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Or I guess you can all use it to make updates on your progress or whatever, if you want. I really look forward to seeing which of you will manage second place. :)

My outline and first page were just completed, but I'm wrapping up another project this week before I switch focus.

I've already got a decent idea of what I want to write, and I've written the prologue. The problem is that I don't know for sure if my story fits the theme well enough or not, so that's going to be a nice surprise I guess. 

By the way, I think you're selling yourself just a bit short. I know you're expecting me to win this contest, but I'm sure you stand at least a decent chance of reaching second place.

I'm planning out the characters, setting, and plot for ~1 week. I'm pretty sure that it'll be in the school based category oddly enough, but I'm going for a 6/8 rating more than 1st. It's going to be entertaing watching you and Rom write quality storygames for a trophy sporting a mustache.

I already have the trophy, I'm just in it to make sure others won't...

Folks, you're looking at the face of pure evil here.

Lol. That's hilarious.

I mean ffs, he already has a moustache, what's he going to do with two?

One's a back-up in case Aman returns and kills the first one.

I heard he has an insecticide for just such an occasion!

I have a general plot idea and multiple paths in mind. Currently trying to finish a first page I like enough to use, which is always the hardest part for me.

Send me your first page and I'll helpfully explain why it sucks.

I have yet to think of a title so I just have stuff written in notepad

The Founders have forsaken you, you have no hope. Just give up now.

You know you can edit your title afterwards, right?

yeah I figured one out anyways - "Untitled"

My current status is one of contemplation.

I'm still working on my outline, but before long I'll have a master piece in the works. Oh and if I finish this story to my liking, then I'll be taking 1st place.

Good thing you left that 'if' there to be the key to your entire defense when you fail utterly.

I like to face reality, so that "if" represents the chances of failure. And I am not foolish enough to believe that I could not be beaten, which appears to be your stance. Of course, I could be wrong and you aren't foolish. Perhaps merely confident, but regardless I'll enjoy taking first place as an underdog. 

I get you mixed up with Endeavor a lot actually, but remembering now that you're a different guy and have posted things more than three paragraphs long, fine we can upgrade that from 'failing utterly' to merely '80% chance of moderate to severe disappointment'.

Ebon is way better than Endeavour who is constantly on the verge on me banning him for being so fucking annoying anytime he posts.

About the only thing that saves him is he does the Internet equivalent of curling up into a ball and apologizing/begging for mercy and he's always kept his retardation to his own short threads and doesn't post very much.

I feel like my plot lacks a bit of oomph tbh, but a lot of that is my feeling restricted by my setting. Too many incidents of 'but the cameras?' and 'you know what would fix this whole situation? A bullet.'

Might be due for a rework, but I guess I shouldn't sweat it too much. Really if I just overcome the obstacle of finishing the damn story, I'm not seeing enough competence on display from any of the competition so far to hold me back from an automatic win, even with a mediocre entry.

I disagree. My mediocrity is better than your mediocracy. :)

If you want to beat me, then you have to write an unnaturally good mediocre storygame.

This is so obviously false I don't even know how to respond. The very best you can hope for is to put in a bunch of cannibalism and necrophilia so MAYBE the judges can stay awake, but....no actually remembering your edgelord entry, you would probably find a way to make that boring too.

Plotting out the basic story in bubbles and lines.

Why are you even pretending? Ask End to hand you a shovel now so you can start digging your own pit.

He's already started digging with his hands.

You guys are soooo mean >~< I see Steve-senpai's influence corrupting this whole utopia and even Mizal-chan and Mini-kun :(

You disgust me on a deep and fundamental level.

Lol Mizal-chan and Mini-kun. 

Sounds like the title of some shitty anime.

I know some people who are into that sort of thing.

Didn't Ford have a discord dedicated to these kinds of things?

I did.

I still do, but I used to too.

I hope I haven't missed anything fun?

I was going to have a Bi-Weekly Progress discussion thread for this Contest, but this Thread will do nicely! I'll be sure to bump it at least every two weeks if it ever slows down. ^v^

At first I wasn't going to enter, because good people and thwarting evil and superheroes never really appealed to me, but I've got an idea and I probably will now. Just need to confirm with BZ that what I want to write about is good for the contest, then I'll actually put up my bet and start cracking.

Well, if I get the OK, before I start writing / plotting I'll have to do some studying up, but I feel like I will get it, and as such all today I've been watching documentaries and reading books and taking notes, lol. I kind of feel like I'm back in school. (this story is going to be about historical events, kind of like Will's stories actually)

I've been on this site for a while, but this is my first chance to actually consider dropping a lot of time into it, and a permanent access to internet and a computer!

I have an outline for one path mostly done. I'm trying to put more effort into developing the characters into relatable and human-like people, as I've had some criticism on characterization in the past. I'll try to improve and good luck to everyone!

You've appeared since my absense! Welcome aboard. I see you've accomplished an impressive amount of storygame rating. Good luck on your story. I'll look forward to reading it.

Thank you! I'll be sure to work hard!

I think I will do this one. I've always wanted to write about Alexander Pope in spandex! (Just to piss off the OP, of course!) :P

EDIT: Actually, I haven't the points to enter. :( Makes me sad! So, nevermind.

You could wager 25. No one ought think badly of your doing so. Though some might think badly of what your write. Spandex...spandex?

Berka is running this contest on Easy Mode. You're allowed to go into the hole on points, and End can't do more than lightly nibble on your soul in exchange.

Okay, I rolled the dice. I'm in.

If all goes well, by this time next week I should be able to start writing my story! ^_^

So anyway I'm being super productive and breaking all kinds of records today and it's still not enough. I'm pretty much going to have to say screw it and switch to the contest story if I want a hope of finishing it, but that means leaving this one in limbo again, possibly forever. :(

Dieselpunk is objectively superior to everything else. Also mizal doesn't have her shit NEARLY together as she's saying. Thta woman is going to die writing about lizard people, and can safely be filed under the "Not a threat" category.

I don't know about superior, bit I can confidently say your setting is more batshit than what everyone else is doing. Perhaps that will work in your favor, perhaps not.

It's true, I wrote 6000 words about lizard people yesterday and it nearly killed me. (That's ALMOST as many words as in the tiny space lesbian story Malk slaved over for weeks. Wow!)

And it's 5:30 am right now and I'm preparing to do it all over again. :(

Still going to win though.

Okay, I need a break from words about lizards.

Contest time.

How are the rest of you doing?

Finished my first page, procrastinated a bit, pretty much om schedule I'd say.

About two pages in. Basic outlining for the entire story is basically finished, but specific lining for each epilogues is still a WIP. I should probably be writing more.

If I can keep up this 13000 words per weekend pace I should have nothing to worry about, except for the part where it literally kills me. :)

Okay now I have 1200 words and multiple failsafe/contingency plans in place to save the story if I start running out of time.

I wrote a 10 page essay on the US Postal Service as part of a morals/ethics class so I'd say I'm doing pretty well overall with the ungodly amount of boredom. 5/8.

Now I have to make a presentation for it as well and talk about it for a while in front of a class that will be more bored about the postal service than I am right now.

Looks like I'll be going back to the drawing board with this one.

Came to the unfortunate realization that a superhero story should probably include supervillains having an effect on the plot in some way.

E: never mind I fixed my plot, going to win 1000X harder now and I don't have to scrap anything I already wrote.

will probably start friday. it's finals week for this quarter for me.

will have two weeks "free time" to work on it then I start classes again and I have an overload of classes because I fkn felt like it bitch why you askin.

I have some pretty cool ideas the main thing that I'll struggle with is probably going to be restricting the character to virtuous heroic choices (whatever those may be).

I hear you. If I enter, I'm planning to feature cuckolding in my story.

Ew, cuckolding is disgusting.

I will start today. Lol.

6000 words in and (I hope) all of the long winded scripting I need out of the way.

I've been doing everything but writing the past few days, so I need someone to make an overly self-confident remark that they're going to win, to give me motivation.

Mizal has that covered. Just skim through the thread.

Eh, deadline's still a month and a half away. Nothing to stress about yet, go snort some chocolate.

I'm Dutch, we can get better stuff to snort... 

Ahaha, this thread was surprisingly entertaining to read through. My money's on AzBaz. He apparently has a decent chunk done, unlike the rest of you. And while Mizal sounds determined, she doesn't have a good track record.

You all do realize it's about one quarter of the way through the allotted time, so that means you should have nearly a quarter of your stories written? ;)

Don't trust AzBaz, he has lied before. Ok he probably isn't lying this time but still, fake blindy. :)

True, still repenting from my days as a filthy fraud. 

Did you just assume my existence!? 

...Bigot.

I must've reread this post two more times than it deserved, and it still didn't make much sense to me. Was it even supposed to be a legit, albeit unwarranted, insult? I truly can't see how being a bigot has anything to do with assuming existence.

I take back my earlier words then. AzBaz is no competition after all, since he has just proven incapable of stringing together a few logical phrases for a paltry forum post, never mind a full-length storygame.

'I truly can't see how being a bigot has anything to do with assuming existence.'

You being ignorant to your ignorance makes your bigotry no less disgusting.

Flagging your post so a mod can delete the entire Workshop, we don't need this kind of bullshit here. Consider yourself banned for 2000 years.

Interesting. Your bitchiness is of higher quality than AzBaz's pathetic name-calling, in which case I'll classify you as either closer to the top of the food chain or having a more advanced age, or both.

Whoops, did I just make another annoyingly bigoted comment? My bad. I can't help it, being totally unaware of my own presumptuousness. But don't worry, m'dear, I'll shut up for now, before I get fined for shitposting or derailing or something.

(Delete the post? Go ahead. Banned for 2000 years? Isn't that a bit excessive?)

 

Ahh... I thought 'bigot' was pretty high quality as well!:( At least I didn't whip out the old '1v1 me on Rust n00b ill r3k u'. Still... back to the drawing board I guess.

LOL

@Endmaster Please take this one in to have her worked on, I think her seriouspost detectors need recalibrating.

Yeah, I know right? I can't seem to take anything seriously. Must be some kind of undiagnosed retardation.

E: Whoops again. I did just promise to shut up.

She's right about one thing. Mizal's bitchiness is pretty high quality.

I was just joking; I don't actually think you're a bigot!

Baz's 6000 words are nothing. Now that I've unlocked my Chi I can do that in a single day.

I had a weeks holiday so 6000 was a nice warm up.

Learn Kaioken for 60000 words per day. ^-^

Yay! Can you believe the Contest is already one quarter finished? Where does all the time go? ^v^

Anyway, better get cracking (if you haven't already started) there is only three quarters of a Contest left to go to finish on time!!!

starting today. finals ended yesterday for me so I got 1 week until I start up classes again.

As a token of the contest spirit, I'm working on a little something myself. It won't be a contest entry of course (slight conflict of interest there haha!) but I will be attempting to complete it by the contest deadline!

I had wondered why you had been on so long today.

Big Ugi is watching you.

Finished Storylines- 1/??

So far, I'm pretty sure my 13,000 words of  this one string of this story are trash, but hey, who gives a shit, I'm just doing this to get some traction together for, y'know, myself.

What the fuck am I even saying at this point? Help me.

Didn't get the opportunity to truly binge write the way I did last weekend, but the story's coming along at a reasonable pace. Just working my way through the canon path at the moment, I'll go in and add the side stuff as time permits.

I'm determined to handle time management better on this one than on previous projects, though I really kind of hate the ultra-tight pacing this forces me into. A CYOA and especially the genre I've picked wants to be wild and free and needs room to breathe, maaaan. Hopefully I'll have time to do more with it, but, vital plot points first.

To me, that seems odd. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, just trying to understand how other people's minds work. Are you saying that you write the entire story with one storyline first, and only when that is done do you go back and write other paths? The way my mind works, that's just...confusing?

That's the most direct and organized way to get through a long storyline without jumping around spastically through a dozen parallel universes at all times. Pretty sure that's how End writes too, so, a proven technique.

15000 words.

I may have just made a terrible mistake.

What did you do?

A little Mizal may now be on its way.

she forgot to start

Edit:: I like ends' presumption better

I bought a PS4. First console I've owned since the Dreamcast and I was just not prepared.

End and Ford's guesses would have at least been problems with solutions.

buying a console instead of spending money upgrading your pc is a much larger mitsake than either of our guesses.

My PC is fine except for the part where I have no way to download anything I own.

What games did you get!!!? *jumps in excitement*

FFXV for now since I watched a little of it in an LP and it looks like the entertaining sort of terrible.

Nier: Automata and Witcher 3 were what I wanted but I'll have to order them it looks like.

Pro or normal? TBH, I'd say Pro or nothing with the current situation in the console cycle. I'd strongly recommend Witcher 3 Complete (including both DLC) as one of the first things to play, but you'll probably need a game from a different genre in between to take a break (I have 150 hours from a single playthrough at near 100% quests of the game + DLC, furthermore, I highly recommend the Blood and Broken Bones difficulty setting for proper immersion). That said, Persona 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, and the Uncharted series are what you should check out later. Also, you do realize that any modern console requires hours of updates and patches from the internet, right?

I would suggest starting at a lower difficult and then gradually increasing it with time since W3 has an inverted difficulty curve. I would recommend Dragon Age Inquisition after W3 since it's 60fps and the main story is kind of awesome.

Ugh, seriously Mizal do not listen to this fucktard. Just get Witcher 3: Complete Edition, and fuck Tranny Age: Inclusiveness.

I never got a chance to play DA:I because it was a bloated mess that was never allowed by the censors into India (seriously, that and apparently New Vegas aren't available for purchase in India, though you can buy a global key and redeem here). Plus, DA:2 wrecked any expectations and goodwill I had from the series. In my headcanon, there are no sequels, there is only Origins. The Witcher 3 however blows away genre standards in pretty much everything, and the extra power on the Pro should give better framerates. In anycase, TW3 combat is neither hitbox exploitation nor twitch sensitive, so 30 FPS is still manageable (though not fun).

Also, re:DA:I what main story? The damn thing was a sprawling, drawn out, complicated mess without a real villain until far too late. (Since I couldn't play the thing I followed up on the story for nostalgia purposes and to figure out whether not taking the demon baby in DA:O had any consequence).

I would argue that W3 is a totally different experience on consoles (however a pro patch might come along with XbOXoneX) than pc but then again I was never recommending DAI over W3. I just said that she could try it after W3. (fuck my engkish) :)

I just got the regular one, and I may look into the Uncharted games, but really, the way I play I'm expecting three games to last me a very long time.

I'm aware I'll need to download patches etc. once in awhile, but the update for the console itself was just a few hundred megs. The game patch was more than I had data for but it runs fine unpatched too. It's also a hell of a lot easier to take a console out to my dad's house or wherever for any necessary downloads than to drag a desktop PC over.

Not really worrying about it though, what I wanted was something simple and semi-mindless to pick up for an hour while winding down in the evenings, and that's basically console gaming in a nutshell. So far I'm not regretting my purchase.

Hehe get witcher goty and you are already set for 5 months lol.

I was hoping it would be more along the lines of accidentally deleting your own story and somehow sabotaging everyone else's except mine for the contest, but oh well. I'll stick to Dark Cloud on my sweet PS2.

Accidentally deleting a story is a uniquely Minnie sort of fuck up, I'm not even sure it'd be possible for a regular person.

I'm a special kind of stupid :)

Hey, motherfuckers, I'm gonna make a storygame that's going to blow away all of this sites previous stories! It's gonna tear through your expectations and completely discourage you all to even attempt to write a story again in your life!

Or, it's gonna suck and nobody will care.

No one who considers Family Guy some kind of height of entertainment has the cognitive ability to produce a good story, no matter how many words they type. I'm sure that's a weight off everyone's mind.

I think I just died a little bit inside.

I'm no longer getting respect from Mizal? Fuck... I think I'm just going to stop writing the story altogether now, delete the whole storygame, delete my account, and never return to this site...

And to think... it's all Family Guy's fault...

I will start mine today. Yes! *clenched fists*

Okay great.

Also, I feel like End should start penalizing anyone who puts words between asterisks.

Anyone, and especially you.

But why? *holding back tears*

*sarcasm*

*I should be crucified*

WAIT A MINUTE. I understand why s/he/it uses asterisks now... s/he/it likes anime... it just helped me envision a cute little japanese girl... I hope I'm not wrong in this assumption and it's actually a middle aged man sitting in his basement tapping his fingers together like a cliche bad guy.

It's Negative. Prematurely balding Indian roughly teenage aged man-creature whom IIRC is unsure of what gender it is.

fuck. fUCk. FUCK.

I am mentally not okay after this horrifying plot twist. You said prematurely balding? Man creature?? UNSURE OF GENDER?!

I already penalized points from Negative for being a fucktard in this thread and generally being more annoying than usual yesterday.

I figure at the rate he’s going he’ll probably get himself banned before the contest is over. (again)

I'm pretty sure at this point that's actually a fetish of his, so I hope you felt appropriately uncomfortable while indulging it.

I'm just waiting for someone to show him how to change the appearance of pages through the Crome 'inspect' tool, and make Youtube videos about it. That or just random spam and such. You know, like old-fashioned, quality trolls.

And he continues to act like an idiot in the thread after I just warned him. Gone.

 

I always view what he does as a kind of performance art so I'm never sure if I should be annoyed, or if being annoyed means he wins. It may be healthy for him to have a little time out though.

For Negative's benefit, here's a helpful guide to maaaaybe getting back in.


1.) Wait a week or two to make an alt. Use a non-faggy avatar.
2.) Don't fucking post because you immediately identify yourself that way.
3.) Write some reviews, complete a story and perhaps prove your right to exist.
4.) Continue to not fucking post awhile. Seriously, your posts are bad.

Your tower game was decent. It's almost like there could be a non-shit site member hidden beneath all the tumors still.

In the meantime, go hang out on Ford's Discord. It sounds like he's pretty lonely there.

I don't think Negative can make it past #1 on that list, to be honest.

3J would. IIRC he finds it one of the most annoying things people do on the internet. *searches for thread where he said that*

So I finally have a title as of last night, and also started the new new version of my story. I have a good feeling about this one.

I sure am enjoying all these one thousand word conversations people are having in nondescript offices.

It sure is better than the one thousand word conversations people are having in nondescript orifices.

I'm now picturing the world's most boring porno. Like everyone just pauses mid-sex to fill out paperwork for an hour.

Anyway, actual progress to report:

I took a break from the main storyline to backtrack and fill in a few early endings, and expand some worldbuilding stuff. Chapter One is now at 15000 words and more or less complete.

One month to go so I'm going to be cutting it close, and more strategic amputations may be necessary as I go along, but my story is technically in better shape now than the ones for the last two contests were. Like, I could post Chapter One as a standalone thing right now with only a moderate amount of shame. (It's just that all the actual heroing bits come later...)

Sounds great, wish you the best.

Update: A little under 4 k words. However, I have basically everything planned out and my research is complete. Work is taking up my time (with most weeks being over 40 hours). I probably won't log onto this site until I feel as though I'm close, for I'm attempting to eliminate all possible distractions which includes the internet. 6.33/8 or bust. :)
Meh, this's easily the most challenging thing I've ever written. Hopefully, it won't suck.

Glad to hear it! Hope it proceeds quickly and you don't get stuck with work keeping you from getting it finished!

I almost started today. Tomorrow is a new day.

All Right! The Contest is halfway to Completion - How's everyone doing? ^v^

Do we even have half of the original entrants left?

Wonder who will be the first to publish something!

You know, if I can decide an effective way to combine chapters 4, 5, & 6, I might actually make an entry myself...

I am trapped in a small house with fifteen people on what was supposed to be my writing day, please send help.

I think I'm at ~18000 words? About 30%, but haven't gotten much done this week.

Got a local library with WiFi? For some reason, I love writing while surrounded by rows and rows of books. :)

As for my non-entry camaraderie-building deadline story - I'm 80% through and cleaning up a ton of bugs.

So so many bugs.

Not sure till I publish, but I think I got close to a million words in this one that will never even be seen (all scripting).

^v^

You should award yourself your trophy if no one else manages a worthy entry.

Well, I finished the actual game. Now to tackle two dozen very confusing little bugs in it haha!

If anyone ever asks how I scripted this game (that I am currently working on), I shall direct them to stick their head in a vice and slowly tighten it around their cranium until the juices squeeze out.

It is with this brain-ink that you pen an unholy contract with the devil, exchanging your sanity and mortal soul, for some heinous piece of hell-script that goes 'boink' in an amusing manner - except when it goes 'bink' (which is more often that you would like)...

I was wondering how you managed to finish so fast. You cheated. :[

Maybe ^v^

To be fair, my game isn't so much of a story as it is a thing. So writing the story part only took a few single sentence entries and done!

I'm starting on a second entry before finishing my first. The second is more creative and less thought out, but the first is tropey yet well thought out. What better time to experiment than during a contest?

'hi guys I'm the stand in for Negative now that he's gone'

Still don't know who negative is and at this point I'm not gonna ask. I just presume noob that got the attention of people through shitposting because people tend to pay attention to those things.

I mean you did comment on his *emotes* in this very thread. But come to think of it he was here three years longer than you, and wrote multiple games, so I guess other than the not producing anything for contests despite endless posts of 'im starting today no really', you two really don't have much in common after all, huh.

ah that guy. He must've been gone for a while or very inactive cause I forgot all about him. I do recall some of his storygames though.

28000 words and possibly halfway. It's hard to tell how much more I'll need to finish! Deadlines kill me so I definitely won't be first to publish.

Lost Internet access, might not get around to finishing my story, tis a shame :(.

You don't need the internet to type.

It's not the internet that's the problem, I don't have a computer anymore. Sorry for the misguidance.

 

You don't need a computer to write on your phone. An entry is still required else you get shame. No excuses. No exceptions.

Use a library computer if for some reason you can't grab a cheap laptop, or just tack an epilogue and End Game link to what you already have to at least avoid SHAME. If you're really more than 15K in you'll still have more than some entrants.

And you've still got a month to go, seems early to assume you won't get any opportunity at all to write.

Wha....?!? Royal Ghost's not going to finish a story? Heavens, who would've thought of it!

Not my fault I'm poor.

Lol

Didn't you claim to have a completed storyline already, and over 13000 words?

If in the next 25 days you somehow still don't have access to a library, a tablet, $200 for a laptop, or the home of a friend or family member, I'm pretty sure you can still close off any loose ends with your phone and still submit a respectable story.

Yeah I'm probably going to get shamed this time around.

Only have had the commitment to do any story progress only on my super edgy anime high school romance story.

If i do submit anything itll be under 10,000 words guaranteed.

WORD COUNT ROLL CALL!!

How you all doing, future failures?

Or, current ones too I guess, if RG is still hanging around.

What if we don't know how to count?

35,000, I'm burning out though.

Oh noes. How much more till it's finished?

It's hard to tell but I'll get it done. Maybe another 20,000 words. Sill got to draw loads of stuff though, but that'll be alright as long as I have enough podcast sustainance.

Wew. So there'll be pictures to go with it? 

 

Nice.

Is this the one you were posting your drawings for? I was assuming that was another project. Either way, 35000 is impressive. How many paths done so far?

Is using a pre-written story not considered cheating? No, that's my main project that I've put on hold until the contest is over. It's around 80,000 words with maybe another 15,000-30,000 words of latent stuff/notes I need to copy and paste over from a Google Doc.

I'm not used to comic-style drawing so I've kind of stylised these ones I guess, but I'm not happy with one or two so I'll probably redo them. There's some acrylic mashed in there as well for the intro and title page.

I'm worried it's a little linear at the moment, but the story changes quite a bit depending on early choices that butterfly, so there's only really one major path that's just starting to branch out now depending on what the reader chooses early on. There's a lot of on page scripting. So, uh, kind of still on my first I suppose. I haven't really gotten to the end yet.

Gotta scope out the competition; what are you on?

I'm back on it, and 33,000 and counting

Nice! Just careful not to accidentally delete it.

It's all backed up so I don't believe that will happen...

So who dropped out so far?

The only one who properly dropped out was Skullyzombie. A lot of other people don't have high hopes, but nothing really solid.

Oh and Negative is out, but he didn't drop out so much as he acted like a retard again and got kicked out.

RG probably will, he's a little bitch who loves to make excuses.

Slowing... to a crawl...

And we are at the home stretch with just under three weeks to go!

---

Who will submit a completed story?

Who will submit a completed story worth keeping published?

Who will win the contest and take home the glorious mustache trophy?

Who will crash and burn - joining Negative and Skully in the pits of eternal shame?

---

Find out September 1st (or thereabouts)!

And I'm cleaning up the last of the pesky bugs in my own (non-entry) game. It will be published by the contest due date!

I've made mine too complex. I can't even identify all the bugs, much less locate them and fix them...

Don't give up! A buggy entry still counts as an entry - and you can always keep bug-fixing after the contest. Heck, I'd probably give you a hand too (just not during the contest or before the judging is over).

Thank you for the offer! I certainly appreciate help spotting errors and mistakes that I can't see because I wrote them!

A hypothetical question. If I don't happen to finish some of my branches for the story... should I just take out a choice that might normally have been there, or should I have the choice there and add something like, "Apologies: This branch is not finished at the moment. It will be in due time, but for now please continue back to the other choice." 

Assuming that I don't finish a branch, I would like a back up plan, and who better to offer advice then my fellow competitors. Am I right? 

Just take out the choice. It is better if the story is complete. Nobody likes excuses.

That would pointlessly take the reader out of the action. If there's nothing there than just don't put the option. You can always add it in at any point later.

Thanks to the both of you.

1,700+ words, 3 pages. It's kinda pathetic still, but I only started 4 days ago (two of which I was unable to logon and work on it for), and I've been putting several hours into scripting and all that instead of writing. As soon as that's done, I'll be going like a machine when it comes to writing. I have everything planned out already, all I need is the time to get it down. 
(54 variables and counting. It's getting to be a pain in my ass figuring this all out. Almost have the page deciding which magic powers you use and how much done though.)
I believe altogether I've put 13 hours into it? Mostly that's becuase I kept on doing something with the scipting only to realize it doesn't work and then having to scrap it, or figuring out a much easier way. Took a quick break to take a look in the forums because all the numbers and such makes my head hurt. I'll be going right back to it after this though. Wish me luck.

1700 words on 3 pages? So 560+ words per page. On 3 pages. On a CYOA? So 1 page with two choices? Then 54 variables. On 3 pages. With hours of scripting.

I'm not sure what to make of that, but good luck!

3 pages that have story writing, and those were the only ones I counted for word count. There's 7 altogether. Well, now it's 4 pages of story writing and fifth in progress. I would have had my 6th page finished by now, except that I had events around town planned with a few close friends. 

And because I'm new to this system, it wasn't until after I was nearly done that I understood what global script was and that it coulda made my life a whole hell of a lot easier. 

The hours of scripting was in part that, and also making a page where you can change how much magic you're using of a specifac type, with 13 separate types that can go into negative or positive. And if you increase how much you're using too fast, it has negative side effects. So 13 for the base stats. 13 for positive change so it keeps track of how much you're increasing at a time and resets every story page that you go through. That was if you increase too much too fast, ___ happens.  13 mirrors the last set but decreasing values instead of increasing. 13 tracking how much you're actively using right now. 1 that tracks whether you've increased or decreased too much and starts the end countdown. 1 that has the codex.
I'm pretty sure that's 54, if I did my math right. 

You can find out the word count more easily if you go to My Stuff>'STORY NAME' and hover over the ? on the length if you're not on your phone (idk there might be a way to do it on a phone but I don't know it).

Yeah I was wondering how you got so many variables as well! Do you need those 26 variables to track increases or decreases? I think you could just use script to add or decrease the amounts from the base values as you go along, but I'm not familiar with your system of magic so it might be more complex than what I'm thinking of.

Good luck!

Just hoping they put that much effort into the story. Scripting itself is fairly invisible to a reader and there's nothing entertaining about a combat system or whatever in and of itself.

Well, yes. Of course. The way I have it set up, it takes planning and using it wisely rather than willy nilly actions like a combat system. And all combats are written out individually, and injuries stay injuries the whole game and hinder your progress. Not like a lot of stories I've seen.

I didn't know that! So apparently it's at 2354 words. 
That's the problem with making a world, and then later trying to fit a cyoa around it. It gets a little complex. 
I'm also new to the system, so that was the only way I could think of. Well, I mean, I could have tried with just the normal set, but the only way I could think with that has different script per page, and I would have prefered just copy/paste - and then I found global script with made it a snap. They're just Z1 - Z13 and Y01 - Y13, so it's easy to go down the line and just change one number. If it changes too much, then it changes A1, which initiates Magic Whiplash, so once you run out of energy you fall into a comatose state and the game ends. 

Thanks @AzBaz. I did not know that.

Hey, WIBN is back. How many words do you have?

Um, about 1/4 of what I'd want to have... Essentally, I don't have much time to write even after not being on the internet or waching tv really. Thus, I'm just going to be back since the site apparently tries to decide whether or not violent far right white dudes or violent far right Arabic dudes are worse when I'm gone. :)

Anyway, I'll have a fully complete 20k+ storygame published for the contest. It's complicated enough that I don't even know how to map it's storyline(s). Plus, I've had to do a ton of reading to attempt to understand how a certain physical/mathematical principal works.

I won't win (unless the competition is 5/8 or worse), but this is probably the most fun I've had writing in the past few years. I wish y'all good fortune!

Sounds good, but never mind this writing thing; what is your opinion on the blacks?

FUCKIN FUNKITY FUCK. 
Got a whole page done, one of my longest and using on page variables and all that, go to save it, and it comes up saying 'Uh Oh, you broke it!' and I can't fucking get it back. 

Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, before clicking any buttons.

Sorry this happened, it has happened to me a lot, and quite a bit more often here recently (like in the past 2-3 weeks). It happens very often when I take too long on a page as well.

In general, it's best if you write your pages in the notepad and then copy them to the editor. You can never know when something could go wrong. You could try checking your history to see if it's maybe there, but it's most likely gone, sorry.

ALWAYS copy before you click. Anything you write you're going to want to make a backup of anyhow.

I'm not sure what actually causes the issue, but I prefer to use a writing program and then copy everything over so it's not something I run into very often.

Use lazarus form recovery extension. saves as you write stuff into a textbox. Thank BD for telling me about it.

Excuse my language, sorry. I'll keep in mind the copy before you click, and I'll see about the Lazarus extension. I just wish I'd known about that sooner. Now excuse me while I go rewrite it all and be salty about it for the next few hours.

It's a good habit to get into when putting effort into typing things anywhere on the internet, really. Losing a long forum post can be just as enraging.

Done that a few times myself. Super aggravating, trying to rebuild them too, as you tend to want to try to get it as close to the same as before.

Well, my game is complete, but I'm still ironing out some choice bugs. I'll forgo publishing it until after the contest though, by which time I hope to have all the kinks worked out.

Might even look for a playtester or two.

So, twelve days left in the contest and still nothing to read yet. This will be a real easy contest to judge - or - we'll be flooded with submissions right at the deadline haha!

Actually, I see no reason for submitting days before the deadline. If I hypothetically had an 80k word storygame entirely complete, beta-ed, and edited... I still would wait until the last day. A storygame submitted earlier would not show up on the newly created storygame's five slots after just a few days, and I noticed that the storygames submitted later normally have a few extra rating and comments than the early ones for some reason regardless of whether or not they are among the newest five. (I have no clue as to why that happens.). Plus, since activity will be most likely increasing over the next couple of weeks due to school coming back, the five newest storygames may get more exposure.

TBF if anyone published early I would be looking pretty hard at any typos or bugs I came across and wondering why they didn't use the extra time they had to polish. There's always something to improve.

Next Contest, I'm going to include a 'Submit Early Incentive' lol!

better be a big incentive lol

Free subscription to Taco of the Month Club!

Congrats on getting it complete! I'm sure you will have something to read -- I've got 3 chapters written, complete, and entered on the site. I've got 2 more chapters completely planned and I'm working on getting them onto the site now (hopefully both this weekend). That will leave me just one final chapter to write after Sunday (hopefully). I always make typos, so I'll be looking for them, but I can't ever see the ones I make. I know what I intended to write, and that's what I see, no matter what letters are actually there!

Congrats on finishing; I wish I was as close! Definitely going to be part of the tidal wave at 11:59 the night before.

So... many... choices...

For the love of...

Will someone please stop me?!?

"Okay, so this page leads to just one thing and... oh hey, it makes a lot of sense to give the reader an option here so that they can make a choice..." Dammit, there's a whole 'nuther pathway to write!!!

The harrowing tale of the never ending CYOA!

I feel the same- I just can't end mine!

Lol, you're giving them choices? How quaint.

So. That deadline getting a little close...


I hope everyone likes 20000 words of backstory and flashbacks followed by six paragraph summaries of the rest of the story... >.>

Actually, that's an exaggeration. More realistically, I hope everyone likes 20000 words about a teenage girl's feelings.

Way to seriously lower the expectations there for the judges!

This post inspired me to go back and make edits turning everyone into a cat.

Okay, I surrender. No point in even submitting, you've already won the contest. It is over (especially if the cats are in clans).

Or have names ending in 'Kit'.

Hey I know most of us are in panic mode and focused on typing, but don't forget there's a history making eclipse today!

Every contestant, please make it a point to go outside during the eclipse and spend 10-15 minutes starring directly at the sun. (Even if the eclipse is not visible where you live, I would recommend doing this anyway.)

Remember not to blink! :)

Well, looks like we're about to get smacked around a little by Harvey soon. A lot is going to depend on the power staying on, including my sanity.

I'm pretty sure your sanity is going to have nothing to do with anything eternal to your own crazy mind.

Hahaha, like every store in town is now out of water. Whatever people, should've got up earlier. Fuck you, got mine.

Being unable to leave the house the last few days of the contest could really work in my favor, IF the power stays on.

I have 11 more pages to write if it's to meet minimum site standards, rather linear with minimal choices and definitely not gonna win (but still an entry at least), and about 26 to write if I'm going to have it completely finished, and if I get that then I believe I stand a decent chance. 

I can definitely do 11 pages in 7 days, and then after the contest unpublish it to finish it. The question will be whether I can become demon possessed and do 26 pages or somewhere near that and actually pose as competition. Nearly 4 pages a day. I'd be a complete zombie afterwards. Worth it, of course. Bout an hour to an hour and a half per page for writing, so I'll just need to clear my schedule for around 7 hours of writing a day (to include mental blocks and some scripting here and there).

"Just"

As if it'll be that easy. 

If you publish a half-assed story just to enter the contest and take it down as soon as judging is over and never post it again, I'm totally going to start calling you "mizal Jr."

You cut me deep.

Reached 20k yesterday. Deleted 10k today because I wasn't happy with it. As a result, what I have left is a generic mish-mash which won't get any higher than a 4.5 rating. I've been writing a bit more and gotten it up to 12k, but I don't really know how far I'll get at this time. Maybe it'll go a little higher than that, maybe not.

I've ended up ditching my original idea (as in, the idea which took me one and a half months to think up) in favour of some other unoriginal idea which certainly won't win any trophies. I do hope nobody thought I was going to pull a masterpiece out of thin air or something, because unless some kind of miracle happens, that's not going to happen. Who knows, maybe every reader on CYS will misinterpret my generic ramblings as being surreal with an underlying cryptic message.

Oh, and I will be finishing, of course. Even if all I have is the half-finished piece of junk that I ended up with this morning, I'll submit a finished work or die in the attempt.

Pfft, nah. This'll definitely get finished, even if it's not in time for the contest. It'll be a key part of a story that'll hopefully have several different mediums. Linear story writing, cyoa, comic, little one or two page shorts, maybe some short animation clips later if I'm feeling bold enough. 
I've been playing around with what do do with Alchemy Brothers, world building, story planning, characterization, for months. Saw the contest and thought it would be a good way to kickstart the actual creating of the story rather than just rambling about it to various people.

While I did many things over the course of the Summer, working on my contest entry wasn't one of them. I also kinda decided to put my original idea on hold for the time being, as it didn't really fit the theme of the contest anymore, which means I started writing a new story this week. Given my track record so far, of taking months or years to publish something I'm mildly happy with, I have the fullest confidence that I'm going to finish my new story before the deadline.