Rule-O-Matic

Don't read too much into the results of these sample spins! The method of picking rules is yet to be tweaked to its full potential, and until a good selection of rules have been added, it's rather meaningless.

Once the Rule-O-Matic has been spun for a final time, the authors of the selected rules will be contacted in order to add clarifications and last minute twists. They won't be allowed to do anything drastic, and to limit their advantage of a heads up, they won't know for sure which of the rules atually were selected. (For example, they may be notified that one of three specific rules have been selected.)

Here is a sample spin, with the following rules being chosen:

1. Genre requirements

   Big City (Good)

   Day or night - doesn't matter, but all the action must take place in a big city.

2. Technical requirements

   There is 1 technical requirement:

   Random playing (Great)

   The player never plays the same game twice because the game randomize characters, items, maps, scenarios and whatsoever is in the game.

3. Artistic requirements

   There are 2 artistic requirements:

   Brainwashing/Propaganda (Great)

   It doesn't matter what the idea is, but the program should stamp it in at every available moment, or let it sub-consciously sift into the user's mind. The more complicated idea the better. The more effective the better. Please make note of what you are trying to bring over, so it is verifiable.

   Show some respect (Good)

   In many games, the game and characters within refer to you the exact same way whether you are a level 1 novice warrior or the dude who just saved the world.
   
   Avoid this in your game. Make the in-game characters notice player's actions and respond to them, or make the game itself change the way it refers to the player according to his deeds and achievements.

4. Bonus rules

   There are 2 bonus rules:

   Act of Illuminati (Good)

   You may opt out of one other rule if you include a picture of yourself accessible via some secret within the game itself. This may be a secret area, key combination, menu item, etc. Instructions on how to unlock the secret must be hidden within your documentation file in any way you deem fit, as long as it is realistically decipherable.

   Act of Leonardo (Great)

   You may take any one rule and reverse it. This only applies to relevant rules. Meaning said rule should have an obvious reverse situation associated with it.
   
   However, if the rule has no obvious reverse situation associated with it, come up with a really good explanation as to why your new rule is the reverse of the original rule. Your new rule is subject to much scrutiny, so whit and humor may be the key element to approval.

5. Other Important Info

   All entries must comply with all requirements except where nullified by Act of Dog.

   All entries must be submitted on or before 12:00 UTC on Monday 25th July without fail. All entries must be supplied in a ZIP file equal to or less than 250 KB in size. All source code, makefiles, documentation, and references to additional libraries used must be supplied in the ZIP file.

   You can assume that everyone will have a copy of Allegro (standard installation) installed. You do not need to supply one. It is okay to use a more recent version of Allegro, but if someone is unable to compile your game because of that, it's your fault. You should consider uploading binaries for people who have problems compiling the source onto your own website. I will be checking that the binary and source match up, so adding enhancements to the 'competition binary' is not permitted..

   If source code is reused from legal sources (your own, GPLed, public domain) you should declare this and what changes have been made, so that your work can be assessed for the voting.

   People should keep a informative and interesting account of their development through the competition. This can be sent after the competition for those people with no Internet access over the weekend. This does not affect your space requirement.

   A web-based "blog" update page will be available. This will allow spectators to see what is going on :-)

   You can make use of all information sources, mailing lists as you see fit. This is not an exam! :-)