A game engine can be very developed to the point it is impossible to compete with it. But it it is good to see others projects as a reference. Open source code is also good for that. So there should be separate categories for pre-made engines and created from scratch during jam. And all of them should be open source.
I appreciate the discussion. I have some thoughts on this too:
It truly would be impossible to “compete” against a long-term project getting new features with a scratch-built engine during a 2-week jam. There definitely should be some categorization between these.
I generally prefer open source, so I think that should be worth bonus points. But I can understand situations when someone is not ready to share their code, and I don’t think it should be mandatory.
Let’s not forget that this is a friendly competition: the prize is the progress you make on your game engine, or the wisdom you gain while solving problems. A closed source engine or a long-term project are welcome entries which wouldn’t invalidate the rewards anyone else gets from their open source and/or brand new project.
