I see that you are very confident about knowing how this contest works. Maybe you should remove the question mark in the topic title, since you know the real truth.
I’ve participated in every hackathon edition since S1, but I’m sure you know more.
Good luck.
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I am not the starter of this topic, others have the same concern.
And it does not really matter at all what is our experience, I am just quoting the official rules on DevPost and I do not think they can be any more clearer. Previous HackaTRONs were not conducted using DevPost - here I can see there is no information on modification in Season 5 ( Online Hackathon | HackerEarth developer event | HackaTRON Season 5). Perhaps it is the boilerplate rules carried over from standard DevPost hackathon rules, but whatever is the case its black and white today and for everyone to adhere to, no?
Also reading the comments from some projects, they also follow this rule. Also most milestones clearly state the works stops after submission period. So why would there be a competetive edge to some project that follows the rules of Season 5, not 6?
Hold on am not trying to start any commotion here. The only reason I posted this was because I was a bit concerned and wanted to get some thoughts and other opinions that all because like I said.
Most of the project that have submitted in this hackathon don’t have a demo or the basics fundamental of the project and only submitted an idea or what they will he doing 3 weeks from now.
You are getting it the wrong way
Those projects will be disqualified and will not make it for the judging and voting round.
Also-
Yep, as per rules, “Access must be provided to an Entrant’s working Project for judging and testing by providing a link to a website, functioning demo, or a test build”
Its not an idea contest, its a hackathon.
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This is exactly what I have mentioned. For judging and testing participants must have a working project. But during submission period you can submit with just even a topic for your project, failing to update to working product will result in disqualification during pre-selection.
Do you understand when I say that projects which have not completed the formalities of the submission will be disqualified and not judged during judging and voting period? Understand how the format for TRON hackathon works.
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Ok, lets wait for some official confirmation 
I dont think its wise to continue arguing. I am trying to base all my arguments on official season 6 rules.
Btw, there is no pre-selection period in the official rules:
But during submission period you can submit with just even a topic for your project, failing to update to working product will result in disqualification during pre-selection
If you are right and project can be updated until judging period then what if everyone submitted only a forum topic during submission period and then submitted the update (the real application) on the last second of the pre-selection period. This would leave the judges with 1 second to disqualify or approve all hackathon entries. Yes its a hypothetical scenario but it illustrates the issue with this idea.
At submission (7th of May):
- “Access must be provided to an Entrant’s working Project for judging and testing by providing a link to a website, functioning demo, or a test build”
- “Once the Submission Period has ended you may not make any changes or alterations to your Submission” (“website, functioning demo, or a test build”)
- “You may continue to update the Project in your Devpost portfolio” (this applies to Tron forum post as well)
The purpose of this hackathon isn’t to build and then ditch the project later. Many hackathons tend to follow that route, where participants are only interested in the prize instead of nurturing the project. Projects are submitted with the correct functionality by the deadline, but most of them either move to other networks after winning the prize or completely erase their tracks and start another project or They have slow update, and back to work on their project after several months.
This fundamental shift is better since it encourages updates within the period and showcases the progress to the audience repeatedly. With this approach, everyone will have more information about projects that are truly ready for the mainnet and are committed to maintaining their projects.
This is also why building a community around the project is important; it demonstrates the seriousness of ongoing development rather than solely focusing on winning the prize. This is especially advantage if the project is cross-chain/bridging protocol, as it doesn’t rely solely on a single blockchain network, instead it surely require the TRON to be included in their project to foster their multiple supported network. Other project who just depend on a single blockchain network, can simply deploy to mainnet to be eligible for the prize and later change it again.
I totally agree. For example for my own entry I am 100% continuing with the idea. I think AI APIs are the future and strongly believe in my project.
But the rules then for Season 7 must be amended, because I don’t see the DevPost rules to allow changing the functionality (changes or alterations) to the project itself. We cant bend the rules for Season 6.
Actually I think all hackathons want the users/devs to continue the projects, why otherwise would they spend money (some hackathons have $1 million size pools etc) to bring new people in. It is a general issue really how hackathons operate. On one hand there needs to be a code freeze, otherwise how can you assess/judge the effort that was put in during the submission/coding period. But on the other hand you want to nurture vibrant projects.
IMO this could be solved with GitHub branches. You’d have a hackathon branch and then the continuation branch. Furthermore, the hackathon entry could live in sub-domain mvp.myproject.com. Just throwing some ideas around. Yes this seems a bit complicated, but it is fair and gives option to continue with project immediately, keeps rules same for everyone and offers clear input (untouched mvp/demo) for judging.
I think it would be beneficial for the TronDAO Hackathon and future hackathons to have clear guidelines on when the fundamentals of projects should be completed to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation process.
Thanks it is already very clear when “fundamentals” of a projects should be completed. That is during the submission period period.
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Hey sorry for late reply, busy day.
What this means is that the submission (the presentation post) on Devpost can’t be changed after the submission deadline.
Basically any change you make after de deadline won’t be reflected on the hackathon topic. So the judges won’t see them.
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Best answer 
How this hackathon works is the result of discussions between the community and the organisation. It isn’t like any other hackathon. Because the actual users have raised their voice in order to find a solution that would encourage builders to keep building on the long term and not just grab a prize and jump on an other hackathon with an other product (or the same product slightly modified).
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It is already the case. MVP on testnet minimum by May 7, final product on mainnet end of June.
What is the “hackathon topic”?
The question is can the app (demo, website) be different from 7th of May submission? The rules say that submission should not change (part of the submission is website, smart contracts, repo etc).
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That is the problem: for most people and the judges and organizers so far, the “submission” is the Devpost project page, not the actual product.
The Devpost page editing after May 7th will not be reflected in what the judges see. Everything else (forum post, code, dapp, etc…) can and must change until the end of June to fulfill the last milestone.
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Judges see also the dapp. How can it change? What if I change 99% of the dapp just before the judging to be totally different. Or why cant we update DevPost “hackathon topic” if everything else is changed (new contracts, new dapp)?
What @Sirluke explained way better than me.
When you were preparing the draft of your Devpost submission, it was saying that until the end of the countdown you can edit it.
After the hackathon has started you can’t edit it anymore, except in your portfolio. But the changes about your project inside your portfolio won’t be reflected in your hackathon submission (presentation post).
It isn’t a speed contest for builders but rather an event where builders can showcase their product, grow a community, get some visibility, make some networking and potentially win a prize cause you are building something people will actually use. People don’t look at builders personal skills but at what they propose, what they bring.
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Of course you can’t change what the product is. You don’t build a dex and switch to a nft marketplace. But you can add features, you can perfect what you have built.
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