Ah, Sultan’s Maze.

It was an early Amsoft release, and one of many games that came with the Amstrad CPC 464 home bundle pack, but I didn't play it as often as some of the other titles at the time, and that was due to one reason.

The game bloody terrified me.

Yep, behind a charming (for then) opening screen and a (again, for then) comprehensive back-story lay a little slice of 8-bit horror.

In summary: you are tasked with entering Hampton Court Maze where, in the 14th century, the Sultan of Baghdad was robbed of the rubies that comprised his daughter’s dowry. He was on a state visit, so I'm not entirely sure why he was carrying them about with him, but at any rate the Sultan’s bodyguard went into the maze to retrieve the rubies, and was murdered for his troubles. I can only presume that after killing the bodyguard, the robbers all got lost in the maze and died too, as the rubies are still there to this day (well, as of 1984). Your quest is to avoid the ghost of the bodyguard, find all six rubies, and escape the maze.

Simplistic graphics and programming aside, I was always quite impressed with this game. It played in a pseudo-3D style (this was pre-Freescape engine, which brought us titles like Driller and Castle Master) where the maze draws around you as you enter numbers corresponding to text-based adventure commands – e.g. 6=turn left, 2=pick up ruby. As you move, so does the ghost of the bodyguard, and the process makes Sultan’s Maze reminiscent of a very slow-moving Pacman game. Only Pacman couldn't jump through the walls...


Oh wait... You mean this maze? Eh, this maze is okay, I guess. I mean, it doesn't have ghosts or rubies... but I suppose it does have a sandwich, and that's quite nice.

The stars have aligned, and all possible distractions and catastrophes have been nipped in the bud. Even that really serious one about the world ending, or something.

So yeah, looking forward to my first ever writeoff event. Good luck everyone!

>>The_Random_Writer
Any parts in particular?

Basically you have another two hours to submit a prompt (optional), then another 24 hours to vote on prompts from the list (optional). Then another 24 hours to write a fic (or two) inspired by the winning prompt, and submit via this site (again, optional, but kind of the point).

You're then allocated a slate (you can add more) of fics to read/critique (optional, but helpful to writers) and rank in order. There's some magical algorithms that enable said rankings to be collated, with a top number of fics going through to the finals. Author details are kept anonymous until prelims are over (for those that don't make the finals) and at the end of the finals (for those that do).

I may have just regurgitated the rules into Ceffy-speak, but I hope that helps some?

>>CoffeeMinion
Oh, hearty congratulations to you!! Got one ready to drop off the production line myself, over the next two weeks or so. :sleeplesstrixie:

Congratulations to everypony who made it into the finals. I'm super chuffed to be joining you at the first time of asking. I appreciate, and am thankful for, all of the feedback so far; regardless of where I ultimately end up in the listings, I've gained some valuable insight in how to improve my work.

Good luck! Particularly to those of us waiting for positive baby-news too. Tick tock...

Before the second or third read through, I could certainly see the point >>Fenton is making regarding the emotional balance. I think you get away with it, however, because it feels like this is AJ's piece. Twilight's dilemma, whilst an important plot point, is delivered in a way that supports, rather than competes with, AJ's own musings. Perhaps seeing her own discovery of her guiding lesson more overtly would have helped there, and made Twilight's link in to the prompt feel a little less obvious. That's a relatively minor niggle though, in what was a gentle and enjoyable fic. Thanks for sharing your work.

Ah jeez... Read a lot of that with my legs crossed. It's certainly evocative and descriptive, I'll give you that. And to be honest, I think it's a necessary component for what you are setting out to achieve. Cutting down on the descriptions would weaken the premise, in my opinion, although doing so because of reader discomfort would have certainly been another way of interpreting the prompt.

A great take on the prompt and solid execution. Thought-provoking and entertaining. Thanks for sharing your work.

An interesting take on the prompt here, and there's some lovely reflections on offer within the narrative. The brief glance at the effects of systems which put a symbolic idea/gesture ahead of personal merit particularly interested and resonated with me, and the whole narrative is paced wonderfully.

Basically, not too shabby at all. In fact, a definite highlight.

Writeoff weekend, writeoff weekend, writeoff weeeeek-eeeeeend!

My prompt is in. I'm spying a clear horizon this weekend, which is doubly exciting. Might be something to do with the fact that I decided to expose my kids to a cold last week so that they got it all out of their system in time for writeoff season.

What? They were gonna come down with something anyway. I'm just being efficient.

And selfish. Yeah, that.

Right, let's see what all the debate and fuss is about.

Hm.

Firstly, I enjoyed this.

Now for the rest. I really struggle to see the comedy/joke angle being referenced above. Like >>Light_Striker, I read this as a serious reflection on what existing for so long can do to you. Perhaps it lost a little of that tone in Luna's oblivious nature (I personally like to entertain the idea that she is deliberately misleading herself there, which would give the prompt a little more resonance), but I took most of the dialogue as her not realising (or not caring) that her social filter (to steal Light_Striker's usage) had slipped. And lines like:

“I am sorry for your loss. I really am.” She meant it.

and there was love in that look

And this time, she did smile

kill off any sense of an attempt at comedy for me. And that's just fine; I prefer the more serious interpretation anyway.

That said, Author, the fact that there is such a discussion regarding this might suggest something has gone awry in the execution. Or perhaps it was all deliberate, I dunno. At any rate, as I've said already, I enjoyed this. I liked Luna's detached and ethereal nature, which felt quite real within the context of the story, and there was a nice sense of gravity to the whole affair. Thanks for sharing your work.