Thanks for the kind words SciRe,
Regarding the submission part, I won't be composing any new material, except for secondary melodies, accompaniments and transitions... maybe a solo somewhere?
I've read the rules for submission, but the thing is, I don't want to stray far from the original material, I'd like to think of this as original game music being adapted for orchestra. If that stops it from being accepted, no biggie, but if it does get accepted I'll know I did something worthwhile.
In the end it's a learning project for me so I'll be happy to have come out of this with better skills than what I have right now