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[The First Snowfall]

My entry:

The First Snowfall

Once, in the days when the mountains were young, there lived a water nymph named Drizzid. Drizzid loved nothing more than to play in the stream by her village with her fellow nymphs, splashing them, and massaging their backs, and practicising kissing boys by making out with them... you know - girl stuff.
Then one day, the evil Ice Wizard Zzgryfsqwtchlplrtqqq37 from the Land of Unpronounceable Names came down and froze their stream, because he was bored and his mother never hugged him as a child.

"Hey, dickweed! Not cool!" Said one of Drizzid's friends, but the Ice Wizard just laughed and lowered the temperature of the air around her, which made her nipples all pointy, and she was embarrassed and had to excuse herself.

"You're totally harshing my buzz." Said Drizzid, with gusto. "But because we in the nymph realm believe in forgiveness, I'm going to"

"Taste the pain!" Interjected the Ice Wizard as he bitch-slapped her with his icy hand, freezing her instantly. Then, with the speed of a jaguar, the Ice Wizard pressed forward, down-forward, down, forward forward high-punch, thus unleashing a flawless 18-hit combo ending in a massive uppercut that pulverized her body and sent it shooting up into the ionosphere in a billion itty bitty widdle pieces.

And that is where snow comes from.

Wow- great participation this time around.  I guess sometimes a simple shape can really inspire creative solutions.

Darius's piece incorporates every nook and cranny of the design, and has a pleasing color palette to boot. Plus, it's got naked people, which is always a plus.

Nickel's entry also tells a story, but has more of a focus on depth and a great minimalist background. And how dynamic is that little dude, leaping from cliff to cliff- just awesome.

But I'm gonna have to give it to Macay, whose piece incorporates the human figure and a detailed background (and an adorable tiny pixel person).


So Macay gets to start the next comp, but it was really close.  My crappy little outline didn't deserve all these great entries, but I'm honored to have hosted this comp.  Great work, guys.

["Colonel Swifty Saves the Day... Eventually"]

I like the idea of losing a member of your party if you screw up.  How did I not think of that? (well, I guess that's what this thread is for - to get those creative juices flowing.)

To that end, another idea:

"Colonel Swifty Saves the Day... Eventually"

Colonel Swifty was the fastest superhero in the world... back when fighting Nazis was still cool and new.  Now, he's gotten old, and he travels around Peaceful Palisades Retirement Home in his motorized wheelchair most of the time.  But should the need arise, he can still put out a jolt of superspeed... he thinks.

Hopefully he thinks right, because the need has just arisen!  Lord Immortal has been murdered, and the culprit can only be one of the other residents of the super-retirement home.  Is there a super villain hiding in their midst?  Is this death just the beginning of a scheme by an old nemesis to bump off all the heroes who know his one true weakness?  Will Swifty finally be able to get it on with his old partner Amerigal now that dementia has set in, and she has forgotten how much she hates him?

To answer these questions, Colonel Swifty will have to team up with a bunch of other old coots to form a new superteam, the Golden Oldies!

Featuring:

The Spectacular Spectacles! His x-ray vision still works... mostly.  It's gotten a little blurrier over the years, but he can still make out the outlines of shapes.

Big Ear! His superhearing works fine.  Unfortunately, concentration isn't his strong suit- so he only catches every couple of words.

Magic Pants! The hero known only as Magic Pants was gifted at an early age with the psychic ability to perceive an object's history just by touching it!  Except touching it with his fingers never works... it only works if the object touches his penis.  So he has to shove an object down his pants to learns its secrets.  But still, that's a neat power, right?  Kinda?  Where are you going?

Can Colonel Swifty catch the murderor before Jello Tuesday is canceled?  Only with YOUR help!

Hey, I've never won a contest on this forum before (except by default)!
Glad you liked my work - the other entries were pretty cool too.

Oh, and I just posted the new comp - good luck to any future entrants.

[Rules :]

...or something?  I dunno.
A simple outline this time, but maybe you can jazz it up.
(And show off your coloring skillz in the process):



Rules :

-The outline may be rotated, mirrored, but not scaled.
-The outline may be altered, as long as it is still recognisable.

No colour limitations.

Have fun!

Congratulations, SomeSickSelf.  Well-deserved.
(now hurry up and start a new comp so I have another excuse to write something).

[-Zombie-related puzzles.]

I had an idea for a zombie game.  Nothing revolutionary, but it won't stop bugging me until I write it down.

The zombie apocalypse has happened... on spring break, of course.  Typical.  You and five friends are the only survivors on the tiny tropical island you were vacationing on.  During the last zombie rush, you got bit on the arm, but the others didn't notice.  You'd tell them, but you're the only one who can shoot worth a damn, and they'd never make it without you.  You have to get them through town to the beach, where hopefully  there will be some boats they can take off the island.  And you have to do it before you go full-on zombie on their butts.

Features:

-Zombie-related puzzles.  Use the environment to distract, kill, or sneak past zombies.  For example, toss a cat to lure a zombie in front of a wrecking ball, then let 'em have it.
-Insta-puzzle-solver.  Your rifle has three rounds, so if you can't get past one or two puzzles with brainpower, do so with firepower!
-Non-linear gameplay.  The gameworld is setup as a grid, with individual 'rooms' being squares in the grid.  You start at the bottom and have to travel to the top, but the route you take is up to you.
-Time-limit.  If you don't beat the game in the alloted time, you become a zombie and chow down on your buddies.  Sad day for you.
-No cliche happy ending.  Assuming you get your friends to the boats, you'll still wind up a zombie.  I'm thinking the game should end with the boat sailing off into the distance, and then the sound of a single gunshot as you shoot yourself before the transformation takes place (assuming you have ammo left).

that's it. short and sweet.

(Death Race 2000, if you don't get the reference - best B movie of all time).

Next: the world's worst robotic prostitute.

[Trigger Happy]

Trigger Happy

You play as Trigger, a robot revolver with legs created by eccentric toy designer Gustave Monroe.  Unfortunately, Monroe has just been murdered.  You take it upon yourself to find the killer and bring him to justice.  You are aided in your quest by your 6 specialized kinds of ammo:

Truth Serum: perfect for getting intel from a prisoner.
Acid-Tipped: for those pesky locked doors.
Silenced Stun Dart: for those stealthy situations.
Glow-in-the-dark Paintball: lights up anything it richochets off of.
Explosive: no explanation necessary.
Electromagnet with Filament: acts as a grappling gun; simply fire it at a metal target, and reel yourself over. Cut the power and the magnet comes right off!

(ammo would either be infinite, or you'd be able to make new ammo yourself by scrounging bits of metal from the environment)

I couldn't help making some sprites of the little guy (plus I needed the practice):

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Feel free to use these sprites if you feel like it.

And the Coloring Ball did rise from its grave thanks to the mysterious voodoo of Andy R.!

Santa's replacement is Steve, a perfectly normal guy except he was BORN WITH NO EYES(!!!1!)  How will he see to deliver the presents?  Maybe the Christmas spirit will... okay I'm bored.  Enough of this.


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Glad this comp is back.  Good practice.

[Idea:]

Idea: cat (I like candy)
Atmosphere: loominous (the lighting especially)
Design: cat (clean and simple)
Composition: loominous (symmetrically balanced but with depth)
Funtionality: cat (again, clean and simple)
Technique: loominous (nice painterly look)

Apparently I like both equally.  They both have a strong sense of style, though one is more old-school and the other is fancy-shmancy.

I like Crimson Wizard's idea.  And clarvalon's (on his site) to make a game based on an average woman's experience with pregnancy/childbirth.

It just occurred to me that it would be cool to play a game based on deciphering a missing character's journal (like Rorschach's journal in Watchmen).  You could read the whole thing at any time, but parts would be totally incomprehensible until later in the game, when you could put them in context.  Also, pages would be torn out and you would find them as you retraced the person's steps (he would be hiding them in plain sight like breadcrumbs for you to follow).  And of course, the last few pages would only APPEAR blank, until you realize that they were written on in (say it with me) invisible ink!

Eventually, you would find where the character was being held against his will, and defeat the big baddy.  Of course.

Next: I didn't know she could do that.

I wish my dreams were this interesting:

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[Mystery on Planet 9]

Great topic!  I had a lot of fun with this.

Mystery on Planet 9

I slid the helmet over my head and it locked in place with an audible click. Then came the whoosh of the suit's ventilation system pumping air over my face. My second-in-command nodded in my direction, then walked over to the hatch control panel. As the door slowly slid up, the eerie green light of the planet washed over us. I took a breath of the suit's stale air and stepped out onto the surface.

"Wow," said my second-in-command. "Have you ever seen anything like it, Julie?"
"It's incredible, Ron."
I turned around to see Julie step out of the ship as if in a daze, her gloved hand gripping the edge of the hatch entryway.
"Just incredible."
"We're not here to sightsee." I reminded them. "And this channel is being recorded for the ship's log, so keep the 'ooh's and 'ahh's to a minimum."
"Yes, sir." snapped Ron, turning to face me. Julie was still staring towards the mountains in the distance.

"Right." I started, unsheathing my machete and pointing towards the treeline. "We'll head west for an hour or so, then stop to do a systems check. If the suits are holding up under the humidity and moisture, we'll go further. If not, we'll head back. Any questions?"

Static answered me. We headed off towards the dense green jungle, our feet sinking into the soft vermillion soil with each step.

I lifted the machete and hacked off a branch to create an entry through the thick vines and foliage.  "Bag and tag as we go, Ron."
Ron nodded and picked a small wriggling creature off the branch I had just felled. He slid it gently into a compartment on his suit.
"Julie. Julie!" Her helmet was tilted towards the cold blue sun, setting over the distant gray hills. "Stay close.  Once we get going, we won't slow down." She nodded absently. I turned back to the task at hand.

Another branch cracked angrily under the blade of my machete.  A cloud of insects scattered at the sound. Soggy branches crunched under our boots.
"So many specimens!" said Ron, stooping to pick up another. "We'll be cataloguing for weeks!"
"Make sure you're putting those critters in separate compartments." I cautioned. "I don't want to find one fat grub and twenty empty carapaces when we unload your pockets."
I parted a wall of leaves and stared at the clearing ahead. A red river was winding lazily by. "The water must pick up minerals from this red soil." I turned to Ron. He muttered agreement as he bent to scoop something out of the muck.

"Wait!" I stopped him. "Whatever's in this water could corrode our suits. Julie, you're the contamination expert - do you think it's safe?"
"Yeah, Julie. What do you..." Ron trailed off. I knew before I turned my head what I would find. No Julie.

"I thought you were keeping an eye on her, Ron."
"I thought you were."
"I assumed she was following us."
"Me too."  Ron turned in a slow circle. "Man, she could be... any..."

"The first thing we're going to do is retrace our steps."
Ron snapped back to look at me.  "Right. You're right. Steps."
Our footprints were still clearly visible in the spongy soil. We followed them back to the point were our two tracks were joined by another. This track trailed off toward the north. As my eyes followed them up towards the horizon, I saw a tall violet structure breaking through the screen of green leaves in the distance. How had I missed that?

"I guess we were so focused on what was right in front of us that we didn't see that... what is that?" Ron muttered.
"Ruins. Must be." My voice sounded far away. "No one's been here since..."
"Whoa." breathed Ron. "It must be a hundred, no, three hundred years old."
"Let's not stand here gawking." I said finally. "Julie's in there, somewhere."
"Right."
We tramped towards the towering violet spires.

When we got to the site, there wasn't much to see. No sign of Julie. Her footsteps ended on the cold stone steps of the ruins. We scouted around the site as long as we could, but our oxygen tanks were running low. We had to head back to the ship.
Neither one of us spoke the whole way back.

We walked into the ship's hatch, and sat alone with our thoughts as we waited for the chamber to repressurize and the oxygen to pump in. Then, we shed our suits and stowed them on the empty storage shelf, and walked up the ramp towards the mess hall.
Julie was there, sipping a cup of tea.

"Julie!"  Shouted Ron. "We thought you'd..."
"How'd you get back?" I asked.

"What do you mean 'how?' I walked. My com unit was down, so I came back to the ship for repairs."
"Well, we're just glad you're okay." said Ron, walking past me.
I shot out an arm to hold him back.
"Where's your suit?" I continued.
"My suit?"
"Ron and I just stowed our suits in the storage unit. Your suit wasn't there. Where is it?"

She took a long sip of her tea. "Like I said, my com unit was down, so I came back to the ship for repairs. I gave my suit to the maintenance bots."

My hand slid down to the holster of my pulse cannon. "So, if I were to go to the maintenance unit right now, your suit would be in there?"
Her eyes met mine cooly. "Of course." Another sip. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Plausible. Except...
"Footsteps." I said as I drew the cannon and aimed it squarely at her head. Ron started to shake and sputter.
"Footsteps?"
"We followed your footsteps to those purple ruins in the north." I continued, over the sound of blood pounding in my ears.

"Oh, yes. I thought that place looked neat, so I went there." She uncrossed her legs and got to her feet. "I would have told you, but my com was down, as I've said." She took a step towards us.

"Funny thing about those footprints," I said, in as level a voice as I could manage, "there were plenty of footprints going into the ruins... but there weren't any coming out."

A smile slithered across her face.
My finger tightened on the trigger.

Idea:

"Grognax Does Some Minor Repairs"

Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple have just bought their first house.  They put themselves massively in debt and maxed-out their credit cards, but their fully furnished Victorian was well worth it.  But this story isn't about the Dalrymples - it's about Grognax, alien ne'erdowell.

You play as Grognax, who (after a spectacular intergalactic bender) has crashlanded his small spacecraft into the Dalrymple's living room while they are out on holiday.  You must use the appliances and raw materials of the house to fix your ship.  The catch is, every item you use weakens the structural integrity of the house - 'borrowing' some of the plumbing pipes causes the kitchen to flood, using the blender to jumpstart your engines creates an electrical surge, etc.  Can you repair your ship before the house caves in around you?

If you do, the jet-stream exhaust from your engines will incinerate the house to ashes in front of the returning Dalrymples as you soar off into the night sky.  But who cares?  You're off to see the six-breasted strippers at the new Neptunian orbiting casino!

It's good to be an alien.

-The beating heart of a chupacabra (it beats faster when in the proximity of a black-magic user)
-A Concentrated Time Pulse Cannon (when in reverse setting, it can turn enemies into babies; when in standard setting, it can turn thick steel into rust instantly)
-something else

Ooh, I quite like that song.  Be sure to post some more when they're ready.
I especially liked the guitar.

Idea for a game:

"Hugs for DethBot999"

It is far future. You are malfunctioning killer robot. All the people run away and make the loud screaming sounds when you come near them. But you no want hurt humans. You love humans! But everytime you try hug people, their meatbodies go squishy and they squirt red juice. You hug too hard.

You must use parts of environment to build softer hugging machine. But everytime you take parts of building, building fall down and crush humans! You know you can build hugging machine, but will there be humans left to hug when you do?

I have a suggestion.  Back when I visited these forums regularly, the way the animation and color comps sometimes worked is that no one would post an entry for weeks on end.  At that point, the person who started the contest would post a complaint about the lack of entries, then the comp would either continue to drift on until it was given a mercy kill, or someone would post an entry out of pity.  That would result in an exchange somewhat like the following:

+Hey, I posted something.  Does that mean I won?
-You're the only one, so I guess.  Yeah, sure.
+Can I just start a new contest, or do I have to ask someone's permission, or what?
-No, you can just start it.
+Cool.

So my thought is, why not make the pity post an official part of the rules?  If a comp goes inactive (i.e. there are no entries for at least a week after the deadline) then the first person to post an entry automatically wins by default and can immediately start a new comp.  Making it part of the rules will eliminate confusion and those time-wasting 'Did I win?' 'Yeah, I guess' posts and hopefully give people incentive to create an entry, even if the deadline has long since passed.