Description


The old clock on the wall turned to 3:33am. Punctual as ever, the noises started once more.

Every night of the last week had been the same. As soon as the time came, strange sounds could be heard somewhere in the depths of the cellar below your house. Every night you would gather your courage and burst through the cellar's entrance armed with whatever you could find only to discover nothing amiss or any signs of disarray in the insides of the chamber.

Tonight things were different. This time, the noises could be heard even closer and louder than ever. In a surge of exhausted agression you took the rifle by your nightstand and rushed to the basement entrance, kicking the door down while roaring madly hoping to frighten whatever had decided to nest inside.

As your eyes adjusted to the darkness in the pitch black room and darted around trying to look for any proof that your senses were still those of a sane person, you find nothing. The fine layer of dust on every surface told of the state of neglect the objects had been in before your intrusion.

But then, you heard the sound of flipping pages and a soft 'thud', you spun around with your weapon at the ready, and then you saw it, all of your hairs standing on end; A book, completely out of place given it's clean appearance, placed neatly in the middle of a small table at the back. The sound you heard had been that of the book opening. There were no footsteps on the dust below the table however, and there were no marks or fingerprints anywhere near the book.

Despite your instincts screaming and begging you to turn back, you could not help but to approach the book. You begin reading the words on the page, and you feel an unseen force pulling you inside! Before you can do anything, you get sucked inside the book!


This year's halloween event is to make a game using an entry from H.P. Lovecraft's "Commonplace Book"!

"This book consists of ideas, images, & quotations hastily jotted down for possible future use in weird fiction. Very few are actually developed plots—for the most part they are merely suggestions or random impressions designed to set the memory or imagination working. Their sources are various—dreams, things read, casual incidents, idle conceptions, & so on."H. P. Lovecraft

Basically, it's Lovecraft's notepad of ideas, most of which he never got to use in one of his horror books. Each participant will receive a random entry from the book, and you have to make a game inspired by it, either literally or metaphorically. Given that it's a halloween event making a horror game is encouraged but not an obligation. You can very well use the prompt to make a dark love story perhaps? Or a comedy horror kind of thing, it's up to you.

Example: Entry #23 reads:

"#23 - The man who would not sleep--dares not sleep--takes drugs to keep himself awake. Finally falls asleep--& something happens."

If you get this, then maybe you can make a game about insomnia and the person going insane to the point where the dream world and the real world have fused together, or maybe the story is about how a person is already in their desired world that they found while sleeping, and if they "fall asleep" in the dream, the dream residents will die a horrible fate, so the protagonist needs to find methods to keep themselves "awake" in the dream world.

I have personally taken out entries in the book that are too vague, cryptic or hard to understand, so that most of the prompts people get will be easy to think something for, but if for any reason you feel yours is too hard, you can reroll your theme, but only once.

◄ How To Participate ►

- Join the event.
- When event starts you'll receive a random entry via PM.
- You have a month to make a game based or inspired by your entry.

DATE EVENT STARTS: October 1st, 2021 00:01am (GMT)
DATE EVENT ENDS: October 31st, 2021 00:01am (GMT)
(Don't forget to change your timezone in your RMN settings so the site reflects your time correctly! Go to 'Edit Profile' under your name in the top bar, then click on 'Settings' under 'Profile Sections'!)


• This is a Single Player event.
• Any engine allowed as long as the game can be played in a Windows computer!
• Minimum of 10 minutes of gameplay to qualify for a Cool Badge.
• Make a gamepage! Upload your game there, then in the event page click on the 'Submit' button in the top right corner and choose that gamepage download.
• Using RTP is allowed, but game must be able to run without it installed (Guide for 2k3 click here).
• A single re-roll is allowed per participant in case you're unhappy with your entry.


You can earn one of these badges!

• "Do Not Stare Into The Abyss"
10Ms Badge - Participated in event.

• "Witness Of The Veil"
15Ms Badge - Posted something during the midpoint checkup.

• "The Abyss Stares Back"
50Ms Badge - Finished a game for the event.

• "From Beyond The Stars"
70Ms Badge - Finished a game for the event without asking/using a reroll.

Details

  • 10/01/2021 12:00 AM
  • 11/01/2021 01:00 AM

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Commonplace Book.

Posts

My project is almost done, so I decided to publish the game page already.
It's been almost non-stop work for almost three weeks, and I'll say it's been totally worth it.

I'm waiting to see the rest of the projects, some of them look really cool.
Good luck everyone!

And don't be discouraged if you couldn't finish anything for this event. I consider myself lucky, I haven't felt this motivation in a long time.
author=s4urr
I consider myself lucky, I haven't felt this motivation in a long time.


Glad you found lots of motivation. :P That's always a good feeling.
author=KrimsonKatt
@NoBody13. I have an idea! How about a young adult with amnesia and can't remember his childhood finds a relic that recovers they lost memories, revealing a village that was erased from history because they knew a hidden truth about the world. In fact, this forgotten village was the village they came from, but when it was erased from history and everyone's memories wiped they were sent to live with a fake family as a cover up. Now they must journey across the country finding their old friends from their childhood in order to recover their memories and reveal the "truth that was erased" to the world. Though I doubt you can accomplish a story on this scale, playtest, and post a game page within 7 days lol. If you haven't started anything and are not nearly done you're pretty much doomed at this point.

Hey thank you for replying. The story sounds totally interesting and a good game could have come out of it if it wasn't for the little time left. This event was a real a disaster for me, I barely did the intro and some maps. I had no motivation at all. It sucks tbh.
author=s4urr
I consider myself lucky, I haven't felt this motivation in a long time.
I'm so happy for you and as Aegix_Drakan mentioned already, it is indeed a good feeling to be so motivated. Can't wait to play your game!
JustAShyDoge
Still a dumb and shy doggo
9731
*pops in*

play ma gam

*pops out*

Time to play other ppl's game. Good luck to everyone else~
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Quick question. For VX Ace, does using the built-in compressor and clicking "Include RTP Data" count as not needing the RTP installed? If not, what do? I think Tsukihime had a program that could work instead but IDK.

EDIT: This is the resource checker I meant. Will mess with that quick, then go to ZIP it.
KrimsonKatt
Gamedev by sunlight, magical girl by moonlight
3326
author=AtiyaTheSeeker
Quick question. For VX Ace, does using the built-in compressor and clicking "Include RTP Data" count as not needing the RTP installed? If not, what do? I think Tsukihime had a program that could work instead but IDK.

EDIT: This is the resource checker I meant. Will mess with that quick, then go to ZIP it.
For VX Ace, you have to click the "Include RTP Data" if you want to submit it for this event. "compress data" like with MV just removes files you're not using, which doesn't include the RTP I think.

VX Ace has certain assets built into the engine, and to include those assets you need to check that mark. It will greatly increase file size, but if you don't do it people will have to install the RTP elsewhere (It's provided for free on the main RPG Maker website) to play your game.

If you use 100% original assets, you don't have to worry about RTP, but if you use any default assets whatsoever you need to include the RTP data or people would have to install the RTP elsewhere to play your game. RPG Maker MV and later versions removed the distinction between default/RTP assets and custom assets, instead pasting "default assets" into every near game as the RTP, and no matter what all assets are counted, though you can now delete or modify the RTP assets and even add your own custom assets into the base RTP.
KrimsonKatt
Gamedev by sunlight, magical girl by moonlight
3326
I published mine! Yeh boi, let's go! Hopefully this event game will be a lot better received than Beyond the End lol. I put a lot of effort into this. I hope you all enjoy!
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
Got the file submitted as a ZIP, and hopefully it won't require RTP. If that doesn't work, use the EXE...? ^^;

EDIT: Okay, uploaded the EXE instead. Am nervous that the ZIP won't work properly.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=AtiyaTheSeeker
Quick question. For VX Ace, does using the built-in compressor and clicking "Include RTP Data" count as not needing the RTP installed? If not, what do? I think Tsukihime had a program that could work instead but IDK.

EDIT: This is the resource checker I meant. Will mess with that quick, then go to ZIP it.

Tsukihime's resource-checker is pretty good at grabbing stuff, and I wholeheartedly recommend it for any Ace project that has a reliance on the RTP. However, unfortunately, there is data it does not read. I detail this to some degree, and what I did to cover those bases, here.
I'll probably update it again - but it should be more or less done, so why not submit now?
Damn, I'm so embarassed...
I've published the game and I left it public for one entire day with a terrible bug just starting it, now it's fixed. I feel so bad because some people downloaded it without that fixed.
Nothing to do about it now, at least I noticed before the event ended.
author=s4urr
Damn, I'm so embarassed...
I've published the game and I left it public for one entire day with a terrible bug just starting it, now it's fixed. I feel so bad because some people downloaded it without that fixed.
Nothing to do about it now, at least I noticed before the event ended.


Ugh, I've mad that mistake before, it always hurts. XD

At least you fixed it quick!
I sadly have to admit defeat once again... I really liked this event idea and I was super motivated to make a game. Unfortunately even if I had a nice plot on which I would have liked to work on, I didn't have the time to do that... Anyways well done to everyone who is done with their entries, and good luck to those who are still working on it!
I finished my game! I want to polish it more but I’m afraid I would not get a game if I do that.
I must admit that my imagination was still weaker than I thought.
Unfortunately, I was not able to bring my project to an adequate state, so I am out of the race.
Thanks, it was an interesting event and good luck to all participants.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to make it. I can't say I don't like the story. I just have no enthusiasm for making this game. This is just something I would have rather written as a short story. I don't even have gameplay.
I submitted mine! I'll work on it some more in case there are missing sound files and all but I think it's good to go.

I hope everyone who didn't get to finish could finish them eventually cuz the screenshots from the midpoint checkup looked great!
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Since we're getting down to the wire, allow me to make a friendly reminder that this event needs to have a download associated with a gamepage. If you have not submitted a gamepage yet, this is pretty much the last day to do it!

Good luck!
Phew, and it's done. I didn't get to work on it as much as I'd hoped and it doesn't work as well as I'd like, but at least the game is finished. Happy Halloween :'D
I am going to have to use my reroll.