a simple question
Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse
The simplest way to test it is to use a virtual CD-ROM drive, though you can of course burn it to an actual CD and test it that way.
Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse
We /could/ do something along the lines of having an ISO version that gets judged, and a download-ready version that the public can try out. (There's nothing stopping you doing that on your own site, after all). I guess we'll see how many people actually end up submitting ISOs.
Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse
Since this contest effectively forces all entries to be downloadable, it would make most sense for people to submit download-friendly games.
The target audience has to dowload them, so just DLing and running an .exe is more friendly!
You're free to ignore that and make a single version if you wish - that's your prerogative, you may not want to grapple with autoplay and disc layout and suchlike. You won't lose points for not submitting on ISO, and a non-ISO entry could happily beat an ISO entry in the polish category.
The reason it's been suggested at all is because some people may find it easier to polish an ISO distribution than a web distribution - you can do things like background installs with ISO that you can't really do with a downloadable (unless you want to run a fileserver or something). It's another avenue to explore for people who wish to do so.
I'm not sure why you're saying "this contest forces all entries to be downloadable." Rule 11 states that there's no formal size limit; you can submit a 400MB package if you want (though as that rule also states, we ask that you let us know first). Yeah, 400MB might suck a bit for members of the public trying out contest entries, but the judges are committed to trying your entry out no matter how big it is, so it doesn't affect your standing in the contest.
Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse