Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. Now an eternally vengeful and equally deadly poltergeist, Roosevelt has since gone back on his word to haunt the American people every October 31st! Now recognized as Halloween, this date marks the time where all ghosts, ghouls, critters and creeps crawl out of the woodwork to strike fear into the hearts and souls of every living mortal unlucky enough to be spooked - and now, it’s your turn to do the spooking!
Yes, it’s that time of the year again! The time of tricks and treats is upon us, and it’s all on you to make it the best it can be! Whether you’re a cosmetic creator, a map-making madman, particle professional, or anything in between, you can send shivers down the spine of the TF2 community by taking part in this year’s Workshop of Horrors II!
If you’d like to participate, then look no further! But as we all know, the only thing scarier than Halloween is legal action and the lawyers that execute it - so we’re providing a brief set of guidelines and additional information to make sure everyone is on the same spooky page!
Of course, any and all submissions on the Steam Workshop using our provided thumbnail template [see below] will be featured in the official collection, unless your submission has any of the following problems:
- Your submission must not feature a doctored promotional thumbnail that appears vastly different from the actual appearance of the item. Paintover appearances are of course acceptable, but we discourage thumbnails that add anything to the item that isn’t actually there. If your submission has this issue, we can always talk it out and later accept your submission if the proper changes are made.
-- You also must be the true creator(s) of your submission. Blatant theft isn’t as common as it used to be on the Workshop, but any submissions that are found to be stolen or use imagery made by unknowingly uncredited parties will be excluded from the collection.
-- Any offensive imagery will be distanced from the collection. While that can be interpreted as subjective, we ask that contributors be respectful and use their best judgment. When in doubt, refer to Valve’s own guidelines, found here.
- Any and all submissions should be submitted by October 20th, 2016! We can always add items to the collection after that date, but you’re more likely to have your work featured in promotional web assets if your work is on time. Ultimately, there is no true deadline, unless Valve sets one for their own Halloween event - in that case, we will abide by theirs.
- Submissions can be a cosmetic item, weapon, weapon skin, taunt, unusual effect, or map. If it can be uploaded to the Workshop, it can be added to our collection! We fully understand how much time it takes for some of those submissions, but we fully encourage you to pursue your dreams and submit whatever you please!
Now that everyone’s caught up, here’s the official thumbnail template for this year’s submissions!
Click to Download
[PSD and PNG variations available]
Still got questions? Well hey, don’t be afraid, because we have even more answers!
Q. Is this official and/or endorsed by Valve?
A. Nope! The Workshop of Horrors continues this year to be a community effort made to light the fire under the contributing community and get the ball rolling on Halloween submissions!
Q. Is this a community project like Frontline or any others?
A. While the Workshop of Horrors is similar to those in that they have a collection and promotional webpage [in-development], it is much more so a community showcase than anything else. We also encourage you all to continue participating in the other active projects, as we in-no-way intend to step on any toes or halt production on any other projects!
Q. Will my work be made official if I submit to this project?
A. As much as we hope for everyone to have their work go official, this is ultimately not up to us! We have no say in what is added to the game or not, we’re merely putting everything on a silver platter for Valve to choose from. The Workshop of Horrors is an equal-opportunity effort and will always stay as such!
Q. I’m new to content creation, but I want to take part! How can I learn?
A. First off, if you’re new, welcome aboard! Second, there are plenty of resources out there for the inquisitive beginner, and we welcome and encourage any new talent! To start, we recommend looking over this handy collection of resources. If you have more questions about creating your content, you can always ask below - or look for help on one of the many websites revolving around TF2 content creation, such as TF2Maps!
Q. Can I submit work that I’ve made prior to this announcement?
A. Of course! We encourage all sorts of work, new and old, as long as it uses this year’s thumbnail template!
Q. How can I make sure my item is featured in the collection?
A. We’ll do routine checks of the workshop to make sure any and all items are added to the collection once it’s established, but if you’re feeling that your submission was missed, please notify us in the thread!
Q. Who's working on this?
A. Retro, Void, and Smashman, from last year's Workshop of Horrors and Workshop Wonderland, along with this year's Frontline! Community Project, will be returning!
We’ll be sure to update the OP with any new information as time goes on!
As scary as it sounds, there’s only 44 days ‘til Halloween - so let’s get spooky!
