Competition Rules

[Nick]

Basics
Each competition is based on a starting savefile. Anyone wanting to play in the competition can download the savefile from the competition pages. There will also be a link to the competition variant on that page. Not all competitions will run for the same length of time; each competition will have it's start and end date on its main page.

Playing
Simply download the savefile and (if you don't have it already) the variant, load the savefile and play. You can restart from the original savefile as many times as you like - so if you die, you need to copy the original savefile again and start from that, not go through the player birth process. Making a copy with your preferred option settings (except dungeon_stair and smart_cheat - see below) and starting from that is allowed (in fact, recommended); making a copy which has already done a shopping run is OK too, but no play beyond that.

Entering
To enter the competition, upload your character dump to the ladder on the competition page. Anyone with practical or ideological objections to doing this can email me a dump or savefile at nckmccnnll@yahoo.com.au; I will then extract (if necessary) a dump and post it on the ladder.

Winning
The winner of the competition is the highest ranked character on the ladder at the end date of the competition. The method for ranking any competition will be on the competition page.

Submitting a Starting Savefile
Shortly before the start of a new competition I will put out a call for starting savefiles; anyone should feel free to send one in.
Suggestions from the experienced on what form these should take include:

• a savefile where the ancestors have developed decent monster memory;
• disconnected stairs;
• an advanced character.

If you have an idea for a starting character but are not sure how to set it up, let me know - lots of things are possible.


Honour System
There are no prizes for the competition, and everyone is trusted to follow the rules - if you don't, it's really your problem. Savescumming (making a savefile more advanced than the starting one and reloading it when you die), wizard mode, debug mode and altering edit files and/or source code are not permitted (duh). The options of disconnected/connected stairs (dungeon_stair) and monsters knowing the players weakness in advance (smart_cheat) should not be changed to the easier setting if they were set on the harder setting in the starting savefile in variants where they can be changed. Other conditions imposed on any individual competition will be on the competition page.

To quote Tony Holmes, the originator of the competition, "Let's keep this competition clean and friendly and have fun."