Formal rules

This is a festival, not a competition, so the rules are really just common sense and administrative details. However, it would be appreciated if participants could skim this section before starting work, to make sure we all agree on what common sense suggests. :)

1. The working time will begin at 2006-7-19 00:00 UTC, and end at 2006-8-18 23:59 UTC.
2. Translation work should be begun and completed within this date range. We recognise that it’s not always possible to meet a deadline, so an extended phase will run for at least one month after this, during which late submissions will be encouraged.
3. Entries must satisfy the following criteria:
   1. The work must be a full release, and it must be free. Commercial titles and limited demos do not fall within the scope of this festival.
   2. The original language of the work should be Japanese or another East Asian language – bear in mind that the coordinator only speaks Japanese, so less support can be given for works in other languages. Works not from East Asia will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
   3. The translated work must be in English (though there are no restrictions on what variety of English that should be, or on whether other languages are offered too).
4. You should try to secure the author’s permission to release a translation. This is sometimes not possible; you will not be penalised if you are unable to contact the author. If you are not confident of your ability to compose an email in Japanese, the coordinator would be happy to help you draft one.
5. It is preferred that each entry be unique. Participants who particularly wish to translate a certain title should notify the coordinator as soon as possible; subsequent entrants who choose the same title will be encouraged to reconsider.
6. The coordinator reserves the right to modify these rules at any time up to the start of the festival. Please check them again before starting any serious work!

For clarity’s sake, it may be useful to state explicitly that certain things which might conceivably have been restricted are not:

1. There are no restrictions on content.^* If you translate an adult work, you may choose to censor it, or to offer both censored and uncensored versions, or simply to leave it untouched – but the choice is entirely yours.
2. There are no restrictions on style. You may use any dialect of English you choose, and your translation may be as literal or as free as you wish. Any reasonable cuts or additions will be accepted, though you should provide a rationale for any controversial changes.
3. There are no restrictions on platform. There probably aren’t many non-Windows games out there, but you’re welcome to choose one if you find one. If you use a non-Windows platform and can’t find any games for it, then bear in mind that games that use some engines, like NScripter, are trivially ported – let us know and we’ll help sort something out.
4. Anonymous entries are fine; while we hope you will be proud enough of your work to put some sort of name to it, we also recognise your right not to.
5. Advance registration is not required. Any work submitted during the festival will be accepted if it meets all the other requirements.
6. Entries do not have to be the work of a single person; teamwork is as admirable as solo accomplishment.

^* Provided the said content is in the form of a novel-game, visual novel, adventure, or some other genre that reasonably falls under the scope of this festival. In practice, we would also be compelled to reject submissions containing material that it would be a criminal offence to distribute under the laws of the United States of America or of the United Kingdom, though this seems unlikely to be a rule we’ll have to enforce...