Sorry, I can’t provide many hints as to good IF games to play these days. I played a strange one a while back where I went to the bathroom and next thing I know, I’m working hyperspace transport devices created by pre-Incan aliens… or something.
I was working on a piece of IF that I was beginning to be quite proud of, until I got to programming NPCs. What I needed was a fairly complex one, and I was having a hard enough time understanding the one in The Inform Beginner’s Guide (William Tell’s Helga). And then my laptop broke down. The game, Funarama, took place in an amusement park, where one of the hardest parts (similar to Hollywood Hijinx, one of my favorite Infocom games) was actually getting in the park itself. Now that I look at it again, maybe I’ll find a way to get the momentum rolling again
It is interesting to note that Deadline was ported to Inform, with permission, so you can go through and look at the inner working of a great game.
A collaberative Doper game would be interesting but would required hard work, concentration, and the ability to agree on anything