Messages

[Sludge Vohaul]

Something from the 90's.... Bald floating head....  I guess some pretty crazy stuff from time to time, and this is really out on a limb even for me, but I'm going to guess

Spoiler

Space Quest's Sludge Vohaul.

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[Fridge Follies]

Presenting:



Fridge Follies

Baron and Ponch collaborate on this epic one-room journey of a small Starfruit in a big fridge.  Winner of the November 2014 MAGS "food theme" competition, this little gem of a game has finally been remastered and fully voiced for the consumption of the wider gaming public.  Despite an approximate playing time of 5 minutes, this game is chockablock full of zany humour and compelling dialog.  So what are you waiting for?  In the time you've taken to read this promo you could have finished the game already!

Download from the Database

Gameplay: Single click. 

Credits: Concept by Baron & Ponch.  Art and animation by Baron.  Most of the dialog is Ponch.  Scripting was half'n half-ish.  Ponch found music & sounds.  Baron did the voices.  Frodo did our betatesting.

Edit: ...and Frodo and Grundislav did our Scottish and Spanish translations, respectively!  Now who was responsible for the German translation, I wonder....

[Cooks beer (8)]

Cooks beer (8)

Spoiler

Bakesale?

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Well done, indeed!

Blast!  And now there are two clues!  Confusion reigns!

[Cooks beer (8)]

Spoiler

Inmate Korski.  Yeah, I kinda cheated in solving it, but it's not really a cryptic clue if the solution isn't at least kinda hidden in the clue, so I have no remorse.

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Cooks beer (8)

AGS Related.

Jimmy examines the Burden of Guilt for any growth, swelling, or additional protrusions.  While he is distracted with his examination, the metal staircase under him suddenly converts into a slippery slide!  Jimmy slips helplessly into the depths below, and no amount of pressing the red button on the remote control slows his descent.

Correct!   Now go out and teach others how you did it.

I don't know about 3000 words, but I've got 30 written so far.  And I'm pretty happy with those 30.  I'm thinking, if all else fails, I can just copy and paste them 100x to round my entry out.

Hey, you said: "No matter how crazy..."

What else did I say when I said that?

Another hint:

Spoiler

You weren't that far off base with your reasoning in shortening "bee", but the sting has nothing to do with Sting.  ....Yet. )

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Jimmy quickly grabs the remote and stuffs the duffel bag full of the ill-gotten merchandise.  But rather than return at Jimmy's beck and call, Larry's arm suddenly recoils down the mysterious stairwell!  Curious, Jimmy follows his friend down the stairs.

The unknown occupant of Room 2A looks both ways down the corridor, and then furtively slams the door shut once more.

Um, well....  four of them do, kinda.  But not the way you are thinking.

hint

Spoiler

Get your head out of the gutter when you deform a teat in your mind!

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Larry tickles the piggies, resulting in a deep belly laughter and a dropped TV remote.  Jimmy is able to pry the rubber diaphragm loose with the bent vendinium plate he finds on the ground, and then pockets both.  Presently a cascade of merchandise comes pouring out of the back of the vending machine!  There are Llama brand cigarettes, Garlic Cola and Broccoli Chips galore!

That has 12 letters.

But, as consolation, you will be happy to know that I consider yours to be by a large margin the best guess so far. 

It feels wrong though if the Administrator, having previously won, wins again, and potentially again...

I have to agree with kconan here. I don't think the adminstrator should be allowed to enter

I agree.  [Maybe an] exhibition entry if the admin just wants the fun or experience of writing it... but I don't think it should be eligible to win.

So.... what you're all saying is that there's a bit of wiggle room on this, right?

Hint:

Spoiler

Two words

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Secondary Hint:

Spoiler

Be careful to try all possibilities, no matter how crazy they might seem.

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Larry attempts to retract his arm, but there seems to be some sort of immovable object attached to the piggies which prevents him from reeling them in.  Jimmy manages to pry off the remains of the vending machine vent, allowing him to peer up into the darkness to assess the nature of his difficulties.  It is hard to tell for certain due to the poor lighting, but it appears as if there is some sort of rubber diaphragm preventing him from penetrating the vending machine any further.

[Baron's Proposed Constitutional Amendment to the Unwritten Customs of the Fortnightly Writing Competition]

Well, that's the deadline.  I was hoping for more votes, but.... .  Actually, I was hoping for more entries as well.  Hence:

Baron's Proposed Constitutional Amendment to the Unwritten Customs of the Fortnightly Writing Competition

I squirmed, painfully, on the sidelines all competition, to the point that I really regretted being the one to propose this topic, since as contest administrator it precluded me from participating.  But then I got to thinking: why couldn't the contest administrator also participate?  The major hurdle is people proposing topics that they already have great ideas for, but that could just be an added challenge to unseat the current champion.  Or, we could invent some sort of mechanism whereby the administrator asks the field for a broad story outline if they want to participate (character type & setting, for example) and then has to write a story based on that.  Any way it works, the advantages of involving the contest administrator outweigh the disadvantages.  It would mean, on average, 20-30% increase in contributions and votes, thus augmenting the excitement of the competition.  Plus we'd get to write more, which is the whole point of the competition in the first place.  A disadvantage would be that we no longer have an impartial tie-breaker and rule clarifier, but we've had ties before without them being "broken" and everything just carried on as usual, and we've also had some pretty off-base entries that were still allowed anyway.  I think if we all agree that a tie with the administrator results in a victory for the other party, and that any unpublished entry that remotely suits the topic is allowable, then we can strengthen the institution of the FWC with no real negative repercussions.  Who's with me?

Results

I guess this is what you're really after....   So, according to the esteemed electorate, our winners are as follows:

.  With 6 votes our grand winner is JudasFm!  I liked the sci-fi setting and the interactions of the bridge crew, but I agree that the Morse-code note was a little complex to be fair -the idea of a visual note with more obvious i/I's might remedy that.  I also think there was a fatal flaw in the crime: eventually someone would discover Samara King's body, which would result in more evidence pointing at Race.  Unless he kidnapped a third person to write a note to deflect blame again, but then he'd have to silence the third person.... and so on.  But on the positive side I really liked the idea of a secret code in a note mystery, and the fictional politics behind the scenes in your world were quite compelling.

.  With 5 votes Sinitrena was nipping at JudasFm's heels, and thus wins the silver trophy.  I really liked the complex relationships between the protagonists that you were able to paint in such a short period of time, and I think yours would have been my choice for best crime.  Extra special mention for the Inspector Coultry character: I love how he treats his "friend" Ben.    If there was a downside to your piece it was a lack of thorough examination of the crime scene discussing the clues, but given the constraints of the word count I see why that would have been difficult to fit in.

.  That leaves Mandle in third.

And so - at long last - I turn the competition over to a new administrator.  The burden of the next topic falls to JudasFm, may you bear it well.  I look forward to doing some writing next time around!  Hope to see everyone out again for the next exciting instalment of....

...The Fortnightly Writing Competition!

[Quick bee sting around a deformed teat (11)]

I thought it was you earlier, but I couldn't make the clue work.  The letter count made it pretty obvious, though.

Quick bee sting around a deformed teat (11)

AGS Related.

Jimmy throws caution to the wind and reaches further into the vending machine, hoping to score a free pack of Llama brand cigarettes.  Alas, with each advance of his pilfering digits, the pack of cigarettes seems to retreat slightly further up into its redoubt.  If only he had a pipe stem with which to work it loose!  From his increasingly compromised position, Jimmy can make out that the little gold thing on the floor is just a bit of pink painted plaster that was dislodged from the wall in the blast.

Larry pursues the Dame of Dangerous Disproportion in an attempt to retrieve the battle axe.  Also, he attempts to take one of the piggies from room 2A without positive results.

[MiteWiseacreLives! ?]

Spoiler

MiteWiseacreLives! ? The "mite" might mean small little one, and it is camel case, but I couldn't figure out how it matches the rest of the clue.

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