IWT6a

[Ryan_DuBois]

So... anyone gonna make it before the deadline?

[End Master]

I've got a story I can turn in, I'm just wondering if the main site is going to be working since it's been down again for the last two days.

[xnull]

I don't think I'm going to. For once I have time to, but the lack of a competition theme has me uninspired.

[End Master]

Well since I'm not submitting my "Infinite Story" here's a semi-brief description of what my idea for "Routine" was before I decided to scrap it:

Monday basically consisted of a boring day based on deciding whether or not you wanted to clean your house. Leaving the house basically resulted in either talking to the goth chick who works at the mall book store or accidently running over your "future self" that warns you that the week is going to suck badly for you so you should just stay in the house all week to stay safe. This would result in your character wondering if he was crazy or not.

The major event on Tuesday would be a terrorist bombing at the mall. Assuming you made a date with the goth chick, this event could put you right in the middle of this event. The goth chick has her own problems though so staying with her might be dangerous too. Security in the city at this point starts increasing as well, so the possibility of pissing off over eager cops is another danger.

Wednesday relies on a lot of what you did on Monday and Tuesday, (Pissing off psychotic cops, fucking psychotic goth chicks, going psychotic yourself, etc) but the big possible event that can happen to you is you can get captured by aliens who give you the option of avoiding the catastrophe that's going to happen. (Bad idea since they do that carbonite thing and put you on their intergalactic display)

Thursday is much like wednesday, except staying in the house is now equally as dangerous than leaving it. You can end up cleaning (Which is usually a "safe" choice) and uncovering some ancient evil relic in your attic that can unleash an insanity causing horror from another dimension.

When Friday comes around, a biological weapon has gone off and you have to deal with a zombie apocalypse. This will weed out anyone who was trying to stay safe by constantly doing nothing as it implies your state of sloth and lack of awareness renders you unready for a zombie attack.

Saturday continues the zombie apocalypse, and assuming you play it right, you'll wind up encountering a time machine, if taken advantage of, it will either result in you going back in time where you get hit by a car (but the story continues from the perspective of "past you" that was driving) or you wind up in a future overrun by robots where upon you'll get your consciousness downloaded into a robot body and put to perpetual menial work. Of course if you don't use the time machine you move on to the last day of the week.

Sunday is Doomsday. At this point the Grim Reaper finds you and checks his list on whether you're supposed to be going to heaven or hell, you can beg or try to bargain with him with varying degrees. Ultimately based on how you handled things during the week, you'll either go to heaven or hell and be punished or rewarded for all eternity.

Loops included:
Brain dead state kept on life support (Basically inhale/exhale).
Coma put you in looping dream sequences.
Insanity did something similar, though there was a couple of different insane scenarios.
Put in an alien zoo (You basically could only stare or look in front of you)
Zombification which usually resulted in you also being trapped so you couldn't actually get anywhere to attack anyone (or get shot in the head)
Robot drone where you did menial work forever (which would be similar to your job in the past)
Perpetual punishment in Hell or perpetual reward in Heaven.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Lol, Xnull; so you actually were going to enter, but because you can write about anything you want, you've decided to opt out? Very unfortunate.



You're idea sounds pretty cool, End. Did you do any writing on it after you made the outline?

[End Master]

I wrote out to the start of wednesday and then I just sort of lost inspiration. I dunno the whole looping thing started to get boring to me since there was a lot of repetition.

[Ryan_DuBois]

That's the conclusion I've come to also, I guess. I liked the "Infinite Story" idea initially just because it's really different, but ya, I think usually it makes for boring stories.

Alright -- on the morning of the 20th, if it's possible to upload stories, I'll release (again) what's completed of The Rift and a (hopefully) fully completed version of "War" (it's probably 60% done), otherwise I'll just release The Rift. Good luck with the final stretch everyone!

Cheers!

[Usoki]

I'll definitely agree that they'd have to be small to avoid repetition.

Mine, which I'd never found the inspiration to appropriately hash out, involved a deathtrap dungeon/ gauntlet run sort of thing. You were in charge of the place, and you were out in the middle of nowhere with just your troops, and an absent commanding officer who would occasionally contact you.

When a runner would come toward your dungeon, you had to command your troops to make sure you killed him before he could run through it and escape. There are no weapons other than the traps built into the dungeon, so you'd have to herd the runner like a sheep.

I like the idea, and It'll definitely go on my 'someday' list... but without a planned dungeon, it falls apart.

Now that I can write whatever I want, I'm finding it hard to narrow it down beyond 'fantasy' and 'comedy'. I'm either lacking a setting, a plotline, or an antagonist, depending on where my ideas take me. Hopefully I'll figure something out.

[Cat2000]

I haven't managed to do nearly as much as I wanted to on them, but the concept's there on Time Crisis and A Perfect Romance. So I guess I'll be moving them to public status before I go to bed tomorrow

[End Master]

Okay I've posted my story for this year's contest.

Primal
44 rooms

I've made notes in the choices where I haven't finished yet, so you won't have to click on ones that leads to nowhere.

The story is nowhere near finished, I'd say about 20%. While it'll probably feel a lot more linear than it's meant to be, I'll try to add a few more short ending branches between now and the 20th, but after the judging is done I'm putting this back on private so I can work on it. (Still can't stand leaving unfinished work in public display for long)

[Cat2000]

Time Crisis and A Perfect Romance are now on public status (and in the latter, the only path that's been started is Luke Skywalker). I was hoping to get more done, but... Never mind. As I said, the concept's there. And though Time Crisis isn't anywhere near what I wanted it to be, it's still got a lot of rooms

[Ryan_DuBois]

Tomorrow at midnight! For better or for worse, the most difficult contest in the history of IS is finally over! I'm so happy I could cry.

Anyway, I'll re-release the incomplete version of "The Rift" tonight and you might see "War" come out before the deadline tomorrow. As for reading/judging the other stories... I'm thinking over this weekend?

Since I'm not familiar with it, will someone explain our rating system? Also, who are we sending our comments and ratings to?

[Usoki]

As the one who is in charge of this... I vote we continue the normal pattern of "Make Apoth deal with it, he likes this kind of stuff" It's a three-category system, with the critiquer making one of those categories count for double. Though if Apoth wants to change it, fine with me. I'm sure he'll make an elaborate post.

As far as voting? At least two weeks. Give people time to sit down, read, and appreciate the stories at their own pace and schedule. I can tell you write now that if I have to critique the works by Monday, I will fail everyone. I'm gonna be cranky and stressed out for at least a week- not a good mindset for reading CYOAs. I'll be much better off once the 25th is past.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Yikes! I certainly don't want a cranky Usoki rating my story!



By the way, it's the author that makes the category count for double, right? Or am I going crazy? What are the three categories? Are the ratings out of 10?

[Usoki]

I don't remember what...ohh, I bet last's year's ballot is still in my site inbox.

The three elements are plot, enjoyment, and writing quality. The person voting decides which counts for double, which cannot be changed from story to story. The grammar nazi in me usually emphasizes that last one... but given that we're all pretty good about that sort of thing, and since the theme is open... I might emphasize plot this year. Dunno. I digress.

Yes, the voting scale ranges from 1-10, 10 being the best. You're also expected to write a few lines explaining your reasoning for your rating.

Unless you're Katie, in which case the scale goes from 9-10.