Tall Tales

[TheSaint]

Tall Tales

The CHAT post to play this here with others has been started here.

For those who want to know a little more and/or read my earlier post, then see below for more details and some screenshots.

Tall Tales is a kind of game, and if you love a sense of the ridiculous, then it may be just right for you. It is all about creating an amazing story, one that might just give you a bellyache from laughing too hard and too much. You play it with friends &/or family, some of whom might live a long way away - if you are in touch by email and have access to a PC, then they can play this game with you too.

Download Tall Tales v1.5 from here.

HOW TO PLAY

To start the game, the first person applies the required settings, which includes a password to keep story integrity. They can if they wish, add a title for the story and maybe some themes. They then start the story, writing one or more lines of text. They must stop their portion of the story, halfway through a sentence. They then save it and send a copy of the resulting file to the next participant. That participant loads the file with their copy of the Tall Tales program. They will see a few words of an incomplete sentence - how many words they see, was set by the first writer. They use those words to continue with the story (maybe completing the sentence and adding more). They too must stop partway through a sentence in their portion of the story. They also save it and send a copy of the updated file, to the next participant. This whole process is repeated until it is agreed the story should be finished. After it is finished, the first writer (who has the password) prints it to a text file. A copy of this textfile is then sent off to all the participants, so that they can read the finished story ... with any luck, it is very funny &/or highly entertaining.

HISTORY OF THE GAME, etc

Tall Tales is a computerised version of a game that was played with a piece of paper and a pen (or pencil). It involved several people sitting at a table. Usually each person had their own piece of paper. To begin, each person started a story at the top of their piece of paper - adding a title if they wanted to. Usually they wrote one or more lines of text and finished part way through a sentence. They then folded their piece of paper, so that only the last few words were showing. Each person then passed their piece of paper to the next person on their right. Sometimes we alternated with direction and maybe even skipped a certain number of people. The next person then continued the story they were given, even though they weren't allowed to unfold the paper to read the whole thing first - they could only use those few words that were showing. They added their one or more lines of story continuation, and like before, stopped part way through a sentence and folded the paper again, leaving only a few words showing again, and passed it on to the next person. In this way, each story was passed around the table, usually many times, until it was decided to finish it. Usually the person who started a particular story, was the one to finish it - this could also give the tale a bit more cohesion.

If you had timed the passing correctly, then the stories had stopped at their initial creators - if not then they were passed to them or finished by the current holder. Each person (in turn) then read their story aloud to the others (if they could). If the stories were very funny, then they could be extremely hard to read out (while doubled over in fits of laughter), with the result, that before long, the rest of the table was also in the throes of extreme hilarity ... even if they hadn't undestood a word that had been said ... just watching someone you know looking like and sounding like some kind of mad person can be extremely funny.

Obviously, the idea in writing a story this way, is to be entertained. The best stories are the ones that make you laugh the hardest, and are full of amazing surprises. This means, that silliness often plays a big part, but can spoil a whole story if it goes overboard - everything in moderation is the byword. I can tell you, that in the past I have been gasping for breath and rolling on the floor, almost in agony, because I have laughed so hard at the finished story or parts of it. Tall Tales can be extremely entertaining, though occasionally they don't work well. Sometimes they get better with experience, though experimentation is often rife and can lead to disaster as well as genius. One of the best ways to play this game, is to setup the next person - make them say something they wouldn't normally say ... this often leads to a lot of hilarity.

There is a real skill to playing this game correctly. In the original version of this game, which involves writing to a piece of paper and folding it many times, participants often got to add elements to a story many times. By doing that, they could keep a theme running through the story, which often added a certain measure of sense to the story (usually with hilarious results). With my program, I have tried to include that element, by adding the ability to use a title and set one or more themes.

CAN WE PLAY A GAME?

It is my intention, to start a chat topic soon, where those who wish, can partcipate in a game (story) using this program. To participate, you will need to download the program, and register an interest in playing, at the topic post. A confirmation list of participants will be displayed on the first post. The story will be passed around using PM's - probably passing though me each time (so I can make sure it is still moving on to the next participant). If it gets held up anywhere, then that participant may get bypassed until later (or completely). The rules anyway, will be stated before we begin. I will most probably complete the story myself (without looking at all of it) or ask the last person to. I will then decrypt the story to a text file and read it. If it passes muster or can be edited to do so, then I will post it for all to read. If it is not suitable for young minds, etc then it will only be available as a download that has a warning.

ADDENDUM

Please feel free to use this program with family and friends - that's what it is for. The computer version, means you can now participate with them over long distances, using email ... keeping the integrity of the story intact.

Screenshots

Icons

Main Window

Options Window

Password Dialog

Word Count Dialog

Edited March 16, 2009 by TheSaint

[TheSaint]

Well Tall Tales v1.5 has been uploaded as promised, but as will be appreciated at this time of year, I ran out of time with my testing ... it has had a reasonable amount, but nowhere near as much as it possibly should have ... anyway, the very nature of this part of the forum, is kinda like a testing ground, so I'm using that as my excuse.

At the moment, things may not be going quite to plan. I had originally intended on creating a chat topic today, to get ready for playing this game on the 27th, but I may be going away for a couple of days, so it may not happen until 29th/30th. I could still go ahead with the chat topic later today, and so allow more time for interested parties to jump on board, before we start. SO STAY TUNED!

[TheSaint]

For those here that would like to play a game of Tall Tales with others from the forum, I have started a chat topic here to do just that. COME AND HAVE SOME FUN!

Edited December 29, 2008 by TheSaint