ‘Playability’ category has been deleted. The criteria previously used to judge playability has been rolled into the ‘Technical’ category. Also, the ‘Concept’ category has been revamped into ‘Concept/Writing’ to give it more weight. In this revamped category, voters are asked to evaluate the games’ settings, storytelling, atmosphere and use of language along with how good the basic ideas were and how well they conformed to the competition rules. Competition Rules The games are all designed around these basic rules: Your game may not have more than three rooms. Your game may not have more than one sexually-interactive non-player character. Your game may have one additional non-player character who does not participate in an interactive sex scene. Multimedia is allowed, but cannot exceed 150KB. Your game must be winnable. Your game must be original (not previously released in part or whole). * * * Seven Seas of Theah—Episode 5 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. Page updated April 2, 2006. Magnus and Violetta stormed back into the tavern. The place was now virtually empty; everyone having left or returned to their rooms during the excitement. Chairs and a table were overturned and two dead swordsmen lay in pools of their own blood where Violetta had felled them. There was no sign of Collette. “We must hurry,” Violetta said, turning to look back outside the door. “I can hear horses…” Magnus ran across the room and was about to check the back storeroom when he heard a mug drop from the bar top. He spun and spotted Collette ducking her head back behind the bar. With two long strides, Magnus crossed to the bar and hopped over it. Collette jumped up and tried to run but Magnus caught her by the scruff of her dress and hauled her to him. She struggled to get free, but only managed to rip her dress, causing her large breasts to fall free. They bounced and swayed as she struggled, but Magnus barely noticed. “My pistol, my dear,” he said. She stopped struggling, but the fear did not leave her eyes as she reached underneath the folds of what remained of her dress and took Magnus’ pistol out, handing it to him. “More men!” Violetta yelled, pulling back from the door slightly and pointing her sword towards it. “How many?” Magnus asked, letting Collette go. The wench ran to the back room and Magnus could hear locks bolting on the other side. “A dozen at least,” the Raven replied. “This is not good. A hasty retreat?” he asked his companion. Violetta nodded, and the two headed for the stairs, their only route of escape. Before they made it to the bottom of the steps, there was a shimmer in the air. They turned and saw a glowing crack appear in the air, and through it stepped a gorgeous woman dressed in purple mystical armor. Her hair was dark and done up with ribbons and her face was painted with thick makeup. The crack disappeared as she fully materialized in the room. “Port? mage!” Violetta yelled as she turned and fled past Magnus up the steps. Magnus turned and fired his pistol at the sorceress. The mage held out her hand and the shot disappeared into a small, glimmering circle of air about half-way to its target. The mage then held out her other hand, palm upwards, and the ball of lead dropped into it harmlessly. Just then the door to the tavern flung open and swordsmen began storming into the place. Magnus turned and fled up the stairs. At the top he ran down the hallway, noticing a number of open doors. Violetta called to him from the end of the hallway as she threw open the shutters to a window overlooking the back of the building. He ran up to her and they jumped out the open window. They landed on a low roof and from there it was an easy jump to the ground. They were behind the tavern now. They could see the docks just off in the distance, and forest surrounding them on both sides. They could hear voices approaching the open window above them. They had to make a quick decision as to what to do next. WHAT SHOULD THEY DO NOW? 1) Head to the docks and stow away on a ship? 2) Head to the docks and steal a rowboat? 3) Head east into the forest (towards Eisen)? 4) Head west into the forest (deeper into Montaigne)? 5) Head back around into the tavern to fight the mage and the swordsmen? * * * * * * Game Reviews To Cage a Magpie, a review by Grimm Sharlak Game info: To Cage a Magpie, released March 12, 2006 Author: Lucilla Frost Platform: TADS Size: 261 kb zipped Content: m/f, f/f, voyeurism, BDSM Game Type: Puzzle fest Length: Short Reviewed: March 2006 Extras: None Basic Plot: One of the supporting cast of British Fox and the Celebrity Abductions stars in her own game, here. Waking up from another hard night on the piss, Magpie vaguely remembers being hired for a job, which you soon learn is to steal some very important documents. As the cunning super-powered thief you have to break in, get the documents, and break out. Overall Thoughts: British Fox and the Celebrity Abductions was a popular game based in a superhero universe, and To Cage a Magpie operates in the very same setting. This time, however, instead of solving a crime, you’re committing it. This makes the game different from your average AIF, as the goal is more focussed on non-sexual objectives, rather than “score with chick X”. Puzzles/Gameplay: The game plays out kind of like a text-based Thief game. Your goal is to get into a well defended, highly secure house and escape with some documents. And in a nice touch, the game is truly flexible; there are multiple ways just to get into the house, as well to accomplish the other objectives. The game can be a bit tricky at times, but due to its short length and your friend and mine: the undo feature, it’s not too taxing. The problems you’ll encounter really are more along the lines of “how can I do this sneakily” rather than “dammit, the game won’t do what I tell it to!” The only problem I had with the gameplay were little touches. For starters, the game begins in Magpie’s junk-strewn flat, and in order to get things going you have to repeat a task an apparently random number of times. This random-number- of-tries issue pops up again when using Magpie’s thieving skills to pick locks and the like. It can get a bit frustrating to have to repeat a task an unknown number of times when the game has an interesting time limit urging you to hurry. That time limit is Magpie’s cigarette addiction. This is the other area where the game can be annoying: I feel like Magpie needs a tab break far too often. If you don’t have a smoke (admittedly, an easy task, but still) after a while you fail the game. And you also have a limited number of cigarettes. You’ll rarely see the game over from running out of fags but having to stop what you’re doing to smoke (especially when you’re doing one of the aforementioned repeatable tasks) can be frustrating – although completing the game allows you to deactivate the lock-picking, at least. Sex: Most of the sex in the game is non-interactive, as the inhabitants of the house go about their business without detecting Magpie. The two major sexual characters have a sort of B&D sort of relationship, and some spankings and canings will take place if you trigger some events. At one point I was able to interact directly with one of the characters (and I actually got stuck at that point because I didn’t think of it!) and just like the rest of the sex, the scene is well written and definitely hot stuff. Technical: Not much to complain about here. In multiple playthroughs I didn’t come across any bugs or glitches and even the time-based events always worked. Very well done. Intangibles: This certainly is a different AIF game, much as British Fox was. Logical setting, clever puzzles and non-standard AIF sex make this a truly unique game. Final Thoughts: A fine follow-up to British Fox and the Celebrity Abductions, To Cage a Magpie is a well crafted, fun little adventure that never gets too hard. While I harped on them a bit, the frustrations I spoke of truly were minor especially as so much goes on around you during the game! Rating: A- * * * Erin! Adventures in Fantasy Download comic strip image from http://newsletter.aifcommunity.org/images/adv14.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. His games have received two Erin awards, numerous nominations and first place in A. Bomire's 2004 mini-comp. 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.