Minigame Compo question

[+atari2600land]

If I were to submit a Batari Basic game to this competition, it would be under the 4k category if it's 2k, right?

[supercat]

If I were to submit a Batari Basic game to this competition, it would be under the 4k category if it's 2k, right?

 

For a program to qualify for the 2K category, the BIN file must be 2K. I don't know if bB has an option to produce 2K binaries, but given a binary that starts with 2K worth of zeroes it's generally easy enough to create a 2K binary. On the other hand, I don't know how much useful bB code you could get in a 2K cart, given the overhead imposed by bB itself.

[+atari2600land]

For a program to qualify for the 2K category, the BIN file must be 2K. I don't know if bB has an option to produce 2K binaries, but given a binary that starts with 2K worth of zeroes it's generally easy enough to create a 2K binary. On the other hand, I don't know how much useful bB code you could get in a 2K cart, given the overhead imposed by bB itself.

So is every program made by Batari 4k, or just ones that take up more than 2k? Cuz I found a Batari Basic program submitted last year and it was under the 4k category.

[s0c7]

Doug & I both submitted 4k games last year.

 

You can produce a 2k rom (SET ROMSIZE 2K) if you can squish your game down small enough. I think I'm the only one who ever did a actual game demo that was 2k (the earliest version of Evil Eye). The problem is bB has around a 1k overhead so you're going to end up writing (essentially) a 1k game. The problem with that is, it's kind of hard to make a "fun" game that small when you're still learning how to program for the 2600.

 

Also, I haven't really looked at the compo website this year. I thought the only categories they had this year were 1k, 4k, and 8k. As there is no way to produce a 1k bB game, you'll have to compete in the 4k category. Good luck! You should enjoy it if you have the correct attitude and expectations. Just be prepared to take a few potshots for using BASIC.