Explanation of Prizes of the Second Quadrennial Ryan Veeder Exposition for Good Interactive Fiction
The Second Quadrennial Ryan Veeder Exposition for Good Interactive Fiction will award two sets of prizes, based on two separate categories of evaluation.
Any and all information outlined here is subject to change based on anything that might happen in the Judge's life between now and the end of the Exposition.
Monetary Prizes: Overall Ranking
Each Entrant's overall score will consist of that Entrant's scores in the three Events of the Exposition.
The Entrant with the highest overall score will receive first prize in the overall score category (USD $150).
The Entrant with the second-highest overall score will receive second prize in the overall score category (USD $100).
The Entrant with the third-highest overall score will receive third prize in the overall score category (USD $50).
There will be no ties.
Doll Prizes: Event-Specific Ranking
The highest-placing Entrants in each Event of the Exposition will be rewarded with chances to choose from a selection of gorgeous and adorable felt dolls, hand-sewn by the Judge of the Exposition.
There will probably be nine such dolls. As of this moment I have only sewn seven of them. There are some pictures of them further down on this page.
Priority in these choices will go to the first place Entries in each Event. Secondary priority in these choices will go to Entrants in Event Three.
There will be no ties.
Here is an example.
| Event One | Event Two | Event Three | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Shelly | Bobby | Audrey |
| Second Place | Nicky | Gersten | Laura |
| Third Place | James | Donna | Maddy |
In the above example, choice of dolls will proceed in this order:
- Audrey
- Bobby
- Shelly
- Laura
- Gersten
- Nicky
- Maddy
- Donna
- James
Entrants who place in multiple Events will not be rewarded with multiple chances to choose dolls. Tertiary priority will go to the highest-placing Entrants in each Event who haven't gotten a chance to choose a doll yet.
Here is a second example.
| Event One | Event Two | Event Three | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Harold | Ed | Nadine |
| Second Place | Catherine | Garland | Ed |
| Third Place | Leo | Leland | Garland |
| Fourth Place | Dick | Ben | Jerry |
In the above example, choice of dolls will proceed in this order:
- Nadine
- Ed
- Harold
- Garland
- Catherine
- Leland
- Leo
- Jerry
- Ben
Ideally, an equal number of doll choices will be awarded to Entrants for their Entries in each of the three Events. Quaternary priority will go to Entrants in in Events that have awarded fewer choices than the other Events.
Here is a third example.
| Event One | Event Two | Event Three | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Phillip | Chester | Albert |
| Second Place | Chester | Dale | Phillip |
| Third Place | Albert | Tammy | Chester |
| Fourth Place | Denise | Windom | Dale |
| Fifth Place | Lil | Sam | Diane |
In the above example, choice of dolls will proceed in this order:
- Albert
- Chester
- Phillip
- Dale
- Tammy
- Denise
- Diane
- Lil
- Windom
Lil is given a doll choice before Windom because of her placement in an event that has not yet awarded three doll choices. Event Two only awards four prizes because Event One doesn't have enough unique Entrants to award a third prize.
If there are fewer unique Entrants than the number of doll prizes, the Judge of the Exposition will award those dolls not chosen to himself, as consolation.
Here is another example.
| Event One | Event Two | Event Three | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Nick | Jess | Schmidt |
| Second Place | Coach | Cece | Winston |
| Third Place | Schmidt | Nick | Cece |
In the above example, choice of dolls will proceed in this order:
- Schmidt
- Jess
- Nick
- Winston
- Cece
- Coach
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Ryan
Pictures of Dolls
I haven't made all the dolls yet.
The dolls are not all the same size. They are not equal in artistic complexity. Some of them are fancy and some of them are simple. It is hard enough for me to come up with doll ideas and then bestow form upon them without worrying about making them all equally good prizes.
One Doll: Some Kind of Bloodsucker
- Height: Five and a half inches
- Stands up on its own?: With minimal effort
- Squishiness: A bit small for my hands
- Neck: None to speak of
- Poseability: Arms are string-jointed and sewn tightly enough that you can bend them around in various floppy positions
Another Doll: Some Kind of Spellcasting Rodent
- Height: Five and a quarter inches
- Stands up on its own?: With some small effort
- Squishiness: Low. Very skinny and not stuffed very tight (to assist in standing up)
- Arms: Nope
- Poseability: You can kind of pose the tail
A Third Doll: Some Kind of Skull
- Height: Five and a half inches
- Stands up on its own?: Well, no
- Squishiness: EXTREMELY
- Teeth: Inexpertly embroidered
- Eye Sockets: Satisfyingly concave
- Poseability: None
Yet Another Doll: Some Kind of Slug
- Height: Four and a half inches
- Length: Seven and a half inches
- Stands up on its own?: Kind of, basically
- Squishiness: Fairly high, especially in head area
- Sliminess: Merely implied
- Poseability: Arms are string-jointed and can express up to three emotions: Glee (arms up), Reach Out For Hug (arms forward), and Neutral (arms down)
Again a Doll: Some Kind of Celestial Lady
- Height: Seven and a quarter inches
- Stands up on its own?: Takes some work
- Squishiness: Not bad
- Accessories: You can remove the necklace but then she looks kind of boring
- Poseability: Arms are string-jointed; if she reaches out too far, she loses her balance
Still More Doll: Some Kind of Bipedal Lizard
- Height: Seven and three quarters inches
- Stands up on its own?: As long as you don't breathe on it
- Squishiness: Low (very skinny and stiff)
- Eyes: Asymmetrical
- Tail: Kind of awkward. You might have to coil it up manually. But you can also tie it around a pencil and let the little guy hang upside down and that's fun
- Poseability: Arms are string-jointed; if it reaches out too far, it loses its balance
The Seventh Doll: Some Kind of Hammer
- Height: Ten inches
- Stands up on its own?: Nope
- Squishiness: Exquisite
- Battleworthiness: After bopping myself in the face a few times, I've concluded that you could actually hurt somebody if you smacked them hard enough with this doll, so be careful
- Sturdiness: I tried to reinforce the seams connecting the handle to the head, but it's still made of cheap felt, so if you keep smiting stuff with this doll you will eventually break it, so be careful
- Poseability: Nil
The Final Doll: Some Kind of Bipedal Shark
- Height: Seven inches
- Stands up on its own?: Extremely well, even though her legs are kind of uneven, because her tail is such an effective counterbalance
- Squishiness: Middling
- Cape: Crude, but optional
- I can tell she's a girl shark because: Of what side the buttons of her jacket are on
- Poseability: QUITE HIGH. Arms are string-jointed and sewn tightly enough that you can bend them around in various floppy positions. (You can even kind of make her cross her arms smugly!) Tail is sewn tightly enough that you can bend it around in various floppy positions. Legs are string-jointed and very stiff, not very bendable, but you can make her sit down, which is more than you can say for some other dolls