Have you ever wanted to make your own Vampire: The Masquerade video game and share it with the world? Maybe you even want to monetize it? Here’s your chance!
To celebrate the finale of Month of Darkness, we’re opening our Dark Pack Agreement for exactly 1 month to allow you to create video games using the Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition setting.
Last year's Vampire: The Masquerade Jam brought us 87 amazing games, some of which released later via Unbound, and the winning team now working with World of Darkness team to release a full version of their title (check the latest teaser here!). We can't wait to see what this year brings!
What's different about this year's jam?
Three winners, special prize
We will be picking 3 equal winners who will get a chance to release their game as a part of World of Darkness Unbound with zero royalty fees until September 2023 (regular Unbound rules apply afterwards), so you will be able to collect all revenue you make from the game in this period!
Hunter is on the table
Starting from today, we allow Hunter: The Reckoning 5th Edition to be the base of World of Darkness Unbound games - and this jam is no different! If you want to make a game from the perspective of a Hunter, feel free to participate with it!
Three themes
This year’s Vampire Jam has 3 themes you can choose from while making your game. They are meant to inspire you and can be treated loosely — you can also try to combine more than one theme in your game, if you wish!
Themes
Love Among Monsters
An eternity of solitude is rarely a Kindred’s dream. Even if they make an active decision to avoid others, unexpected love may come crashing down on them with the power of Gehenna. And then, everything gets more complicated….
Feel free to come up with your own interpretation of the theme, but here are some examples to give you some inspiration!
- A few Kindred take interest in the protagonist, willing to take them under their wing, but the player must choose only one
- It’s safest to communicate using letters, but the decisions of what you write in them are final, and some love letters can never be unsent…
- Even as undead, Kindred must protect their Touchstone at all costs
- Hunting a local quarry becomes difficult, as the monster turns out to be very enticing.
Horrors Unbound
Even an old vampire (or Hunter) can find fear in what hides among the shadows of World of Darkness. Sometimes personal horror is external, sometimes it comes from within yourself.
Example uses:
- Your vampire haven is haunted! Will the player find the source of the possession?
- The Anarchs have sent Camarilla Kindred packing, but something unknown now moves among them, leaving only ash and blood in its wake
- A Primogen hasn't appeared in the Elysium for a while, and the player’s character is sent to investigate their mansion…
- A Hunter tracks their quarry while trying to remain undetected…
The Hunt & The Hunted
Nothing is (or should be) as important to Kindred as staying hidden… and nothing is (or should be) as important to Hunters as making sure they take advantage of every occasion their quarry fails to do it.
Example uses:
- A Hunter hunting a vampire,
- A vampire hunting a Hunter,
- An org hunting a Hunter who’s trying to hunt a vampire,
- The character is being hunted by something, but what the hell is it?!
…you get the idea!
Rules
- Your game must be based on Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition or Hunter: The Reckoning 5th Edition.
- All engines are permitted, as long as your game is playable on Windows PCs. Check the Resources section for a list of easily accessible engines!
- Please don't enter with previously finished projects. You can use free assets (check Resources section!), assets you legally obtained, artwork/music you’ve previously done, or OCs/stories you developed at your roleplaying tables. You can also use this jam as an opportunity to finish game ideas you had previously.
- You can work on your game solo or in a team. There’s no limit on team members in your party, just keep in mind that scoping down works best for game jams.
- Your game cannot use assets you have no rights to use - please don’t use assets from other VTM games, artwork you downloaded without artist’s consent, copyrighted music, etc.
- Your game cannot use branding, events or characters from official VTM video games, and must follow Unbound rules for game titles. That means, unfortunately, you cannot make Bloodlines 2: My Version. Nor Bloodhunt 2. Please avoid using "VTM: Game Title" or "Vampire The Masquerade: Game Title" as your game's name, not to confuse it with officially licensed titles.
- Your game should have the Dark Pack Logo in the main menu or opening screen, and a note: “This game was created as a part of Vampire: The Masquerade game jam. Events portrayed in this game are not canon within World of Darkness universe”. Download Dark Pack Logo: Version 1 / Version 2
- In the duration of the jam, the game must be free, with no monetization included, and available only on itch.io. You can cover your development costs in the ways allowed by Dark Pack agreement - through Patreon, Youtube, Twitch and similar voluntary donations. Afterwards, you can apply to join World of Darkness Unbound and monetize it on itch.io based on the program.
- This game jam is for video games only, that means you can’t submit board games, card games, TTRPG games and similar.
- Historical settings are welcome, but similarly to Storytellers Vault rules, please keep to “real” time periods - no science fiction, steampunk, cyberpunk or similar.
- After the game jam is over, your game can be hosted on itch indefinitely - but starting with December 1st, you can only update your game with translations, accessibility features and bug fixes, unless you join World of Darkness Unbound, in which case you can still expand your game and even monetize it.
- By entering this game jam, you agree to our contest’s Terms and Conditions.
Voting & Prizes
The top 3 contestants will be chosen by the World of Darkness Brand Team within Paradox Interactive. All winners receive:
- Ability to release and monetize your game via World of Darkness Unbound royalty-free until September 2023. This means the whole revenue from your game from its release until September next year goes to the developer, with no licensing fees going to World of Darkness. Afterward, regular World of Darkness Unbound terms apply.
- $500 monetary reward.
- A release marketing and creative consultation with World of Darkness team.
- Social media promotion for the release of your game (World of Darkness News + World of Darkness social media channels)
- Complete World of Darkness 5th Edition digital library to date, including all 5th Edition video games and books:
- V5 Corebook, Anarch, Camarilla, Sabbat, Second Inquisition
- Chicago by Night, Chicago Folios, Let The Streets Run Red
- Cults of the Blood Gods, Children of the Blood, Trails of Ash and Bone, Forbidden Religions
- Book of Nod, New Blood Starter Pack, Fall of London
- Steam keys for VTM: Coteries of New York and VTM: Shadows of New York
- Steam keys for VTM: Night Road, VTM: Out for Blood, VTM: Parliament of Knives, VTM: Sins of the Sires
Resources
Official World of Darkness resources:
- Vampire Jam Workshop by Outstar - How To Make A Game In One Month
- Dark Pack Community Discord with community members asking and answering questions
- Free V5 art assets to use in your game
Art / visuals:
- Pexels - free library of great quality photos/videos
- opengameart.org
- Free assets on Itch
Engines (examples):
- For text games: Twine, ChoiceScript, Ink by Inkle
- For visual novels: Ren'Py, TyrannoBuilder, Visual Novel Maker
- For 2D games: Unity, GameMaker Studio, Godot, RPG Maker
- For 3D games: Unity, Unreal Engine
Music/SFX
FAQ
I’ve never made a game in my life, is this game jam for me?
Yes! Whether you have any experience or not, feel free to join in. Game jams are a great opportunity to learn new things and finish your project in a short time frame.
But I don’t know how to code!
No issue. There are many game engines that don’t require you to code, or projects you can do with a minimal amount of coding that you are able to learn in the duration of the game jam. Check out Resources for more information!
I would like to participate, but I don’t feel comfortable doing it on my own. Where can I find people to team up with?
Use our Dark Pack Community Discord server or World of Darkness Discord server to look for a team! We opened Vampire Jam rooms in both!
I haven’t read VTM/HTR 5th Edition yet, but I know the general lore. Can I still join?
You can definitely try to make a game based only on information available for free online, by browsing fan-made resources, or by asking lore questions to our community on World of Darkness or Dark Pack Community Discord servers. That being said, adherence to the setting will be one of our judging criteria, so try to keep close to it!
Can I include characters featured in VTM books or LA by Night?
Yes!
Can I adapt another game I’ve made previously into a VTM setting for this game jam?
You can use ideas you've started before, but please don't re-adapt already finished games or projects that had more development before the jam than during. Let's make it fair for contestants who are starting from the scratch to compete with you!
Can I include a werewolf/changeling/mage in the game?
You can include other World of Darkness creatures mentioned in 5th Edition as non-playable characters.
Can I use Kuei-Jin/Kiasyd/Baali/any other legacy concept in my game?
No, your game should be based on 5th Edition.
The terms of conduct state participation in this game jam automatically gives you a license to my game - what does it mean in practice?
Our terms of conduct are very similar to our Paradox Mod Policy. Legally, it means you - as a creator - still own the game, but you grant us a license for it, and if we ever were to use that license, we’d still need to credit you as an owner. In practice, it’s a legal prerequisite we’d use only to protect our brand IP ownership, and only in the most extreme cases. From our history of working with mod creators, if we ever liked a particular idea and wanted to adapt it into our official products, we always asked for the developers consent, or released their projects officially in collaboration with the modders (for example, with Surviving Mars or Cities: Skylines packs). This allows us to maintain a good relationship with community creators. If you have any questions about terms of conduct and the jam’s rules, please feel free to ping @ Outstar on Dark Pack Community Discord!
Is this game jam your way of getting ideas for future Vampire: The Masquerade games?
There is only one resource in game development that there’s always an abundance of: ideas! We have a plenty of things cooking behind the scenes, and our main goal in organizing this game jam is to allow our community to make cool things and enjoy them together. That being said, if we absolutely love your idea, we’ll get in touch with you!
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