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Yup, as the thread title says, the theme is whatever you want, no word limit.

We've had open rounds before, and I thought it's been a while so about time for another.

Remember to stay honest and write a story within the set time limit, not just copy/paste one you have already written. We are on the honor system here.

FREEEDOM! (Just imagine Mel on his horse, I can't be bothered hosting one)

Open until end of day, August 4th.

[An Interrupted Habit]

An Interrupted Habit

Write a story about someone going about a habitual task, one they would usually do without thinking, which is interrupted by some circumstance that leads into the rest of the tale.

Contest entries open until Dec 16th, 2024.

Write a story about a character, or a group of characters, who partake in a pastime outside of their normal day-to-day life which, for whatever reason, they need/want to keep a secret.

Entries open until October 5th.

Voting open until October 14th.

CLOSED.

[BLACK MAGIC]

That's the theme:

BLACK MAGIC

In whatever form or nuance you wish.

Open until July 20th.

This time around, let's get all those big, juicy ideas out there that are too large in scope for a short-story format:

Write a synopsis for your dream novel, just as if you were sending it off to a publisher and/or agent. Traditionally, such things are one A4 page, single-line spaced, or about 500-600 words. This is ideal, but you can go over or under as you please.

The synopsis should condense your entire novel into a summary of character intros, key points, and story turns. It is not a thesis/essay on the book's themes or deeper meanings. Try to stick to the characters and plot. It is important that the synopsis shows why a reader will be drawn into the story and carried along by it to the conclusion.

Speaking of the ending: if you do not wish to spoil the ending here, especially if this is an actual novel you are working on or have in mind, then that is fine.

More than one entry per person is not only allowed, it is encouraged.

So, get your typewriters, correction strips, photocopiers, and a stack of envelopes and stamps ready, and let's blow those imaginary (or real) agents and publishers out of the water!

(Using confusion with varying month/date styles for different countries as my excuse, the deadline for entries is 6/6/2024)

OUTLANDISH!

The theme of this round is somebody suddenly doing something so inappropriate, and possibly so unlike them, that it would be considered outrageous! Perhaps even they themselves are shocked at what they have done, or maybe it's part of a carefully orchestrated plan.

Anything goes, as long as it's outlandish!

Open until April 18th. Shock us!

[POD DWELLERS]

POD DWELLERS

Escape the doomed Starship Voidlight before it is split asunder by a giant asteroid. Then try to survive, and perhaps escape from, the hardships and dangers of an uncharted alien world.






DOWNLOAD HERE FOR WINDOWS AND LINUX

GAME NOTES

This is basically a proof-of-concept for a larger, more detailed game I plan to continue working on.

Building the 'game engine' inside the AGS game engine to handle an unlimited number of missions for the Pod Dwellers took me muuuuuch longer than it probably should have, so time ran out for writing a large number of missions. This means not a lot of variety once the player is stranded on the alien planet but I was sure to include everything needed to complete the game.

Some people may notice a similarity between my game and the popular game "60 Seconds". This is no coincidence. 60 Seconds was a big influence on me in making this. I thought "What about a game like that but set in space?". What WAS a coincidence was that the developers of 60 Seconds came out with their own take on the genre set in space while I was making mine: 60 Parsecs. Haha, oh well.

Anyway, game notes:

* It is not transparent in the game in its current form, but every type of person DOES have their own particular skill set. There are 20 skill stats for each character and each "class" is unique. Basically, if you assume a particular character is good at a certain challenge, then they probably are. Need to pew-pew with blaster pistols? A soldier is good at that! Or maybe a lovable space-rogue pirate who may or may not shoot first?

* You will notice that the storage area of the pod has a LOT of empty slots. Those are all for the future.

* The number of items brought on a mission cannot exceed the number of people on the mission. If you get a red flash and a buzzer then you are already at the limit and can swap some out if you like. Sorry there is no counter to show total people/ total items. There was no time.

* Yes, it is annoying that mission equipment is always returned to the storage area after each outing. Sorry about that. It was a workaround for an issue I knew how to fix but would have needed major time I did not have to do so. On the plus side, it IS good to think about your mission profile of people and equipment each time, so this "feature" kind of forces that.

* Almost every character consumes food and water every game day. If they are active on a mission that day, THEY WILL CONSUME MORE than people sitting around doing nothing in the Living Space. This is a VITAL thing to consider to survive long. Spamming every mission with all available people will get you killed pretty fast.

* If you see a quick red flash and hear a slight buzz out of nowhere, this is your people dying from starvation and/or thirst. Sorry that this flashes by too quickly to notice who exactly died.

* VERY IMPORTANT: Medkits brought along on missions have the potential to save a person who would have otherwise died. This also depends on the total medical skill of the team so a doctor or two along on missions with medkits are great medic backup if possible. If the person's life is saved, the medkit is consumed. (You will see a green flash when this happens)

* That being said, most characters have at least SOME skill in every area. You might not HAVE a doctor but someone else might know a little more about that stuff than the average joe. No miner in your pod? What's the next best thing?

* In the same vein, other items brought along on missions are also useful. This is not transparent but is pretty much common-sense rules. If you want to do some mining, for example, what do you bring? If you want to impress someone brainy, what do you bring? And so on.

* Monks are copyright-safe Jedi.

* Yes, there are SUPPOSED to be laser swords in the game. The sprite for them is already in it, but not utilized yet. Time ran out.

* Science level is NOT SUPPOSED to show up (in this version). It's an amorphic amount of knowledge, not an inventory item. Although I will probably add an indicator in future versions. Just another thing where time ran out.

* There IS a way to win the game. For now, I will leave that as unclear as the game itself does as I think part of the fun may be figuring it out. In the full game I envision, there will be multiple possible endings. But for this MAGs version there is only one. Well, apart for various ways to die along the way. The good news is that the limited resources and options in this version make finding the win conditions fairly easy I believe.

* Have fun I hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGakyWRiw8U

Hasn't been broadcast in the UK yet, but Alasdair absolutely slays!

THE BANALITY OF EVIL



The theme of this round is "The Banality of Evil", meaning to write a piece with some extremely evil character or force, human or otherwise, fictional or non-fictional, but not present them as an unknowable inhuman monster. Instead, the story must present a prosaic side to them, whether it's an evil dictator burning his morning toast, or Satan taking out the garbage, or something else much better than those two examples.

Submissions open until end of day, Standard Klingon Time, of March 2nd, 2024.

VOTING NOW OPEN UNTIL END OF DAY MARCH 8TH, STANDARD MORDOR TIME.

THIS DECADE-OLD STAPLE OF AGS CULTURE IS STAGNATING AND WE NEED ALL YOUR HELP ONCE AGAIN:

I make this plea here at this time for a simple reason: there are only three stories in the contest this time and all are short. Readable within a lunchbreak.

Please come to this thread, read the three excellent tales and just post the name of which was your favorite. Your vote will matter, and no further obligation is required.

Just click the link below to help keep this amazing AGS classic contest alive:

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/fortnightly-writing-competition-not-on-solid-ground-until-end-of-october-10/

Sorry for no pretty pictures etc. Just the basic theme rules:

The story must not take place on any kind of solid ground or floor.

On or under the ocean, up in the air, floating around inside a spaceship, or flying through the astral plane are all viable examples.

But not, for example, sailing on a ship or flying in an airplane.

If a character briefly stands or falls onto something solid, like in the case of a circus trapeze act, that would scrape through as acceptable.

Apart from that, anything goes. Happy typing all! (Yes, you are allowed to write it on a solid keyboard)

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VOTING OPEN UNTIL OCT 18TH.

TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE OF THESE STORIES JUST MENTION ITS NAME WHEN YOU POST IN HERE TO VOTE.

ANY OF THESE:

"TWO BIRDS"

"OH, 'CHUTE"

"THE BOOK OF JIM"

AFTER YOU POST YOUR VOTE THERE IS NO FURTHER OBLIGATION TO DO ANYTHING.

THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN AN AGS CLASSIC FOR OVER A DECADE!

HELP US OUT, PLEASE!

RIP Slasher.

It has just been recently confirmed that Slasher is no longer with us. He passed away from a heart attack last year.

The man was a pillar of this community and a great and unique friend to many of us.

I created this thread separate to the thread that was looking into his sudden disappearance as a place where people could be more aware of his passing and add their comments if they hadn't known.

Have at it, and also be aware that the man himself wouldn't want this to be a solemn place, and for people to have a bit of fun with it all, and I'll start it off by saying:

Slasher, your grammar and spelling were atrocious, and I just had to contact you and ask if I could correct the whole mess, which led us down a years-long journey where I copy edited your games. When I finally had to leave that position, as I was becoming responsible for paid jobs doing the same thing, I was scared that you might be upset, but all you said was, "Go for it, mate! I understand. Go make a million dollars!"

Well, I didn't make a million dollars, but I never forgot how gracious you were.

Okay, goodbye, you cunt. Great to have known you.

I'm gonna be hosting this round, as Stupot and I decided after our collective win.

As we are both teachers the theme is kinda a natural:

Write a story about a teacher.

The theme can be interpreted in any way.

Please refrain from writing any saucy, inappropriate sexy stuff between a teacher and a student, unless it is a part of the story. In which case, go ahead!

Here we go again with another round of 144-word-stories! Beautiful Brevity II.

What constitutes a single "word" is up to common sense and some leeway allowed for flexibility.

You can post as many entries as you like, hopefully a LOT!

Voting system will be decided based on how many stories we get.

Grab a tiny snack, and a small espresso, pull up your briefs, and start typing with your pinkies!

EDIT: The title does not count in the 144 word tally, but let's not cheat and use the title to tell a part of the story.

In Dark Mode, the text within spoiler tags is still shown in white, making it impossible to read without highlighting it.

One of my favorite things in any story is when a plan goes wrong. It can be anything as simple as the firehose wheel almost pulling John McClane back out the window just when he thought he was safe, to the obligatory problems during a heist, to a complete domino-effect of disaster like in A Simple Plan.

Tell us a story where a plan goes wrong.

The title says it all really. For background, I had trouble posting a story in the Fortnightly Writing Contest before and there was a lot of fun poked at me for being a "blacklisted writer"... Which was pretty funny, but not so funny now that it has happened AGAIN!

Re: The Night Falls - A Community Roleplaying Game
#161

02 Mar 2023, 04:46
> Try looking behind the mirror if it's not screwed to the wall. If it is, use the multi tool to unscrew it.

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Copy/paste from the above-mentioned thread.

I think the date shows the problem.

I think the crazy bastards might be releasing it for free. EDIT: Nope... it's about $30 just got it.

A Friend in Need

The story must include some element of a strong friendship, and one friend (or group of friends) helping another with something they could not do themself or on their own, or both friends, or all, could be helping each other at the same time.

An important factor will of course be making the reader really feel that the friendship between the characters is genuine and rings true.

So, lean on each other and stand by each other and, well I guess it's hard to do one without the other... JUST LIKE IN THE THEME!

(Nailed it)



Thank you to all true friends who entered this round and now on with the voting conditions:

We have 3 official entries, not counting my non-entry, and they are:

Sinitrena with "Another Spin"

Baron with "A Friend in Deed"

Stupot with "The Woman in the Boat in the Canal Behind the Woods"

As there are 3 entries then please just PM to me your selections in order of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the inverse points of 3, 2, and 1 will be applied. You need only mention the author by name in your votes.

Voting is open until Wednesday, November 23rd.

BFFs!