THE END OF VIDEOGAMES??? -thread 2- The End of The Beginning

(Planning to get this sequence over soon. It's not exactly dragging out, I've just not been updating very frequently, so it feels like it has. I'll update more frequently after this and get back up to speed next, since I've freed myself up and since there's plenty to come that I've ended up stalling on)




NG: Do you guys actually plan to shoot at people???
TB: Uh, YEAH???


TB: We're starting a revolution! We have to be prepared to FIGHT BACK!


TB: ...Have you ever played a game called DAIKATANA? ...It only came out two days ago, so... you probably haven't.
TB: ...Well, the main character of Daikatana is HIRO MIYAMOTO. HE'S not afraid to USE GUNS to fight back against the MISHIMA CORPORATION.
TB: ...So we shouldn't be afraid EITHER. Jack Thompson IS the Mishima Corporation of this world! He's just as bad!


NG: You played Daikatana?
TB: YEAH! It's really RELEVANT to our current situation. What a coincidence! It has some ASTUTE OBSERVATIONS on gun control... Arms races... You name it!


The BELL sounds.
AS: Okay guys, that's enough shooting. Onto the final room!


AS: You also earned TWO NEW MANUAL PAGES, but it's just a bunch of shit you already know.




You emerge in the next room.
AS: This is your final training task! It should be pretty clear what to do, so... I'll leave you to it.

MEANWHILE:


LB removes the VR helmet.
LB: Anyway, it's been fun, but I've got work to do.
JR: YOU? Work? What kind of work?


LB: Just some... Computery stuff.
JR: ...Like what?




LB: I dunno.... You ever wanted to punch someone through the internet?


JR: Oh, yeah. All the time.



STANDARD VOODOO:
This is a general ill-wellbeing curse that leverages your hate
against anyone who has personally wronged you, so that you can sleep easy



You wille need:

• 5 candles, to lay out around yourself
• 1 needle

Next, you will need something to SYMBOLISE your target. This can be something
they made, or something that you feel contains part of their SOUL- any sort
of object that will represent them.








Lastly- with needle in hand, hold the object, and say an appropriate curse,
before putting the needle through it.



LB: You will PAY for drawing this picture of me!

A NAMELESS METALHEAD is sitting at her desk, listening to SOMETHING NOISY.


A HYPERACTIVE FANGIRL creeps up behind her.
HF: Hey! HEY!!! What you listening to???


HF: HEY! NAMELESS METALHEAD!!! HEY! HEY! HEY!


NM:Hey! I was IN THE ZONE!!!
HF: What're you listenin' to???


NM:I am listening to the blackest of metal. Black like my soul. You would not comprehend it. It's nothing like that LOSER music you listen to.


HF: OMG you CANNOT BE SRS!!! You can't hate J-POP!!!!!!


HF: I LOVE THEM!!!! I have posters of ALL MY J POP IDOLS!!!! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!?!?!?!?!


NM:What was that one metal-sounding thing you liked?


HF: You mean THIS???
NM:Yeah that.


HF: It's so GOOOOOD!!!! The lead singer's voice is so HOTTTT!!!
NM:Nu Metal is a SCOURGE. The people who listen to it are FAKES.
HF: BUT I LOVE IT SOOOOO!!!!!


HF: Besiiiiiiides..... Who are YOU TO JUDGE?


NM:Because I've BEEN THERE. I've been to the DEPTHS of the underworld. I've been to the METAL DIMENSION. I take music SERIOUSLY. I've heard things you WOULDN'T BELIEVE.


HF: Someone needs to LIGHTEN UP! Been around TOO MUCH DARKNESS!


HF: I willl be baaaack..... Too giiiive uuu HUGGLES.


HF: AND... GLOMPS!!!!!!!




U'r in the bedroom. HF has run off to the LIVING ROOM. >

>Open package.

>ABA, explore glitched areas in game.

>Package, contain someone from the other world.

NM: It's time.... TO GET THE PACKAGE!!!!


You rush to the lobby (as illustrated by this top-down diagram)


The package lies before you. What could be inside it? Let's find out.








HF: La La La LAAAAA!!!!


HF: Oh, hey! Someone's come in to watch the gig! It's a box! HI BOX!!! Sing along if you know the...


HF: ...Words, Oh. Or you could just... Leave...


NM: Did you see a box run through here?



This has been put on the COMMAND STACK until the box is caught!





Oh! Of course!!! You suddenly remember the glitched area you found, outside the map!


You return to the glitchy area.
You know that if you can see the map from outside, you can bypass those SKINCRAWLERS altogether.


Oh hey this is IT! You've found the way down! It's that hard-to-make-out door on the other side of the skincrawler nest! (This one, to be precise: LINK) It's a clear network of tunnels leading all the way down! Incredible! We finally did it!







IH: Man. Sure am glad I ditched those suckers. Bought a few free hours on the DARK WEB. I haven't checked it in ages! Think of all the posts and memes I've missed! I'm out of the loop!
IH: By the way. Do you want to know something cool about the dark web? It lets you torrent games from the future.


IH: Only the Leetest know how to do it. I'm currently playing a game called "Undertale" by "Toby Fox". Whoever that is. Whoever Toby is, he doesn't even know he's going to make it yet. Anyway, sssh. This is just a secret between you and me.


IH: I'm undertale's biggest fan!!! Check out what I made!!!





IH: If you thought that was cool, wait til you see the OTHER side.

Anyway, enough of this bullshit.
You're back at HQ.


You spot a GAMER sitting at the neighbouring CONTROL ZONE. He appears to be suffering.
NG: Hey... What's the problem with that guy?




NG APPROACHES.


NG: Heyyyy, uhhh, dude....? Do you need MEDICAL ASSISTANCE?


He RAISES HIS HEAD to see you.

OK, so, TEOV will come back, but in a changed & improved form. The current update schedule is pretty bad. I usually leave this thing for weeks, come back and spend a day on a post, and then repeat. The end result is the story is disjointed and loses momentum + I have a harder time keeping track of everything cause of the long pauses.

Here's a few notes on THE STATE OF TEOV and my new plan for it:

• From now on, TEOV will be delivered in "series" where I update once a day/two days, regardless of whether I got any replies. This will allow me to crunch through the story and not keep losing momentum. Each series will last for as long as I feel like it. The first one will begin later in October, around the 20th, and will involve me digging this back up and mashing my way through several updates.
• You may notice I switched to Imgur recently which is obvious because all the photobucket links are broken. These are ALL the old images, and I can't get them back unless I put $20 in Rupert Murdoch's pocket. I'm not going to do that. Luckily, all the images and all the html of the old pages & new pages are on my hard drive, it's just reuploading them all one by one is going to take ages. For the time being, the old images won't be available. I'm hoping to upload the raw HTML to a new webpage, when I get the chance.
• I've long thought about updating the art style, but I won't. Because I like consistency. also there's something I rather like about the sketch style + it's the only way to do art quickly. Sketches can be bashed out and if it took any longer, I just wouldn't update.

Meanwhile.....






LB: heeey NG, I'm on the Gamer Ops forum right now and I think... I've changed my mind on it.
NG: Whoa, really?!
LB: Yeah!... It's... WORSE than I thought!
NG: WORSE???
LB: Yeah there's posts with nazi symbols all over them. Is that really what you wanna be associated with?
LB: Lots of other stuff too. Bomb threats... Loads more porn, sexism... You should see what they say about YOU.


NG: Nazi symbols??? Yeah right. There's no nazi symbols here!
LB: I'm not saying they have to be th-
NG: Also there's people of ALL races here! We're one big family! You're going to have to try harder than THAT to convince me Gamer Ops is evil!


NG: Now if you don't mind, I've got a mission to catch.
LB: A mission?
NG: Yeah, didn't I say? I'm a COMMANDO. I'm gonna shoot GUNS. I'm gonna fight FOR THE GAMERS.
LB: GUNS? Are you crazy??? Didn't we have enough of guns already???


HHah! she must be so JEALOUS you get to do all this cool VIDEO GAME stuff while she just hates on it like a GROUCH.


NG: NAZI SYMBOLS? Hahaha... Whatever next!?


You go into ZB'S OFFICE for your mission.
ZB: Okay, LADIES, here's your mission!!!


ZB: As you know, I needed WARRIORS and THEIVES for this. That's because you're going to have... To FIGHT, and to STEAL.


ZB:This is the SHIPPING GRID. Until yesterday, this was the path that video games were shipped from the U.S to other continents. But all the shipping has stopped and the GAMES left dormant in empty SHIPPING CRATES.


ZB: The crates are stored in the SHIPPING ZONE outside of town. It's a heavily gaurded shipyard. It is your mission to go empty the crates of the games, before BIG GOV decides for themselves what to do with 'em. Bring them back here.


ZB: You will be provided with THIS map of the area.


ZB: You will take the GAMER OPS DROPSHIP.


ZB: Any questions?
ALL: NO SIR!
ZB: In that case, SHADES ON.
ZB: Remember. Without shades... They'll know you're gamers.
ZB: And remember the golden rule.
ZB: Always LOOK OUT FOR NUMBER ONE.




You are on board the DROPSHIP. It RUMBLES as you are moved to your mission destination.


NG: ...
NG: ...So...
NG: ...How DO you know so many rich people, IH?
NG: How does he afford that basement, and ALL THIS?


IH: Oh, errr... I don't know... I guess we're all CONNECTED by common threads. They were popular online, and so was I. Err... Did you ask me this before? I don't remember.


NG: GAMING FORUMS? Or HACKER FORUMS?
IH: Oh, a bit of both.




NG: WATCH WHERE YOU'RE POINTING THAT THING!!!
CT: SORRY!


The DROPSHIP pulls up.




NG: OMG... I can't believe this thing flew us here!


NG: We-
CT: We should STORM THE FORTRESS!!! Show 'em not to MESS with us! ALL GUNS BLAZING!!!
IH: No! We should sneak in like Solid Snake!


IH: HEY, where are you GOING??!
CT: Wow, tha moon sure looks bright tonightaHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!


CT: Wahahahaha!
NG: STOP him!!!
IH: He's crazy! He's fucking crazy!
NG: What do we do?!?!
IH: Uh... I... Don't know.


Welcome to the SHIPPING ZONE. There's an Airfield, a big aircraft warehouse, and a boat. The games are probably on the boat. It's covered by BARBED WIRE and a CHECKPOINT. CT is currently running around firing twin AKs in the air. That could be a problem.

You emerge in another concrete, cube-y area, like the one that seperated VIRTUOUS ATHEISTS and LUST.
This is THE BOOTHS. Named so because there's some BOOTHS here to your left and right. They're obscured by curtains.


You make your way in, looking around.


KID: Hey
ABA: Aaaah!


ABA: You again?!?
KID: Hey, you found the booths! This place is legendary!!! But, you're not out of LUST yet, so don't feel too SAFE.


KID: It's a demon-only area. These concrete areas are throughways only for the demons and other staff. Lost Souls don't go here, because it would allow them to travel BETWEEN CIRCLES.


KID: You need to get out of here as soon as possible. Whatever you do, don't look in the booths.
ABA: Why?!


KID: Because you will BEHOLD PERVERTED, CURSED sights! Things that will DRIVE YOU INSANE! PRIVATE DEMON MATTERS not meant for HUMAN EYES!!!
ABA: P... Private matters???
KID: YEAH!!!


KID: This circle is about avoiding TEMPTATION, remember?


KID: Anyway, here's what to do....
ABA: OH, suddenly you know ALL ABOUT your way around here, now!?!?
KID: Just listen!


KID: ...In the centre of this place is a banquet hall.
KID: Go in there, but don't eat anything, even though the diners will INSIST. Instead, make conversation with them. Distract them.
KID: The people in the banquet hall are DEMONS, playing the role of LOST SOULS from long ago. They aren't real people. They're not really eating.


KID: Instead, head through the right door, into the INN ROOMS in the west wing. Go to room 6, in the top right. Don't go into ANY other room.


KID: CLOSE the door behind you. If you DON'T close the door before you get the key, you will summon THE GIMP.
KID: Do NOT summon the GIMP.


ABA: HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS???
KID: This info was in the LUST CIRCLE, but you went past it. But also, you joined the undead covenant, which means it's on the house.


KID: OKAY, now grab the key.


KID: Now WAIT 10 SECONDS while the room reconfigures and changes color. It you wait less than 10 seconds, THE GIMP will be outside when you open the door.


KID: Then, leave the room, go back through the banquet hall, don't talk to the demons, open the left door, and rush out, past the final set of booths, and boom, you're in the GLUTTONY circle!


KID: Got all that?




ABA: Yes!
KID: OK! GO!

JK: ...Hey, Hey, WEIRD QUESTION, but like, wouldn't it be CRAZY if like... Someone had like, a crush on... One of us!!?
JK: Like, do you think anyone has a crush on YOU?!


NG: Huh! Well... I don't know!...


NG: You know that guy, IH? I think he likes me. I overheard him-


JK: HIM?? Oh, no! no! He doesn't love you! *TB* loves you! But he thoooought IH was your boyfriend! So he pressured him into saying that!!!
NG: Huh, really?


NG: I know TB loves me. Well...
NG: LUSTS after me. The feeling's NOT mutual.
JK: There's someone else who loves you, though!!! Can you guess who it is!?!?!?!


NG: Who is it!?!?!
JK: They told me not to tell you!!!


Who could it be? Ugh... Not him. Not him either... Uh, THAT guy?? THAT GUY???


NG: It's the moon guy, isn't it?

JK: I'm REALLY having trouble seeing! Everything's dark!
NG: Is it your shades???


JK: I've got to take them off.
NG: NOOOO!!!!


NG: Hey, y...you...
JK: What...?


NG: Were your eyes always like that??? Did you have that before??
JK: You mean...
NG: Your pupils are different colors!


NG: That's so WEIRD!!! AND COOL!!! Your eyes are so cool!!!


JK: You... You LIKE my eyes?
NG: YEAH!!!


JK: I'm so glad that you like my eyes!!!


JK: Like... REALLY glad...


NG's BRAIN suddenly makes a CONNECTION.


NG: The one who's in love with me!
NG: It's HER!


NG: She's GAY?!
NG: Is she COMING ON TO me? Has she been coming onto me this whole time???


NG: Am I LESBIAN BAIT???
NG: But I taake no pride in my appearance whatsoever!
NG: I threw this on!


PH: Pull yourself together, NG!
NG: Professor Honeybee!!! You look... Different,
PH: Everyone knows you write Slash Fiction! Now you're WEIRDED OUT by the thought of gay people?


NG: I'm not!!!
NG: It's just...
PH: What?
NG: I guess I only find it HOT when it's boys!


NG: Besides, she's YOUNGER than me! ...I think.
NG: How old is she anyway?


NG: Plus I have no idea how lesbians work!
NG: What do I do, KISS HER?
PH: Just BEE yourself!


NG: You stole that joke from Alladdi- WAIT, don't go!


NG: Errrr.........
NG: ...
NG: ...You hear that?
NG: Sounds like the Baron.


JK: ...The... Baron... Oh...
JK: ...Who cares about that guy?


You peek behind the crate, and then CRAWL away.
There he is! The Baron! He must've hidden behind these crates too.




B: Hold STILL, you goofball!
TB: Good lord, you're overreacting. It's just a bit of a SURGE!
B: Something's JAMMING YOUR ELECTRONICS!
TB: An EMP or something?!?!


B: Some of these boards are going to have to be completely replaced! They're BURNED OUT. Is there an EMP field here?
B: Think you can survive without THIS?
TB: What part is that?
B: I don't know. I think it's something I had in there for testing, anyway...




Hmmm. You kind of wish you hadn't seen that.


Need to get that particular taste out of your mouth...








JK: That was ELECTRIC
NG: Don't tell anyone I did that.

...There's gotta be something you can do to take your mind off things.


You SCAN THE ROOM for ENTERTAINMENT SOURCES.
Oh, hey, you've still got loads of things to play! You've got DAIKATANA! DUNGEON FLOW! And JR's VR SIMULATION. Which one...






LB: Hey, John, have you ever tried linking the VR up to DUNGEON FLOW?
JR: Hmmm? No, no I haven't. I don't think I can.
LB: Why?


JR: DUNGEON FLOW is made in UNREAL. But DAIKATANA is made in QUAKE. I'm only working in QUAKE right now.
LB: What's the difference?
JR: Oh, loads of things. Engine bugs... Compatitibility issues... Rendering... It'll probably come out as a jagged mess of polygons if I just import it over. I need to take weeks on a project like that.