The Greater Book of Transmutation is mainly based on a free association database that I found here. It’s about making things, using materials that are commonly associated with them – e.g., a cat might be made from “being feline”, “claws”, “meows” and “being graceful” and “tail”. Throw in a system of tools with actions that use/transform materials, a bit of word classification, a markov chain latin words generator, a lot of silliness and bit LaTeX, and you get:

You can find the resulting PDF here.

The source code (MIT license) written in Python is also available.

An example:

How to make a book in 12 easy steps:

Materials:

• 10 hymns
• 178 readings
• 10 clear concepts of poem
• 4 clear concepts of guide

Tools:

• bucket with water
• vessel
• pet unicorn
• ballpoint pen

Instructions:

1. Let vessel cool down.
2. Heat vessel.
3. Dip 10 clear concepts of poem into the bucket with water.
4. Feed 10 clear concepts of wet poem to your pet unicorn.
5. Let your pet unicorn lick 10 hymns.
6. Pet your pet unicorn.
7. Wait for a long time.
8. Wait until your pet unicorn poops. Receive 124.89 ounces of a very dirty pile of “wet poem”
9. Draw a magic circle on the floor using the ballpoint pen.
10. Draw a cross into the circle and place 10 licked hymns, 178 readings, 4 clear concepts of guide and 124.89 ounces of a very dirty pile of “wet poem” on each corner.
11. Whisper the following spell: “Alchemia implacabilis! Meio clystermitto clodigo condocefaciencia, millibi! Verca bisellatrocinium! Creditor circumbrans!”
12. Reluctantly, a book will appear inside the circle.

That might also help those that are struggling to make a book. And if you are missing one of the materials or tools, maybe another entry in The Greater Book of Transmutation could help you make it!

Used data sources:

• Nelson, D. L., McEvoy, C. L., & Schreiber, T. A. (1998). The University of South Florida word association, rhyme, and word fragment norms
• English Club: Uncountable Nouns List
• LATIN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY WORDLIST Version 1.97FC by William Whitaker

Recipe serves 2.

Hammertennis

You are playing Tennis. Well, you’re trying to play Tennis.
You’ve lost your tennis rackets, so you take hammers instead.
Also you’ve forgotten most of the rules.

Hammertennis: A fast-paced ball game for 2 players.
Supports Keyboard – or Gamepads! (You only need one stick. Choose any.)

Download the Windows executable

You get 2 points for scoring a goal, and 1 point if the opponent hits his own goal.

Normally only the hammers can hit the ball – but if the ball is red, the blue player can hit it once, and vice versa.

This is the first game I ever started with Python, featuring Pygame and pybox2d. Lovely language! It is also the first game that I ever made that uses any serious form of physics.

Both are thanks to Florian Berger, who is teaching the university course that got me started on making a Python game featuring any form of physics in the first place. Thanks a lot, it was great fun and (obviously, see above) had great results!

You can also download the source code (New BSD License) if you like! It needs Python 2.7, pygame 1.9.1 and pybox2d 2.1.

Credits:

• Programming: Me
• Art: Michael Kessler
• Music: Kevin MacLeod
• Sound: Moritz Ufer
• Antigrav Font: Nate Piekos
• Coda Font: Vernon Adams

Sneakball

Pick up data packets. Protect them from your enemies.
Route them to your base. Steal the ones the enemies have.
Sabotage their routing paths. And most of all: Be swift.

Sneakball is played in 2 teams of 2 players each – and each team only has one gamepad, with one stick for each character. Coordination is key, and the game is more strategic than it looks like at first glance. You can pick up the white data packets by colliding with them. If you pick one up, it’ll have your color for a second and is immune from being stolen before it turns white again. Let the balls touch your satellites (the two things emerging from the base) to score.

Downloads:

• Windows Executable
• Source (Python 2.7, pygame 1.9.1, pybox2d 2.1)

Credits:

• Concept and Programming: Me
• Art: Michael Kessler
• Music: Kevin MacLeod
• Sound: Moritz Ufer
• Antigrav Font: Nate Piekos

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