ANNOUNCE: HP Lovecraft Commonplace Book Comp and Exhibit

I’ve just posted this over at rec.arts.int-fiction, but here it is again!:

HP Lovecraft put all his story ideas into his “Commonplace Book.” Now
it’s time for you to take one up for yourself and realize it.

This comp will run until mid-June: about eight weeks.

And what will happen to the results? Well, there’s the exhibit at the
Swiss Museum of Science Fiction and Utopias, for starters. The exhibit
will launch in October, to be followed by a few other venues as well.
Writers and artists from around the world are contributing work based
on Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book – including artists such as HR Giger,
and writers such as Michael Moorcock, contributing new and original
work to the exhibit. And also including – Interactive Fiction. And
why not? The curator is interested, and so am I, but I figured there’s
no reason that I should do this alone.

And what else? Well, I’m looking into some of the Lovecraft festivals
coming up this year, and the possibility of setting up a playable
exhibit there.

Anything else? How about a professionally produced CD-ROM of all the
entries? Well, that’s a difficult one, as production costs money and
I’ll need to earn it back somehow, but I want to do this if at all
possible.

But wait – there’s more! Why not broaden our horizons a bit? So in
addition to English works, there will also be a French section,
curated by JB, author of the celebrated Ekphrasis. and an Italian
section, though not fully realized yet. And Adrift gets its own
section, as well, so that there can be a separate Adrift “best in
show” that I’ve asked David Whyld to curate.

And well, why stop there. I also hope to invite the AGS community to
contribute as well.

I’ve put together a webpage about the event:

illuminatedlantern.com/if/lovecraft.html

Filled with all the rules, plans, and so on as they exist now. As I
make more arrangements, the page will be updated. Ideas about front-
end gallery type delivery systems for the games are also very welcome.
The competition part of this competition is very small. I would like
the games to be played after they are finished and a general voting
done to determine “Best in Show” in each category, but no additional
ranking. I strongly favor participation over judging.

So, if you want to participate, follow the instructions on the webpage
for your development platform. (In other words, send me, or one of the
other curators, an email). I hope this competition will generate
interest and enthusiasm among independent game developers. For my
part, I thought this opportunity was too fun not to share. I hope you
agree.

Best regards,

– Peter Nepstad
illuminatedlantern.com/if

Peter Nepstad has announced the games for the Lovecraft Commonplace Book Comp are now available.

It’s on the same website for the exhibit: illuminatedlantern.com/if/lovecraft.html

Good luck to all the entrants! [emote]:D[/emote]

The Commonplace Book Project has finally reached its key date today:
the exhibit opens in Switzerland and will have a PC terminal running
the project games for visitors. The games will also remain at The
Illuminated Lantern website.

Read the full press release here:

illuminatedlantern.com/if/ne … _of_u.html

The games will be on exhibit from October through April, at which
point the exhibit may tour to other cities.

If you have played the games before, it may interest you to note that
DEAD CITIES is now available in a version that includes drawings
illustrating the action and a help bar at the bottom of the screen to
facilitate exploration in a casual setting (such as a live exhibit).
ECDYSIS has also been updated, and is now entirely playable by
clicking on text links, which was originally how the game was
conceived, but not fully realized until this version.

Enjoy,

– Peter Nepstad
illuminatedlantern.com/if