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If anyone knows anything about the Ming Dynasty or any helpful sources, please let me know! ^_^ Thank you :3

The mings did very well against the Mongols and were one of the more successful dynasties until they got overthrown IIRC

could do a story or path of a Mongol soldiers group getting curbstomped

:O Thank you.

I got other plans muehuehue

Some notes:

-They were overthrown by the Manchus, who formed the Qing Dynasty.

-It was the last Han Chinese dynasty. 

-There were actually some Ming loyalists up until the 1900s, based on anti-Manchu sentiment

-The Ming helped Korea defeat Japan when they invaded during the Imjin War.

-That war was one of the indirect causes of their fall.

Ohhh. The last three I did not know. Thank you! ^_^ 

The Ming Dynasty liked to make vases.

The Ming Dynasty was the first to bottle Root Beer in glass bottles, but no one liked the flavor, so they stopped doing that.

The Mings invented Texas Hold 'em.

The Ming Dynasty starred Don Medford and Nancy Malone.

The Ming Dynasty lived on a island, mainly, for many years.

At least I'm pretty sure those are accurate things. I read them on the Internets.

Interesting. :0

...I hope I'm misinterpreting the OP but you didn't REALLY grab a prompt about an empire you don't really know anything about, right?

That's like 300 years of history you'll need a crash course in at minimum, and the area they ruled was kind of enormous.

I'm more confused to as why everyone is white knighting Crescent like a damsel in distress when they should be plotting her downfall for this contest. Helping the competition is counter productive.

And Digit especially should know better.

On the other hand, congrats to Crescent for making herself look weak and helpless that she got fools to assist her.

And to Ogre who was deliberately providing false information.

I was planning to check his information. :p Ah, but in truth, my writing isn't comparable to the others'; I enjoy the others' works much more. ^_^ And I would help others even if they're competition - if I can, that is.

E: Didn't realize my downfall had to be planned. Everything will fall in place.

You wrote a story involving Chinese history before and it got featured, so it initially seemed like your choice with writing about the Ming Dynasty might be something you’d have an advantage in.

It won't be featured anymore when Steve and Ebon get their historical fictions featured.

Actually Donner Party or Adventures with Raven would be replaced before your story would.

Gunning for adventures with Raven. After I wipe out the Reunion fanfiction game. I hate that one too.

Quick, she must be diverted!

Watch a miniseries called "Empresses in the Palace" or "Legend of Zhen Huan."  Oh, wait, that was the Qing Dynasty, not the Ming.  My bad.

I know a little. It's time to fill on those gaps in my knowledge! ^_^ And if I recall, I am to write a story, not a textbook. I will, of course, review it all just in case.

You've got a 300 year period over a large region. A textbook overview would actually be far easier than a story. You'll need to have a enough of a general grasp on the overall history and geography to decide where and when you want to set your story, and then you've got to laser focus your research on that particular place and time and learn about it in enough detail to convincingly create characters and their lives there. That's the part that will be difficult if you're just relying on Google and the wiki.

I've only got two weeks allocated to my story so I'm not aiming to win this one anyway but I'm with End in laughing at these guys tripping over themselves to help the enemy just because your av has cat ears and you signed your post with '^_^ Thank you :3' lol

Welp, I'm screwed. fox. they're fox ears E: and they will soon be eevee ears

I was about to point out they are fox ears.  I remember that naughty fox...though I can't remember how to spell her name.  League of Legends, right?

After mizal, and to a smaller degree End, shed some enlightenment on this, I realize how much of a bad idea this is. xD

Don't listen to them!

The ACTUAL Ming Dynasty covers only 17 months of time. It was during that 17 months that 17 Ming vases were made. Since that time, all 17 originals have been destroyed except for one. All the other ones you might see or hear about are fakes. And that one? It is made of copper wire and wool from a sheep painted with dyes made from blueberries and coral.

There were also 17 people in the Ming Dynasty, but most of those were servants except for Tim. Tim was the bastard half-son of the leader of the Ming Dynasty, surprising NOT named Ming (he was named Glorfin, but it is reported that his friends called him Al). Al collected square marbles.

Interesting.

Didn't they ever show you Mulan at your school? Yeah, I think that movie was about a different dynasty but you should do fine after a viewing of that. Probably.  I wouldn't recommend the sequel however.

I have viewed them. They weren't the best depictions. I'm fine. I attempted to watch the sequel a few weeks ago. Eh.

Of course you're fine. I have nothing but complete faith that you'll have a decent showing in this contest since your last contest entry that I beta-read was pretty nice.

I am unsure of why you attempted to watch that sequel... Haven't you heard there was no Eddie Murphy in that one? I almost believed that wasn't the case when a friend told me.

Eddie Murphy's grating voice was the most annoying thing about the original.

The sequel though. Oh God, why did you have to remind me. D:

*cues song about princesses in ancient China 'wanting to be like other girls' and various characters expressing surprise and distaste at the idea of arranged marriages as though shocked at the very concept. In ancient China.*

Well, they did give us a few catchy songs out of some questionable decisons of writing. 

I had two months in the last contest I entered.

E: Fml I forgot how much I love and hate research.

Oh right, shorter deadline for this one, huh. 

You may need to enlist in the help of Will if he isn't busy rescuing people from dangerous situations.

Will's rescuing people from dangerous situations? :O

He's like a teacher or something, right? I heard that can be a pretty dangerous occupation at times. Eh, I'm sure he's managing whatever it he's doing just fine.

If you've ever played Jade Empire, just use some shit from that.

Never played it. Looks cool. Pretty graphics. Beautiful and realistic representations, from the pictures I saw. E: Architecture-wise. Not that I saw many pictures.

I guess I'll go ahead and point out the obvious here, in that Journey to the West was written during the Ming dynasty and the author might be a good focal point for starting some research since I'm sure there's plenty about him out there.

Sun Wukoooooonnnggg. I remember him from my childhood. Thank you, mizal. That's certainly something I would've considered if I hadn't already started writing. Q.Q

I have 1,000 or so words. It took me 2 hours to write. *facedesks*

I do about 500 an hour on average. Just don't have your plot depend on being more than 50 pages or so and you're fine.

I plan on 20,000 but might get a little more.

That's a good goal.

Don't forget to include the bits about the Ming Dynasty inventing soap-bubble blowing, but not actually realizing they could use that same material to clean things (because that's totally what they did).

That is kinda awesome.

3.5K words. The amount of research I have to do is burdening. xD I've spent at least an hour and a half on this today. *cries and looks at stack of homework*
And old Chinese poetry is so hard to interpret and translate into English.

You got this.

:D

Completely accurate depiction of Life in the Ming Dynasty:
 

6,387 words. Onto the real first part of the story

Very nice. I presume the "real" part of the story is when you get into the details of the orange bear with the colorful floppy hat that founded the Ming Dynasty originally...

I did nothing for the past three days. competitions I'm behind. 8.8K or so though

E: Beautiful. I have to have Google Earth opened and Google Maps opened and documents opened and my storygame opened and my editor opened and my pages opened.

Pro tip: You can use Google Earth to focus in on certain areas of the Ming Dynasty for your research.

10K word mark!

I really should be further along, but my parents have been limiting my computer use. :(

Keep up the writing! You could write from your phone which's something I've done recently and it's been working out fine. :)

Thank you :D Ohh. I'm worried that grammar mistakes will force me to slow down haha. But I'll try that. :3

I suffer from constant typos, but I've been writing the less "intricate" scenes on mobile. I've also noticed that the site's spell check will run if I log in later with my laptop. If you also have a good enough beta, then he/she would catch any mistakes.

It's really really hard to get into the mindset for this, but grammar and typos and whether any given sentence you're writing is even good or not doesn't actually matter in the first draft. This is how Steve is able to just spew words onto the page at the speed he does.

When you go back and edit, even if you're rewriting entire scenes at a time, it's still about 70% faster to work with ideas you've already got down than to create them exactly perfect from scratch.

Theoretically, anyway. I've never been able to keep myself from stopping and rewriting a paragraph four times because I accidentally used the word 'trees' two sentences in a row. But I can't actually recommend this to anyone and I'd do it the way I said to if I could.

What is this "edit" thing you are speaking of?

Pen and paper and just grind for outlining XP if nothing else. A sentence describing every scene in the story and connect lots of little boxes with lines.

When you want to work on a story, but can't, it helps to keeping your focus and interest on it by just going over it again and again from every possible angle, considering different ways you could cover a plot point or how to establish things more efficiently, etc. (Which is why I never pay attention to anything around me while at work, ever. Or while driving.)

Are you saying that many of the storygames on CYS are outlines? :o

Drat those parents!

(Ah, hell, who am I kidding.  I limit my son's time all the time.  Then again, he's only 8.  I doubt you're 8.) :)

The amount of time for gaming is even less for me. Two hours... a week.

14K *squee* I might make it to 20K by the end of this week! :D

There is a problem... This variable is not working out. At all. It should be. It worked in an earlier use of it, but why doesn't it work now?!

Explain problem.

I have a variable reset to 4 for a link. When I preview it with variable on display, the variable does not change after I click the link.

Copy/paste the code string you're using so we can see it.

Not using code; just using the editor. But that is a good idea. Let me see if using code works.

Rip.

I had Variable Changes window open with Days reset to 4, and I also have the code

%DAYS := 4

in the same link. Still doesn't work.

E: It's so simple. I don't know why I'm having problems. xD

I haven't fiddled with the editor in a while, but I can usually fix problems like this fairly quick. Add me as co-author and I'll take a look at it quick. If I can't help, you'll have to ask Brad or Killa.

EDIT: It's almost always easier to use code than the variable adjusters. Only really use them for click and disappear links.

Last page of Nanjing chapter.

Okay, it's working now. I assume you want the Days to go to four after the person clicks on the link, right? Anyway, that's how the script would have wanted to work if errors weren't blocking it.

Well she did it again. Crescent made herself appear weak and helpless and got someone to help her.

If she wins this one, then you'll almost have to give her some sort of achievement unlocked thing. :)

I'm definitely not going to win if a few certain people don't publish again.

I thought I sounded a bit whiney, and I didn't expect anyone to help. I'm grateful for Bucky's help.

15K mark!

Yay!  *thumbs up*

I'm a bit behind you at 10k.

I've lost my 1900 word a day thing. Too much other work. :( I'm halfway done with this major path. Still have another completely unplanned path - not sure if I'll make it major or minor.

:o Ohhh nice!

Very nice, go you!

Thank you!

Keep up the progress! Maybe you could win both the contest and have a featured storygame with the same story. :)

I, too, have dreams. They are not as far fetched as that. >_<

At least you're acknowledging your limitations, eh?

I am. Though I'm happy that WIBN thinks I could do it. :O

I'm sure you'll be able to do it. Your stories are ones that I tend to find myself enjoying quite allot. 

:O Yay! I find this motivating. ^-^

I don't think you give your writing abilities enouph credit. You're one of my top few favorite writers in the site. :)

You finished second before. Your chances of winning are probably amonst the highest few in the contest.

:D Then I will try not to disappoint!

So while I didn't reach my word count goal, my work today was satisfying because I finished an entire section in a town. YES!!! Only like five more to go for this town before I add more plot and, alas, an End Game Link. However, that's a premature end game link. I have another town I want to work on (smaller though) if the player makes it that far.

@MinnieKing Wanna beta what I have? Even if it's just looking to see if one of my pages has no way to exit it (it loops; I caught one earlier) and grammar stuff of what I already have?

Yay, a town section is complete!

You do remember that during the Ming Dynasty, all towns were filled with green water. And not green because it was dirty, this is a nice, pleasant green that people would swim in and turn purple. Why? Christopher Columbus visited there once and discovered why and wrote a letter to the apostle Paul who hid the letter in a hill in South Dakota. But I'm sure you already knew that about the Ming Dynasty.

I did. I think I mentioned something about gently flowing green water already. And I'm incorporating a character similar to Christopher Columbus (and perhaps also similar to Marco Polo). I am also making it possible to find a bottle of beer or wine or something.

I made my goal! ^-^

21.2K! :D I feel so happy! *dances* I've finished most of the interactive city. After a few more pages, I'll have to add in the actual plot and stuff. For some reason, the story seems like a mix of TOW and MyVacation in its structural aspects. I hope I've incorporated enough realistic cultural stuff—I can't seem to get every detail right, and it's bothering me because I don't want to portray something incorrectly!

You've got a 7 day extension, so now you have even more time to incorporate more plot and edit your storygame. :)

Mhm. ^_^ I got two lovely betas to help with the latter. I might even finish the other main path I planned with the extra time. :O

Hooray!

Quick fact to help you be correct: Most people, during the Ming Dynasty, did go on vacation, only they called it "mustaka," because that was the trend at the time. And everyone took a raw onion on vacation and wore it on their belt so others would know they were on vacation. They were required by law to remove the onion at the end of their vacation under penalty of death. A number of people were beheaded for not removing their onions when they went back to the office on Tuesdays.

I've already incorporated your beer bottles.

Well done, Crescent. that's very impressive. You might be able to snag yourself another spot on Edutainment with this. Best of luck with your extra week.

Thank you~ I'm really happy about the extra week haha. Best of luck with you too. ^_^

Luck is for the weak. I have skill and dedication on my side. Just know, you're facing Ogre for second.

There are lots of other good writers in the contest. I'm sure they have good work. >:T Honestly, I'd be happy if I place. >_< Ebon, you, Ogre, *names some more people that I can't think of atm* You're all much more confident than me haha.

Lots? I disagree. There's only a handful of people who I'd consider "good" writers among the competition, and most of them aren't threats. The only people whose work I actually think is good are Ogre, you, Malk, Mizal and Romulus. I either haven't read or didn't like anyone else. 

Of them, two of them are pathetic fucks who'll never write anything in time. Romulus might be able to, but he seems to be having struggles. Ogre's a piece of shit fuckstain, because he's written enough to be able to definitely present something when this ends, so he's the main target. You've managed to shit out enough words that you're also a powerful threat, so us three, jumbled up, should be the top three, barring any surprises. I fancy my odds of those three.

If you've any other potential threats I should be aware of, please tell me, but quite frankly, I see only a small few actual threats here.

Edit: Oh yes, there's also the Mormon, the Jew and one other potential threat who shall remain nameless, but fuck it, I trust they'll fail into place and I'll manage to beat them nonetheless.

Honestly, I'm flattered. Hmm. I'd consider mizal this time since she's got more than points to lose if she doesn't submit a good story.

Mizal's going to throw out some tiny, mediocre shit, because she's running out of time really quickly.

Almost at 23K. Finished the city. Adding plot. Soon going to add in variables. Going to run a test play soon.

Ohh 101st post.

Anyhow~~ I'm finally going to start on the last part of my story! :3

My only concern is making sure everything ties up nicely.

E: Oh yeah, I did a test play and oh shizzles there was a lot of crap wrong.

I think I just started an entire new major branch. Fuzzles. T_T

I had to chop any new branches, even if it felt like there SHOULD be a choice on a page.  I won't finish otherwise.

My major branch MUST be there though because that's what is "said" to have happened in history. But the branch didn't have to be majorrr. T_T

Yeah, that's one of the problems with history: there's already a lot of people out there who know how it ends up. :)

I don't think a lot of people know this one haha. :P

But so very true. ;-;

AH! AHAH! UHAOSFH o;csdfh!

I GOT AN END GAME LINK FINALLY!!! WEEeEEEEEEE!! :D

Ahhhgggg. I have seven unique endings to wriiiiite. And I still won't be done. T_T

Combinations are your friend.

I am deeply distressed. There is an error occurring on the first page, so that no matter which link you pick, you'll be sent to the first page of the fourth chapter. Even if I change the first chapter's starting page to a different page, it still sent you to chapter four. I've checked the links, and they clearly show that the link is supposed to send you to the correct page.

E: this problem never occurred before, and I only noticed when Saika told me he got stuck in a loop.

Global script?

It'd pretty much have to be.

I ran into something similar not too long ago and it was because 'variable not set' was being counted as 'variable = 0'

It could also be a variable trigger where a variable is set to go to a certain page under a condition that is met at the start of the story.

That's what I'm figuring, although it may not be obvious if it's the example I mentioned because that tripped me up for an embarrassingly long time. I was just using it as a 0/1 toggle to track if an NPC was still alive or not, and the game instantly assumed he was dead on start up and started breaking things.

I don't have a global script The only thing I have is:

$PAGETEXT := $PAGETEXT + "<HR><center><font size=1></font></center><hr><br><br>"

And I don't see how this would change my page destinations. As for variables...OH SWEET GOODNESS DARLINGS.

 

I think the most likely culprit is the variables. When looking at any variable page, in the "Events" section, do you have any conditions there? Are there any variables that have a value in either of those lines that has a selection for your chapter 4 page in the second drop down list (then go to page ...)?

Yes, yes. *cries* Thank you guys for mentioning this. T^T

Dang, I reached 30,000 words! What an unexpected surprise. ^_^

Hooray! Sounds like a winner!

It certainly exceeded my original goal of 20,000 words. ^w^

20,000 words more than me. Congrats 

Thankee ^-^

Only the side path left to do!

And sorry to my beta-readers @Saika @Alekos @MinnieKing
I might only be able to incorporate minor proofs and a little critique.

Just make sure all the links and scripting fits together first and worry about edits only if there's time. Getting down to the wire here.

I've been paranoid about the scripting and links since the time Bucky had to help me fix something. The paranoia worsened when my first page links always went to the wrong page.

It's why I tried to keep mine technically simple.  Nothing except just picking choices and following links.  Even with that I'm not doing so well.

YES!!!!! I FINISHED!!! *breathes heavily*
Now to proofs... and then homework... and studying. D:

Yay!  Congratulations on finishing your story!  (I still have 2 pages left.)

Hooray!

Well? Where is the story? Its been 20 minutes and it still isn't on the new story list yet.

Going through my beta-reader's proofs. I'm getting there

Also, realized I have 40K! :D

Congrats!

Getting pretty substantial last minute turnouts from several people. Less failures for End to SHAME, more huge stories that Bucky has to read, it's pretty inconsiderate.

Yup.  We're all terrible people here.  Just terrible.  Actually writing stories and all. :)