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TIGSource ForumsCommunityTownhallForum IssuesArchived subforums (read only)CreativeWritingNeed a bunch of short stories for my game :)
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everythingever
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« on: May 05, 2015, 05:00:22 PM »

Hey there freak hookers,

So I've been developing my first game for the past several months, and it's based heavily on reading books and solving puzzles/riddles.

The thing is I need a whole bunch of filler books to fill up the shelves in the game. I was originally going to write them all myself but I figured maybe I can speed up the process by having other people contribute some stories.

I can't pay anyone because I'm going to be releasing the game for free anyway (it's a really small game), but anyone who contributes will be put in the credits and will have my sincerest gratitude Smiley

For anyone interested, here are the criteria:

- It should be less than 1000 words
- It should take place generally in the medieval times/dark ages
- It should have a title and a made up author name
- It can be any genre: drama, horror, comedy, fable, children's book, etc.
- Avoid references to real historical events, places, figures, etc. Feel free to make up names of places and figures. There's a whole 1000 year period of dark ages that the main story doesn't touch on in order to leave room for creativity for the short stories.

That's all I can think of for now. You can submit multiple stories if you want.

Just pm me your submissions.
I'll be taking them up until the end of September.

Thanks to anyone who contributes! All submissions are very much appreciated!

--- EDIT ---

I started a devlog for this game. Check it out: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=47866.0
« Last Edit: August 09, 2015, 05:48:23 AM by everythingever » Logged

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Capntastic
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« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2015, 10:23:19 PM »

« Last Edit: May 05, 2015, 10:29:04 PM by Capntastic » Logged
everythingever
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« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2015, 08:22:13 AM »

@Capntastic

This is really good!

Like I said though, this isn't a game I'm looking to profit from or spend money making. This is a project I'm doing for fun.

Sorry to waste your time. Would have loved to use this story.

But thanks anyway! Good day to you Gentleman
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Capntastic
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« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2015, 04:44:32 PM »

I think it's generally poor form to solicit help for a project without really introducing yourself or your project at all, and I think that if you're actually after a productive working partnership you should share a bit more
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autumnspark
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« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2015, 05:03:03 PM »

@Capntastic I thought the post was clear enough. Plus, I don't think contributing a 1,000 word short story for a small (and free) game is grounds to really seek out a productive working partnership imo.  Beer!
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everythingever
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« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2015, 07:27:00 PM »

I think it's generally poor form to solicit help for a project without really introducing yourself or your project at all, and I think that if you're actually after a productive working partnership you should share a bit more

lol yea dude, I'm just some guy sitting at home making games for free xD chillax

On the other hand, you did just use the words "solicit" and "productive working partnership" non-ironically, so I trust you know what you're talking about. I'll try to edit the original post with some screen shots and more details. Thanks for the tip, brotha-man!


And @autumnspark thanks for understanding what I was going for. I reciprocate your emote, good sir Beer!
Matter of fact, cheers to you too capntastic Beer! You seem like you could use a beer lol
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« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2015, 09:16:46 AM »

oh i thought the "you can use this unless you pay me" was the end of the story
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Capntastic
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« Reply #7 on: May 07, 2015, 02:27:15 PM »

The real true secret ending of Samerl's story is that he went home to find his house burned down because he left a candle burning
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everythingever
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« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2015, 10:03:48 AM »

The real true secret ending of Samerl's story is that he went home to find his house burned down because he left a candle burning

lol I guess samerl had the shittiest holy day ever
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« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2015, 05:49:34 AM »

I have a bunch of potentially suitable stories just loafing around and taking up space on my hard drive. I'll email you.
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« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2015, 12:48:32 PM »

If I had this need I'd go to project gutenberg, grab a copy of King Arthur (or something similarly legendary) and chop the chapters in half, making each half chapter into an ingame whole book of a series.

Not sure from your dev log if this is a good or bad idea, but it's an idea, and possibly a fast solution.

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everythingever
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« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2015, 02:11:19 PM »

If I had this need I'd go to project gutenberg, grab a copy of King Arthur (or something similarly legendary) and chop the chapters in half, making each half chapter into an ingame whole book of a series.

Not sure from your dev log if this is a good or bad idea, but it's an idea, and possibly a fast solution.



Haha, that's definitely a clever solution. But I'm in no hurry, and I'd definitely prefer to have all original content for the game, even if it takes longer. Thanks for the idea though.
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« Reply #12 on: July 09, 2015, 07:08:33 AM »

I have a 1400 word story that's set roughly in that time, though it utilises quite contemporary language and so on. Might or might not be suitable. I can PM it to you if you'd like.
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everythingever
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« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2015, 09:04:23 AM »

I have a 1400 word story that's set roughly in that time, though it utilises quite contemporary language and so on. Might or might not be suitable. I can PM it to you if you'd like.

sure, I'd be happy to take a look at it. thanks!
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Jasmine
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« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2015, 04:39:55 AM »

Hey, man! Are you still in need of stories?

I'm still confused as to how it works -- I simply write a story? About anything (that could fit into the time period)? Will the story mainly serve as a space filler?
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everythingever
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« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2015, 05:46:54 AM »

Hey, man! Are you still in need of stories?

I'm still confused as to how it works -- I simply write a story? About anything (that could fit into the time period)? Will the story mainly serve as a space filler?

Well I like to think of it as super cool little extra treats for the player to enjoy, but yea, it's pretty much a space filler, in terms of their relevance to the actual story. There's 14 shelves in the game, each holding 4 books, so that's at most 56 books I can have.

And yea I'm still taking contributions. It can be about anything as long as it's relatively vague in terms of historical and geographical context. It can be short too. Doesn't have to be 1000 words.
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« Reply #16 on: September 08, 2015, 05:25:46 AM »

Hi! Gentleman Having seen the game's announcement thread, I'd advise you to keep the "filler" stories pretty short. Looking at those screens, you're getting ~60 words a page. Reading a 1000 word story over those pages will make the story, what, 16-20 pages? Can you imagine reading through 20 short pages in-game? I think that would be quite an uncomfortable read. The formatting isn't condusive to a long read, plus the fact that it's in-fiction fiction will probably greatly reduce the reader's patience somewhat (it certainly would mine!).

You should probably aim for flash fiction pieces at 300-500 words. That way each story is a shorter, more pleasurable read. A brief interlude rather than a committed epic. You're more likely to solicit free contribution that way, too Grin Maybe I'll chip in, if I get some inspiration.

You might also consider breaking the filler books into multiple 6-8 page volumes. That would help - and you'd need fewer 1000-word stories.
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everythingever
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« Reply #17 on: September 09, 2015, 06:17:25 AM »

Hi! Gentleman Having seen the game's announcement thread, I'd advise you to keep the "filler" stories pretty short. Looking at those screens, you're getting ~60 words a page. Reading a 1000 word story over those pages will make the story, what, 16-20 pages? Can you imagine reading through 20 short pages in-game? I think that would be quite an uncomfortable read. The formatting isn't condusive to a long read, plus the fact that it's in-fiction fiction will probably greatly reduce the reader's patience somewhat (it certainly would mine!).

You should probably aim for flash fiction pieces at 300-500 words. That way each story is a shorter, more pleasurable read. A brief interlude rather than a committed epic. You're more likely to solicit free contribution that way, too Grin Maybe I'll chip in, if I get some inspiration.

You might also consider breaking the filler books into multiple 6-8 page volumes. That would help - and you'd need fewer 1000-word stories.

Yeah, that's something I've thought a lot about and had to test out and make adjustments for. I generally based my calculations on the books in Skyrim in terms of words per page and maximum number of words per book, not that the books in Skyrim were particularly pleasurable to read, but I figure a lot of the impatience has to do with the fact that there's way more things to do in games like Skyrim other than reading, whereas getting lost in books is the main aesthetic of this game.

But yeah man, everything you said are things I've considered and continue to keep in mind, and I've consciously kept the books that are relevant to the main story much shorter in length.

For the extra content though, I figured I could give a little more leeway for contributors since I figured there wouldn't be more than 10 submissions anyway, and I'd end up writing most of the extra books myself. And the books I'm writing are pretty short.

Anyway, thanks for checking the game out. I appreciate the advice! You pretty much read my mind Beer!
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