.------------------------------------------------------------oOo-----o----oOo--. || T H E F A C T I O N M A N I F E S T O .| .------------------------------------------------------------------------------. |' In lieu of recent events contributing to the breakdown of the now | |defunct S.P.A. (Software Piracy Association), a private meeting between the | |key contributing and contending groups was held. On October 15th, 1998 an | |agreement and compromise was reached between the 3 attending parties, CLASS, | |PARADIGM and RAZOR 1911. Let it be known that this type of compromise could | |not be achieved under the S.P.A. environment; it took a clean break to | |accomplish in a day what had previously gone unaccomplished in 2 months. | |The end result being a new council whose sole purpose is to set standards | |for the game-releasing subsector of the scene, to be adhered to by all | |admitted parties. Represented members of this new council named THE | |FACTION, have pledged to abide by the following set of rules created a) to | |ensure a quality minded end result and b) to encourage fair play and a | |productive competitive environment for involved groups. | | | | | |The Faction 10 Point Program: | | | |1. The disk limit is as of now 50 x 2.88 megabytes or 2,915,328 bytes. | | This equates to a total of 144 megabytes of compressed data or | | 145,766,400 bytes. Using 2.88 megabyte archives enables us to keep the | | standard 8 character filename with a 3 character extension. This will | | also help contribute to the elimination of the 'missing disk' | | phenomenon, plaguing end-users worldwide. Acceptable compression | | formats at this time are ACE or RAR, followed by the traditional | | PKZIPing. | | | |2. Every release under this limit will be a functionally and playably | | complete game. This means that included will be every component | | necessary for the successful completion of the game (every level, track, | | course and other NECESSARY component). | | | |3. Sound effects WILL and MUST be included. | | | |4. Intros, Outros and Cut-Scenes should be removed if the size of the | | release is 40 x 2.88 disks or more with them included. Intros should | | NOT be iuncluded in a Movie Add-On, only Cut-Scenes and Outro (aka | | End-Scene) should be included. Animation files, such as .SMKs, should | | be "framed" and not blacked out. Re-indexing of large files, should | | consist of an actual re-index instead of just creating a file full of | | 0's, (which doesn't change the actual file size, but allows it to | | compress to virtually nothing), thus promoting more quality minded rips | | and cracks. | | | |5. Only 2 Add-Ons should be released per game. Each Add-On should be no | | more than 25 x 2.88 megabyte archives. | | | |6. A brief outline of what has been stripped from the game should be | | clearly stated in the game-release .NFO, as well as information as to | | whether or not Add-Ons can be expected. | | | |7. Children's games (aka Kiddie games) and Edutainment software do not | | qualify under THE FACTION's guidelines for acceptable releases. | | | |8. In regard to games distributed in the United States that are LATER | | distributed in Europe or vice versa under the same or different name / | | publisher. These games if released AFTER another group's release are | | counted as DUPES unless it can be proven that there is a clearly | | noticeable PLAYABLE difference in the latter release (eg. new levels, | | enhanced graphics, or other new features). | | | |9. Fully cracked Update Patches and Trainers are highly regarded, though | | they are not the responsibility of any group (including that of which | | released the original game.) If 2 trainers from the same or different | | groups are released for 1 game, this does NOT qualify as a dupe unless | | the latter trainer provides no new features over the prior trainer. | | | |10. Admittance to THE FACTION is done on an invite / vote-in basis. The | | group invitation must be proposed before ALL current FACTION member- | | group representatives, and the corresponding vote must be undertaken by | | ALL FACTION member-group representatives. This council operates in a | | purely democratic manner and all parties therein have upon joining, | | agreed to follow all stated guidelines of this Declaration of Scene | | Independence. Today is not only a new dawn in the games scene, but our | | Independence Day where differences are at least temporarily put aside | | and our unity re-consolidated. | | | |This document was signed & approved on October 17th, 1998 by the following | |individuals, representing their respective groups: | | .| | Mr.Skill - [CLASS] - ZEUS [PARADIGM] - The Punisher [RAZOR 1911] ..| `------------------------------------------------------------------------------'