IFComp08: Nerd Quest
Another "Why reinvent the wheel?" entry. To be honest, I couldn't give it more than ten minutes before getting sick of it.
To be fair, the engine it runs on is intriguing. It's clearly a major work in java and can (theoretically) be run in both command-line and a client/server model embedded in a web browser. In practice, though, I couldn't get it to run on the command line (on three os's) and the web browser version was too poorly implemented to continue torturing myself, being about 40 characters wide, scrolling down instead of up, with no noticeable means of scrollback, and a prompt that read "==WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?==" in awful lime green after every action.
This could have worked as a parody of early Apple II IFs like Adventureland, but instead it just felt cramped and primitive compared to decent engines (not to start another rant).
Anyway, I explored two rooms after I figured out that it was actually working, then the connection to the server went poof and I gave up.
1/10. Please don't enter programming exercises.