Concept: Choose one genre--either fantasy or science fiction--and write a story in 5 rounds.

Qualifications to Host:

• Hosted Horror vs Romance: A Story Contest; Judged missroxor’s Monster Mash-Up; Contestant in Heaven’s Story Time: Hero’s Edition; Contestant in justJones’ Making Headlines;

The ultimate speculative fiction showdown starts here! This is another genre versus genre story contest. While it is basically like my last contest, Horror vs Romance, there are some differences since speculative fiction genres have much in common so be sure to read everything. Also, check out the original Horror vs Romance to see how this contest generally works.

Requirements:
Any skill level. Writing, picture taking, speculative genre experience helpful, but not necessary. This is a great opportunity to learn if you’ve never done it before. Hone your skills or just have fun whether you’re a noob or an old pro.

Rounds:
Over the whole contest you will write a complete story with beginning, middle and end in 5 rounds. Each round will be one part of your story with round 1 being the beginning and the final round the ending. Each round you will be required to include a plot point based off the 5 point structure and a selected element in your story. There will also be a quote bonus each round with the possibility of a second bonus. Bonuses are optional.

Choose either fantasy or science fiction to write in. You cannot write in both. However, you may write any kind of story within the genre. If you’re writing a story with the other genre in it like a sci-fi fantasy (think Star Wars), be sure that the genre group you choose is the main focus.

Contest Rules:
1. Contest Rules Apply
2. Sims 2, 3 & 4 accepted
3. One entry per person. First round is application. Must have 5-20 entries.
4. Any CC are allowed.
5. Original stories only. No borrowed or reused stories. It must be a new story written by you not one you’ve (or anyone else has) written before.
6. PG-13 or below only! No Explicit material please! This means no graphic violence, sexual themes, or mature adult material. Cursing is allowed, but must be kept within reason/relevancy.
7. No placeholders. Your entry will only be added once it appears to be a full submission meaning the word/picture count appears to be in the requirements and the entry form is complete. A couple screenshots and a few sentences does not count as an entry. Please hold off posting until you have something that is close to completion. I will not add you otherwise.
8. Entry form must be completely filled out for your submission to be added. This includes the word & picture counts. If you post an entry with an incomplete form, you will not be added until the entry form is completed. If you do not fix this before round 1 ends, you will not be able to participate.
9. Post editing is allowed. This means you can edit your entry until the round closes. No post editing after a round ends. If you do post edit after a round has closed it will be considered late. Your entry will be judged based on what you’ve submitted.
10. Extensions may be granted without penalty by request only. PM me as soon as you realize you need one. Otherwise, participants can turn in an entry up to 3 days late with -3 pts per day.
11. Entry must be in spoiler tags.

Story Rules
1. Main characters must be your creation. Can be any age, species, pet, etc.
2. Must be a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. Endings can be ambiguous or cliffhangers, but must be conclusive.
3. Must have a title and include a 1-3 sentence synopsis and a brief recap of previous rounds.
4. Word count must be within 1,200-2,500 words each round (unless instructed otherwise). Please use Microsoft Word or Word Counter for your count.
5. Screenshots are required and must be within 12-25 pictures each round (unless instructed otherwise). Pictures must be 800x600 (min) to 1280x1060 (max).
See Creator Guidelines Screenshot Basics
6. Grammar/spelling will not be judged, but please put your best effort into it.
7. A cover picture is optional. This is like a book front cover or a movie poster. The cover picture should reflect your story and be above the entry outside of the spoiler. You may use photo editing to your heart’s content, including text, effects, etc, on this picture only.
8. Photo editing can be used at minimal. Borders, greyscale/sepia, saturation are all okay.
9. Considering the genres, the following photo editing is allowed though limited**:

**Judges must be able to tell that your pictures are The Sims game and reserve the right to decide if your editing is too much. When in doubt, ask! Remember, editing does not need to be used at all to produce great pictures. Get creative!

Scoring:
(Contestants will be scored by the judges. Those scores will be added and averaged. All scores show the maximum available points for that section. Each question of criteria worth up to 5 points.)

1.Creativity (15): Is the story original? Is it entertaining? Is the selected element done well, flows with the story?
2. Character (20): Is the main character(s) realistic and relatable? Do they have goals/desires that are clear & understandable? Do they make decisions that have consequences (good or bad) that shape the plot? Do they grow/change or are challenged to grow/change?
3. Story (20): Does the plot make sense/is it understandable? Is there conflict that’s consistent, a struggle that’s rising? Is the antagonist/obstacle believable and enough of a threat to keep the story moving? Are the round plot objectives met?
4. Atmosphere (20): Do the words paint a picture/good description? Do the props/staging fit what they’re portraying? Do the pictures visually tell the story, help bring the world to life? Is the mood and tone clear, consistent, and right for the story (in word & picture)?
5. Genre (10):
Fantasy
Do fantastical elements play a major role in the plot?
Is the story set up in a way that comes across as possible?
Science Fiction
Does science and/or technology play a major role in the plot?
Is the story set up in a way that comes across as plausible?
6. World Building (10): Are the rules/laws/ways of the world clear, understandable, logical, and consistent?
Does the world come across like a real place the reader is transported to; are there enough details/descriptions to bring it alive?
7. Presentation(5): Is it organized/follow the entry form? Does it adhere to the rules? Is it within the rounds limits (pictures/words)? (Deducted points at judges discretion.)
8. Bonus Rounds(5-10): Determined by how difficult or how much work is required.

Scores will be added and averaged. Max points=100/round. Bonus round max=105-110/100


Judging:
***This contest has a heavy workload so please do not volunteer if you won’t have plenty of time to set aside or have trouble managing your time.***
3 judges and 1 more emergency judge are needed. Judges must meet Contest Requirements. It is preferred that judges have MTS contest experience. Story/writing experience would be helpful, but not necessary. You must be able to read and judge in 7 days (max participants & words means 20x2000=40,000 words in 1 week + scoring & comments. Can you handle that?). You should also be willing to give constructive criticism, encouragement, feedback to each contestant each round within the judging time frame. If you’d like to be a judge or EJ, please include any experience in your request.

Judge 1	Judge 2	Judge 3	EJ 1	EJ 2
heaven	tsyokawe	Qnshr5

Timeline:
Each round will last 3 weeks ending at 11:59:59 AoE. You have 3 weeks to write, take pictures and post/edit your story. There are 5 rounds so this contest will last until the middle of September. Round 5 ends 13 September

Fantasy

	Contestants	Round 1	Score	Round 2	Score	Round 3	Score	Round 4	Score	Round 5	Score	Final Score
1	Bre814	It's All in the Eyes	76.3	Chapter	67.8	Chapter	74.2	Chapter	78.7	Chapter	77.8	74.96
2	Ghost sdoj	Between Two Worlds	84.3	Chapter	92.3	Chapter	83.8	Chapter	87.5	Chapter	92.2	88.02
3	Letcupcake	The Linessis Chronicles	65.5	Chapter	79.3	No Entry	0	DO	----	DO	----	------
4	lil bag2	Anne Arbor	83.2	Chapter	93	Chapter	104.2*	Chapter	99.3*	Chapter	98	95.54
5	hungryhippo	The Darthtopian Dream	77.5	Chapter	83	DO	----	DO	----	DO	----	-----

Science Fiction

	Contestants	Round 1	Score	Round 2	Score	Round 3	Score	Round 4	Score	Round 5	Score	Final Score
1	blatant07	Darkness Falls	69.3	Chapter	72.3	Chapter	79.3	Chapter	80.2	Chapter	88	77.82
2	Freelala	Avalanche	99.3*	Chapter	105.7*	Chapter	103.7	Chapter	98.8	Chapter	110*	103.5
3	elphaba2	Isolation	86	Chapter	95.6	Chapter	103	No Entry	0	No Entry	0	56.92
4	sionelle	Erosion	80.2	Chapter	96.3	Chapter	99.2	DO	-----	DO	-----	------

Round Scores Breakdowns & Judges’ Feedback

Entry Form:

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Genre Definitions for this Contest

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Round Five: -- 13 September (yes, Sunday is on purpose as I may not be available until then and don't want to chance not being able to close timely so lucky you!)


Previous Rounds

Contest Approved

• Do not post replies and/or contest applications before the contest host has checked in on this thread, or your post will be deleted.
• DO NOT WRITE USELESS POSTS like "Hey cool contest, I think I might join." Reserve type posts and useless posts about coming back with an application will be deleted.

Checking In!

These genres appear to be the simplest to write. Making stuff up is easy. But making stuff up and making it logical are what make speculative fiction genres some of the hardest to write. Below are some tips to writing in these genres for anyone who is a novice or a pro who just wants a general refresher. The sections mainly deal with the points judges will be looking at. If you have other questions on the contest, please don’t hesitate to ask! I will add here if needed.

Oh, please, please, please, I would like to volunteer as a judge. If you need me to, I could PM you some examples of my writing.

I have much experience, both as a once-upon-a-time (last decade) blogger, and as someone who completed hundreds of pages of writing (not to mention tens of thousands of pages of reading ) as a university student.



eta: I have also been a contestant here at MTS three different times.

I would also love to be a judge, except I never competed in any of those competitions...Is it a requirement? I mean, I know you say it is...but is it really?

I also have plenty of experience! I had three blogs, I write and edit my school's newspaper and website and I wrote plenty of stories a long time ago. Honestly, I wpuld be a great addition

If me being a judge is out of the question, I'll probably compete soon. Good competition idea

Yay! Ive been waiting for another one of these contests! I'd like to fantasy!

I think I'll participate in this :X

Definitely fantasy. I hope this doesn't constitute as a useless post

@Kaiko Espurr Mikkusu: I love seeing an entry so soon, but you must follow the entry form in order to be added to the contest (that includes putting your story in spoiler tags). You can find the format in the main post.

We've got all 3 judge positions filled in one day! Hurray! Thank you heaven, tsyokawe, and IrishA03 for volunteering your wonderful services to judge this contest. Click on the links on the judges' table to go to their profiles and learn more about them. There is one more slot left for an emergency judge.

Point of clarification: when you say "set in a world that is not our own," does that mean, specifically, not Earth? Could it be, say, Earth in a different time period, with the relevant thematic elements to clearly identify the genre and set it apart from the Earth as we know it today? I have a premise forming in my head, but it hinges on a significant chunk of the story being set on the planet Earth. Certain landmarks and laws of physics are important plot points.

Also, I am not ashamed to say that I screamed and jumped out of my chair when I saw this contest had posted. This is the one I've been waiting for, perhaps more than any other contest ever.

All a "world not our own" means is that there's something significant about it that is not like our current reality. Being set on Earth is completely fine as long there's something different about it that either doesn't or didn't exist whenever you set it, an alternate reality/earth, if you will... Animals talk or cancer is cured or a non-existent species exists or the hottest club is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench... As long as we can tell the genre (whatever it is effects the plot in a significant way) then it'll be fine. Our Earth, alternate Earth, holodeck Earth... whatever fanciful, whimsical, or advanced changes you want to make you can! There is no shame in that which does not end in humiliating bruises!

Oh this is wonderful! I'd love to enter this contest

Is it okay to use photoshop on the screenshots? My story would be magic/fantasy based and there's only so much that TS2 or TS4 can do with that

Photoshop can be used with limits. Borders, grayscale/sepia, saturation are fine. Blur, cropping, and text can be used within the limits outlined in the Story Rules (#8 & 9). I know the games are limited in what they can do/show, but being able to create a picture with a fantastic feel is possible even with base games only. It's a challenge which is what makes the competition fun. Plus, it equals the playing field for those who don't have or do photo editing. I have seen remarkable pics that relied on creative set up, staging and angling alone. (But also l think about CC, mods, animations that you can use in game to create effects. Even objects that spew sparkles and whatnot can be manipulated in a pic to make effects. Also, "magic" can be invisible and still realistic-- it all comes down to staging.)

I have a question regarding counts since the story rule section doesn't specifically say . . .
1200-2500 words -- is this per round or for the whole story? Ditto on the 12-25 pictures?

Each round your chapter should be within 1200-2500 words and 12-25 pictures, unless a round or bonus increases or reduces those perimeters. I'll make this clearer in the rules. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Thanks for letting me know.
I could write a story with the 1200-2500 words -- wouldn't be very descriptive, but it'd be a story.

where and how to submit?

You would submit your entry in this thread by posting a comment. Make sure to read all the rules regarding what your entry needs to have and make sure the entry is under spoiler tags (shown how in the first post).

Story Title: It’s all in the eyes
Genre: Fantasy
Word/Picture Count: 1382 words/ 15 pictures
Round Element:Non-human Human
Synopsis & Recap: Kris knew something wasn’t right. Something was off about this guy. But what could it be?

@Kaiko Espurr Mikkusu, @Bre814, For everyone!:
The Round Element keeps getting left out of entries. I want to clear it up before there are more. The Objective and the Element are the only two things that you must have that I give to you. The Element must be listed in your entry form. It's necessary for the judges to know exactly which one you picked so that they score what you intended. Example: this round you might have someone who dies AND someone who gives a piece of background info AND someone the town thought was the prophesied villain, but isn't because your protag is. Which one do the judges pick to score? (expendable? Mr exposition? Not the chosen?) 3 judges could pick 3 different characters. Or they can decide that since it's not listed as required (despite how obvious it is), you didn't do it, and give 0 pts for it. So, please include which round element you've chosen.

I've tweaked the entry form so that maybe it's easier to see the Round Element. It's now in 2 places instead of 1. Place the chosen title above the synopsis AND repeat with the title and the character that represents it below the entry. (I don't want to know ahead of time the twist that Ms Goth is actually a vengeful ET for "Non-Human Human" or who's going to die in your chapter with an "Expendable" character, but we do need the name so there's no confusion on who it is. So put the character's name below.) I will add all submitted entries as soon as I have their Element listed! Here's an example of what an entry form should look like (will add to FAQs):

I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by "cropping" in the section about photo-editing. Are you talking about changing the dimensions of an image, or pasting other images from other sources into an image? Because you mention the thing about adding in-game screenshots, but that's not what I typically think of when it comes to cropping, so I'm a little confused. Like, if I take a screenshot with a program like fraps and want to get rid of the stupid pause button thing in the corner, is that against the rules?

Yes, you can crop out the pause button on your pictures and must re-size them to fit the required dimensions for MTS. Cutting out the pause button should only be a small edge of the shot. What I don't want is pictures that have multiple pictures in them that have just been cropped and re-sized in order to have five separate main pics in one to get around the 12-25 rule, or cutting out chunks of the edges of the main 12-25 pictures instead of zooming in or filling the scene. The story pictures should basically be what they looked like when you took them. Scoring isn't based on photo editing skills. We're looking at in-game skills of setting a scene.

Quick question. Would using photoshop for minor effects like blood be okay?

So excited to enter this! I have my round 1 story written. Currently trying to get the pictures done It should be very soon