Had an LD here this morning which was around 5-6 minutes long which makes it a medium LD for me. I became lucid right from the beginning thanks to a controlled WILD and physically felt myself become Bowser (unfortunately didn’t see myself but it felt physically correct) Thorn made an appearance towards the end but wasn’t too co-operative this time around 
^ Considering that my last attempt at the same transformation was also based on feeling without visuals, I’ll count that; I have to apply my standards equally, after all. 
I’ve updated the scores. Task 4 goes live in about 13 hours!
I got a short lucid dream. I was looking at a rug that was folded over from a corner. It annoyed me and I wanted to fix it. The corner moved by itself and unfolded. This made me think my influence had something to do with it. I held out my hand and tried to move the rug again as a RC. I succeeded and as I moved my hand up and down, the rug followed the movement by moving up and hitting the floor. I became lucid but didn’t focus on the dream and staying calm. I woke up. So that’s another subtask from task 1 done.
Also ate candy that doesn’t exist in waking life. Tiny glowing planets and stars. Tasted like normal candy though.
2 medium length lds. No tasks completed
While I was planning to get in touch with some of our inactive participants to see if they should be removed from the calculations this week, the Power team has won this week by a large enough margin that I don’t think it actually affects anything. Congrats to it; it’ll have a one-subtask advantage in Task 4!
Explorer: 1 subtask completion / 7 members = 0.14 subtask completions per member
Hero: 1 subtask completion / 3 members = 0.33 subtask completions per member
Power: 5 subtask completions / 4 members = 1.25 subtask completions per member
While it looks like very few subtasks were done this week, there were many points scored. From what I gathered in chat, people acquired quite an interest in subtasks from Tasks 1 and 2, so many of the points scored were for older tasks.
Current standings:1. drd (905)
- obfusc8 (900)
- Rhewin (720)
- Mew151 (445)
- Letaali (410)
- James_UK2008 (380)
- En’enra (290)
- Susan_Y (270)
- Scipio Xaos (245)
- Oleg (160)
- squoak, WasPeace, Yev, Hodge_Podge (0)
Task 4: Sonic the Hedgehog
What’s that? You expected this task because of my avatar? I don’t care!
If you were a gamer in the early '90s and you weren’t playing Mario games, you were playing Sonic games. Besides, having a Mario task and a Sonic task back to back allows for some flexibility in this week’s Team Dreams, so be sure to talk with your team to set them up. As another '90s mascot platformer, it’s also more lighthearted than many modern games, although Sonic games marketed themselves as having an edgier character and more “extreme” gameplay.
I have heard through the grapevine, but have not had said to me directly from the person or people taking issue with it, that the use of a spreadsheet for scoring and for Task 1 has made this LC unfair to tablet and phone users. As always, if you need information from me, please ask me and I will provide it; this is how the photo version of Task 1 became possible, and I am always willing to accommodate everybody. I bring this up here because a certain subtask in Task 4 is done easiest by uploading a screenshot of a website that uses Adobe Flash, although I will also accept text descriptions of the thing in question. If your device does not support Flash or cannot take screenshots, get a better devi- er, talk to me for help or simply give a text description.
Do a triple frontflip—20 points: Sonic is to spinning what Mario is to jumping. Jump into the air and rotate quickly for these points.
Ride a hoverboard/hoverbike or use hoverskates—30 points: Before SEGA finally found success with its All-Stars racing games, it put its mascot in several other racing games. One group of racing games put Sonic characters on futuristic hoverboards and hoverbikes or gave them hoverskates. None of these devices could truly fly, but they were great for moving quickly, jumping from ramps and quarterpipes, and sliding along rails. Give this tech a try and see how easily you can get around your dreamscape!
Run through a loop or corkscrew or run up/along a wall—30 points: It’s a funny thing how video game environments seem to be set up perfectly for the hero, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the twists and slopes of a Sonic level. Show off your dream speed by tackling an inversion on foot or defying gravity on walls.
Grind on a LONG rail or pipe (e.g., rollercoaster, huge staircase)—40 points: Sonic’s been grinding rails using just his shoes since 2001, and it’s rarely on a rail in a skate park or on a short staircase. It’s almost always something HUGE. While you don’t have to use your shoes if you’d prefer a skateboard or snowboard (or just want to combine the skateboard or hover-tech subtasks with this one for points), you will have to find a large rail, pipe, or similar object and slide along it. I actually did this in an LD yesterday for the fifth time or so, and it remains a thrill. However you do it, go big!
Team Dream: Both Mario and Sonic games have interesting locations for the player character to explore, and the Explorer team’s job this week is to decide on one to visit. As usual, I will disallow locations that complete previous subtasks by simply by visiting them (e.g., pipes and sewers complete a Task 3 subtask), but anything else reminiscent of either series is fair game. Once a location is decided, find it and explore it for 40 points or explore it with an Explorer team member for 40 more points.
Free an animal from a cage—30 points: Classic Sonic games ended most zones with a cage of animals that were slated to be put into the villainous Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik’s machines as living batteries. Sonic would free them as he exited the level. You don’t hate animals, do you? Let one out of a cage, whether it’s to save it from a villain or to make a big mess in a pet store.
Fight a robot or mech—40 points: It’s a rare occasion that enemies in a Sonic games aren’t robots, and it’s a rare occasion that boss battles aren’t against machines. Try to destroy such a thing in a dream.
Team Dream: While the Mario series’ best-known villain is by far Bowser and the Sonic series’ best-known villain is by far Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, both series have had their fair share of baddies. The Hero team will decide on a villain from either series to fight (with the exception of Donkey Kong or his relatives, as this would directly complete one of last week’s subtasks without any additional effort). Once that’s decided, fight this villain for 40 points or fight alongside a Hero team member for 40 more points.
Draw power from a jewel—30 points: Many games and other forms of media have objects from which people can draw power. The Sonic series has used this idea since its creation with its seven Chaos Emeralds, which characters have used to glow yellow and fly, to power machinery, to transform into gigantic beasts, and to manipulate time and space. Find a jewel of your own and see what power is hidden within! Note that this task will not also give credit for Task 1’s “Find an ancient artifact” subtask.
Create and post a fan character, then become it—40 points: This Power team subtask makes you become the most powerful type of being on the Internet… the Sonic fan character. Poor writing and Mary Sue-like qualities make these characters seem more powerful than anything else in the universe at times. They’re born of people’s intrinsic urge to experience things like those experienced by their childhood hero, and now it’s your turn to get in the game. How can you create a fan character to post, you ask? Well, if you need to do something stereotypically juvenile, you go to the juvenile part of the Internet! You know this designer’s legit because of the typo in it and the ad at the start. 
Take a screen shot of your ahem glorious design cough, post it, and then become it in a dream. If you’re more of the, er… artistic type wheeze, you can of course make something from scratch as well, and if you are unable to do any of this, a text description will do. I just need a character before you dream of it. Also, as drd made me realize in chat, I will not count Bob the Turtle or similar for both Task 3 and Task 4, as we’d otherwise get only turtles.
Team Dream: The pursuit of Power does not always have morals. This week, the Power team has two decisions to make. First, they must decide to meet the lead villain of either the Mario or Sonic series (Bowser or Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik). Second, they must decide on either something to learn about the art of villainry—how to run an army, how to design evil robots, how to wield Koopa magic, how to pilot a giant mech, etc.—or a favor to receive—be magically transformed, get turned into a robot, etc. The potential for overlap with other subtasks is high, but I’ll allow it here because the intermediate step of having to get a villain’s assistance makes things more difficult. Once that’s decided, meet the villain and learn or get the favor done for 40 points or do so with a Power team member for 40 more points.
Team Advantage Subtask! Participate in an Olympic or Winter Olympic event—40 points: The fans cried out for a Mario and Sonic crossover game, and SEGA and Nintendo delivered… in the form of a bunch of sports mini-games released just before the Olympics every two years. Join the festivities! This doesn’t just mean “play a sport”; actually get into an Olympic event.
Host Subtask! Have a footrace with the host—30 points: It can be a simple, everyday footrace, or it can be one befitting the task theme. Put your dream speed to the test!
This post is already long, but I have one last favor to ask of everybody. As we approach Task 5, the last task, I want to learn what in this LC really captivated people. I did some questioning in chat, but I’d like to have things here in the topic so that even the participants who don’t use IRC can give input. Tell me what subtasks are your favorite ones, whether you’ve completed them or not, and tell me why they’re favorites and how you’re incubating them if you haven’t finished them yet. You don’t need to list just one, and you don’t need to be afraid of giving a weird reason for liking one; I won’t judge, so rant away! I do have Task 5 planned out, but I’m willing to tweak things to fit the desires of the masses. I just need to know what those desires are and why.
Thanks in advance, and good luck with Task 4!
Team Power has agreed to meet Bowser and have him teach us Koopa magic as per the team dream task.
Ran up a skyscraper in a normal dream last night.
Sadly all the motorcycles were the generic variety, not hovering, and my acrobatics were limited to a handstand, no forward somersaults. 
James, consider it noted. Remember that I can’t start accepting points for Team stuff until all three teams post or until 48 hours passes, whichever comes first.
obfusc8, I’ve marked those points and updated the scores.
Alright, so I had recall last night. I rode in a mine cart and grew to a giant size after leaving town in a ND last night.
And with that, it’s time to post the character I may or may not transform into. 
Please allow me to introduce my very own Sonic original OC character!
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I didn’t think this LC could get even more fun.
Mew, it’s… beautiful. I’ve never seen such a stunning work of character creation. Congrats on getting Task 1 points!
I’ve updated the scores, and for the very last time, I’ve updated the Task 1 grid, text description, and photo of the grid. The entirety of Task 1 is now available!
Never done anything like this so bare with me:
For the Sonic OC part of this, I present to you:
[center]Azimuth the Soarer[/center]
Doing this challenge has made me feel happier – I think it’s made me sleep better and given me more pleasant dreams.
I’ve been avoiding the violent subtasks. My problem with the violent ones is that dreams appear real, as if they’re actually happening. They’re much realer than a computer game or a movie, and that makes death or violence horrible. Also, I think I’m in a more emotionally open state in dreams, so I scare easily. And I’d rather not set myself a dream intention of causing harm to a real person, as I wonder if dream intentions can work their way into my unconscious and affect what I do when I’m awake.
I can only feel minor injuries in a dream (cuts, bruises, scratches, minor burns). Major injuries don’t hurt as much as they would if they were real, they just look bad. So the pain isn’t really the issue.
I’ve been trying to do some of the shapeshifting subtasks. They’re interesting to try, even though I haven’t had much luck with them yet. (Apart from the mecha one, which I did without intending to). My unconscious seems to have a much more fixed idea of what my body is like than it does of the location I’m in, so it’s much harder to change. The one thing that changes easily is my age – I often revert back to a teenager or child. (One of my attempts at the desert temple team dream morphed into some very early childhood stuff). Presumably because I have lots of real memories of being younger that can turn up in dreams, but no real memories of (for example) wearing a bunny hood.
I’m also hoping to do the “play a musical instrument to achieve an effect” subtask from the Zelda phase. When I play music in dreams, I often have difficulty remembering how the tune goes, but I can usually manage a rough approximation.
Susan_Y, I’m glad to hear it’s made you happier.
Okay, 48 hours is up, so let’s lock in the Team Dreams. The Explorer team has decided to visit the final race track in all Mario Kart games, Rainbow Road. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a road… made of rainbow. It’s high in the sky or in space depending on the game, and never just a multicolored, man-made road in a city or the like. If you’re looking for a race on this Mario Kart track, you could perhaps combine it with Task 3’s vehicle subtask or with Task 4’s footrace subtask.
The Hero team decided to fight Knuckles the Echidna from the Sonic series as its villain. It’s a bit of an edge case, as he’s usually just misguided if he’s an adversary in the games, but I’ll accept it. Perhaps seeing him in front of you in the dream will make the subtask about transforming into your own such character easier to visualize? Maybe you could fetch a piggyback ride on his after you win the fight for Task 2’s “Ride an animal” subtask?
The Power team decided to visit Bowser and learn the sorts of magic his tribe practices. If you’re smart, you’ll combine this with other subtasks. Task 1 had a subtask based on “dark magic” if you want to be truly evil with it. The Mario games often depict such magic being used to enlarge foes, and Tasks 1 and 3 both had subtasks involving being or dealing with a giant. Heck, Super Mario Bros. had enemies magically transformed into Bowser in the first seven castle-themed levels; this fits Task 3’s “become a turtle” subtask if you cast such a spell on yourself. In general, “magic” can be broad, so as long as you learn to manipulate something with magic instead of just willing it into existence, this Team Dream can offer up many points… but only if you learn it from Bowser as the Power team decided!
Also be aware that it’s September 1 today, so we may have a new monthly Quest. If we do, that’s another source of points for you!
The “fan character” subtask is for a different team, but just in case I manage it and want to claim another team’s subtask: my Sonic fan character is a yellow lion (with cat ears and a lion’s tail). I doubt I’ll manage this shapeshift, as I find even simple transformations difficult, but you never know.
Normal dream featuring Rhewin who helped me with an old task… I played a clarinet which sent me back in time. Or well, changed the dream scene/teleported at least. The whole thing was a setup though… I’ll get you back for that, Rhawin!
Susan_Y, while you get less points for doing a task for another team, there is no penalty to your team for doing it. There’s basically no reason not to take five minutes to create something for that subtask, so I think those that haven’t done it are simply depriving themselves of a few points.
obfusc8, never trust a Rhewin. 
I’ve updated the scores. For those of you that haven’t posted about your favorite subtasks, please do so! Typing one line about it in IRC does not equate to making a post!
Tasks I’m most interested in completing are the transformation ones as that’s something I’ve not really experimented with while lucid. Also on my list are enter a TV, ride a mine cart, skateboard. From the hero side I’d like to pilot a mech and maybe the aliens one.
For the fan character sub task I’ve made a half bat cyborg… Mecha body with black bat wings bat ears and a pointed tail. I was trying to think of a name, but got sidetracked. 
Favourite subtasks? All of them. This LC has such a great topic, and I have video game related dreams all the time, but this period is so bad for me, and I am really annoyed because of that. 
If I somehow manage to get a good lucid dream, I will try to go for the Quest and my personal goal combined with LC tasks.
^ Thanks, you two. As I said before,
If somebody doesn’t give any input there, then he or she is only hurting himself or herself. 
I have input in this topic from Susan_Y, obfusc8, and En’enra now, and I know some participants dropped one or two lines in IRC that they could just elaborate on in here. I haven’t forgotten those IRC lines and will use them if I must, but I feel that a post may offer more insight because it’ll be better thought out than a quick IRC response.
obfusc8, for some reason that character seems fitting for you. I’m not sure why.