iDevGames presents the OMG Cup 2005 - sponsored by Freeverse Software

Contest Overview

The OMG (Original Mac Games) Cup is a new game programming contest established by iDevGames, in connection with Freeverse Software, to encourage unique Mac game development. iDevGames is proud to partner with the Mac platform’s leading game developer of original Mac games, Freeverse Software. The challenge of the contest is to create innovative Mac OS X games that emphasize engaging gameplay—in only six weeks! The OMG Cup builds on the success of our smaller contest, “21 Days Later,” and the industry leading annual contest, “uDevGames.” With numerous success stories of past entrants of our uDevGames contest releasing commercial games, we look forward to fostering the development of a new generation of Mac game programmers. – Carlos Camacho (Editor-in-Chief, iDevGames)

Official Start

October 18, 2005 12:01am GMT

The Three Fs of Winning

Fame, Free games, and Freeverse cash (Please see complete list below)

Official Rules

OMG Cup 2005 (the “Contest”) is being sponsored by iDevGames (the “Sponsor”) in connection with Freeverse Software. Each person or entity who enters the Contest (each, an “Entrant”) agrees to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor and its judges, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the Contest.

How to Enter

To enter the Contest, an Entrant who is otherwise eligible under these Official Rules must submit all of the following materials by November 28, 2005 11:59pm GMT (the “Entry Deadline”):

Game Requirements

  1. Run natively under a default install of Mac OS X 10.4.2.
  2. May not exceed 20MiB (20,971,520 bytes) after compression.
  3. Must not have been demonstrated, or released publicly prior to the official start of the Contest.
  4. Is in a “beta” state or better, and with at least one (1) level complete and fully playable.
  5. Entrant has all necessary rights to commercially publish the game if third party technology (game engines, middleware, etc.) is used. (For instance, if an Entrant does not have full legal rights to commercially release a game using the Torque engine, that game is not eligible for the Contest.)
  6. Neither the Entered Game nor the duplication, use, display, performance, or distribution of the Entered Game will infringe or misappropriate any intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any person or entity.

Judging

Entered Games which meet the Entry Deadline and Game Requirements (a “Qualified Entered Game”) will be initially voted on by the public.

Public Voting

  • Public voting will commence on December 1, 2005 12:01am GMT and conclude on December 15, 2005 11:59pm GMT.
  • To vote, please visit http://www.idevgames.com/contest/voting/.
  • For each vote, a score between one (1) and ten (10) will be given on the criteria of “gameplay.”
  • The final public score will be calculated based on the average score per game.

Nominating Committee

The top six Qualified Entered Games (the “Finalist”) will be announced on December 19, 2005. The Finalist will have until Decemember 31, 11:59pm GMT (the “Finalist Deadline”) to improve the presentation of their entry. The “Nominating Committee” will be composed of approximately four (4) to six (6) nominating judges appointed by Sponsor. Members of the Nominating Committee may include staff of Sponsor, representatives from major independent gaming websites, and other individuals familiar with video game design. The specific identities of the members of the Nominating Committee will be (a) listed on the Contest page, along with their hardware specifications, and (b) are subject to change upon notice posted thereon. Each judge will assign one score of one (1) to ten (10) based on a combination of gameplay, originality, and overall presentation. The three Finalists with the highest total scores (the “Winners”) of the OMG 2005 Cup will be announced on January 12, 2006 at MacWorld 2006 by representatives of Freeverse Software.

The Prizes

  • 1st Place Winner – The OMG 2005 Cup Trophy, $300 dollars, one game from Freeverse Software games, and a contract with Freeverse Software to turn their winning entry into a finished product. (Either a shareware or retail product at Freeverse Software’s discretion.)
  • 2nd Place Winner – $150 plus any three Freeverse Software games.
  • 3rd Place Winner – $50 plus any three Freeverse Software games.
  • 4th, 5th and 6th Finalists – An original OMG Cup T-shirt from iDevGames plus one free game from Freeverse Software.
  • Qualified Entrants – All other Entrants of Qualified Entered Games may select one game from Freeverse Software.

Prizes Terms

All monetary amounts in these Official Rules are indicated in United States dollars and all monetary prizes will be awarded in the form of checks or money orders in United States dollars. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any non-monetary prizes with items of equal or greater value. Entrants will be solely responsible for bearing any income or other taxes, fees, or other costs relating to any prize.

Release

By entering the Contest, each Entrant releases and holds harmless the Sponsor and its affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, and staff from any and all responsibility or liability arising out of or relating to: (i) any personal injury, death, property (including computer) damage, or other loss or claim of any kind arising from or in connection with any violation of these Official Rules; the Contest, or any Entered Game; the acceptance, possession, or use of any prize; or any travel required by the Contest; (ii) any entry or other materials that have been tampered with, that are misdirected, incomplete, incorrect, non-conforming, corrupt, lost, late, or ineligible, or, with respect to mail-in entries or materials, that are sent postage due; and (iii) computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, hardware, software, or other technical malfunctions or failures; garbled or jumbled transmissions; Internet or website inaccessibility or delays; printing or typographical errors in any Contest materials; or any other technical or human errors occurring in connection with the Contest.

By entering the Contest, each Entrant consents to the use of the Entrant’s name, photograph and likeness (if an individual), logo (if any), state of residence, and Entered Game for advertising, promotion, marketing, and administration of the Contest without additional compensation, to the extent permitted by law.

Representations

By entering the Contest, each individual submitting entry materials (including an Entered Game) represents and warrants to Sponsor that:

  • such individual either is the Entrant (if the Entrant is an individual) or is a fully authorized representative of the Entrant (if the Entrant is a business entity);
  • the Entered Game consists entirely of Entrant’s own original work or of work to which Entrant has all necessary rights, and
  • the Entrant and the Entered Game fully comply with all eligibility requirements and all other provisions of these Official Rules.

Termination

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest in its sole and absolute discretion if the Contest becomes technically corrupted or is not capable of being run as planned, including infections by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such event, Sponsor will post notice on iDevGames.com.

Miscellaneous

If any part of these Official Rules is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or otherwise unenforceable, such part will be deemed modified or eliminated to the extent necessary, in the court’s opinion, to make it enforceable while preserving the original intent of the Sponsor, and the remaining parts of these Official Rules will remain in full force and effect. The Contest will be governed by, and these Official Rules will be interpreted by, and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Connecticut and applicable United States federal law, without regard to any conflicts of laws principles. The Contest is void where prohibited by law. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Official Rules, the Contest, the Conference, or any prize must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hartford, Connecticut and Sponsor and each Entrant irrevocably waive any objection to the venue and jurisdiction thereof.

Mini-FAQ

Q. Do you accept entries that can run on other platforms?
A. Cross-platform (Mac, PC, Linux) entries are permitted, however only the native Mac OS X playable will be judged.

Q. Your other contests require the submission of source code. How about OMG Cup?
A. Because the underlining goal of the OMG Cup is different from our other contests, source code or project files are not required. That said, if you plan to release the game as freeware or under an open source license in the future, we welcome your source code submissions!

Q. Can I enter multiple entries as a developer?
A. The rules don’t forbid more than one entry, however, due to the short development period available, we suggest you concentrate on one entry.

Q. Can I use third-party library (X), language (Y), or engine (Z)?
A. It is your responsibility to ensure that your game works on a default install of Mac OS X 10.4.2. That means you must include everything your game requires in the download. Thus, third-party software counts against the 20MiB size limit. You should also make sure to comply with the licenses of the third-party software, and to ensure that your game is still eligible for the competition (eg. you have the rights to distribute your game commercially).

Q. I’ve worked on a game for the last year, however, even my own family hasn’t seen it. Can I enter it?
A. Yes, you can enter a game which you worked on previously as long as it hasn’t been shown to the public (i.e., internet, forums, IRC, school, etc.)

Q. What happens if I learn about a bug in my game entry?
A. You may continue to update your game until the end of the public voting period. Keep in mind that once a voter has voted for your game, they won’t be able to recast their vote. If your game is one of the top six finalists, and a major bug limits the evaulation of your game by any judge, you’ll be given until December 10, 2005 11:59pm GMT to remedy the situation.

Q. The size limitation is too severe. Can my game transfer/download/stream/etc. additional game assets?
A. Since the focus is on challenging developers to create a great game in a limited size, entries that connect to an outside network, except for allowing for multi-player gaming, will not be allowed.

Q. In the event that my game wins first place, will I be required to publish through Freeverse Software?
A. There are no requirements that the winner publish via Freeverse Software—the choice is yours.

Q. Can I use artwork, music or other game assets that I didn’t make?
A. Developers may include free or commercial game assets, providing that their use does not infringe or misappropriate any intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any person or entity.

Q. I’m a musician/artist/level designer/coffee fetcher, is it OK to help out on multiple projects?
A. Yes, we welcome your participation, but keep in mind that the division of the prizes for winning Entrants will be soley their responsibility and neither iDevGames nor Freeverse will mediate any disputes between team members.

If you have further questions, please post them to our community forum.

How you can help us

Whether you’re an entrant, developer, gamer, or Mac fan, please help us spread the word about the OMG Cup contest. Tell your friends, post on your website or blog, encourage developers to join, and remind Mac gamers to play & vote! Here are some banners that you can use on your website or blog to help promote this year’s contest.

To help offset the costs of organizing the OMG Cup contest, and to support our community, donations are welcomed.

About the OMG Cup Organizers

Freeverse Software

Freeverse Software is a leading developer of entertainment software, specializing in Mac games. Based in New York City, Freeverse titles have received numerous awards including a MacWorld Game Hall of Fame, two MWSF Best of Shows and three Apple Design Awards in 2004. Its original characters have appeared in TimeDigital, Wired, and Animation World magazines, as well as in national television commercials for Blockbuster Video.

iDevGames

Established in 1998, iDevGames’ mission is to educate, support, and enhance the Macintosh Game Developer community. We also hope to facilitate the exchange between developers and designers so that the Macintosh game market can expand and improve. iDevGames features articles, the latest industry news, tutorials, an active forum, downloads, and much more for Macintosh Game Developers.