Cooking up a preview

Surprise! A day early, I'm putting up a blog-exclusive preview of the release for tomorrow. There's still more to be added, but this gives a pretty decent idea of what is going on with the Forest Women as well as another flash-forward ending. Some dialogue throughout was cleaned up, as well as redefining a few plot details.

Enjoy some tasty country cooking, TF style.

In an unrelated note - that is easily one of the most bizarre videos I've ever seen on Youtube.

In an additional, but actually related note, I've fired 4shared. I'll be hosting exclusively through Dropbox now. If that causes anyone any trouble, please let me know.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/38srtqxi85g5euo/JourneyOutside5beta.rar

Enough is Enough

You guys have waited long enough for the next update. I'm planning on putting one up this Tuesday. It focuses exclusively on the male path, and even has a new ending.

With those done, I'm going to be going back and wrapping up the brothel and RichSub paths for the week after.

After that, the plan is to head into the woods. I want to hold off a bit on the bandit camp as that is, essentially, the other half of the game.

So.. yeah. Look for an update on Tuesday at some point between midnight and midnight.

And another attempt to release a working version 4!

The very sweet kappakappa was kind enough to inform me (and seemed a bit embarrassed to have to do so) that the links were still broken on the RichSub path at the end.

I have no idea why they were still broken, as they tested appropriately before, but broken they were.

So, that means 4b must now come around.

Links are below.

http://www.4shared.com/rar/tnzkJG1q/JourneyOutside4b.html
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b6ip4g8u2kjsfn2/JourneyOutside4b.rar

Version 4 release - Sexy Jesus Approved

Yeah, I like sharing random videos on these things. I'm all about the entertaining, what can I say?

Anyway, here's the polished version 4. Look for a non-polished version 4a at some point this week before the next release. I'm able to get back into steady writing, so that's a definite plus.

The brothel path is coming along nicely and I think it's safe to say that the male path I'm going to write first leads to him heading into the forest and finding some potential enemies.. or allies. That'll be up to you.

Download paths for 4a..(updated due to some broken links)

4shared - http://www.4shared.com/rar/Z07Stuhn/JourneyOutsideV4a.html
Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp2dsd9oakffq8c/JourneyOutsideV4a.rar

As an addendum, I've received more than a few questions privately asking why Miranda would so easily accept the idea of female slavery. I will give a spoiler and non-spoiler answer here. Feel free to add to the debate. Questions can be asked publicly, too!

The non-spoiler answer refers to the explanation that Miranda offers. She is, for the record, a reliable narrator There are two clearly defined societies in our world, although only one has really been shown at the moment. The bandit camp and the Seattle Conclave. That Miranda looks at the Seattle Conclave and decides it is kinder to women.. well.. that says a lot.

In addition, there is a generation in place now that has grown up without the old civilization and without the idea of freedoms for everyone. Freedom is great for a society of high technology people with a surplus of population. It requires a nation that can spare population for philosophies in order to enable that kind of civilization. In this world, with a drastically smaller population that was lost in a very fast time frame.  Writing this, I am estimating a world population of 6.5 billion down from 6.5 million. which historically would put the population to the level it was between 5-4,000 B.C.E.) Electricity is controlled by the right through limited natural power generator access and the staff capable of running and repairing them, textiles are going extinct as hide-based clothing is increasing, and the natural world is beginning to fight back against a weakened humanity. Taking all of that in, Miranda makes the decision that slavery might be a necessary evil to feed into increasing the population and establishing a rudimentary civilization.

To be clear, that is the decision that she reached. My opinion is not present in this work, but it can be inquired upon.

For the spoiler answer (and rest assured it is much shorter)  Miranda reveals that she is a member of one of the families that supplied the DNA for the serum. Those who receive DNA from her family line are likely to be tall and redhead. Very soon, the male path will be venturing into the woods and encountering the female tribes that live there and remain free, if shut out from society. It is not coincidental that these women are tall with red hair. Also, Miranda was very much inspired by [i]Casablanca[/i]. 

So there you have it. The questions were good and definitely worth addressing, which is why I'm doing it here as well as at the TFGamesSite discussion thread..

Please do feel free to ask questions like this and I'll do what I can to answer them, though I make no promises you will always like the answer.

And thanks again to everyone who has played. That people have been enjoying my work makes it all the more worth it!

Here is the promised preview build of the next release. It has sloppy ends to storylines, but if you are someone who likes teasers and hints of the future, this is for you. If you hate spoilers, find somewhere else to be for this one. Just wait for the full release in a few days.

http://www.4shared.com/zip/1xjJtFr9/JourneyOutsideV3a.html
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9mcm1ktld4rlyqr/JourneyOutsideV3a.zip

Good news everyone!

I've been stuck on an incredibly inconvenient 3pm-11pm schedule for the past few weeks. This, naturally, is a great way to write off an entire day of productivity.

Not to mention challenging to find time to spend with loved ones.

That being said, I have figured out a way for me to keep working on The Journey Outside while at work. It lets me get in at least a few passages a night as opposed to none.

So there is that.

I honestly like the idea of spending a decent amount of time over the next few months writing everything out that I have in my head. Hopefully, at the end people will enjoy it even more than they are now. I think I'll make history over at TFGamesSite as being the first person to complete their very first project.

Kidding, of course, but not far off from the truth. Inspiration can be such a fickle bitch.

But we worship her anyway.

Look for a preview release Friday at the latest. Also, seriously considering superheroes for my next venture.

OMG we're back again!

Watched This is the End yesterday. I laughed a great deal more than expected throughout the movie. Michael Cera stole every scene he was in, and rightfully so. A bit more pot humor than I would have liked, but that is easy to overlook overall. More Jay Baruchel is never a bad thing.

Anyway, you're not here for my movie reviews - and that's a good thing.

Yep, there's an update. I'm still alive and kicking. With family gone, I'm able to do some more writing and begin to get back to world building. In the meantime, I cleaned up some language, added back macros to all descriptions, and even found the time to link each and every current passage to their appropriate descriptions. Should make things easier in the future.

Getting ready to add to the male path and introduce the bandits once I'm content with the brothel and "Sub2" storylines. I'm looking forward to the male and bandit lines just because I get to spend more time with Barbara that way. I'm sad that way.

Downloads below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyqeiyw7ls2oy0w/JourneyOutsideV3.zip
http://www.4shared.com/zip/nDg3NBUc/JourneyOutsideV3.html