It was fun writing for the competition and I really liked the word limit although I was cursing it back and forth while writing. It really forced you to put emphasize on your words.
So, good luck everyone.

I agree. I only recently started writing for word-limited calls for submissions, mostly for small books, and it really makes you think about your words. And learn how to tighten up your writing since today's market is really empathizing more terse descriptions than Grapes of Wrath chapters on deserts.

That and most of my novels are in the 100-150k word range, I need to work more on the terseness. Today's novel seems to be closer to 80k words.

...not to meantion Poser is great for posing uncomfortable sexual situations because genitalia is included with models  :D :D :D :D

"Both me and my wife happen to enjoy playing around with the program..."

There is something enjoyable about having a relatively simple dress-up sandbox and posing tool. For what it works, and even if most people know the Poser models and positions by heart, it does have that low entry requirement for just having fun. Both me and my wife happen to enjoy playing around with the program, just to put them in positions and not have to figure out how to create a person from scratch; something I still haven't figured out how to do well.

But, like all graphic tools, it takes a lot to make it look good. Ditto with Blender (my modeler of choice), MakeHuman (which I still love and use), and everything else.

Also it depends on the models you use. I know the Daz3D stuff, though for poser, you can't use in a game as a model, but you can as a picture. That and you probably don't want Victoria 3 as a game model, given the sheer number of triangles.

Having just re-read my story, I just realized that I had left a lot of gender misspelling when I decided the protagonist should be female and changed all the "he"s to "she"s.

Bah, transgendered really is the way to go.

* Arthur

Not entirely sure what type of *punk to put this one in. It has an interesting tone, the omnipresent and humorous voice really sets the story. A sad ending, but I like how things gradually become more focused and also how you describe the various thought processes going on.

* Earthblades Don't Mourn for Burnmules

This was a cool little story. It had some hints of "Grapes of Wrath" in it for me and I like the tone, but also the practicality of everything. I thought it was very touching and felt sorry for the lot of them.

* Ginkgos Gone, Gynoids Come

There is a wonderful sense of urgency in this story, kind of a late-minute rush though I wasn't always sure what was going on. I liked it and it really fit in with a cyberpunk theme. Seems to be a series of sad stories, of course, but well written.

* Laura

This story has a bit more hope than most cyberpunk stories, but I found it very nice. It has that lovely sense of revenge coupled with learning about some horrible future. I will admit, when I read about the static, I thought it was them still in charge, just on the computer (maybe so, but didn't seem to end like that).

* Lies

This story confused me so badly. I picked up on the lie, of something on the computer verses not in person, but I had no clue what was really what. It had a sweet, ethereal quality to it, which I found enjoyable.

* Payday

This was a fun little story of someone who knows what he is doing. I love the casual attitude toward the implants and also the attitude of the main character. Very fun and enjoyable.

* Quadruple Pound Punk

This story was confusing, humorous, and basically an entirely enjoyable read. Even after going through it three times, I still like it. I like the progression with the multiple chapters and the ending really capped the entire story.

* Spanning the Valley

Great title to this story, too me a second to have an idea where it came from. I like the point of view of the main character and also the non-obvious way it was ended. Very nice.

* Steampunk (David)

There was something very sweet about this story, but I'm a sucker for sacrifice and paladins in general. Very nice and the details of the steampunk worked very nicely in the story. The cast iron boiler with the suit just brought a smile to my lips.

* Tell-A-Tale Blues

Really didn't care for Act 2 but the story really seems to get going in Act 4 and beyond. It was a bit hard to read with the short lines, but still had an interesting story going on.

* The Alchemist's Apprentice

This one confused me slightly, mainly since I couldn't really tell what was going on once they met the magistrate. Did he steal the clockwork guy or something else? It seems rather rushed.

* The Red Squire

Cute and spunky. I liked this one. It had a neat sense of humor and a really good threat. Not to mention girls with glasses.

* The Seventh Dimension of Agna'arakon IV Owen Rendall vs the Red Pirates

Not entirely sure where the Red Pirates came in this story, but it sounds like a very interesting world you have set up. It also has a nice touch of bittersweet and tenderness that really really appealed to me.

* Tranny-Bot Chronicles

Okay, I loved this one. The sense of humor in the story, the tone of the character, the build-up to something perverted and everything else. It is a great little story.

I would initially check one of: a crappy ISP, a network card that wanted to be a lemming in another life, a router considering suicide, or double-check your network cables. In reverse order.

Edit: Oh, before that, try swapping your DNS entries first.

Mainly its just egoboos.

That reminded me of Egoboo, the old dungeon crawler. 

That is where I learned that "egoboo" means ego boost and was the inspiration for that game's name. I love Egoboo, but it got so embroiled with politics, crappy maintainership that it was hard to stay excited. Plus, the code scared me... a lot. It had a lot of potential, I just couldn't get into it enough to try writing it and they were all going in a separate direction than me.

Admitedly, they have someone working on it very nicely now, but I keep getting distracted by other projects.

My first programming language was C. My dad taught me when I was a wee thing. We putz around with ANSI graphics for a while, built a little robot that ran around the screen and blinked (via ANSI) when you hit the "B" button. After that, we decided to get fancy and tried to write a rougelike.

I suspect we were overly ambitious. We didn't get much further than a single room, a medusa's head that killed you as soon as you picked it up, and the ability to navigation around the head until you accidentally walked on it and auto-picked it up.

Did I mention some of my first games were Hack and Larn?

Secondary awards? What's all that about? Do we win special hats or badges? (I'm new here.)

Same awards as the main contest. Basically permission to jump up and down screaming 'I won something' and posting it on your blog. Mainly its just egoboos.

I don't know why it happens, but it just occasionally pops up. I get it worse with synergy on Windows XP (it lets me use one keyboard/mouse for multiple computers while allowing copy/paste across those computers, even different operating systems), but I never had the problem with my home machine (also running XP, well, Media PC). My Linux setup doesn't have it, so I suspect its a driver problem but I don't know enough to fix it.

I *suspect*, without proof of course, that is happens with something playing with the keyboard/mouse drivers in Windows (like Synergy does). Though, a coworker got it without running synergy, so I don't really have any idea. It might be related to the Windows handicapped code (you know, hold down the shift key for X seconds turns on shift lock), but I never really looked into the program that much.

I do notice it happens on some keyboards more than others. My Dynex ($15 USB keyboard) has never had the problem, but my old Dell one did. But, I never really tracked it down properly since I just automatically cycle through my modifier keys now.

With games, it could depend on code. I know with BooGame, I have code to detect modifiers being pressed and released and it is possible to get it to miss a code (usually by having a key held down when you start up the application, or something else steals focus). Good code could fix it, but... *sigh* as I said, its inconsistent enough I never bothered.

I wish I could give a good answer, I just lived with it, but it fortunately doesn't happen with the machine I play games with. Just my work machine.

I would seriously look at the handicap stuff though.

See if hitting L-Shift, L-Control, L-Windows, and L-Alt in series fixes the problem (i.e. one right after the other). Occasionally, I get a shift-lock and that seems to break it. I also immediately turn off all the handicap assistance functions, but occasionally I get it (more so since I use Synergy2).

[Silver Presents]

A silly little Kingdom of Loathing story I wrote up one day:

Silver Presents

The Man chewed on his cigar as he picked his way across the brightly flaming bodies of his precious frat boys and girls. Across from him, the dazed shape of the Big Wisniewski tugged on his bathrobe as he did the same, winding his way around the stench puddles that ate away at his disgusting hippies. In the middle, a damn adventurer stood in the middle, looking around with the delighted glee of someone who just opened up 1,998 Crimbo presents. A shiver rose down his spine as he looked into those mis-matched green and red eyes, somehow feeling that he was just turns away from being prize number 1,999 or even 2,000. His cigar trembled as he fought with his emotions, unable to match the Crimbo gaze of the borderline... no, she has to be insane. No one wears that much Crimbo getup and wields two C.B.F.G.’s at the same time and is still considered sane. Actually, being able to wield dual two-handed weapons at the same time was also a good indicator of her sanity.

Then again, all adventurers were insane.

He found it almost relaxing looking at the Big Wisniewski. A feeling of comfort, of doing something that just felt right, like he’s done it for time and time again. The Big Wisniewski, his enemy of all time, cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Dude, I can't believe all the chaos and destruction you've-”

The insane adventurer cleared her own throat, which both men were willing to ignore, but the ominous hum of the dual C.B.F.G.’s silenced the aging hippy faster than dumping his White Canadian.

“Excuse me, I need to do something.”

She actually had a pretty voice, The Man thought. Giving them a nod, she dug into her bag and pulled out a vast array of frat and hippy equipment. Giving both men a nod, she jumped over a melting kegger and trotted toward the frat house. The Man stared at her, his mouth open slightly and his cigar barely balanced on his lips.

“Dude, what is she doing?”

The Man shook his head, “I think she’s trading in your gear for quarters.”

“Why? She killed every single one of your guys too!”

The Man groaned, “I know. Didn’t even inspire the troops. Slaughtered each one, one by one. And you?”

He looked over at the hippy. The Big Wisniewski grunted and sipped at his drink.

“She seriously wrecked my mellow, man. Shuffled off each one, except for the guy manning the trading... booth... oh, dude, is she cashing everything in for meat?”

The last word of the hippy echoed over the sharp-contrast of the battlefield. In the distance, past the smoke of flame and stench, dark shapes began to filter closely. The cry of the n00b rose up, pitiful and pathetic.

“M34t? M34t plz?”

Both men shivered in fear, but they couldn’t budge from their spot. Something held them down, pinned them with the force of destiny as they waited for the adventurer to return.

It took only a few turns before she emerged, stripping off her frat gear with a casual grace and slipping into her hippy war outfit. The Man swallowed hard as she walked toward them, then passed with a tinkle of tiny bells hidden in her pack. The Big  Wisniewski watched her, swaying back and forth.

“Damn man, she is harsh.”

The Man ignored the hippy as he watched the n00bs gathering. Claw-like hands reached out for him and he held up his briefcase, fending them off. More clutched at the Big Wisniewski but he held them off with threats of opening up his bathroom.

He hated n00bs. Always wailing, like leeches that trolled through the battle. Their cry, “m34t?”, made him wish for destiny to give him a chance to fight or  escape this battle. No, fight. After all that destruction, the death and mayhem, he was rooted in that spot. He let his mind drift, thinking of how he would finish his final showdown against the Big  Wisniewski, with the adventuring witnessing the epic confrontation.

Then, a sound he thought he would never hear in his life. A sound so horrible that it already schedules nightmares for his next incarnation.

The squee of the adventurer.

As one, the army of n00bs, numbering in the thousands already, turned toward the dirty tent that made up the hippy exchange. The adventure stood there, shoving a massive stack of meat into her pack and looking out with shimmering green and red eyes.

“Crimbo!”

With deliberate movements, she pulled out her dual C.B.F.G.’s. As she held them in front of her, the air around her body shimmered for a moment and the hippy war outfit shredded, splitting to reveal the red and green outfit beneath. Her eyes narrowed with joy as smoky flames and stench rose up from the barrels of her guns.

It took ten days for the slaughter to end. She drank and ate in mammoth proportions, moving from n00b to n00b and leaving only a wasteland of bodies, flame, and stench behind. The Man and the Big Wisniewski waited, fear holding them in place as much as shock of the slaughter. Bodies slumped across each other in massive piles of corpses, hands clutching to the heavens for one last chunk of meat before they expired.

There was none.

And then... it was over.

She stood in front of them, breathing hard as her tiny bells jingled. The pure, exquisite joy in her eyes glowed brightly and The Man and Big Wisniewski both felt the fear clutching their spleens, squeezing them as she stared at them.

For a moment, her hands rose up, aiming one gun at both of the army leaders. The Man swallowed hard, trying to adjust his often-rehearsed speech.

To his relief, she lowered her guns. One hand shook as it unwrapped from her guns. One finger at a time, one movement at a time, and both men felt the world slowing to a halt as the heavy rifles dropped to the ground. They splashed in fire and stench. Her hand hovered over her pocket, as if trying to prepare herself for some secret attack.

The Man waited for a second, then cleared his throat. Looking expectantly at Big Wisniewski, he nodded. The hippy looked back with haunted eyes, then shook his head. Carefully, he began his own speech.

"Dude, I can't believe all the chaos-”

She interrupted him again, “Screw this.”

The Man growled, “Look here...”

The words died in his throat as she held out her hands. The two guns trembled, the shook. The sound of them pulling themselves out of the mud filled the battlefield as they rose into her hands. She looked over the two men, insane eyes glittering with unequaled joy.

“I hate sharing kills.”

Two shots went off and the battle for the island was over. She stood there, breasts heaving as she stared at the bodies of the two army leaders. Slowly, her eyes turned to the south, where the pirates once again returned to the island, ready to plunder the battlefield as pirates are known to do.

She hefted her guns and smiled.

“Can’t be more than a thousand of them. Maybe I’ll join the Order of the Silver Wossname after all.”

With the joy of Crimbo in her heart and her eyes, she headed out to meet the pirates.

fish: I absolutely love everything there. 

I would keep it, its great and a nice little quirk.

That is amazing work. I've been messing around with Blender this week (baring distracting wife techniques) and haven't even remotely figured out the UV unwrapping. I'm still working on how to make tentacles. Did you use the sculpt tool for the face or build it from an image?

Amazing work.

So, despite not being on the list for voting, I do have some questions for anyone who downloaded and actually tried the last (any) version:

1. Was there any problems with running it?
2. Any trouble with the sounds?
3. Any trouble with the resolution/startup?

Partially, I'm hoping to at least get some of the base library stuff working for the next project (BSG) and it wouldn't hurt if I got at least some things right.

Thank DrPetter. ^^
I like to spread the word about SFXR and Musagi because they are immensely useful little apps. DrPetter is a bit like a Mozart of useful tools (even though he designs some games too)... Currently he seems to be working on a fully featured graphical editor. ^^

P.S. In fact sfxr was mentioned on TIGSource before but people should be reminded about it every month or so - especially during compos. :-D

I did my best when I mentioned it for my Lethe's Yarn stuff. It is a great little tool though.

ahem. On topic, I would like to see a 2D game that imitates the style of Dr. Seuss - twisted buildings, disturbingly gooey water, numerous objects balanced precariously on top of each other, furry animals with long necks, and the sky is always a flat white in the day and a flat black at night.

Now just imagine running, jumping and puzzle-solving through there.

This is one of the things on my list of "damn, I wish I could figure this out":

http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/research/art/kowalski-s99-preprint-300dpi.pdf

It shows how some guys figured out a way of creating some of Dr. Suess' trees and furs in a 3D environment.