HP Lovecraft: The Commonplace Book Project 2007

HP Lovecraft: The Commonplace Book Project 2007

Executive Summary: The goal of this project is to develop an online exhibtion of interactive art, stories, and games based on H.P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book, on the 70th anniversary of his death. Extensions to the project may include transcripts, screenshots, and computer kiosks that would be set up in exhibitions, conferences, and festivals being held in 2007-2008; and a limited edition CD-ROM catalog of the works submitted.

This competition ran until June 15th, 2007. The organizer is Peter Nepstad.

Only the five games in English were eligible for "Best in Show". Voting deadline was June 30th, 2007. The winner of Best in Show was Dead Cities, with Handyman Wanted as a close runner-up.

Entries

Seven entries were released on June 19th, 2007. (Note: Lieux Communs was available slightly earlier from its host site.):

• Beyond the Threshold (Thomas 'Nihil' Busse; Wintermute).
• The Cellar (David Whyld; ADRIFT 4).
• Dead Cities (Jon Ingold; Z-code 8).
• Ecdysis (Peter Nepstad; TADS 2).
• Handyman Wanted (Roger Tober and Nige Copeland; LASSIE).
• Lieux Communs (JB, Samuel Verschelde, Eric Forgeot, Hugo Labrande, and Jean-Luc Pontico; 15-Jun-2007; Glulx and Z-code; French).
• El Museo de las Consciencias (Xpktro, Mel Hython, Santiago Eximeno, Grendel Khan, Urbatain, and Depresiv; Glulx; Spanish).

Curators

• English Language Entries (TADS, Inform): Peter Nepstad.
• English Language Entries (ADRIFT): David Whyld.
• French Language Entries: JB.
• AGS, SLUDGE, and other graphic game deveopment systems: Peter Nepstad.
• Entries in other authoring systems and languages are welcome. Contact Peter Nepstad to work out the details.

Exhibitions, conferences, and festivals

• La Maison d'Ailleurs: Musée de la science fiction, de l'utopie et des voyages extraordinaires, a museum from Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland), is planning an important exhibition around HP Lovecraft for October 2007, celebrating the 70th anniversary of his death. Based on the "Commonplace Book" (a series of ideas and notes written by HPL), the show will present works by illustrators, artists, writers... and interactive fiction authors.

Links

• HP Lovecraft: The Commonplace Book Project 2007 - The event's homepage.
• IF Games from The Commonplace Book Project at Jay is Games.
• Newsgroup (and forums) postings:
  • Announce: HP Lovecraft Commonplace Book Comp and Exhibit - rgif thread, begun on April 9, 2007.
  • HP Lovecraft Commonplace Book Comp and Exhibit - on the ADRIFT Forum.
  • Projet Franco-Anglais / proposition de Peter Nepstad and Maison d'Ailleurs : An exhibition of Unspeakable Things - on the French forum.
  • Italian Interactive Fiction HP Lovecraft Event.
  • Comp y Muestra del Libro de Lugares comunes de HP Lovecraft (forum thread) and (Yahoo! Group) - Spanish.
  • H.P. Lovecraft Commonplace Book games now available - rgif thread, begun June 19th, 2007.
  • H.P. Lovecraft Commonplace Book project Best in Show - rgif thread, begun July 9th, 2007.