Sonic Hacking Contest 2021

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It's that time of the year again...

Apologies for another March announcement.

Whilst it was our intention to announce earlier this year, the major changes this year, as well as other things to address, caused another delay which was beyond our control, we can only apologise for that.

In any case, people have more than enough time to plan for this year, and there will be those intending to submit, would possibly have been working on potential entries long before this announcement.

Contrary to previous threads, all information regarding the Contest and Expo this year can be accessed by going to this page.

A few major changes have been made compared to the previous year, the biggest change being a complete split in contest judging, which means separate judges for each category (Retro / 3D / 2DPC).

Here are the dates to remember for this year:

CONTEST DEADLINE - End of Sunday 12th September
UPDATES DEADLINE - End of Sunday 19th September
EXPO DEADLINE - End of Sunday 26th September
CONTEST WEEK - Monday 11th to Sunday 17th October

If you have any questions regarding this year, you can use this thread, or contact us on the SHC Discord Server.

If there are any issues, please contact us directly using the Contact Us Form available on the page.

Please stay tuned to this thread for information on the usual trailer and when the website opens for submissions.

It will be up when it's up.™

Ready, Set, Procrastinate!!

 

Due to the recent uptrend in Mania mods, the new decompilations of the mobile games, and the increasing number of 3D entries compared to retro hacks, we've decided to rename the contest to better reflect the nature of the majority of entries we receive.

 

Yes, you are correct, it was indeed a joke!

 

It's time for an update regarding this year's Contest. Please see the 2021 information page.

• There's just a few months away before the deadlines. The site should be updated and available for submissions by August allowing for at least one month's window of submissions to the Contest and Expo. When the site is available we will let you know. In the mean time please prepare your entries so that you are ready to go as soon as the site goes up, and remember there is an updates period too (the Expo does not, as it is not judged).

• We have clarified a few things regarding 2DPC entries and what is part of the 2DPC section. This includes the status of Sonic 3 A.I.R submissions as there have been some people asking about entering those.

• Without saying much for now, we're introducing something this year that hasn't been included in any Contest or Expo before. You'll find out what it is when it is ready to go, all I will say is this has been something that should have been done a long time ago. Better late than never I guess..

As always if you have any questions you can put them in the thread or use the other contact methods available to use.

And remember, you can submit anything to the Contest or Expo provides it meets the criteria, including small demos of one or more levels for example.

The SHC is the only time in the year where most people pay attention to hacks and mods after all.

 

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We are now ready to accept submissions to the 2021 Contest and Expo for the Contest Week from 11th to 17th October!

Please visit https://shc.zone to submit your entries and for all the news this year check out the newsletter.

Due to delays in getting the site ready for this year’s submissions, which was out with our control, the Judges have decided to allow for an extension of the deadlines to ensure enough time is available to submit to the Contest.

Here are the new deadlines, if you want to submit to the Contest or Expo:

CONTEST DEADLINE - End of Sunday 12th September
UPDATES DEADLINE - End of Sunday 19th September
EXPO DEADLINE - End of Sunday 26th September
CONTEST WEEK - Monday 11th to Sunday 17th October

 

We are receiving a good amount of entries to the Contest and Expo so far, but there's still a few weeks away before the first deadline for the Contest.

But we have had to make a post regarding the status of duplicate accounts and submitting Kaizo entries.

 

There already is a rule regarding the Kaizo hacks. It's just people trying to play the system and still submit them when they're poor quality and excessive (in the case of this person).

 

This is a reminder that you have until Sunday 12th September, at the end of the day, to submit something to the Sonic Hacking Contest.

You must submit a fully playable entry of your submission by this date.

After that, no further submissions will be accepted, however Expo entries (which are not judged) will still be accepted until the end of Sunday 26th September. There is no updates period for Expo entries.

All Contest entries have until the end of Sunday 19th September to refine their submission and update it, then afterwards the Judges will be looking at them, for evaluations and trophies.

Please note that it is the responsibility of the submitter to test their own entries for bugs, the deadline is the deadline, we do not normally accept any fixes beyond that date unless they are game critical, and even then it is a case by case basis, to avoid any more changes than what is needed. So please test your entry prior to finalising your submission.

For more information, as well as a few other things that have been mentioned, check out the latest issue of the SHC Newsletter.

 

Final Reminder for Contest Submissions

If you want to enter to the Contest, you MUST make an entry on the website, and ensure you have a fully playable build by the end of Sunday 12th September.

Again, you have one week to refine your entry and fix any issues you find, and this has to be submitted and marked as Complete by the end of Sunday 19th September.

Judges will be making use of next week to determine whether or not entries meet the Contest criteria, get moved to the Expo, or rejected altogether.

Any moves will be advised through email. If you submitted to the Expo but want to swap it to the Contest (or vice versa), again we need to know by the end of today, as some have requested swaps.

Expo entries and trailer clips will still be accepted until the end of Sunday 26th September, where there is no updates deadline and what is submitted by then must be marked as complete.

If there's any issues with submitting something through the website, let us know.

And a reminder, the deadlines are final, there will be no bugfix uploads allowed unless they are severely game critical, but you should be using the updates deadline / expo deadline to fully test out your entry.

 

Just a reminder that this is the last weekend before the updates deadline expires, at the end of Sunday 19th September.

If you have a Contest entry, take advantage of polishing your entry up, as judging will commence once the deadline expires.

And remember, make sure you have fully tested your entry for any problematic bugs, as there will be no bugfix uploads allowed unless they are severely game critical, but ideally we don't want any reuploads.

 

The Expo Deadline has EXPIRED. No more entries or updates are possible. The Judges are now checking Expo entries for quality control purposes and any rejected entries will be emailed soon as to why.

In the meantime, redhotsonic is working on the trailer, and we'll be showing it this coming Sunday 3rd October, along with the Contest and Expo entry list and this year's Media Panel Stream Schedule too!

If you have a Contest or Expo entry this year you are entitled to a slot on our Developer Stream schedule to stream your own entry to anyone interested.

We are trying this out this year, so book if you are interested.