Lotech Comp

RULES FOR JUDGES

Judges must base their judgement of each game on at most the first two hours of play.
If a judge is still playing a game at the end of a cumulative two hours of playing time and wishes to continue playing it, the judge must rate the game and not change that rating later before continuing play.
Authors may write a game of any length they desire, but should keep this rule in mind when determining the length of their entry.
Authors cannot judge their games.
Judges are asked not to discuss the entries in a public forum during the judging period, in order to let other judges form their own opinions of the games.
You may not give a rating to any game you have beta-tested.

RULES FOR AUTHORS

Games must not be based upon works currently under copyright unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

You may parody established works, but you may not, for example, write a game based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld without permission. This avoids the entire issue of copyright and the ethics involved.

Do not use copyrighted multimedia assets (graphics or sound) without permission from the copyright owner. This is especially important for MIDI files, as many web sites have MIDI versions of copyrighted songs available for download. If you don't know if a song, sound file, or picture is under copyright, don't use it.
All entries must be freely playable by judges, no strings attached. While you retain the copyright to any games you enter, by entering you are granting the competition and the Interactive Fiction Archive the non-exclusive right to distribute your game for free, and granting judges the right to play your game for free. No shareware, donorware, commercial products, etc. may be entered.
All entries must be previously unreleased at the opening of voting. If an entry has previously been circulated, it will be accepted, at organizer's will, "sub condicione" and presented in the list of the
comp, but the game CANNOT win, in any case, the competition. Translations of previously-released works are not considered to be unreleased. If you are unsure whether your game fails to meet this rule, please ask me. Note that this rule does not prevent you from having your game tested by a few beta-testers.
Authors of a competition entry may not discuss any of the entries in a public Internet forum during the voting period, nor may they canvass fora for votes.
Once the competition has begun, do not post your thoughts on your entry or anyone else's on a newsgroup or bulletin board until the deadline for voting has passed. Authors may enter at most one game. There's no restriction for Platform or authoring system.
Games submitted to LOTECHComp must have the following properties:

The game must be run entirely using a MULTIPLE CHOICE command parser. There's no limit to choice numbers.
The ONLY INPUT needed from the player to win (or complete) the game must be the following:

Single-digit numbers or letters (i.e. selections from a list of options).
System commands: save, load, quit, etc.
Non system commands *tolerated*: inventory, examine (only for objects in inventory), look (to get back to location description and multiple choice)

THE DEADLINE

The deadline for games will vary throug the years. Refer for information to the last open competition.

SUBMISSION

Games must be by e-mail attachments (zipped) to me [roberto at robertograssi dot net]. Please provide your name and e-mail address. The winners will be made available on the web with judges' comments shortly thereafter.

THE JUDGES

The judges will vary for each competition. Refer for information to the last open competition.

THE PRIZES

Lotech Comp is a no-prize comp, by default. However, it may be possible that some comp will have some prize. Refer for information to the last open competition.