IntyBASIC Programming Contest 2020 Rules

[+nanochess]

Intellivision IntyBASIC Programming Contest 2020

Welcome to the third IntyBASIC game programming contest held on AtariAge (thanks Albert!). The contest is open to all IntyBASIC programmers and is sponsored by Intellivision Revolution, Elektronite, Côte Gamers, Mark/Space and Project Argon, and Collectorvision.

 

For a limited time and to encourage newcomers, Mark/Space and Project Argon will give away a free "Programming Games for Intellivision" e-book ($9.90 value) to the first 10 entrants asking for it via PM to bhall408

Awards will be given to entries that place 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Drop us a PM if you'd also like to help out with some more prizes!



THE RULES

So you can get started, the basic rules are laid out below:

• The competition starts Tuesday 1st of September 2020 and the deadline for submissions is 23:59 UTC on the Sunday 28st of February 2021 - this gives you around 6 months of development time.
• There will be no competition unless a minimum of six entries are submitted by the deadline.
• Your game(s) must be developed in IntyBASIC v1.4.2 and use the default prologue/epilogue files. The assembly language statements allowed within your game are the ORG statement so that you can develop a larger game and the CFGVAR statement to introduce metadata. However, bank switching is not permitted.
• All submitted games must meet the entry criteria to be valid.
• The games submitted do not necessarily need to be new, but must be your own work, not sold commercially or released in cartridge format previously.
• NTSC must be supported, with additional PAL support optional (but encouraged).
• The maximum number of single entries from a person or group is set at three. If more entries are made, the applicant has the opportunity to replace a previous entry with a new one.
• There will be a panel of judges (announced in full over the coming weeks), and entries will be scored on a points basis across several criteria. The decision of the panel is final.
• All game ROMs will be published in this forum after judging has been completed. However, if the 1st prize game is to be published by [someone who can be you!!! Send me PM] its ROM will be distributed after game sales have completed. Project Argon also wants to promote entries, so ROMs will be published in its free section.
• All entries must be submitted via email to contest@intybasic.com by the closing date, entry should indicate clearly if source code is to be published at end of contest.
• The judges will declare the results of the contest by 00:00 GMT on the 28st of March 2021.

 

GAME ENTRY

Each entry into the contest must consist of the following items to be valid :-

• Game image in *.rom or *.bin+*.cfg.
• Brief instructions on how to play the game.
• IntyBASIC source code (and any required data files).
• Instructions on how to build the IntyBASIC source code (must be made with IntyBASIC compiler v1.4.2 in order to obtain same ROM file).

As part of the validation process, each entry's source code will be built using its instructions and the final binary produced must match the submitted binary image 100%. Any entry that fails this criteria will not be judged.

It is not necessary for any contestant to publish the source code to their entry. However, if they wish to do so putting indication in entry e-mail it will be published after the contest is judged (taking in account the special case of 1st entry ROM being delayed if published in cartridge format).

Competition contestants are free to discuss their game's progress, provide source code, uploading concept art, GIF, videos and WIP ROMs and to also help other contestants should they wish to do so. For this, we encourage they to start a thread in the official contest forum with this title "Entry 2020: [name of your game]".

Your entry must be submitted via email to contest@intybasic.com by the competition's closing date.

THE JUDGING PANEL

The panel of judges is as follows :-

• intvdave.
• IntyMike.
• Oscar Toledo G. (nanochess)
• Tarzilla.
• Zendocon.
• ZillaRUSH.

 

Judges are not permitted to enter the contest themselves. However, they are permitted to answer technical questions and provide assistance to applicants publicly when required.

 

intvsteve will validate the entries. His role is to ensure that only the permitted assembly language is used in the game and that an exact game binary can be produced.

SCORING SYSTEM

The criteria that each game will be evaluated on are:

• Originality (1 to 10) - Is the game based on a new idea or a twist on an established design?
• Execution (1 to 10) - Execution of design, taking into account controls, NTSC/PAL compatibility.
• Graphics (1 to 10) - Quality of graphics and animation.
• Sound (1 to 10) - Quality of music and sound effects.
• Presentation (1 to 10) - Overall presentation.
• Game play (1 to 10) - A measure of how enjoyable the game is to play.

 

When the panel has scored each game accordingly, the totals for each criteria will be added together for each game to give it a final score.

PRIZES

• First prize:
  • One cartridge of your game, courtesy of Intellivision Revolution.
  • 3 Intellivision Revolution CIB games, to be choosen from past releases.
  • 3 Elektronite LTO-Flash ROMS. To be choosen from Ninja Odyssey, TNT Cowboy, A.F., A Tale of Dragons and Swords, and Star Mercenary.
  • 1 mystery game in physical format to be announced by Côte Gamers, plus a winner certificate.
  • $125 USD via Paypal, courtesy of Mark/Space and Project Argon.
  • 1 game from Collectorvision (to be defined).
• Second prize:
  • One cartridge with your game, courtesy of Intellivision Revolution.
  • 2 Intellivision Revolution CIB games, to be choosen from past releases.
  • 2 Elektronite LTO-Flash ROMS. To be choosen from Ninja Odyssey, TNT Cowboy, A.F., A Tale of Dragons and Swords, and Star Mercenary.
  • A mystery poster plus a winner certificate by Côte Gamers.
  • $75 USD via Paypal, courtesy of Mark/Space and Project Argon.
  • 1 game from Collectorvision (to be defined).
• Third prize:
  • One cartridge with your game, courtesy of Intellivision Revolution.
  • 1 Intellivision Revolution CIB game, to be choosen from past releases.
  • 1 Elektronite LTO-Flash ROM. To be choosen from Ninja Odyssey, TNT Cowboy, A.F., A Tale of Dragons and Swords, and Star Mercenary.
  • A mystery poster plus a winner certificate by Côte Gamers.
  • $50 USD via Paypal, courtesy of Mark/Space and Project Argon.
• Special prize:
  • $50 USD via Paypal to best entry using ECS and/or Intellivoice, at election of Mark/Space and Project Argon. If none fits it won't be awarded.

 

Note: These rules are based on RGCD's Programming Contest 2014 rules and are used with permission.

Note 2: In case of a team, prize repartition depends on the team and/or the generosity of our sponsors.

DEVELOPMENT
The development tools and emulators needed to create and play your games can be found here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2021 by nanochess

[+Rev]

Nice!  

[carlsson]

So if anyone seeks collaboration or is willing to contribute to projects without having one of their own, now is the time to advertise in general terms unless of course you already have established contacts? It never happened in the earlier editions, but after all the talk about group entries, I think this time such advertising would make more sense.

[artrag]

Good idea to delay the publishing of rom and sources.

 

[Zendocon]

As for the rules, I assume use of JLP is permitted.  Is that correct?  Also, what about such things as INTV88's expanded GRAM and the ECS (and the Aquarius Data Recorder)?  IntelliVoice I assume is okay.

[+nanochess]

1 hour ago, Zendocon said:

As for the rules, I assume use of JLP is permitted.  Is that correct?  Also, what about such things as INTV88's expanded GRAM and the ECS (and the Aquarius Data Recorder)?  IntelliVoice I assume is okay.

You're right. ?

 

The author of course should provide the building and execution instructions or otherwise the validation process won't get the right ROM file, or the resulting game running without voice could get a lower score because judges never noticed there was voice.

 

[+cmadruga]

Wait, expanded GRAM? Could you point me to more information.

That sounds like a significant departure.

[+nanochess]

8 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

Wait, expanded GRAM? Could you point me to more information.

That sounds like a significant departure.

That's right. It is not prohibited.

 

But of course judges could penalize it in the "Execution" criteria for lack of compatibility.

 

My first text said "penalize it by execution", but that didn't sound right...

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by nanochess

[carlsson]

That's the spirit. Any developer making games that don't run on my system, ought to be shot in the dawn!

[Zendocon]

20 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

Wait, expanded GRAM? Could you point me to more information.

That sounds like a significant departure.

When launching jzintv, you can add the switch -G2 to have 256 characters of GRAM instead of the usual 64, which is what INTV88 had.  I consider it a "peripheral option" along with IntelliVoice and the ECS.

[carlsson]

So INTV88 would make it a game that runs in emulation and on Tutorvision consoles, or can regular Intellivisions be upgraded with piggy-backed RAM chips as well?

[Zendocon]

Just now, carlsson said:

So INTV88 would make it a game that runs in emulation and on Tutorvision consoles, or can regular Intellivisions be upgraded with piggy-backed RAM chips as well?

I'm not about to go cracking open another Intellivision console to find out.  Unfortunately, I don't have a Tutorvision to test anything on, leaving me with jzintv as the only option.

 

There must be a way to add code to autodetect the extra GRAM and compensate for both cases.  I was planning a game that would do just that (as an actual release, not for the contest), the same way that my multiplayer games autodetect the ECS.

[artrag]

The problem is that no external expansion allows to rise the amount of GRAM and the number of Tutorvisions is minimal compared to the standard intellivision with only 64 cards...

A game using 256 cards is a Tutorvision game only for few selected high end users 

 

 

 

[+nanochess]

17 minutes ago, carlsson said:

So INTV88 would make it a game that runs in emulation and on Tutorvision consoles, or can regular Intellivisions be upgraded with piggy-backed RAM chips as well?

I think the video chip cannot address extra GRAM cards, and also GRAM cannot be expanded.

 

In fact some games occupy the non-used bits of GRAM access to preserve data and would show trash on a Tutorvision.

 

If Mattel upgraded this simple thing in 1983 rather than 1988, probably it would have get a bigger part of market because the notable enhanced graphics. A lost chance for graphical adventures.

 

[+cmadruga]

9 minutes ago, artrag said:

The problem is that no external expansion allows to rise the amount of GRAM and the number of Tutorvisions is minimal compared to the standard intellivision with only 64 cards...

A game using 256 cards is a Tutorvision game only for few selected high end users 

 

 

 

That plus no chance of getting physically published.

But then again maybe some people won't care.

This is the same thing as other scenes, like MSX people developing games for Turbo-R / Moonsound / V9990. Cool and all, but how many can run it outside an emu?

 

[carlsson]

Given how amazing games we've seen recently, at least partly made in IntyBASIC with the default 64 GRAM limitation, I don't think more really would make a difference.

 

Ironic comment: is the KCS supported in the compo? (yeah, I know it runs a 6502 so IntyBASIC won't even generate usable code for it)

[+nanochess]

9 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

That plus no chance of getting physically published.

But then again maybe some people won't care.

This is the same thing as other scenes, like MSX people developing games for Turbo-R / Moonsound / V9990. Cool and all, but how many can run it outside an emu?

 

A MSX Turbo-R is the class of machine that you would like to have, but it is too expensive and has too few games, even only Turbo-R plus a V9990 can run the most recent Ghost&Goblins game so thats like 0.1% of the MSX owners.

 

But let us keep the talk on Intellivision and the contest!

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by nanochess

[+cmadruga]

27 minutes ago, nanochess said:

A MSX Turbo-R is the class of machine that you would like to have, but it is too expensive and has too few games, even only Turbo-R plus a V9990 can run the most recent Ghost&Goblins game so thats like 0.1% of the MSX owners.

 

But let us keep the talk on Intellivision and the contest!

 

Agreed. Sorry for deviating.

[+bhall408]

1 hour ago, Zendocon said:

When launching jzintv, you can add the switch -G2 to have 256 characters of GRAM instead of the usual 64, which is what INTV88 had.  I consider it a "peripheral option" along with IntelliVoice and the ECS.

This is the first I'd heard of expanded GRAM, and it sounds like a cool idea.

 

We could add it to Argon to give an additional reason to support it -- we've been pretty pleased with the result of adding ECS.

 

Are there some existing games that make use of it we could test with?

 

And of course, if IntyBASIC doesn't already have the option to detect it, and support it if available (sort of like how it gracefully supports extra PSG), then this sounds like a feature request for IntyBASIC as well 

 

[Zendocon]

1 minute ago, bhall408 said:

This is the first I'd heard of expanded GRAM, and it sounds like a cool idea.

 

Are there some existing games that make use of it we could test with?

The only ones would be ROMs of Tutorvision games that have been found in the wild.  I think there are only a couple in existence, and I don't have any myself.  Try doing a forum search, because there have been precious few discussions about the Tutorvision in the past.

[+cmadruga]

7 minutes ago, bhall408 said:

This is the first I'd heard of expanded GRAM, and it sounds like a cool idea.

 

We could add it to Argon to give an additional reason to support it -- we've been pretty pleased with the result of adding ECS.

 

Are there some existing games that make use of it we could test with?

 

And of course, if IntyBASIC doesn't already have the option to detect it, and support it if available (sort of like how it gracefully supports extra PSG), then this sounds like a feature request for IntyBASIC as well 

 

 

One idea for what is worth: maybe if Argon would help sponsor / incentivize submissions that use this one feature, you could see some entries.

Edited August 20, 2020 by cmadruga

[+cmadruga]

Oh come on, no games from @Zendocon? ?

But I'm sure he will make a great addition to the panel.

[+bhall408]

6 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

One idea for what is worth: maybe if Argon would help sponsor / incentivize submissions that use this one feature, you could see some entries.

The "go the extra mile" prize for best use of ECS and/or Expanded GRAM?

 

(And personally, I'd be fine and even encourage use of bank switching, but I'm sure there was a reason it was excluded)

 

I've already emailed nanochess to express our interest in being a sponsor, with some suggestions of what form that could take. I love creative ideas like that - keep 'em coming.

[+nanochess]

4 minutes ago, bhall408 said:

The "go the extra mile" prize for best use of ECS and/or Expanded GRAM?

 

(And personally, I'd be fine and even encourage use of bank switching, but I'm sure there was a reason it was excluded)

 

I've already emailed nanochess to express our interest in being a sponsor, with some suggestions of what form that could take. I love creative ideas like that - keep 'em coming.

Thanks Brian! Just answered your message. I'm for sure contestants will be happy. ?

 

[Zendocon]

32 minutes ago, cmadruga said:

Oh come on, no games from @Zendocon? ?

But I'm sure he will make a great addition to the panel.

My plan was to submit something a little more experimental this time around, and not as a serious entry.  I still can post it when it's ready, just for the fun of it.

 

Lately, I've been having too much fun hacking Melody Blaster and putting new music into it.  Then there are all the other games I started writing, to the point I lost focus on any one project.