Commodore 128 4k Game Coding Competition 2007!

[Blacklord]

We are pleased to announce the Commodore 128 4k Game Coding Competition 2007!

RULES

- Entries must be original programs
- Entries must NOT be larger than 4096 bytes (4kb)
- The result must be playable on a real 128 and VICE
- The competition starts Saturday December 23rd 2006
- Entries must be submitted on or before April 1st, 2007
- Entries must only be for the 128's 40 or 80 colum modes - CP/M & 64 modes will be disqualified
- There will be a competion page at www.commodore128.org with the submissions & you'll
  have the opportunity to vote for your favourite game
- All entries must be released under GPL & with the source included

SUBMISSIONS

- Submissions must be made by email to landover (at) tpg.com.au
- Format of submissions to be in either D81, D64 or PRG format & then zipped

DISCUSSION

Competition discussion only in the Commodore 128 Alive! forums : http://landover.no-ip.com/128/viewforum.php?id=21

PRIZES

- 1st prize of $AU100
- 2nd prize of $AU50
- 3rd prize of $AU25

Prizes will be paid via PayPal to the winners after voting has been completed & in the currency of the winner.
The amount paid will be determined by the exchange rate on the day the winners are announced.

[Guest]

We are pleased to announce the Commodore 128 4k Game Coding Competition 2007!

RULES

- Entries must be original programs
- Entries must NOT be larger than 4096 bytes (4kb)
- The result must be playable on a real 128 and VICE
- The competition starts Saturday December 23rd 2006
- Entries must be submitted on or before April 1st, 2007
- Entries must only be for the 128's 40 or 80 colum modes - CP/M & 64 modes will be disqualified
- There will be a competion page at www.commodore128.org with the submissions & you'll
  have the opportunity to vote for your favourite game
- All entries must be released under GPL & with the source included

SUBMISSIONS

- Submissions must be made by email to landover (at) tpg.com.au
- Format of submissions to be in either D81, D64 or PRG format & then zipped

DISCUSSION

Competition discussion only in the Commodore 128 Alive! forums : http://landover.no-ip.com/128/viewforum.php?id=21

PRIZES

- 1st prize of $AU100
- 2nd prize of $AU50
- 3rd prize of $AU25

Prizes will be paid via PayPal to the winners after voting has been completed & in the currency of the winner.
The amount paid will be determined by the exchange rate on the day the winners are announced.

I look forward to this challenge.    I haven't written a new game in years.

[nikoniko]

Sounds like great fun! The last time I wrote a game for the 128 was probably 1990 or so, so it's about time I did another.

[Stephane Richard]

Let's see if I can make this one since I missed that last one.   Got VICE re-setup and itching to code. ;-)

[xlar54]

Damnit..  I have never been a game coder, although Ive played around with the PC game "kit" applications.  Just apps for me. However, Id love to see some of the submissions.  Good luck to all!

[Stephane Richard]

it was apps for me too mostly.  though I did manage to learn how to manipulate a text display grid some ;-)..

[nikoniko]

By the way, are crunched submissions allowed? I haven't hit 4K yet, but as I continue development I may be able to squeeze in a few extra goodies if I can use a cruncher (eg. another bad guy, an extra game feature or two).

[Mark Smith]

By the way, are crunched submissions allowed? I haven't hit 4K yet, but as I continue development I may be able to squeeze in a few extra goodies if I can use a cruncher (eg. another bad guy, an extra game feature or two).

I'd say they were, so long as the .prg is 4K then it's still in the rules :-)

[Blacklord]

By the way, are crunched submissions allowed? I haven't hit 4K yet, but as I continue development I may be able to squeeze in a few extra goodies if I can use a cruncher (eg. another bad guy, an extra game feature or two).

I'd say they were, so long as the .prg is 4K then it's still in the rules :-)

Correct.

Lance

[6502Dude]

Is it a coincidence that contest ends on Aprils Fools Day? :lol::lol:

Good luck to all.

[hydrophilic]

I love your avatar, 6502Dude :lol::lol:

I noticed in VICE, without 2MHz, my game was dropping frames quite a bit so I had to do speed optimization for the VDC's (un)capabilities... but that broke the 4K limit
Time to do some size optimizations... but at least with 2MHz support it almost never has dropped frames, even when the action gets real crazy!

I'm pretty satisfied with the game play but I am no musician so it will probably sound like an Atari 2600 game I'm pretty good with graphics, but I'm saving that for last, on the assumption the cruncher will give me enough room to add them.

Anybody else care to report their progress?

[Mark Smith]

Anybody else care to report their progress?

I'm guilty of being side tracked :-(  More adept at hardware thn software ... still maybe I can do a last minute effort, probably be a guessing game though :-)

[nikoniko]

Well, my Sierra interpreter project unfortunately got pushed to the backburner while I put in some extra work on my compo entry. I ripped out my weird hybrid VDC/VIC sprite stuff and replaced it with my own collision detection. That gave me some more room to play with, so I finally added a little bit of "music", if one defines that term loosely. For the moment I have the tempo related to the pace of the action onscreen, going slower when things are more relaxed and speeding up as things get crazier, but I haven't quite decided yet whether that's cool or annoying. At least it's cheap and breaks up the monotony a bit.

I'll probably rip out a routine which enhances the graphics on systems with a 64K VDC, since I should make better use of the space for improving and expanding the actual gameplay. I'm sure there's still a lot of optimizing which could be done, though, so I may keep it in if I can knock off some bytes elsewhere.

Fun as the project is to work on, I'm pretty disappointed with how difficult it is to wrap my mind around 8502 assembly anymore. It will be quite embarassing when it finally comes time to release my game. I'd do well to study the work of more competent coders than myself, but I want to avoid doing so in order that I don't unconsciously duplicate someone else's programming. My code may be bad, but at least it will be my own.

[Blacklord]

You guys'll have a LOT more room to play around with in the June comp

...  and I plan on making it a little more difficult

[OzOne]

I've mostly finished mine - it's a rather simple BASIC game though - so don't laugh too much :rolleyes:

Oz

[Blacklord]

REMINDER - You have three weeks left to get in your entries!

Lance

[wte]

Ok, I'll now send you my "highly sophisticated" space game! With the extraordinary graphic style of the eighties.
2 k code, 2 k data, no sprites but piep-piep suond - Please, reserve me the first prize

Regards WTE

http://www.c128.net

[Blacklord]

Ok, I'll now send you my "highly sophisticated" space game! With the extraordinary graphic style of the eighties.
2 k code, 2 k data, no sprites but piep-piep suond - Please, reserve me the first prize

Regards WTE

http://www.c128.net

Got it - will go up on the competition page when all other entries received.

cheers,

Lance

[Blacklord]

Final reminder! Time is running out to get your entry in.......

[nikoniko]

I'll be sending mine soon. I'm afraid it's not the same that I mentioned here, as I think that would fit better with the arcade conversion compo coming up, especially when taken beyond the 4K limit. Instead I'll be submitting a strategy game for this one. It was written in just a couple hours and needs to be cleaned up, but I have to admit it's actually more fun to play than the one I've put more time into. I think I lost my way by trying to squeeze too much into too little, and ended up with not enough of anything. More space will help.

[hydrophilic]

I must admit, I had way to many ideas to fit in my game so at the moment I'm cutting and pasting and trying to get the best comprimise of features to fit in 4K.  But since its under GPL, people can add all the stuff I have to strip.  Assuming they like it...

That's the thing about games (well, anything creative).  It can be really innovative but go unnoticed by the maket (Amiga anyone?) or be completely mundane and extremely successful.  I think its a big role of the dice, with marketing the best tool to tip the odds in your favor.

:cool: New C128 Game :cool:
:tummenupp: Available April, 2007 :tummenupp:

There's my ad.

Entry submitted.
Reason for edit: No double posting!

[Blacklord]

Second submission has been uploaded  - Battle Blox by Robert Willie - go here : http://commodore128.org/comp2.html

cheers,

Lance

[nikoniko]

Regrettably, I'm not going to make the deadline. :/ I've no good excuse since we had so much time, but couldn't quite finish either game to my satisfaction in 4K. I thought I might manage this last week, but I became so busy setting up for my scanning project, including emailing quite a few people seeking permission to include their books, receiving permission from one of them (yes!), and now finally starting the scanning for the first book, I just didn't get back around to programming.

In any case, all my best to the entrants!

[Guest]

I'm running out of time as well.  I've got a logic bug I can't track down despite making a flow chart of the entire program and comparing it line by line.  I guess I screwed up the logic.  I wish I had started on it sooner, but at least a have a great concept for the next competition and once I iron out this logic bug it will be a great game.

[Blacklord]

Final day (although it's the 2nd here, it's still the 1st in some parts of the world) - need to have any last submissions today (though I am flexible).

cheers,

Lance