SUBMISSIONS FOR THE NEXT ISSUE!
 

SUBMISSIONS FOR ABANDONED TIMES: THE PROCESS

OK so I know this thread SAYS submissions for AT4, but obviously that's already been done, so this will be a thread for general submissions as opposed to just an ask. So here I'll cover the sort of article you can submit, how long it has to be, how do I join the crew etc!

CAN I SUBMIT AN ARTICLE, AND IF SO HOW?

Yes, absolutely! You can submit articles by PM'ing me, or I might also set up a Google Docs drive as a place to upload and submit drafts etc.

WHAT KIND OF ARTICLES CAN I SUBMIT?

Anything from reviews to opinion pieces to interviews (:O) to features will be looked at! Though in fairness, I will likely be looking for the first two more than anything else, as for AT4 and 5 so far I have premeditated on what I would like to put in the ezine beforehand (As you can see from the back of AT4, which was done before that issue was finished!), so everything else will help to support that! But of course for future issues, if someone submits an excellent feature, that can/will be put in also. I certainly won't turn content away!

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY ARTICLE/ARTICLE IDEA IS GOOD ENOUGH?

By submitting it! If there's an idea in there, I'll work with you to help flesh it out into a proper article! (That's my job as an editor, after all!). Certainly don't be discouraged from not writing or submitting an article just because you don't think it's 'good enough' - It's probably better than you think! :) You can make an article about whatever you want, and any topic or theme is fine :P

DO I HAVE TO BE IN THE AT CREW TO SUBMIT/ HOW CAN I JOIN THE AT CREW?

No, you don't have to have the AB Times banner under your name to submit to the ezine!! As for being in the AT Crew, well, I'd rather take a loose stance for who runs/is involved in the magazine. Of course at the moment there isn't really a crew anyway :P I like to think of it as more of a 'By the community, for the community' affair. But if the need arises, or if you come forward offering something specific for the magazine, then maybe there'll be an AT Crew. Of course, anyone who submits for AT will be credited in the Editorial, and their article(s), here with their Abandonia profile picture as well!

WHAT WILL I GET FOR DOING STUFF FOR ABANDONED TIMES?

Ummm... Satisfaction and pride? :P Ok, so at least one person has asked me this, and 'Pieces of Eight' have been mentioned. So I'll use those (once I find out how they work!), so for writing a review or a translation job, for example, apart from being credited, as mentioned earlier, you'll also get Pieces of Eight!

SOUNDS GREAT! WHAT SORT OF FORMAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? HOW MANY WORDS, ETC?

Glad you think so, disembodied-voice-potentially-indicative-of-early-onset-schizophrenia! There's a pretty simple 'template' for article submissions, depending on how much you want to say, and the type of article. Here's how I organised my articles for AT4 (Based on having been edited with pretty pictures and all that jazz):

REVIEW: 2 PRINT PAGES, EQUIVALENT TO 900-1,100 WORDS.
REVIEW: 1 PRINT PAGE, EQUIVALENT TO 500-600 WORDS
TOP 10 LIST: 2 PRINT PAGES, EQUIVALENT TO 800 WORDS
FEATURE ARTCLE: 4 PRINT PAGES, EQUIVALENT TO 2,000-2,500 WORDS

Essentially, for every page you want to do, it's roughly 500 words. You can just type this out in a standard word document, I do all formatting, so there's no need to worry about that! If you have any specific images you wish to include with your review, insert them into the text document after the article. DO NOT FORMAT THIS!! If you put it all in columns and such, it'll make your life and mine more difficult than necessary :P I'll format it, convert to a PDF and show you the final product, to make sure you like how it'll look in the magazine! If I have any problems (i.e. not enough words, too many words etc) this will be discussed too :)

WHAT ARE YOUR DEADLINES LIKE?

I'd like to quote Douglas Adams, author of 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' here: "I love deadlines. I especially love the whoosing sound they make as they fly past" OK, I'm not QUITE that lax, but I'm really not too fussed. There's not a monthly deadline to meet, we're all busy guys and girls, it's no bother. But in saying that, I do want to have magazines out as soon as I can: Once I hit a target amount of pages, I probably won't be adding any more articles. In which case, if yours isn't ready to go, it'll wait until the next Issue. I'm hoping the turnaround won't be too bad, so no year-long waits for the next issue :P Please don't be disheartened or irritated if I don't get yours in the current issue! If we're working on it together, I want it in! :)

HOW WILL I KNOW THE THEME OF THE MAGAZINE, AND WHAT ARTICLES YOU HAVE PLANNED?

On the last page of every issue, I'll put a synopsis/teaser for the next issue. So as you can see from AT4, Alien Breed, Quake, Wasteland and the Acorn Archimedes are all articles I plan on doing in the next issue!

WHERE CAN I READ ABANDONED TIMES?

Obviously on Abandonia! But I'll also pop issues on Issuu, so that we can try and get a slightly larger audience, and try and bring more people to Abandonia!

If, after that far-larger-than-planned wall of text hasn't answered your question, feel free to PM me! :)

*bump

review adventure games
 

Please make a long review about the rise and fall of adventure games - anything from the less popular ones to sierra hits like space/kings quest and how it started declining once people saw more 3d graphics such as that in the journeyman project. Its as if people then no longer wanted to have good stories, but instead preferred to run around with a gun in some 3d world instead with graphics becoming main focus. Or maybe that wasn't the real reason for its decline. Maybe the whole thing has nothing to do with adventure games specifically as everything started transitioning to 3d anyway, yet somehow adventure titles suffered the worst? why? Is it due to larry or something that a the whole genre became a target to be stomped due to the adult content?

At any rate, the adventure genre need some kind of tribute and review to show the new generation their worth. The only good adventure games you find these days are the old ones and people still enjoy the quest games or funny monkey island etc. If adventure games was such a big curse on this world then why would people still waste their time giving tribute it - there's orchestra's, pianists, guitarists etc. playing for instance the music of monkey island. Must have had 'some' value?

I believe the main reasons follow below:

• Gaming preferences of the new generation have changed :lame:;
• The latest games need to make an impact and the plot and storyline has gotten into the background :sick:;
• The latest games need to be harder, with bold and sensational maneuvers and movements :roll:;
• The latest games need to be violent and spectacular :jason;
• The latest games need to have spectacular graphics and special effects :rocket:;
• The newesr players no longer need to use their gray brain cells. On the contrary, newer players need quick reflexes and skilled hands :dance:.

If you are comparing other forms of Entertainment such as Comics, Cartoons, Movies, Music, etc., the latest overall entertainment quality is below expectations... :headslap: :palm:

No offense, but is the new generation becoming more brainless :braindead:???

PS: By the way, I remembered that I posted something similar here and here.

are submissions still open?

Well, I haven't been here in a long time! If you have an idea, then by all means add, although as I'm sure you can tell, I haven't been doing anything towards this project in a couple of years, though perhaps in lockdown I'll have a chance to start work on AT5 again