HalcyonSpirit

No problem. Like I said, it's not as if deadlines haven't been extended for individuals before. Am I not merciful? New submissions list, SEVEN in total now: The Munchies by Jam Stunna (Jamil Ragland) You've Built Worlds, Haven't you? by Random Hajile Seraph by Soul Splint Nostalgic by Imagery Reaching Out by SoulinEther (Yousef Reda) Uncaptured Jewel by HalcyonSpirit Reunion by Darklink42

Sounds great! It's not really my cup of tea as far as music goes, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it as good music! Hell, I might drop some money for this anyway.

Second... Submissions Period is NOW OVER! We have SIX submissions this round! Way to go, people! I like this! The Munchies by Jam Stunna (Jamil Ragland) You've Built Worlds, Haven't you? by Random Hajile Seraph by Soul Splint Nostalgic by Imagery Reaching Out by SoulinEther (Yousef Reda) Uncaptured Jewel by HalcyonSpirit Reunion by Darklink42 VOTING STAGE STARTS NOW! This should be a good round! I look forward to all of you voting! (Please look at the first post if you've forgotten/don't know the voting rules.) And, hopefully, everyone will comment on everyone's after the voting is over! Good luck, everyone! EDIT: Permission granted to Darklink42 for submission of piece. List of submissions updated.

First up... My entry! I've finally finished one for the competition! I shall refrain from commenting on it until after the voting period, except to say that I intend to revisit this story sometime afterward to really flesh it out. You have no idea just how many details I've worked out for this story's world so far. I really want to come back to it in this story and future stories. This story does not do this world justice!

*taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap* Must... finish...! Just a few more hours! Technically, the submission stage ends at 8PM EDT, but I'm likely not going to be at an internet-connected computer right then, so submissions will remain open until I am able to get back.

My thoughts exactly. Minus the "no problem" part. Just gonna have to step up my game.

Rockin' the torrent!

Halfway through the submission period, folks! I hope you're all making progress!

Holy crap! ... It's you! How've you been?! Yes, yes, the MARCH 2010 SHORT STORY COMPETITION has already begun! I just didn't get a chance to announce it because I was busy putting together a design presentation and getting ready for an exam. So, a challenge, eh? I'm game. If I can actually manage to finish something ON FRICKING TIME this round, it'll be good! I've also got a potential newcomer for this round, so we'll see if she submits anything.

THE RESULTS ARE IN! The winners of the January 2010 Freeform competition are: 1st Place: In Wait by just64helpin Runner-Up: People Pondering over Pie (I Know That Smile) by SoulinEther Here's the point distribution: In Wait by just64helpin - 9 People Pondering over Pie (I Know That Smile) by SoulinEther - 8 Aura Weapon by neblix - 4 Congratulations to just64helpin for winning and SoulinEther for coming in a very close second! I had a hard time choosing between the two pieces; both were quite compelling in their own rights. Neblix, you too deserve congrats, for even though you did not win, you still crafted a story that was interesting enough that I would like to see it expanded some. I felt that it could work even better as a longer story, something that the current word limit just doesn't allow. For those of you paying attention, the close of the Freeform competition means that the Short Story competition is just over the horizon! So get ready: the Short Story competition opens on March 1st!

Right-o, I think that should handle it just fine! And I'll agree with Doulifée about cheating in some money and such at the beginning if you feel you need to. It'll give you a platform to test the various aspects of play. The hardest part of any new start in X3 is the new start itself, even for experienced players, so it ends up being overwhelming for a player unfamiliar with the game mechanics. The money will let you have a bit more breathing room.

Which one, Reunion or Terran Conflict? If the former, yeah, it's really rough. If the latter... well, it's still rough, but not nearly as much. It's more accessible (and less susceptible to CTDs...). I have both, so I can tell you ALL about them. Also, Terran Conflict has an improved flight control scheme for mouse+keyboard, similar to Freelancer's (which I've also played). I would definitely give it another go; it took me three tries to get into it, but damn, when I finally got moving, I just wouldn't stop. The universe in X3 is much more extensive than in Freelancer, and you can do whatever the heck you want. Want to go solo? Awesome, go for it. Want to command a fleet? Awesome, go for it. Want to be a trader? Awesome, go for it. One thing I like about Freelancer is that the environment is much more varied, but other than that, X3 is better overall (in my opinion). Plus, there's an extensive modding community for it; you can find practically anything you want for either of the X3 games from the mods and scripts, from new ships, new abilities, and in the most extreme cases, complete universe changes. I will say, however, that you're going to need a computer with a single-core processing capability of at least 2.8GHz. The engine is single-core only, and the game is processor-intensive, so the single-core capability is essential once you get into larger battles.

Y'all have until Sunday night to vote. Last chance.

I'm going to give a few more days for people to vote since there's only been two votes other than mine so far.

I don't even read comics, but... Batman wearing a fedora? Pure awesome. I'd read that one just for that.

*grumble grumble* You know, this makes the 5th story I've worked on for one of these competitions that I get about 80% done but just couldn't finish on time due to classes and thus is wasted work (as far as the competition goes). Oh, sure, I could submit it at a later competition, but that'd be cheating. OK, so the voting has already begun! We have three submissions this round. Aura Weapon by neblix People Pondering over Pie (I Know That Smile) by SoulinEther In Wait by just64helpin Start reading and voting!

Awesome. Shame I don't have and can't currently afford a 360.

I loved playing Perfect Dark. I just wish I knew people back then that also loved playing it. Also, my one problem with the game was that they tried to work too much in the way of graphics into the game. It felt cluttered and it was sometimes hard to work out what was what when playing on either a small or a darker screen. If they could've redone the graphics, I would love it to death even more.

If by "last month" you mean January, then yes, you can submit it. And I know what you mean with the extraction... I had that done several years ago and I was miserable for quite a while. Ok, seeing as how we now have two submissions (if the above is true), I'm willing to extend the deadline to the 7th (Sunday night). Hopefully I'll be able to get my piece done by then so we can have at least three entries.

This competition seems to have fallen into disrepair... Is there anyone out there that is/was working on something and can be reasonably certain that they'll be able to submit before the 7th? Otherwise this round is going to end up being voided.

I think I have a few of them somewhere... give me a second to look.

Just a reminder that the submission stage ends Sunday night, so get moving on anything you plan on submitting!

Oddly enough, it never made me dizzy. My problem is more with trying to quickly deduce which way the pieces are going to turn and which orientation, left or right, they are. Very hard to figure out on the fly when the screen is rotating. Incidentally, I just got to 39 lines. Which is odd, because it was on Night Mode. What's even more odd is that I score consistently higher in Night Mode than in Normal Mode.

Let it be known that I suck at this. I can't get past 24 lines in this game. I'm not sure whether to blame the rotating screen or my own ineptitude. EDIT: Ok, just made it to 32. Still, I need MORE!

Just finished listening to all three. I'm now listening to the second again. It is not suffice to say that this set is awesome. It's better than that. Now, I'm no expert music person, so what I say is as a casual listener, but this set is easily one of my favorites. The production sounds good, the transitions are smooth yet distinct, and the songs picked for each part mix with each other very, very well. I think parts 1 and 2 are my favorites, but 3 is definitely right up there with them in quality. This set, for much of the second and third parts, feels very... well, chill. You can nod your head to the beat for them and just relax. This is more so with the third, but I was doing it with the second as well. The second also has parts that start off chill and then really make me want to get up and dance. Which is an urge I have no incentive to fight! Part 1 is more pumping that the other two, being the progressive mix. I was wanting to dance through most of it. It has some more chilled parts too inbetween to break things up a bit, and it works so well. One of the things I love about G-T's mixes is that, despite being an hour long each, none ever feels like it's dragging on. I've listened to quite a few mixes with this kind of length and halfway through them I'm like "okay, when's it gonna end?" I never get like that with these, and the latest three do not disappoint. Naturally, all three are great for driving. I'm going to be adding these to my iPod as soon as I can. The turntable is not enough, indeed. EDIT: Also, I want to add that it seems like, in most of the mixes, including these, I love the opening songs the most.