A category for writers of all types

Comments & Suggestions about Interlopers.net

A category for writers of all types

Postby Mr.Unreal on Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:39 pm

Hello fellow ‘lopers!

I haven’t been here too long, but I noticed a slight thing in the concept of this forum. There are separate categories for almost every type of source engine modding. but it’s lacking one, which is a important part of modding in my opinion. Story writing, writing “screenplays”, writing design documents for source mods and so on.

I am pretty sure the forum site is full of creative people, having loads of good ideas about mods, who can and want to express themselves the best through writing and storytelling. There just isn’t a separate category for writing stories and design documents for the mods or just for fun. The category could not be restricted only to those things but give a chance to all sorts of writing concerning modding.

So why not make a category for those people. It would also be much more easier to recruit capable and experienced writers for the mod crews around. Having a writer in the mod team makes easier to produce much more deeper mods and make the story part greater in the mods. And if the mod has potential for sequels a writer could come in handy in the designing phase. Storywriting can of course be done by anyone, but for instance if a mapper or modeler is too busy or not willing to put assets to the story of the mod, it would be a lot easier to have a writer onboard.

I’m not sure if my proposition is justified but I’d sure like to see a category devoted to people like me, who want to create the stories and design mods instead of physically making them. Most of the time I’m too busy for actual modding but I really like writing and designing mods and stories for them. So I think it would be easier to get the writers ideas to the forum by creating a new devoted category for them.

Thanks for hearing me out and hopefully I got you thinking and convinced :)
User avatar
Mr.Unreal
Member
Member
 
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:56 pm
Location: Finland

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby vcool on Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:48 pm

I can see where you are coming from, but in all fairness I don't think there are enough 'writers' here. Everyone has ideas, but only few can present them attractively. Plus there's also a danger that the forums will be mainly populated by "I have an awesome story about zombies/scary little girls!".
Image

Neighborhood Forum Elitist
User avatar
vcool
Veteran
Veteran
 
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:03 am
Location: USSR

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby Mr.Unreal on Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:56 pm

A very good point. But I don't think any kind of filter could be made for the content quality of the ideas/stories. But then again everyone should be given a chance in the interest of fairness, even if the content quality would probably suffer.
User avatar
Mr.Unreal
Member
Member
 
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:56 pm
Location: Finland

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby Holy Socks on Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:35 am

How about doing something like the Sketch Dump or map/model pimpage threads; people could post short stories or other pieces of writing and others could comment on them and give constructive criticism. Sorry if this has been suggested or tried already .
Holy Socks
Member
Member
 
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:16 pm
Location: UK

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby joe_rogers_11155 on Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:15 am

Fans of good writing in a mod will be fans of Random Quest, a recently released mod for Half-Life 2. Very interesting concept. It may need graphical polishing, but it more than makes up for its flaws with a clever little narrative and interesting NPC interactions.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/random-quest
"Day breaks, but decay soon follows." - Ava Winona
Currently developing in radio silence... 99 Bolts
Here's another project of mine... Assault on Overwatch
Are you new to Source SDK? VDC
joe_rogers_11155
Veteran
Veteran
 
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:11 pm
Location: United States

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby joe_rogers_11155 on Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:23 am

Here's a short story I wrote for fun one day. I hope you have PLENTY of time.

"Zabnith was born many years ago; he was a very old man. He was born into poverty in Russia long before the war, long before Necrotorians had become the dominant technological power. He knew little of magic when he began studies to become a mechanical engineer in the 1990's. (Bear with me) He practiced as a machinist for many years, becoming a master welder and a formidable professional engineer. He studied much more than mechanics throughout his career: biological engineering, genetic studies, and advanced medical practices. Interestingly to him and his friends, he also took interest in more arcane methods of healing, such as natural remedies and even the mythical magical properties of the gypsies in the Himalayas.

He began to experiment with the natural methods, trying to understand their usefulness in a modern society. He worked for years, trying to recreate the miracle-like stories of healing and regeneration told by countless lone travellers. Again and again, his funding was cut and his labs shut down. He was told to head in another direction, to get his mind out of the clouds, to think realistically instead of foolishly. But he could not ignore the respect that had rown inside him for the gypsies of the south. And because of that respect, he also grew a fierce contempt for modern technology. Time passed, and the beaurocracy wore down upon him. With little progress and less funding, he finally abandoned his hopes of understnading the gypsy magic.

Later in life, he married. He was eager to get rest from the years of arduous and seemingly wasteful years of magical study, and live the few remaining years of his life with her. But it was not meant to be. His wife quickly fell victim to a tumorous growth in her brain stem. Zabnith understood it, thanks to his vast medical knowledge. It was rare as it was fatal...inoperable at the high risk of death. But one day he left for a short while to run errands, and returned to a yard full of police and worried onlookers. He feared the worst and realized they would try to operate on his wife's tumor. Their technology had blinded them with arrogance, and they were sure to think they could save her...after a quick biopsy.

Sure enough, by the time he had arrived at the hospital, his wife lay dead on an operating table, the tumor pulsing out of her surgical insisions, and her neck sliced incorrectly by a nervous rookie surgeon. Zabnith was shattered by this, the inevitable. He fled the hospital in a rage to escape killing that foolish young man. He drove around in a daze, his aged heart pounding in his aged ribcage, barely containing his emotions. He arrived at his house and promptly blacked out on the porch.

Later that night, infuriated, drunken, and on the brink, Zabnith broke into the hospital morgue and stole his wife's body away. He admitted he was delusional but he could think of nothing else...he headed south, right for the heart of Gypsy country. They surely would appear to help him in some way. Perhaps to communicate with her spiritually. Perhaps to heal his mental wounds. Perhaps to bring her back to life.

He drove for hours in a cold dark rain. The smells in his car told him he was regretting his decision, but a part of him believed in the magic. He reached a tall wooden gate finally, strewn with string and color. But instead of help, Zabnith found madness. The gypsies were not able to help him - alas, they rejected him steadfastly at the gate, saying that he seeked the devil's work. Zabnith did not understand. All the stories flashed before his eyes, as though he was the one who had died - stories of travellers critically injured, seemingly dead, raising from their crippled slumps to full health...all at the wave of a mysterious hand. These stories, he had studied for years!

He told them this as he stood in the muddy road, barely clutching the corpse of his wife. They turned him away. They said that what he seeked was better left unfound. He cried out and left them, running with her body in his arms. He entered the forest as the rain pounded upon him, drawing closer to him. It was too dark under that canopy, and he fell.
When he woke, the dawn was approaching. He could feel the presense of another person near him. A man in a dark cloak was tending a fire laid over moist ground. The body of Zabnith's wife was laid out beside him, almost arranged neatly.

Zabnith watched in wide-eyed silence as the cloaked man muttered into the embers...reached his hand into the flames and seemed to tug one lashing petal out...it danced across his fingers, hypnotizing Zabnith. The cloaked man swiftly moved, smacking Zabnith's arm with the flame. Pain shot through him. He felt blood running and smelled flesh burning. When the cloaked man pulled his hand away, Zabnith saw a purple flesh wound on his frail arm, which closed and faded to nothing before his eyes. The man's hand was still bright and hot, just like his eyes...and his voice.

'I can give you what you want, Zabnith, but you must help me as well. You have worked long and hard in towers of poured concrete, and studied many of my works. But have you really learned?'

Zabnith stared. The man's voice was intoxicating, deep and fatherly. 'Tell me what I must do for you, demon,' Zabnith spoke with almost no energy in him.

'Then you do know the truth...so you must know the answer to your own question...' The demon extended his hand to Zabnith. Zabnith trembled and stared at the hand, glowing, made of embers and dark magic.

Zabnith took the demon's hand and was no more."

Ta-da. So yea, hey writers, post your most epic stories ever!!
"Day breaks, but decay soon follows." - Ava Winona
Currently developing in radio silence... 99 Bolts
Here's another project of mine... Assault on Overwatch
Are you new to Source SDK? VDC
joe_rogers_11155
Veteran
Veteran
 
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:11 pm
Location: United States

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby Chopium on Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:31 am

I liked the story a lot, but the development and understanding of the main character is rather lacking in my mind. Taking a paragraph out and describing an event in-which the character gets unveiled through actions would be a good idea. (It would allow readers to understand and connect to his decisions better.)
User avatar
Chopium
Senior Member
Senior Member
 
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:52 am
Location: Illinois

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby zombie@computer on Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:28 am

This is a feedback corner. Please treat it as such...
When you are up to your neck in shit, keep your head up high
zombie@computer
Forum Goer Elite™
Forum Goer Elite™
 
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Lent, Netherlands

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby joe_rogers_11155 on Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:54 am

tell it to the newbie?

zombie, can you move this thread out of the feedback corner and into a better place?
"Day breaks, but decay soon follows." - Ava Winona
Currently developing in radio silence... 99 Bolts
Here's another project of mine... Assault on Overwatch
Are you new to Source SDK? VDC
joe_rogers_11155
Veteran
Veteran
 
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:11 pm
Location: United States

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby zombie@computer on Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:02 am

joe_rogers_11155 wrote:tell it to the newbie?

zombie, can you move this thread out of the feedback corner and into a better place?

hmm. art & design ? its actually just mod design isnt it ?
When you are up to your neck in shit, keep your head up high
zombie@computer
Forum Goer Elite™
Forum Goer Elite™
 
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Lent, Netherlands

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby KILLA-COW on Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:52 am

Whoa whoa Joe Rogers calm yourself down.

This was a perfectly legitimate feedback corner thread, your post was the out of place thing, you should be posting your stories in the art and design section and not in this thread.
KILLA-COW
Veteran
Veteran
 
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:37 pm
Location: The Island of britania!

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby ghost12332 on Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:34 am

What Killa said. The newbie was just asking if we could have another category.
Ryder: i see ghost as a evil scientest who wants to kill everyone for the good of humanity
User avatar
ghost12332
Senior Member
Senior Member
 
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:25 pm
Location: Guitar Center

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby Oakley on Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:34 am

I second the writers section of the forum.
Image
User avatar
Oakley
1337 p0st3r
1337 p0st3r
 
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 11:05 pm
Location: The Internets

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby popcornjake on Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:09 pm

Why not just a thread similar to the WIP map or model thread in which people can post all the writing stuff they've been doing rather than a whole new section.

After all, the Under Construction section doesn't lend itself only to maps and models:

Under Construction
Show off what you have made so far, get feedback on development.

I say start a thread there and see where it goes, I might have some stuff of my own to post :D
User avatar
popcornjake
Been Here A While
Been Here A While
 
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:40 am
Location: Federal Republic of Australia

Re: A category for writers of all types

Postby Surfa on Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:11 pm

popcornjake wrote:Why not just a thread similar to the WIP map or model thread in which people can post all the writing stuff they've been doing rather than a whole new section.


Only if we get a coding version as well :lol: but in all seriousness I demand a coding WIP thread. Or a post you code snippets thread.

I also like the idea of a writers forum although I shall have to be banned from it for my role in the destruction of the English language.
Surfa
May Contain Skills
May Contain Skills
 
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 3:04 pm
Next

Return to Feedback Corner

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

cron