Could we have a side page for what "previously released" means?

[andrewschultz]

There are some questions which come up consistently, and I think they're asked in good faith. We don't want to clutter up the rules page, but it might be helpful to expound on what "previously released" means. It's something I'm pretty sure I can guess at, but prospective contestants may not want to have to guess, and it might cut down the emails you all receive and have to re-answer.

https://ifcomp.org/rules/ has "3. If you are unsure whether your game meets this rule, please ask the organizers." but maybe it could have "Here are some common examples of things that do and don't meet the criteria."

I think it'd be useful to add detail that 90% of people know because, well, if there are 10 such cases, that means someone may be unaware. Here are my suggestions to start (my verdicts may be wrong):

1. can we have something in public source control? YES, but Github allows private source control if you want that.
2. what if we have a walkthrough.txt or testing commands? That's a reason to keep things private. You may wish to put it in a branch.
3. if we have a Twine project, can we post twee code? That may mean spoilers. / YES.
4. I discussed a general plot outline on Tumblr, and a lot of people saw it. Can I still enter? / YES.
5. Someone wrote something in Inform/Twine, and I want to port it to Twine/Inform. Can I enter that? / YES(?)
6. Someone wrote something in Inform, and I want to port it to TADS. Can I enter that? / (?)
7. Can I post my entry on itch? YES, but privately. Put it in draft/restricted mode and use a password. (maybe a screenshot?)
8. Oh my goodness I published my entry on itch but forgot to set it to private for a day until a tester notified me! Is this okay? / (YES, is my guess.)
9. What if I included screenshots? / YES, but maybe avoid critical moments.
10. What if I discussed an algorithm on a devlog, or included game-specific information when asking for technical help? / YES, you're okay.

These things may sound really trivial, but I think they'd give people relief. It's nervy entering a competition and people can be ensnared by the slightest excuses not to, and uncertainty can drag us down! I mean, we can all feel a certain amount of "oh, yeah, it was mostly okay, but I'd feel dumb if I missed an obvious exception in retrospect!"

And it'd be neat to have a living document that tracks common (good-faith) questions people have and might feel silly asking, so they 1) realize others had the question too and 2) don't have to ask again.

Sorry for the length of this! It was something that was on my mind off-and-on, but https://intfiction.org/t/ifcomp-2023-now-accepting-intents-entries/63157/11 from a former IFComp entrant who did quite well (5th in '18) we don't want future entrants to slip through the cracks/waste needless worries on this in any way, whether or not they are destined to place well.