General Scene Party Rules
category: parties [glöplog]
Hey pals,
I'm one of the organizers of 7DX Demo Party series. This year we'll organize the 10th party which will be the biggest of the series.
I just received a message from a regular competitor. He is coming from the game development scene but also interested in our parties and demo making. He was asking if it would be ok to release some of the materials like the making of the game and some core routines before the party. He will not release the game before the party but wants to share some of its modules / materials. I told him;
* He is allowed to join the compo as long as he doesn't release the game, even a preview which is close to the complete game.
* Sharing some codes and materials are not against our party rules but it's against the scene spirit. We usually like surprise products in the compos right?
Every party has its own rules, I know. But there is also some common rules in our scene, right? So, I'd like to hear your ideas on that subject. What should be the limit of sharing some parts of a production before a compo?
* Should sharing anything about the product be against the rules?
* Should prereleased screeshots be allowed for demos and games?
* What about sharing partial codes and materials?
Don't forget, we are talking about sharing stuff before joining the compos. Afterwards, of course everyone is completely free to share their codes, materials and experience.
I'm one of the organizers of 7DX Demo Party series. This year we'll organize the 10th party which will be the biggest of the series.
I just received a message from a regular competitor. He is coming from the game development scene but also interested in our parties and demo making. He was asking if it would be ok to release some of the materials like the making of the game and some core routines before the party. He will not release the game before the party but wants to share some of its modules / materials. I told him;
* He is allowed to join the compo as long as he doesn't release the game, even a preview which is close to the complete game.
* Sharing some codes and materials are not against our party rules but it's against the scene spirit. We usually like surprise products in the compos right?
Every party has its own rules, I know. But there is also some common rules in our scene, right? So, I'd like to hear your ideas on that subject. What should be the limit of sharing some parts of a production before a compo?
* Should sharing anything about the product be against the rules?
* Should prereleased screeshots be allowed for demos and games?
* What about sharing partial codes and materials?
Don't forget, we are talking about sharing stuff before joining the compos. Afterwards, of course everyone is completely free to share their codes, materials and experience.
No Skating!
*ahem*
As long as the full production is not available in any form, I don't think there should be any issue. With the amount of effects-reuse in the scene, anything else would be too limiting :p
Related note: It is becoming common to enter demo/wild-music into streaming-music compos as well.
*ahem*
As long as the full production is not available in any form, I don't think there should be any issue. With the amount of effects-reuse in the scene, anything else would be too limiting :p
Related note: It is becoming common to enter demo/wild-music into streaming-music compos as well.
The purpose of the "must not be previously released" rule is to stop people from hawking the same production around multiple parties to try to collect extra prizes without contributing anything new. As long as they're not doing that, I see no problem with sharing materials in advance of the party.
Most people *choose* to keep their productions secret, so that they have maximum impact when they're shown, but I don't think that's an absolute requirement... releasing some 'teasers' to generate some advance hype is a valid choice too. Navis's Iconoclash blog (about the making of Happiness Is Around The Bend) is a good example of that, and IIRC Shad 3 had some advance publicity too, in Zine I think. <<insert inappropriate Hugi advert here, pointing out that they've also featured demo previews at some time or another>>
Most people *choose* to keep their productions secret, so that they have maximum impact when they're shown, but I don't think that's an absolute requirement... releasing some 'teasers' to generate some advance hype is a valid choice too. Navis's Iconoclash blog (about the making of Happiness Is Around The Bend) is a good example of that, and IIRC Shad 3 had some advance publicity too, in Zine I think. <<insert inappropriate Hugi advert here, pointing out that they've also featured demo previews at some time or another>>
gasman: plus add various paper advert spreded/hnged around the party hall advertising some productions. imo relasing previews kills the competition spirit - we did it before xenium'99 announcing that there will be a final version of recent madwizards demo released ("datablade"). the result was lack of competition and overall low compo quality. so, i took a lesson and never spread rumours about the releases. at least before the party - gossips from beer garden are spreading very fast :)
thanks for the answers. i'll take your thoughts into account when preparing the new party rules list this year.