ASCII Fishtank Mini Contest!

Michalson · 2003-12-09T19:18:21

Update 11/19/2002 I've posted an updated version of the rules which includes instructions on how to upload your entry. You can see them at the official site. (A note to judges: I've also deleted the test information from the database, your accounts are still there but the fake entries and all the information attached to them is gone. Also a note to pan narrans, I've corrected that typo on the news page and your display name has been updated) Hopefully this edit doesn't screw up the formatting of the previous stuff in this message EDIT: Just to clarify since this thread is now a "Gamedev Announcement": This contest is not directly affiliated with or run by Gamedev.net (so don't send Dave or Kevin questions about it, they won't know what you're talking about). Contest OverviewThe purpose of this contest is to create the most graphically appealing, interesting to watch fish tank. The only catch is that this is an ASCII (text only) fish tank. No fancy graphics or 16 million colors, the sole method of displaying your aquatic world is through text.The contest will end on November 30, 2002 at 11:59 PM, EST SpecificsEach entry must portray a fish tank/aquarium with your choice of real or mythical sea creatures (though it is expected that most of your sea creatures should be recognizable and not totally alien). You are limited to using either standard 80x25 character or 80x50 character text mode, and the standard palette of 16 foreground colors and 8 background colors (these colors may not be altered). How you go about this is up to you. You may create a 32bit Windows console application, a 16bit DOS application using mode 3, or you may create a pixel perfect emulation of either mode using your preferred graphical API.Additionally...Each individual can submit any number of unique entries (however it is at the organizers/judges discretion to determine if two entries by the same person are not sufficiently different, in which case the competitor may choose only one to be judged).Entries must run on Microsoft Windows 98 or 2000 (preferably they should run correctly on 95, 98, ME, 2000 and XP).The contest is open to everyone that abides by these rules, however entries by judges/organizers are not eligible to win and will be removed from the pool of contestants after the first round (scoring).Existing "Ascii art" libraries, such as aalib cannot be used. If you have any doubt regarding the validity of a library please contact the contest organizer and provide a link to the libraries homepage.These rules may be modified at any time without prior notification.Accurate emulation of 80x25 (8x16 characters) or 80x50 (8x8 characters) should use the following as reference.JudgingEach judge will score entries in three categories:Graphics : General eye candy appeal. Use of shape, color and animation will be considered.Life : How interesting/impressive the behavior (AI) of your aquatic creatures is.Appeal : Overall impression of polish, creativity and original features.All judges will then meet to determine the final winner for each category, and an overall contest winner.Number of winning positions subject to change without prior notice depending on the number of entries received. SubmissionsIn order to qualify you must submit a single ZIP file of no more than 500KB containing:Your executable and any data files it needs.A readme file (plain text or HTML) explaining how to use your program and any special features you wish to point out.The complete source code to your entry.A plain text file, ENTRY.TXT , which lists your name, the name of your entry, your email address and optionally your forum nickname.Instructions on how to submit your entry coming soon LegalitiesAuthors retain all rights and ownership to their entries.If source code is submitted with the contest as per the requirements, then it is up to the entrant to include any terms of use licenses with his/her source code. [edited by - michalson on October 25, 2002 12:06:23 PM] [edited by - michalson on November 19, 2002 6:09:09 PM]

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Started by Michalson October 20, 2002 11:23 AM

210 comments, last by Michalson 20 years, 4 months ago

Michalson

1,657

Author

October 25, 2002 05:21 PM

quote:Original post by Programmer One
I''m in.

Can it have user interaction?
Like press F for food, A for adding another fish, T for tapping the fish tank, E to make fish explode...

Yes, infact I encourage it for any serious entry (the third category, "Appeal" is where you get marks for adding "features" like this).

Yann L

1,806

October 25, 2002 05:43 PM

Hmm, does it really need to be ''serious'' ? Ie. does the simulation needs to be physically correct, do the fish need to do what real fish also do, etc, or can it be something totally awkward ? I was thinking about simulating a very special kind of fish...

Michalson

1,657

Author

October 25, 2002 05:51 PM

quote:Original post by Yann L
Hmm, does it really need to be ''serious'' ? Ie. does the simulation needs to be physically correct, do the fish need to do what real fish also do, etc, or can it be something totally awkward ? I was thinking about simulating a very special kind of fish...

There is nothing requiring it to be "accurate" (I doubt the judges will be experts on marine life anyway). As stated in the rules you can create any kind of sealife, real or mythical so long as you make an effort to make it recognizable as sea life (ie. don''t put some boxes or smilies moving around the screen and call it "underwater" because the background is blue)

ph33r

380

October 25, 2002 06:01 PM

hmm time to go find a Qbasic compiler

GameCreator

997

October 25, 2002 06:29 PM

There''s also always DJGPP.
(Completely free, by the way.)

Anonymous

October 25, 2002 07:35 PM

Nice contest idea.

Some clarifications:

1) Are custom fonts allowed? What about a custom extended character set? I assume not, since you ask for ASCII, and the images you post are of the most common extended character set.

2) Are we limited to a single foreground/background color for each character? Given the limited palette this might not be a big issue, but it is technically possible to have a single character made of two or more colors (say, half red and half green on a blue background). Is this out of bounds?

Michalson

1,657

Author

October 25, 2002 08:08 PM

quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
Nice contest idea.

Some clarifications:

1) Are custom fonts allowed? What about a custom extended character set? I assume not, since you ask for ASCII, and the images you post are of the most common extended character set.

2) Are we limited to a single foreground/background color for each character? Given the limited palette this might not be a big issue, but it is technically possible to have a single character made of two or more colors (say, half red and half green on a blue background). Is this out of bounds?

No, it must only be the standard characters available in video mode 3/Windows Console (otherwise it would be easy to just emulate a higher resolution by modifying all the characters).

Yes, in a regular console/text mode 3 you can only display things with a single foreground/background color. For the purposes of this contest you must also use the standard palette.

To help clear things up about this, if you can''t do it in a fullscreen Windows console with standard commands it''s out of bounds.

CGameProgrammer

640

October 26, 2002 09:01 AM

It should be added that if you''re using OpenGL or Direct3D, you must remember your entry will only be valid if the characters are drawn orthogonally (parallel to the screen) and the correct size. You should run in 640x400 resolution (not 640x480) with each character being either 8x16 or 8x8, your preference (but obviously 8x8 is best). If you do this right and turn off texture filtering then it should look just like DOS.

~CGameProgrammer( );

~CGameProgrammer( );Developer Image Exchange -- New Features: Upload screenshots of your games (size is unlimited) and upload the game itself (up to 10MB). Free. No registration needed.

Antony Paul

122

October 26, 2002 02:21 PM

It sounds like a brilliant idea.
Michaelson: Will your site put up the final 10 or something so we can look at the best entries?

Michalson

1,657

Author

October 26, 2002 02:35 PM

quote:Original post by Antony Paul
It sounds like a brilliant idea.
Michaelson: Will your site put up the final 10 or something so we can look at the best entries?

The site will have all the entries available for download.

ASCII Fishtank Mini Contest!

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