THE SIMFILE MONTHLY (JANUARY 2026 ROUND IN PROGRESS!)

Click here for the pack category! (at least for 2026; as for future years, I'll cross that bridge when we get there)
Click here for the Discord server! (Joining not required to participate in the contest, but highly encouraged!)



So what exactly is THE SIMFILE MONTHLY?

It's a theme-based Zenius -I- vanisher year-round simfile contest with rounds lasting (you guessed it) a month each. Basically what I intend to be a more relaxed, slower paced contest that encourages its participants to take as much of that time they need to create the files they want to create for the next month, as well as to play each other's files for this month!

Now that I explained the contest, let's get to DA RULES (I know this is the boring part, and these in particular look a little long, but please bear with me, you'll want to know these rules)

Click here for the contest rules!

The January 2026 round will begin accepting submissions on December 1, 2025 @ noon ET. Theme reveal for January 2026 will also occur at that time.

Participant list:

Karl with a K
Nezemarth
LuzianoZOMBI3
dothedew219 / Thnikkafan
C0MPL1CAT10N
CLOUDIO / MEGAtive
DebuggerSRT

If you would like to sign up, either say so here or on the Discord server!

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Sounds fun- I'd like to join, though I wonder who else is joining.

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This should be nice, i'm in.

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Awesome! Added you both to the pack!

Nezemarth you should also have the contest participant role in the Discord server now. Luziano, you are also free to join said Discord server (your choice as to whether you do though).

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Hey, this sounds nice! I already jumped into the Discord and I'd love to join, partly to promote simfiles of my own original music if that's alright.

Btw, I noticed your VGen page. Do you have any invite codes left that you could DM to me on Discord? I've never opened up for music commissions before, but I certainly can and I think it would help me a lot. Here's my music demo in case you're interested. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gXc4rIxyh2YXXfRIV5A9pOvKKA-DqBwv/view?usp=drive_link

You're in! Welcome!


I would very much love to give you one, but I simply do not have any on me at the moment 😅. Will keep this in mind when I do get some codes though!

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I would like to join this. Wishing the best of luck to all other contestants in the first round😊

Welcome aboard! You've been added to the simfile category.

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Nice, a contest that are more relaxed. Count me in, please.

Also, hi Karl.

EDIT: I just realized the discord link doesn't let me in to the server. Expired invite?

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Hi, Karl with a K. I’m interested for this, but I live in Singapore.

Both of you are in!

Also try this link, this one shouldn't ever expire: https://discord.gg/RzvjdEqpXn

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Two more weeks to the start of this contest!

As a reminder, to join, all you have to do is let me know you're interested so that I can add you to the category! Also, we have a public Discord server for this contest (check the first post on this thread for the link).

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(Also click here for our new Twitter/X page)

I should also share the default graphics

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24 hours remain until this contest starts! Who's excited to find out what the first theme of this contest is?


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The contest known as THE SIMFILE MONTHLY has officially begun! Along with the opening of simfile submissions, the theme of the very first round is revealed! Here is what Karl with a K has to say about the theme of the month.

(Instrumental) Overture

"Overture (from French ouverture, lit. "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century." Thanks, Wikipedia, I'll take it from here.

As the first round of this contest, this round is, basically, an overture. This opening round shall set the tone for all future rounds to come, and thus, why not lean into that idea with the following theme requirement:

Your simfile's audio cannot contain any intelligible lyrics/spoken words with any semantic meaning.

In case anyone is wondering about the extra specificity, that is to clarify that not ALL songs with vocals won't fit the theme (although all songs without vocals will)! The following vocal sounds (adapted from the list of borderline cases of instrumental music on Wikipedia) will be considered theme compliant:

- Repetitive nonsense words (e.g., "la la...")
- Wordless vocal effects, such as drones
- Vocal percussion/beatboxing
- Yelling
- Yodeling
- Whistling
- Gibberish
CAUTION: not to be confused with constructed languages, aka conlangs (ex. Klingon, Esperanto), which are NOT theme compliant
- Vocal sounds made by animals other than humans
CAUTION: not to be confused with onomatopoeia from any language spoken by humans that represent these sounds (such as meow and oink), which are NOT theme compliant. Example: Nyan Cat is not theme compliant, as “nyan” is an onomatopoeia used by humans to describe the sounds a cat makes.

Submissions for this round will be open until January 1st, 2026 @ noon EST (9am PDT | 5pm UTC | Jan. 2 @ 2am JST).

Note that it's also not too late for signups, and won't be for the foreseeable future! If you haven't signed up yet and decide at any point you would like to, let me know, and we can go through with the onboarding process!

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btw I wasn't sure about the theme name specifically so I put '(Instrumental) Overture' as the theme name, hope you don't mind lol

Yeah that is exactly the theme name, you're good!

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tysm master :3

Good afternoon (or whatever time of day it is in your area) contest participants! This is a reminder that the deadline for submitting files is in two weeks. Looking forward to seeing everyone's files!

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