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This year, Yume Nikki turns 16 years old on June 26th.  Crazy, right?!  Wanna make a Yume Nikki Fangame to celebrate with us?  

Welcome old and new to Dream Diary Jam 4, a Game Jam all about creating fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki.  The goal of this jam is to make a Yume Nikki fangame or demo of a fangame within 6 weeks time, starting on May 17th and ending on June 26th, Yume Nikki's anniversary.   

Here are the currently accepted types of entries:

• A Traditional Yume Nikki Fangames - These games are just like Yume Nikki, except with different protagonist & worlds and sometimes a few game mechanics changed up. They're like sequels or spiritual successors to the original game in lieu of an actual Yume Nikki update. Get as experimental as you'd like. Examples of these games include .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers.
• An Actual Fangame of Yume Nikki - These games use the characters and setting of the original game and make a new game with them in it. They're like fanfiction, except with a lot more programming. You can make anything from a JRPG to a dating sim for this one, as long as it features the cast of Yume Nikki. Examples of these games include NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard.
• A Fangame of YUME NIKKI ~~Dream Diary~~ -  Your goal would be to make an adventure-platformer with surreal and/or dreamlike things, and have a few items the player can collect and use to solve puzzles.  I'll detail what I consider a YN:DD fangame below, but he idea is to pay homage to the game by making one similar to it that has similar themes to it, so try to keep that in mind. 
• An update to a previous submission - Did you enter a game in Dream Diary Jam 1, 2, or 3 and want to make an update on it?  Now's your chance!  You can take this option even if you've been working off jam on your game, as long as you provide a substantial update.

Your goal is is to make a full game, demo, or v0.00 (see "Completion Goals" for more details). Whatever you decide to make, do your best to complete it and have as much fun as you can!  There's no competition and no prizes, so there's no pressure for participants to make the best game ever.  Only gentle, encouraging pressure to get your game finished here.  If you'd like to take a look at previous years's entries, check em out here the first, second, and third jam's entries!  You can also check out the Yume Nikki Fangame wiki and it's hundreds (I know!) of fangames too!

We have TWO OPTIONAL theme this year if you'd like a little extra inspiration: Nostalgia AND/OR  Fungi &Mushrooms!  You can make it into an effect, a world motif, a thematic narrative element, the entire point of your game, or whatever else you like (or not at all!).  Get creative with it!  :)

Jam Basics

• Jam runs from May 15th, 12:00am EST to June 26th, 11:59pm EST. You can plan out your game all you'd like before then, but you can't work on it until May 15th hits. 
• No prizes, just the satisfaction of making a game within 6 weeks.
•  Late entries are accepted up to 7 days after the jam, however, you must contact the jam admin so they can be added to the jam page properly.  If you don't, it won't be included due to how itch.io works, and I rather have you in the jam than away!
• You can work by yourself or on a team, and you can make as many games as you can participate in.  If you want to commission people to make assets for you, that's perfectly allowed (as long as you actually pay them!).
• The game can be a demo or a full game. For traditional Yume Nikki Fangames, it has to fall under the requirements of a v0.00 (see "Completion Goals" for more details). Yume Nikki is still in v0.10!
• You can make your fangame any genre you'd like, don't feel constrained to horror.
• You can use any engine you'd like. The RPG Maker series is suggested for a traditional fangame, but traditional Yume Nikki fangames have been made on other engines as well.  Unity is suggested for YUME NIKKI ~Dream Diary~ Fangames as it was the engine the game was made in, but feel free to use any 2D or 3D engine you're comfortable with.

Rules

1. Stealing assets from other Yume Nikki fangames is forbidden. This is terribly rude and will get your game banned from the Jam. Looking in to their code to see how they did things is fine, but taking assets is not.
2. Keep away from recoloring sprites outside of Madotsuki's sprite from Yume Nikki for a traditional fangame. While it's alright to use Madotsuki as a base, taking things from Kikiyama devalues the originality of your own fangame, and is a bit rude to say the least. Actual fangames are free to do it as they're playable fanfictions.
3. Please do not use assets from YUME NIKKI ~Dream Diary~.  It's a commercial project, and I don't want your game taken down for copyright violation.  It also falls under rule #1.
4. Mods for Yume Nikki & YUME NIKKI ~Dream Diary~ are not allowed.  We encourage everyone to make their own game for the jam instead of modifying the existing ones.
5. Keep explicit content out of your game. You can add explicit content after the jam if you really want to, but no AO+ ratings for the jam entry itself.
6. You can plan all you want before the jam starts, but you can't work on making the game. This includes any programming or assets that go into the game. However, you can make concept art, draw out maps, writing out ideas and plot, and so on to your heart's content. Take the time to get familiar with your game and the engine you're making it in.
7. Be excellent to each other!

Completion Goals

While most Yume Nikki fangames are in a perpetual beta state like the original, games for Dream Diary Jam should meet these requirements before being submitted.

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangames

Not sure how experimental you can get with your fangame? Check out this post to see what qualifies as a Yume Nikki Fangame. The short answer to those of you who browse the Yume Nikki wiki is "Yes, non traditional fangames are allowed." There are still limits however (for example, the most recent version of Fleshchild is not a fangame), so read the post to make sure.

For traditional fangames, you're aiming for a 0.00 release. …that means a demo in Yume Nikki Fangame terms. While there's no actual definition for this, aim for having at least 2 main dream worlds accessible from the nexus, with 6 more explorable worlds you can find from there (that's the minimum though, it's ok to do more).  Include at least 3 effects and 2 events.

You are welcome to make more for your game or shoot for the stars and make a near-complete or a complete fangame. As long as it meets the criteria above, you're golden.

Want to get experimental with your fangame, but not sure how experimental you're allowed to get? Check out this post for more info.

Actual Fangames of Yume Nikki

A complete game or a complete demo is what you're aiming for with these. You must have one playable level or route for a complete demo. However, the game doesn't have a minimum content limit so you're free to make as short or long of a game as you'd like.

YUMENIKKI ~~Dream Diary~~ Fangame

When you think about it, you could consider YNDD a fangame of Yume Nikki but in a different genre with a different engine, so you would be making a fangame of a fangame like that.  The requirements for now are as follows:

• It has to have similar gameplay as Yume Nikki Dream Diary did
• There has to be elements of surrealness/dreams in it
• You have to have "effects" or other items to collect & that do stuff for puzzles

We're going to play it by ear, but that's your guidelines for now.  The idea is to pay homage to the game by making one similar to it that has similar themes to it, so try to keep that in mind.        

See you soon, dreamers!