That’s pretty funny. good luck with yours too.
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I’m doing a straight up murder mystery and I cannot be stopped.
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Oh my gosh, I’m so excited! This seems like so much fun!
I’m a bit new to this contest though and just have a few quick questions if that’s alright? c:
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Do we start writing now? Or is there an official start date for the actual writing instead of brainstorming?
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Should we include our usernames in the game, or keep it anonymous?
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And lastly, should we aim for a complete short game or would a very long demo be just as good?
Thank you so much for putting this all together, how wonderful <3
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I can’t answer the last two questions, but you can start writing now.
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Hi I am glad you are excited and trying this out!
-The jam started August 15th, So Yay! You can start your game.
Your game should let it clear that is made by you. Normally, that means that it is using your forum nickname. You can put other name if you specify to me that is your game.
The game should be a Game with several meaningful choices and endings.
You can expand it adding routes later after the jam is ended. But player must have a complete story not something that hasnt a clear ending.
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Go for it! The first one is always really special and the achievement regardless of how well it does is something to be proud of.
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I have been fighting with my impostor syndrome today. The whole Pumpkin head as my randomised story. But searching for a muse, music inspires me, I found the story plot.
I will post mi muse in case it inspire someone else.
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As a 90’s kid (and a Swede at that, like The Cardigans,) that made me nostalgic since I listened to the original song a lot as a child. A nice, stylish cover for sure.
Keep up the good fight against that pesky impostor syndrome, and well done regarding your success finding a plot! I can definitely relate when it comes to being inspired by music.
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Hey, sorry for having so many questions about this, but how should stats look in a HJ game? Is it up to the writer or should stats be kept minimal?
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Totally up to the writer. Stats are no required. Only the theme and meaningful choices.
And dont worry, ask any question you have as can help others as well.
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Okay thanks!
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I have a few questions. Please forgive me if they were already answered.
I. Does the character need to be customizable?
II. How this ‘crowning’ occurs? Does it need to be included in the story?
III. I’m aware the story needs to include a masquerade. Is there anything else mandatory?
IV. When do we submit the story? And where?
V. How many endings the story needs?
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Hi, @agarriberri0548; welcome to the jam and thanks for your questions. I will try to reply to them.
1- No. Customisation is not required at all. However, my advice is to tag your game properly in dashingdon to let players know beforehand the gender and sexual orientation the game is locked.
2- Crowning doesn’t occur in games is another section in a jam. But if you want to add a crowning to your game, you are free to do so.
3-A night party or funny event going on. For instance, it can be a concert where everyone uses full-blown costumes—a public theatre actuation where everyone uses greek theatre masks. Or an online VR party where everyone uses avatars and nobody knows who is in the event.
A party or equivalent social public event
Under the moonlight, so at night or no solar situation
A mask or something included tech or holograms or spells that makes it impossible to know who is who in the event
4-Deadline is 31 Oct at noon easter time. You will do your game on dashingdon or twine, giving me a public link. I will do all the administrative jobs of creating polls and coordinating all events as my hostess duty. I will provide a detailed list when we are near the deadline.
5- Nobody can say that it depends on too many factors. It would be best if you focused on giving meaningful choices to readers and with that give satisfactory conclusion could be two with several variants based on stats or options. You only have to focus on trying to avoid a linear game.
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I’ve a question of my own, Mara. Something regarding what was already mentioned, which I have quoted below as a reference. I’m still working on my own Halloween Jam Story, got a general idea for the plot itself as well as the main characters that’ll be present.
Above, you mentioned we can do private beta testers. Are we able to do that here and in a separate demo post that is very clear that it’s private testing only for the jam? Like, could we discuss it in brief without actually having the demo itself available to anyone but the private testers?
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The problem with that is that would give details and information about the game in public through people discussion. That could cause discomfort in the other participants and cause possible vias in the audience. If you want to do a thread you can but the only content will be the calling for testers.
There is also the fact that I don’t want to fill the forum with lots of private testing requests.
The most effective, fair and balanced is that there will be an official thread where Each author will post that it is ready to enter the private phase It will be called Halloween Jam Private testing request.
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I’d rather avoid any undue complications for the sake of fairness.
An official thread would be a good idea, I’d say. It would make it easier for everyone. When posting the demo for the Private Testing thread, would we add a brief description of the story like we would in a normal thread for our demos? I know in a normal thread, we give a brief description of the story as well as anything that might be triggering for readers. Would we do the same here?
No only the theme of the jam. and the genre and if your game have triggering warnings and of is gender locked and to what genre if that is the case. The triggering reason being blurred.
As I said before, anything else would be unfair as everyone would see the Jam asking for testers thread. A summary will go against the no public info clause.
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Understood. A bit of a misunderstanding on my part, for which I apologize. It’s also good to see that DashingDon has the Halloween Jam choice you mentioned earlier in the thread. I haven’t been on the site in a while, so I hadn’t seen it for myself.
One last question, if you don’t mind me asking. Have you set a date on when you plan on opening the Halloween Private Testing thread? When my story is ready for the Private Testing Phase, I would like to add mine to that thread (when the time comes). I don’t have a lot of experience with writing IF stories, and I tend to get a bit…self-critical.
Thank you for your patience, Mara. 
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The path I followed the last edition was openeing the beta testing when a participant asked me in pm saying that they are ready for the testing. I think is the most organic practical way of doing it.
And don’t apologise for asking, It is useful for the jam as helps other to solve doubts and even cheer them to try the jam.
I am here to solve questions and cheering as Hostess!
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Hello everyone!
I come to present to you a new section in the Jam. Mara’s interview Friday. My first interviewee is Jim Datillo @JimD . One of the most prolific writers on the platform with games on all Cog’s branches. His Saga of apocalyptic games is among the best sellers and valued. He is also a great friend who has already put up with me all these years, complaining about Emma an entire decade. Look for his profile and buy his games. You won’t regret it.
1-You are an author that has touched on several genres in your career. But I think one thing It permeates all your stories is an atmospheric mastery of storytelling. Can you suggest how to set the tone of a story?
It’s important to set the tone of your game from the start and stay consistent. Many of my games are both lighthearted and dark and horrific. I try to maintain a good balance throughout the entire game and never lose sight of the tone. It’s also important to read other works in the same genre or just those that inspire you.
2-Does the genre affect how you design the stats and choices?
It certainly plays a part. For example, with a game like Safe Haven, I always pictured a variety of skills that it would take to survive an apocalyptic event. Therefore, it’s useful to create a system wherein the player can build characters that will utilize those skills. Plus, I know players enjoy customization, and the more skills or stats lead to more variety a player can have.
3-One of the most challenging parts of the contest and jams is working inside a deadline. Can you give us advice about planning an account with that in mind?
I have always been good at sticking to deadlines. One of my tricks is to set a date that seems realistic and stick to it no matter what. When I set a date, I usually post on social media or on the CoG forum to set an expectation with my readers. I don’t want to let them down, so it keeps me on schedule.
4-Do you prepare the code before or after writing the scene’s text? How has your way of coding changed through years?
I typically write and code all at the same time. I have done this from the very first day of using Choicescript until today. It really comes down to writer preference. For me, this has always worked.
5-Do you consider stats part of the storytelling, or do you see just a game mechanic?
It’s truly both. Stats can enhance the storytelling, because it allows you to build characters and also to track how those characters progress through the story. You can then use it to cater the story to their choices. Creating impact based on player choice is one of the most powerful parts of this craft.
6-Romances are trendy same mysterious and thrilling settings. How do you balance NPCs to be more Than the romance option?
NPCs are still characters in the game that need to be multidimensional. I don’t enjoy stories where romantic options are simply put there to serve as flavor text or accessories. They need to have wants and needs and flaws. They also need to change over time, so players become interested in their stories.
7-Many novice writers suffer from stress and uncertainty when they have to show something publicly. Have you ever been through that? If so, how are you able to cope with it?
The hardest thing is to grow confidence in your own writing. The only way I have found to do so is to start posting your work publicly and getting feedback.
Most feedback is going to fall into one of three categories. First, purely negative feedback (example: this game sucks). These types of reviews provide nothing of value and can be thrown away.
Secondly, purely positive feedback (example: this is the best game I’ve ever played). While great for your confidence, they provide little of value and can be thrown away.
Thirdly, constructive feedback. This is the best type of feedback you can receive. Value this feedback and study it. Make changes to your game. Ask questions to get more information out of your reviewers.
If people are providing you the third type of feedback, the constructive type, then you are doing something right. A reader is taking valuable time to write to you about your game. These are the people that should give you confidence that you are a good creator.
I have definitely gone through periods where I have been anxious to share my writing, but the best way to cope with it is to post your writing and start getting feedback.
8-Any advice to people starting to write?
First off, start simple. I see a number of writers posting WIPs with tons of features and a huge scope of work.
One of my most successful games, Zombie Exodus, had very few stats or features. As I grew to understand Choicescript, I included more features and made my games more complicated.
At the start, you need to get comfortable with writing, meeting deadlines, editing and testing, and responding to feedback. You don’t need to add complexity to your game until you are comfortable with all of the other aspects of writing.
Focus on one game. We all have great ideas, but it can be a mistake to start a game and then shift your focus to another. I have seen people abandon impressive WIPs to start another project and never go back to the first one. Stick with one game and see it through to the end.
Cherish your beta testers. With all of the new WIPs out there, we are all competing for beta testers. CoG has some of the best out there, and when you find good ones, you need to cultivate those relationships. Good testers are hard to find and even harder to replace.
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