General Rules
You can run, shoot, hop, rocket jump, run, grenade jump, run, hop, run, kill, run, exit, hop, and did I mention run and hop?

You may die. Yes, you can die in a demo as long as you finish the level. You may not respawn.

You can not do the cheap way. You cannot cheat or bend the rules. Questions about these rules can be sent to the SDA Quake team.

Quake Software
You can record demos in any of the official .exe's, that is, those that were created and distributed by ID Software. This includes Quake.exe, WinQuake.exe and GLQuake.exe. You are also allowed to use JoeQuake, which is available for Windows and Linux. MacOS and OS X users can use MacGLQuake. If you're using another platform and are unsure which engine to use, email us and ask. User created exe's can give you an advantage in an infinite number of ways that we'd never know about. This is mainly an issue of trust... please dont use them!

It is strongly recommended that you use the QdQStats mod for the appropriate maps you are trying. It is not required, but it gives you a more accurate end time and fixes some errors in the maps where you can't get all the kills. Some maps have no stats mod avaialble, just use the progs that came with the map then.

There's still a few levels where you can't get all the kills, maybe because there are zombies and no way to kill them, or it's a bug in a map that isn't fixed by the appropriate stats mod. Just follow the example of the previous 100% on that level, or if there is no 100% and you can't find all the kills, then email us to ask about it.

One function in QdQStats makes invisible triggers visible. You may of course use this when you practice on a level, but we do not accept demos with visible triggers in them.

Another function in QdQStats displays a grenade counter. You may use the grenade counter when you record demos for SDA, but we encourage you to remove it before you send the demo to us. The grenade counter is easily removed with demtool using the -g command.

Console Variables
You can change cl_*, gl_*, r_*, m_*, d_*, scr_* and v_*, to anything you want. You can't change any sv_* vars with the exception of sv_aim which you can set to anything between (and including) 0.93 and 1 (most players set this to 1). Other cvars/commands that are no touch are host_framerate, edgefriction, notarget, fly, god and noclip. Many people use them to help find routes of course, though.

If you want to get rid of dead bodies lying everywhere, you may use coop 2 in single player mode as long as the player spawn point is identical to the normal spawn point. Using this is something that we generally don't like, though. Hopefully Nolan will release a new QdQstats that has the 'coop 2' functionality in single-player.

JoeQuake specifics
You can use cl_deadbodyfilter and cl_gibfilter to remove the dead and dying monsters if you wish.

You are also allowed to set cl_maxfps to anything between 10 and 72, to enable low framerate tricks. If you use this you have to be honest about it and inform everybody that you did by writing it in the text file.

Pausing
You are allowed to pause during recording of marathon demos, and other demos that take long time to finish. You are not allowed to pull down the console in order to adjust your aim. Good reasons for pausing would be that the telephone rings or something like that.

You can not pull down the console at the start of a single-player demo. It affects the start time of a demo, which is normally 1.4 and therefore gives an unfair advantage of up to 0.2 seconds. It can also affect the location of items/monsters in a map making it completely different. (see coagula2).

Scripts
You are highly discouraged to use scripts that affect movement when you record demos. The use of such scripts may result in record disqualification. You are allowed to use scripts for weapon changes and client settings. If you use more advanced scripts you have to be honest about it and inform everybody that you did by writing it in the text file.

For a more elaborate discussion on scripts, read this page.

Marathon
You can make a demo that spans one or more episodes of levels, a so called marathon. You may not die and restart a level at any point in the marathon.

You may not use the cheap way on any level in the marathon except where explicitly allowed. For full game runs you must telefrag Shub, even though the secret exit is not classified as a "Cheap Way". If you have any questions about this, then email us to ask about it.

For 100% marathons, you must finish the objectives of the episode. For example, you have to collect runes if they are central to the episode story.

Coop
You are allowed to use teamplay 1 for coop demos, but you do not have to. You may pause the game at any time to allow more players to connect to the server. Any number of players may die in a coop demo as long as they don't respawn.

Existing Records
If a record already exists on the same map and in the same category as the one you are trying, it is your duty to beat that demo's time. You should improve the demo to at least the next second; there's nothing wrong with submitting a 18.9 second demo to beat a 19.1 record.

If you are doing a Run, you should also beat the time for the 100% of the same difficulty. Also, if you are doing a coop demo, take care to beat times recorded by a lower number of players - it's no good sending in a 0:20 demo by two players, when a 0:20 single player demo exists!