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Temple of Fate: At least, that's the working title right now. Yes, it's an 'archeological site' style adventure puzzle-game with elements of the supernatural, in which you play a 10-12 year old girl who may or may not be wildly imaginative / having visions of the past/present/future. It's the first reasonable one that came to mind for this thing, and frankly, I don't have time to argue with myself. I'm not going to lose sleep over it if I can't think of a better one.

For anyone who has played The Other World, I'm willing to bet you already have an idea of where this is going. I did have a game labeled "Oneirology" for MnM--but it was just an idea. I never really did any work on it and the mechanics would've felt... time-travelly, which I was on the fence about. 

I'm writing this because I've been meaning to piece together a game based on Melissa's globe-trotting past, since she really didn't get much actual "screen time" iykwim. Layne's harrowing trip through previously unexplored parts of the witch's house will give you plenty of time with him, and Hannah / Gabriel had their own thing while also getting a fair amount of mention in DC as well.

Likewise, I had a different idea, Desert Child, which would've had similar gameplay to this one--albeit with involved traits and a very different motivation, protagonist, and time period. Those two, not fully-formed or fleshed-out ideas basically hugged each other reeeeal tight until they morphed into this abomination. If I can't get it done on time, however, I will take this thing apart and use its guts to restart Oneirology. Eventually. Provided I survive the production of my other projects, anyway.

I'm not going to do a chapter count, because ain't nobody got time for that, but I will do a page count:

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Hipsters have ruined fedoras for everyone but Indiana Jones. 

This would be the first I've heard of it.

He likes to swear.

... Well, that's not the most cringe-worthy joke video I've seen, but I have met people who are actually like that. >_>
 

Well, being a fan of your previous stories, I am very excited to try out your story once it's done. My story was also based on some ideas I had from other stories I'd brainstormed, it's always a great feeling when you can merge an idea from another, incomplete story into your current project! 

To be honest you are probably the one to beat for this contest. No pressure :)

Oh? Well, I hope you like this one, too, then. I can agree, it is a good feeling when you realize two pieces fit together like that. It does seem a little weird when I had so many other plans in place, but eh.

I doubt that. I have very little actual work done right now. Granted, in... about an hour and twenty minutes, my weekend shall begin and I can ... go to bed, actually, but then I can wake up and get back to work on it. xD

Me, too. Thank you. :D

Um... is it bad if, hypothetically speaking, I played The Other World and still had no idea where this was going after reading the first paragraph? Not that that would ever happen to me. After all, I am one of the series' biggest fans allong with Quiller.

EDIT: Anyway, sounds intriguing. I'll be interested to see if this will include as many elements of the supernatural as the haunted house in GOLAD.

No, it just means that there's a possibility the concept is less obvious than I thought. On the other hand, the confusing thing might be which elements I'd find predictable. Either way, I'll do what I can to make it a good--if short--experience. Hehe, enthusiasm from the two of you has definitely helped me to push myself.

Possibly. :3

Temple of Fate: Update: Well, that did not go as planned. I meant to stay up all night as per my usual schedule and get a lot of writing done, but I ended up getting distracted by trying to resolve three different issues with three different friends, and spending time with two others. By the time I was done talking to all of them, it was past 2 am. I normally stay up well past 5:30, but I've been exhausted lately. The page count hasn't really increased, but the game itself looks nice? xD ... >_> I know, I know. I'm getting back to it.

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If you write whatever comes to mind and don't judge it while you're writing, you'll find you can get a lot more done. You can always edit something later if it doesn't flow well, and often a bad idea will give you a good idea.

I have not been doing well lately... I'm pretty sure I can't make the deadline. 

Sorry to hear. Is this still something you want to publish at some point in the future? I hope you feel better soon.

I haven't given up on trying all together. I finished another page today, I just don't feel optimistic about getting it done any time soon and I don't want people to get their hopes up. I'm not functioning well right now, anyway. I have daily headaches, my blood pressure sucks, I'm constantly tired, but can't sleep more than a few hours at a time, and I've had blurry vision (frequent, not constant) and a crappy attention span for days now. I should consult someone about all this, but I can't until the 1rst of next month. 

... So, question, would anyone actually want to see a maze?

Because, ancient puzzle area dictates that it's appropriate and I appreciated the existence of that kind of thing in KQVI (which is one of my favorite games of all time, tbf) but I get the feeling that nobody really likes playing through those. Even properly marked, people seem to find it a hassle. I'm also kind of on the fence about wanting to make it.

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I'm a huge fan of your puzzles (haha, bet you hadn't noticed, right?), so I'm very happy that this game exists. Am much excite.

How is it coming along?

It isn't. I haven't been able to accomplish much of anything since my last update... and The Dream Thief is absurdly intimidating, haha. (Shocking. A newbie with no avatar did in ten days what I took half a year to do. My hope for future generations is not yet dead!) Even if I do get back my crazy mojo from TOW's completion where I was pumping out several pages at a time, I still doubt I'd ever catch up to what's already been produced to a degree where I'd be willing to post.

Awwww dude don't be like that. I can't believe I have to say this to you but in case you haven't noticed yourself, you're perhaps one of CYS' greatest authors ever and your stories are some of the best on the site. Admittedly I haven't taken a look at The Dream Thief yet, but just because Future is a robot that does nothing but crunch ten eloquently written pages per second shouldn't discourage you because you're still an amazing writer. If you can't make the deadline then don't sweat it bro, just keep writing at your pace. That's probably the most important part: we all have lives and friend drama and school and jobs (and some of us are robots that occasionally have to be recharged before being able to pump out pages every few seconds) so if you can't write at the same pace as someone there's really no point over stressing over it. If you're packing on yourself because you think some dude is a better writer, than just look at yourself Kiel. You've written some of the most amazing games on CYS. It's not like you're a bad writer or something.

If you stop writing because someone is writing at a faster pace than you and/or you think they're better, you're going to send CYS into a riot. Tacocat is never going to play the piano again or something idk. I'm probably going to drink some more mountain dew. CYS will never be graced again with your amazing stories. So don't do that man.

(That was my attempt at being encouraging, probably didn't work but for real please just write EVEN if Future is better, I like your games and stuff and this one sounds intriguing.)

I, uh... <///< it's not like I'd ever give up writing, man, and I plan to finish this thing--in some form or another. I already know there's always going to be someone better, or faster, or what have you, but I do like what I do. I enjoy entertaining you folks. :)

It's just--I mean, it is a contest. So many people have already completed their entries. (Which is great. More future contests!) But I have about 24 hours to finish mine and I haven't even completed the scripting for the first puzzle. Seeing someone pour their heart into this competition is awesome, I feel the need to do the same and I don't have that kind of time left.

(Lol, no, Taco! You must play on! And, the Mountain Dew! It... well, it was probably going to be drank either way, but still!) Thank you for the encouragement, man. It's always nice to know someone's pullin' for me, even when I'm a damn mess, haha.

Okay I know I sorta exaggerated the ramifications of you being discouraged, but it's still good to hear you haven't completely given the story up yet.

And about people putting in a lot of effort into this -- I kinda feel the same way and it's hard not to feel jealous of people like Future who can actually put their 100% into this. However I and I'm sure others won't care if your game takes a week or a year to finish because we know either way it'll be sweet.

Yep. Heck, I've been wanting to do a game like this long enough, I was just psyched about this because I know damn well: deadlines help me finish. GOLAD was written for a contest. TOW was written for a contest. Knowing I have limited time and competition makes me push myself and stay on track.

It will! :D (And if you're wondering whether I mean "be sweet" or "take a long time," probably both. xD)

I have to say, this was a very well-written post. Now I'm really looking forward to your game! Heh, I laughed out loud when I saw the 'robot' reference, I'm half-tempted to throw that metaphor into my own game. 

And yeah, I'd have to say that 'The Other World' might be the best non-series game on the site. I'm torn between TOW and Homo Perfectus 8 for the very best game on the site, I haven't finished either to the very end so it's too early to judge. 

Oh yeah, I do have sneak preview enabled if you guys want to check my game.

Thank you, and I'm glad you like it, but uh... so you know, The Other World is part of a series. It's the sequel to my first game.

I have checked out your game and I have to say, congratulations. I'm fairly certain you're going to win, but more important than that, it's a hell of a first game. Your dedication and the quality you've managed to maintain with that kind of speed is impressive. (Also, you need an avatar. The blank space. It's just so empty. ._. So empty.)

Ditto Fazz.

I'm totally okay with you taking as long as you need to get Dream Thief up to your ridiculously perfectionist personal quality standards, even if it doesn't make the deadline of the contest.

There's no need to catch up or anything. A good game is good, period, no matter what other games exist, and your an extremely talented writer who makes great games!

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*chuckle*

Go Go Power Rangers Kiel Farren!

Go Kiel! uhhhh.... Banana peal!

I was making a last ditch effort to finish before the deadline, but my spouse and I got into an argument. 7 minutes left and I'm at...

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^ Not even fully fleshed out pages, either. Damn. Guess I should stick to long deadline contests, lol. Congrats to everyone who finished in time, though. I admire your productivity. =D Good luck on placing.

That's okay, Kiel. I bet the story will be great once it's done. If I'm not mistaken, I think both of your featured stories were contest entries which failed to meet their deadlines.

Naw. GOLAD placed fourth in ST, TOW placed first in Madglee's contest, so they were both completed in time for judging.

Really? I swear I remember looking at the in progress thread for TOW and you had to submit it while it was half finished.

Right. By 'completed in time' I mean 'I had something to submit' and I didn't actually miss the deadline. TOW was about 400 pages long and ended at the last stage of the guild, where you say goodbye to Nikki. That was what won the contest. (The guild did not have most of its features, either. Like, the missions master and the arena were both closed-off to you in-game with a little "sorry, not ready for you today, come back another tme" page of dialog.) And though GOLAD was submitted to ST fully intact, it was beaten by an unfinished game. POF: innocence lost.

Did some backstory tweaking today. The clock issues due to DST are making me forum / PM and game shy.