IGF Submissions...best practices?

[Arthur]

Hi,

We are a preparing to submit our first Windows release to the IGF. It's in BETA (more or less) and we're going to be racing against the deadline.

Two questions, especially for people who have submitted to the IGF in the past: Do you recommend giving them a full unlocked version, a version that will time-out, or a trial version and then give them a reg code? We don't want to create hassle for the nominating committee, nor do we want to encourage a leaked version spreading.

Also, they say we are allowed to give an update/patch within a month...then there is language to the effect of "we will try to get it to the nominating committee if we can". Any experiences with this or comments?

Thanks!
Arthur

[Hiro_Antagonist]

Do you recommend giving them a full unlocked version, a version that will time-out, or a trial version and then give them a reg code?

Definitely give them a full unlocked version. They'd have to be pretty darned irresponsible to let themselves start a pirate epidemic of your game. More importantly though, you'll want them to see all of the glory that is your game. By making your game easier to use and more hassle-free, you will improve the experience for the judges.


Also, they say we are allowed to give an update/patch within a month...then there is language to the effect of "we will try to get it to the nominating committee if we can". Any experiences with this or comments?

We submitted a patch last year, and I have every reason to think it got distributed to the judges. I think the 'we will try' clause is in there to cover their butts in the event something goes wrong, but I'm sure they do everything reasonable to make it happen.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[kerchen]

I was an IGF judge for the last two competitions, so I'd say the easier you can make it on the judges, the better. There are a lot of games to judge and you want to make it so that the judge spends as much time as possible actually playing your game, not messing around with activation codes and so forth. If you're concerned about your entry being leaked, build an expiration date into the executable. And if your game is even remotely popular, having your game show up on a warez site is much more likely to happen via the usual routes than from an unethical judge. Besides, who wants to pirate a beta?

Regarding the updated/patched version you can submit later: Unless they've changed the rules from past years, the judges are urged to try out the new versions of the submissions they're judging, but they aren't required to do so. What I've done in the past is to wait until after the patch/update deadline before I even start looking at them. That way I'm sure I'm judging the most-recent version possible. Of course, the online games had a distinct advantage in this area because they could auto-update every time they ran.

[PoV]

:eek: You can submit a patch!?!! :eek:

That's awesome news. Any idea how late (given the due date is the 6th) you can start the submission process?

[Matthew]

You need to submit your game by the September 6th deadline regardless. You're allowed to issue the judges one patch/update before October 15th.

[soniCron]

I remember hearing something about proxy submissions. Is that happening this year, some other time, or did I just make it up?

[Matthew]

I remember hearing something about proxy submissions. Is that happening this year, some other time, or did I just make it up?

This is the first year they're going to allow proxy representation at the GDC, yeah. Someone must still attend the show to represent the game; but it doesn't neccesarily have to be someone from the dev team.

[PoV]

You need to submit your game by the September 6th deadline regardless. You're allowed to issue the judges one patch/update before October 15th.
Thanks for the patch date. What I was more curious about was the complexity of the submission procedure, as in if it would take a couple days, so if I'd need to begin the process on the 4th, or if I could be a lame ass wait until the 11PM on the 6th before I start (which is totally a bad idea mind you, I'm just saying).

[Matthew]

This is the entirety of the submission form. It's a fair amount of typing, so you'll probably want to prepare your responses before last-minute. It looks like this year they're collecting submissions by FTP upload or snail mail (in previous years you would provide an HTTP/FTP link and they would download). So, at least take into account upload times for your connection speed...