The Dink Network

New Contest: Plot Twist

April 2nd 2018, 03:01 PM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Are you interested in making your own D-Mod? Or yet another D-Mod? Have you made a few half-finished D-Mods, but never found the motivation to finish one? Do you only make D-Mods when a contest gives you a structure and a deadline?

Yes, we are holding another contest. This time the theme is Plot Twist. Can you twist a D-Mod's plot to surprise and delight your peers? Yes. Yes you can.

Thanks to Mr. Sparrowhawk for suggesting this in the Contest thread.

See the comments for more details.

The Rules:

1. The theme for this contest is Plot Twist. This means that there should be some sort of Plot (narrative), and a radical change in the direction of the plot (thanks Wikipedia).

2. The D-Mod may not have been previously uploaded to the Dink Network. So, for example, Sharp couldn't take Milder 3, change some dialog near the end to make Milder fall in love with Dink, and submit it for the contest.

However, the D-Mod may re-use assets previously uploaded to The Dink Network.

3. The D-Mod must be uploaded via The Dink Network's upload form no later than Saturday, July 7th, 2018 (UTC-11, the best UTC).

4. Anyone is allowed to submit an entry, this includes team efforts.

5. Judging will be done by any Dink Network account holder who created an account before April 1st, 2018, and who was not involved in creating an entry for the contest. Everyone will have the option of ranking the D-Mods from 'best' (1) to 'worst' (N), and the entry with the lowest overall rank will be designated the winner. In the event of a tie, a special vote with the tied entries will take place. In the event of another tie, both entries will be deemed winners.

6. The D-Mods will be judged on how well they follow the theme and how fun they are to play.

7. The prize for this competition will be eternal fame as the winner of the contest.

8. If anything is unclear or you have any questions about the contest, just post in this thread to ask!
April 2nd 2018, 08:38 PM
peasantmb.gif
yeoldetoast
Peasant They/Them Australia
LOOK UPON MY DEFORMED FACE! 
Good to see Milder 3 still being used as an example after all this time.
April 3rd 2018, 09:03 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Wow! Eternal Fame!

If only I could just live forever so I could enjoy it.
April 3rd 2018, 01:20 PM
custom_fish.png
SabreTrout
Noble He/Him United Kingdom
Tigertigertiger. 
Plot twist!

The contest is actually about Jamie.

And his feelings.
April 3rd 2018, 02:53 PM
dinkdead.gif
Of course, I don't need to enter now that I already have eternal fame from coming up with the theme
April 4th 2018, 05:54 AM
goblins.gif
Is it alright to finish a Dmod that already has a lot of progress done and use it as a contest entry?
April 4th 2018, 09:58 PM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Starting from a D-Mod in progress would be against the 'spirit' of the contest. Ideally, you'd start a new D-Mod from scratch, built specifically to show off your plot twist.

But, technically, SimonK could roll in and release Necromancer for the contest, with a tacky plot twist tacked on the end. It would be up to the voters to decide whether or not it would win, though.
April 4th 2018, 10:54 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
releasing necromancer would be a plot twist, though.

and so would suddenly making a dmod for a content instead of just normally.
April 4th 2018, 11:54 PM
goblins.gif
Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for the clarification.
April 17th 2018, 03:30 AM
dinkdead.gif
megadogv2
Peasant They/Them New Zealand bloop
Only paritally dead. 
Out of curiosity, is anyone actually working on an entry?
April 17th 2018, 09:00 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Well, at this point, once I finish work on "All that Glitters" such that it will be ready for release, I was thinking of reworking some notes for a dmod that I had started before, so that there is a "plot twist" in the story.

Whether or not that effort will be completed before the deadline is another question. :-}
April 17th 2018, 02:11 PM
peasantm.gif
shevek
Peasant They/Them Netherlands
Never be afraid to ask, but don't demand an answer 
I have restarted my editor, which is going to be much more usable by people other than me. Once it is in a state where it can be used for making a D-Mod (at the moment it can view most things, but not edit anything), I will probably do that, if only to test that it works. If it's in time for the contest, I'll make it an entry, but I doubt that it will be.
April 17th 2018, 02:39 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@shevek:
I have a few questions about your editor.

#1 Will it be written to be (at least somewhat) platform independent or will it at least be win 32 compatible (and thus easily "runnable" on a variety of windows system, including wine32)?

#2 Are you talking about a DinkC editor or the next step in evolution in the WinDinkedit.exe, WinDinkeditPlus.exe, WinDinkeditPlus2.exe family?

April 17th 2018, 03:43 PM
anon.gif
Toof
Ghost They/Them
 
@SlipDink
I bet he is rewriting the damn engine, so alk-tree nuts can fall off the tree more realistically.
April 17th 2018, 05:08 PM
peasantm.gif
shevek
Peasant They/Them Netherlands
Never be afraid to ask, but don't demand an answer 
Will it be written to be (at least somewhat) platform independent or will it at least be win 32 compatible (and thus easily "runnable" on a variety of windows system, including wine32)?

This time it's written entirely in javascript, so you just put it in your dmods directory and it runs in a browser. Should work on any system, but is only tested with Firefox on GNU/Linux.

Are you talking about a DinkC editor or the next step in evolution in the WinDinkedit.exe, WinDinkeditPlus.exe, WinDinkeditPlus2.exe family?

While I intend to add a script editor in there, that will just be a simple select element; I expect to edit my scripts in an external editor. This is about making and editing maps, sprites and hardness.

Also, it will include a script processor, which turns more normal code into DinkC.

I bet he is rewriting the damn engine, so alk-tree nuts can fall off the tree more realistically.

I was working on that last time, but this time I think it's not worth the effort.
April 17th 2018, 05:25 PM
anon.gif
toof
Ghost They/Them
 
@Shevek

I had a hunch that you're doing it in javascript. Can't explain why. Check this out.
April 18th 2018, 09:42 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@shevek:

This time it's written entirely in javascript, so you just put it in your dmods directory and it runs in a browser. Should work on any system, but is only tested with Firefox on GNU/Linux.

Great! I can't wait to try it.

While I intend to add a script editor in there, that will just be a simple select element; I expect to edit my scripts in an external editor. This is about making and editing maps, sprites and hardness.

Impressive! Are you converting some existing C/C++ code or "starting from scratch"?

Also, it will include a script processor, which turns more normal code into DinkC.

Hmmm. Interesting. I'll probably stick with Gvim, but I'll be curious about this too.
April 18th 2018, 10:27 AM
peasantm.gif
shevek
Peasant They/Them Netherlands
Never be afraid to ask, but don't demand an answer 
Are you converting some existing C/C++ code or "starting from scratch"?

In terms of code, I'm starting from scratch. But I'm using ideas I got before, of course.

I'll probably stick with Gvim, but I'll be curious about this too.

You are misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'll also keep using vim for editing the scripts. What the preprocessor does is accept a more sane notation. For example, it includes support for while loops, function calls can have arguments, and expressions such as "items = 25 * sp_gold(current_sprite) + 20" don't need to be split over multiple lines. The preprocessor then turns that into DinkC code, with the whitespace as it needs it.

I originally made the preprocessor read code that looks like C (which is what Seth tried to do with DinkC, but failed IMO), but I don't like that language so now it'll look more like Python. For example, this would work for setting the vision based on the story variable; this would be attached to a screen, of course:

global story
def main():
    if story > 10:
        vision = 2


The editor doesn't care whether you write that script with your preferred editor or with its internal select element. Actually, I'm considering not including a select element at all, because it would be messy. And I recommend everyone to use a good editor anyway, which should never be a select element on a web page.
April 27th 2018, 10:53 PM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
And this isnt stickied??

Hmm maybe i can finish A Simple Quest after all and twist that sucker hehe - u know i opened the editor and couldnt even remember how to clone a sprite ( this could be bad guys very bad hehe need to relearn fast

ps hi all!! been a year since i was here last wow
April 27th 2018, 11:11 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
you were gone long enough for the technology to insta-gain a skill at its highest possible level was developed so don't worry.
April 27th 2018, 11:48 PM
wizardg.gif
LEPROCHAUN
Peasant He/Him Japan bloop
Responsible for making things not look like ass 
Hmm maybe i can finish A Simple Quest after all and twist that sucker hehe

Please do so.

Also, Hello to you too!
April 27th 2018, 11:56 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@MsDink:
Hello and welcome back! Sure, impress us with "A Simple Quest". I can't wait to try it.
May 18th 2018, 03:43 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
you should extend the deadline to whenever everyone's done/given up
May 19th 2018, 05:29 PM
death.gif
RangerLord
Peasant He/Him Hungary bloop
The nation above all 
Is anybody actually working on an entry for this?
May 19th 2018, 05:40 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
probably not, so it should be extended to when there's actually entries.
May 21st 2018, 12:07 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
I'm still hoping to work up a (now simplified) version of a dmod that I was planning a while back, complete with a "plot twist" as a contest entry.

But I'm still hard pressed to say whether or not it will be ready in time to meet the deadline.
May 22nd 2018, 06:08 PM
burntree.gif
I might enter something. It's not that I care so much about a contest, but I have some artwork, etc... to use up since I ditched the project I had previously been working on. It might be a weird dmod though. The main thing is that I hope someone can make use of the art in the future. I like when my artwork gets used. I thank anyone who has used or will use my art.

May 23rd 2018, 08:54 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@ brassweasel:
Great! I really like your outdoor items of rocks, trees, plants, etc. and (in case you have not noticed) I use them in my dmods.

So, I 'm sure that I'd like to have a look at what else you have to offer.

At the very least, please release a new "graphics pack" to the development section of the DN with bmp files and dink.ini entries to match with whatever it is that you made.
May 24th 2018, 01:08 PM
eye.gif
synbi
Peasant He/Him Finland
 
Long time no see (in a galaxy far away)!

In fact, last time I participated in a contest many years ago, I had a some great work done but trying to finish the project, it never materialized (burn-out, frustration, expectations too high). I gave up visiting this site in shame for a long while. But no matter, one learns to be humble and move on, only to return one day...

DinkC is something that never truly leaves you - I first found the game and this site at a time there were about 20 D-Mods here - I'm finding it returning to me even after long pauses in my absence.

I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to take my existing stuff - roughly two-thirds done - to fashion into acceptable form for this contest? But I'd hope so, given that naturally I'd be revising all the earlier material so thoroughly it'd never resemble the form it would've had in the earlier contest.
May 24th 2018, 04:23 PM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Yeah, that would be allowed!
May 25th 2018, 04:01 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
get rid of the deadline and have a list where someone says they're working on a dmod and if they say they quit, remove them from the list. then end it when everyone on the list is done. minimum of 3 or some shit.
May 26th 2018, 11:44 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@Skurn:
That sounds like an interesting idea that I would be in favor of. In fact, it may be the only way that the dmod I'm planning for the "Plot Twist" contest is done "in time". I was AMAZED at how rapidly the "Bloop the Fish" dmods were completed. My process for developing dmods is much slower than that.

However, given what we know about human nature, the number of incomplete and/or unfinished dmods uploaded to the DN, and the large number of dmods that seemed to never leave the "I'm working on a dmod now." stage of development over the years, some even by rather active members of our community, I'd be afraid that such a softening of deadline might mean that we would "never" see our contest entrants' hard work.

But, perhaps I'm just being pessimistic.
May 26th 2018, 08:33 PM
burntree.gif
I should be able to meet the deadline. It will be a very small dmod though.
May 26th 2018, 11:27 PM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
What's great about a contest deadline is it really encourages you to cut down on the scope of your project until it fits the time you have left.
May 27th 2018, 05:25 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
and prevents entries
May 28th 2018, 11:00 AM
fairy.gif
kerrek
Peasant He/Him United States
oao 
the point of a deadline is to do stuff before it ends
May 28th 2018, 11:35 AM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
yeah. they suck.
May 28th 2018, 11:43 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@ Skurn:
Ah well, you can't have everything. Life is full of bitter disappointments, then you die!

@ all:
I suspect that just having a dmod contest also encourages some to create some dmods that otherwise would never exist.
May 28th 2018, 04:46 PM
spike.gif
We've had contests with like 6 month deadlines. IIRC, they all failed miserably. Says something about human nature, probably.
May 31st 2018, 10:41 PM
fairy.gif
kerrek
Peasant He/Him United States
oao 
says something about working with DinkC lmao
June 16th 2018, 07:03 AM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Bump
June 16th 2018, 12:02 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@redink1:
I'd just like you to know I'm (still) working on a dmod that meets the contest criteria of an unexpected plot twist, but that I think I will probably not complete it in time. I'm trying hard to get it done in time, but at this time I'm not optimistic about getting it done in the next couple of weeks. Sorry.

I think I'd rather I make a more complete dmod than rush it out to be in the contest, minus a few things. This saddens me, because I wanted to be in the contest. Alas!

Anyway, I'm grateful for this contest, look forward to the works of those entrants that make it to the deadline, and (as always) am grateful for all you do for the DN. I did not want you to think that I was not trying to meet the deadline or am in any way snubbing the contest.

July 8th 2018, 07:14 AM
custom_king.png
redink1
King He/Him United States bloop
A mother ducking wizard 
Unfortunately, no entries have been submitted for the contest, so the contest is over with no winner and one loser (Dink Smallwood, he just wanted to get his brain ducked with a little).
July 8th 2018, 07:21 AM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
i extend the deadline by activating my spell card, "kno'dedlyne, master time wizard".
July 8th 2018, 02:45 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Well, I'm, still working on a dmod that could be considered to match the "Plot Twist" criteria; but it is probably months away from release.

Sorry that there were no entrants that made it to the deadline. Dink is indeed the only real looser here.

July 8th 2018, 02:54 PM
duckdie.gif
liquid141
Peasant They/Them
Sons of liberty 
Strange that there were no entries but given the amount of dmods we already have i am sure almost every plot has been done already....
July 8th 2018, 03:28 PM
dinkdead.gif
megadogv2
Peasant They/Them New Zealand bloop
Only paritally dead. 
Unfortunately, this began during the final months of my masters. I'd be free 8 weeks from now...
July 10th 2018, 10:42 PM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
im puddling away wont be finished for this but got my interest piqued again
July 23rd 2018, 05:23 AM
wizardg.gif
schnapper
Peasant He/Him Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands
Let us save our effort and just lie down and die. 
Woah, MsDink
July 29th 2018, 03:48 AM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
schnapps!!
July 29th 2018, 11:39 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@MsDink:
So, are you puddling(sp?) along, working on your "A Simple Quest" dmod or something else?

Me, I'm still chugging ahead on my "Before..." dmod.
July 31st 2018, 11:17 PM
anon.gif
ThePunisher
Ghost They/Them
 
Real life twist

Sabre and Arik finish CC3?
August 3rd 2018, 09:43 PM
burntree.gif
PREACH!!
August 3rd 2018, 11:07 PM
peasantmp.gif
Skurn
Peasant He/Him Equatorial Guinea duck bloop
can't flim flam the glim glam 
morons probably deleted it
September 2nd 2018, 07:35 AM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
slipdinky one - im trying to make a simple quest more simple heh it was way too big too many ideas all crammed into one huge arsed thing that i would never finish heh this is way more manageable
September 2nd 2018, 11:42 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@MsDink:
I'm very pleased to learn that you are producing another dmod, no matter how you are doing it! Do you have any idea when it might see the light of day instead of being crammed into your imagination and that sometimes endless void known as "a work in progress"?

BTW, were you trying to suggest I should simplify my current dmod effort ("Before...") so that the gang at the DN gets to try it out sooner?
September 8th 2018, 07:47 PM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
"BTW, were you trying to suggest I should simplify my current dmod effort ("Before...") so that the gang at the DN gets to try it out sooner?"

mmm no???
September 9th 2018, 03:23 PM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@MsDink:

You responded to the least interesting question of my post. Now, please respond to the ...
[
Do you have any idea when it might see the light of day instead of being crammed into your imagination and that sometimes endless void known as "a work in progress"?
]
...part!

September 16th 2018, 01:25 AM
custom_msdink.png
MsDink
Peasant She/Her New Zealand
Tag - Umm.. tag, you're it? 
indeed that was a really good question - pertinent and to the point - well done
September 17th 2018, 11:13 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
Well then, answer!

(Okay, I mean, please answer.)

I'd really like to play another of your dmods. Come on! The world is waiting.

September 21st 2018, 08:37 PM
burntree.gif
Maybe I will release the mod that's been sitting on my hard drive. It's a weird little mod, but it has some new graphics as well as the latest versions of some of my previous graphics.

September 22nd 2018, 11:00 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@ brassweasel:
Okay! Do it! Let there be another dmod ready for fans to play. New graphics are always a fun enhancement, and right now we could use a few more "current releases" for 2018.

Let me know if you need help with any coding/scripting issues.

September 28th 2018, 07:04 PM
burntree.gif
Alright, I uploaded it.
September 29th 2018, 11:40 AM
spike.gif
SlipDink
Peasant He/Him United States bloop rumble
2nd generation. No easy way to be free. 
@ brassweasel:
Hooray!