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You can sign up for the project here. Once you have signed up, you There’s no other qualification necessary! |
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Each person or entity who enters the Development Competition agrees to abide by the rules. |
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1. The Competition begins at Noon PST on September 7th, 2007 and (unless adjusted) ends at 11:59 PM PST, November 30th, 2008. We reserve the right to change the end date based on our requirements 2. There is no “Entry Deadline”, as development work may commence at any time. Competition submissions will be accepted all the way through until the end of the Competition. 3. Any submission received after the end date will not be considered. 4. Any applicant must accept full responsibility for abiding by local, state and federal laws, and for paying applicable taxes on any prizes they receive. 5. The game will be a FREE-TO-PLAY PC Massively Multiplayer Online Character-Based Racing Game. The game will allow potentially millions of players to enter races in small groups. The size of the per-race groups will be determined by the specifications and restrictions of the chosen engine. 6. The game’s title during development will be Top Secret – “Your Team Name”. |
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Professional, amateur, student developers and mod developers are eligible to enter the competition. For example, a college may choose to submit an entry representing all of its students. An indie development team or mod team, as well as professional teams with shipped games may also enter. It’s open to anyone technically qualified to create the game, anywhere in the world. This is a global competition! |
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• No, this competition is completely FREE to enter. • The completed game must be a “full” professional computer game, not a flash or Java game. It must be fully compatible with DirectX 9.0c, and run smoothly on Windows XP & Windows VISTA. • Only unpublished and newly created original games (“Applications”) are eligible to be entered in the Competition. Any application that has been published at any time by a generally recognized publisher or by any company or organization other than the actual developer of the application is not eligible. • The engine and resulting game must be scalable to accommodate at least one million players on all servers combined, playing in small groups. • For the entrant who wins the competition, Acclaim will make best efforts to negotiate and secure a licensing fee, as long as the fee is not higher than the average “standard industry fee” charged for the use of that specific engine. • And yes, if you are eligible, you may submit more than one application! |
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To enter the Competition, an Entrant who is eligible under these Official Rules must submit all of the following materials for each Entered Application: (1) Any code supplied must be virus free, Trojan free, Spyware free. If ANY security issues are found with the code, that entrant (including their team) will be banned from this competition and can be held liable for any damages. Testing for the PC platforms is strongly encouraged. (Windows XP, Windows Vista.) |
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These milestones are not mandatory, but highly suggested. Anyone can win the competition by submitting at the end of the contest. However, we want to encourage contestants to submit the milestone entries because they can gain feedback from the community, and improve their chances of winning. Milestone 1 - NOVEMBER 1st, 2007: Video of Concept – a 1-3 minute video… like a movie trailer, which shows the visual quality your team thinks they can achieve in the final game. The video should attempt to show simulated game play and reveal why this game is exciting and fresh. Milestone 2 - MARCH 1st, 2008 – Simple Playable Demo (Minimum Spec*: One Track, One Beast, One Rider, Animations, Basic Interface, Basic Audio.) Milestone 3 - AUGUST 15th, 2008 – Playable Demo (Minimum Spec*: Fully Playable – 3 Tracks, 5 Beasts, 3 Riders, Animations, Collision Detection, Player Interactions (fighting moves and effects), Sounds, Visual Effects, Network Code Working, Item Store, Music & Sound Effects.) Milestone 4 - NOV 30th, 2008 – CLOSED BETA DEMO (TO BE JUDGED BY THE TOP SECRET COMMUNITY BASED ON A COMBINATION OF QUALITY AND FUN FACTOR.) *Note: These are the Minimum specifications for the milestones. Teams are encouraged to exceed these requirements. |
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Judging is a two step process: 1. After November 30th, 2008, David Perry will conduct pre-judging to narrow down the entered Applications to a finite set of five Finalists. 1. Completeness of submission (e.g. materials, documentation, copy, etc.) 3. The winner will be announced following the Top Secret community voting and completion of the contest Winner Verification requirements (see below). |
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| The verified Winner will be announced after the verification process has been completed, and posted on the Acclaim website. |
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If you do not win the competition you retain the rights to anything you have created, however, you are not permitted to publish a game based on our designs. You may use any assets you have created for other projects and own the rights to. By Entering this competition, you agree to the following terms and conditions: |
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| 1. Any submission received after the end date will not be considered. 2. By submitting an Entered Application, the Entrant represents and warrants that the Entered Application is the Entrant’s own original work and that the Entrant is the owner or has obtained and currently holds valid and sufficient worldwide rights, including rights in third party intellectual properties, to grant the Sponsors, their subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and customers the rights granted therein. The Entrant agrees to take sole responsibility for any claims or damages resulting from submission and representation of another developer’s application as their own. Each Entrant also agrees to release, indemnify, defend and hold the Sponsors harmless from any and all complaint, claims, liabilities and damages (including without limitation attorney’s fees) related to the Entrant’s entry in the Competition, or usage of the Entered Application by the Sponsors. Each Entrant agrees to immediately notify the Sponsors in the event that he or she discovers that there is any change in the ownership of the Entered Application concept or entry as acknowledged and represented herein. 3. Only unpublished and newly created original games (“Applications”) are eligible to be entered in the Competition. Any application that has been published at any time by a generally recognized publisher or by any company or organization other than the actual developer of the application is not eligible. 4. Applications that make use of third party middleware, code or other software or technology are only eligible if the Entrant has all necessary worldwide clearances or worldwide rights to commercially publish the application, including but not limited to images, sounds effects, music, likenesses, source code and anything else protected by trademark, copyright, or right of publicity. Before submitting an Application, the Entrant must have obtained the written permission of all persons or entities having any rights in the Application. If the Application is chosen as a Competition Finalist, Acclaim will require the Entrant to provide proof waivers, open source licenses, or written permission(s). 5. Entrants who use a 3rd party 3D Game Engine (when required by the engine developer) will need to get written permission from the developer of that engine, to permit the release of non-commerical (not-for-sale) demos during the development of the game. 6. Any winning team entering the Competition agrees to and does hereby grant Acclaim Games Inc., their subsidiaries, affiliates and agents an exclusive and irrevocable worldwide right to publish their entry as a professional video game and that the game will be the sole property of Acclaim. |
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| 1. By accepting a prize, winner agrees to hold the Sponsors, their respective directors, officers, employees and assigns, harmless against any and all claims and liability arising from use of or receipt of the prize. Prize winners assume all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused, by participation in this competition or use or redemption of any prize. 2. Any applicant must accept full responsibility for abiding by local, state and federal laws applicable in their country of residence and in the United States of America, and for paying applicable taxes on any prizes they receive. 3. Winner Verification Requirements: As a condition of entering, the unverified Winner must execute and return via a provided prepaid mailer an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability/Publicity Release Form, unless prohibited by law, confirming eligibility and that their Entered Application meets all entry requirements. Prizes may be awarded to alternate winners if affidavit is not returned within seven (7) days of attempted notification; if a prize notification letter or e-mail message is undeliverable; if a winner does not respond to a prize notification or e-mail within seven (7) days or if a prize is returned as undeliverable. |
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| 1. Each Entrant agrees to and does hereby grant the Sponsor, their subsidiaries, affiliates, assigns, and agents, and customers the non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right and license to reproduce, modify, display, publicly perform, and demonstrate the Entered Application for promotional, marketing, public relations purposes. 2. Entry constitutes permission to the Sponsors and their agencies to use winner’s names and/or likenesses worldwide for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. The Sponsors and their agencies are not responsible for any typographical or other errors in the printing of the offer, administration of the competition or in the announcement of prizes. The Winner, if it is a business entity, must also use its best efforts to obtain for the Sponsors similar rights from its employees, to the extent permitted by law, upon Sponsor’s request. 3. Entrants who do not win the competition retain all rights to the assets they have created and can use them for any purpose they devise. However, they cannot use the Top Secret game design or publish a game substantially similar to the Top Secret game design. For instance, they cannot make a beast racing game or use the other core concepts of the Top Secret game design as a basis for their own game. |
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1. If, for any reason, the Competition cannot be conducted as planned by reason of infection by computer virus, unauthorized intervention, technical difficulties, lack of entries (under 5) or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsors which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsors, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Competition, the Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Competition. In the event of termination, a notice will be posted on the ACCLAIM website. The Sponsors reserve the right to modify the Competition or disqualify any Entrant or voter if fraud, misconduct or technical failures destroy the integrity of the Competition as determined by the Sponsors, in its sole discretion. Any use of robotic, automatic, programmed or the like methods of participation will void all such submissions and/or votes used by such methods. The Sponsors reserve the right to prohibit the participation of an individual if fraud or tampering is suspected, or if Entrant fails to comply with any requirement of participation as stated herein or with any provision in these Official Rules. In the event the Sponsor is prevented from continuing with the Competition or the integrity and/or feasibility of the Competition is severely undermined by any event beyond Sponsor’s control, including but not limited to fire, flood, epidemic, earthquake, explosion, labor disputes or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, war (declared or undeclared), terrorist threat or activity, or any federal, state or local government law, order, or regulation, order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Sponsor’s control (each a “Force Majeure” event or occurrence), Sponsor shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to abbreviate, modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate the Competition without any further obligation. 2. If the sponsors, in their discretion elect to abbreviate the Competition as a result of a Force Majeure event, winners will be determined from all valid and eligible submissions and votes received up to the time of such Force Majeure event. All Entrants agree to be bound by Sponsor’s terms of use and privacy agreement. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any Competition materials and the terms and conditions of the Official Rules, the Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control. By participating in this Competition, Entrants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which are final. |