3H-GDC m.VI

Summary: For the sixth competition, we are returning to the style of the fifth competition. The contest is again in ASCII art style. ASCII art is not the theme, the theme is still to be determined and announced. Crazy mini-contests like this are some of the best times I've had on GDNet and in the Lounge. It all started with the ASCII Fishtank Contest so long ago. It's been 11 months since the last 3H-GDC, and hopefully we can make this a more frequent occurance. Date/Time: The contest will be held on Saturday, January 13th, 9AM Eastern Standard Time (1400 GMT). Prizes:

1. 3 games of your choosing from my library of NES and PC games
2. 3 months of GDNet+
3. 1 game from my library

Sumbission: Previous Submissions can be found on the contest website. Read the thread for 3H-GDC m.V for an idea on how this thing usually progresses. Theme: The Pits Contest Standing:

1. Endurion
2. extralongpants
3. nagromo

The past five contests were "Black and White," "Fire," "Crackers," "CARTS," and "The Stars". The emphasis is originality in interpretation. With the Crackers theme there were entries that featured fire crackers, saltines, people "cracking" windows open to prevent leathal doses of methane gas, and southern honkeys. ADDITIONALLY: this contest will be an ASCII "art" competition. There are plenty of ASCII art libraries available, though I highly suggest the .NET 2.0 Console Class. It has everything you will need, and even has a Beep method! W00t! If you decide to use a graphics API and copy the style of a console application, your program must be as near of an emulation to a real console application as possible. There was a lot of discussion on this in the previous contest, so if you have any questions, consult the previous thread first to see if your question has already been answered. You will need a monospaced type font, 16 background colors (or only 8 if you use the blink attribute), and 16 foreground colors. The dimensions for a console application are usually 80 columns by 25 rows of characters. 80x50 was also common, though many systems allowed the selection of an arbitrary selection of row and column values in a limited range. Rules:

1. Submissions must meet a predetermined theme (which will be revealed 15 minutes before the beginning of the contest)
2. Any Language (C, Java, C#, Python, &#106avascript, Brainf***, I don't care) or API (SDL, Allegro, PyGame, JOGL, etc) are acceptable, as long as you handle all distribution yourself (Ideally include all assemblies. You *may* link to a direct download, but a download page is UNNACEPTABLE. One click should be all I need to download the components I need). Do not assume the Judges have any particular machine setup. Judges will inform users of their machine setups.
3. So called "Game Makers" are NOT acceptable. The process must require you to write a significant portion of code to produce a stand alone executable. If you are not certain if your particular system constitutes a "Game Maker," then ask in the thread. Judges reserve the right to disqualify entries that they deem were made with an unnaceptable "Game Maker" based on their own subjective definition of the term.
4. You may use any base code that you have written. You may post this code in a source tag in the forum on Friday night before the competition to keep the playing field even (anyone may use it if they want), if you so choose.
5. Judges will judge on a full binary version of the software. They will not compile the software. Source code is not required, though you may request source code to be posted with your submission.
6. Judging will be conducted by a panel of non-competitors
7. Judging will be based mostly on overall gameplay and originallity of game design. We understand that content will be light, that graphics will be underdeveloped, that input MIGHT be a bit akward. Gameplay is the key.
8. Games must utilize an ASCII "art" style. Emoticons are ASCII "art". Text Mode Quake is ASCII "graphics," and is not in the spirit of the competition (i.e. don't do it)
9. prizes (when available) are listed above
10. runners up receive nothing.
11. we will attempt to pursue full legal action against nefarious ne'er-do-wells (those that would upload destructive code).

Three hours is plenty of time to make a classic arcade game, or something new with simple gameplay. Check out the previous contest to see what was done. Gameplay is what this contest is about.

• 3H-GDC m.II
• 3H-GDC m.III
• 3H-GDC m.IV
• 3H-GDC m.V

If anyone wants to volunteer as a Judge, please post here and list your machine specs as well as your pertinent software running on your computer. For example, I'm: Processor: Pentium4 2.4GHz Memory: 768MB RDRAM GFX: Radeon 9800 Sound: SB Audigy 2 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 Other Software: Java 5, Java 6, .Net 1.1, .Net 2.0, Ruby 1.8.5, current DirectX and Managed DirectX installations [Edited by - capn_midnight on January 18, 2007 3:20:15 PM]

Here are some suggestions from experiences with the previous contests. These are not rules, they are not expectations, and they are not in any way a glimpse into judging criteria. They are just a few hints on things that have worked well for others in the past.

• KISS: extremely important. It's better to have something simple that works really well than to not finish at all because of feature bloat.


• Interpret the theme: The theme, whatever it will be, will be intentionally ambiguous. Brownie points go to original, non-obvious, unexpected interpretations of that theme.


• Add Sound: I'm apparently quite swayed by even the simplest inclusion of beeps and bloops.


• Prepare ahead of time: make a few mini-games in console mode. You essentially have a week and a half to learn what you need. There are dozens of ready-made console mode APIs and emulators out there that you are free to use.


• Keep a journal: I enjoy reading them, as do others, and you'll probably learn a lot in the process, whether you are new or old at this.

I'm in.

I'll be using XNA and I'll post some base code next Friday.

Quote:Original post by alnite
Awesome. I am in.

9AM EST. Does this mean 6AM PST?

yes, it does. The last contest was timed to make it available for the Americas, this time I'm trying to time it to make it available to Europe while I'm still awake.

I'm in.

Alarmed by the flickering of the real console i used last time i'd like to use some basecode i put into my usual gaming framework. This basically emulates the console look with a font bitmap and utilizes GDI in windowed mode and DDraw in fullscreen mode.

Due it to being set into my gaming framework i have to ask if it's ok to be used. The framework itself does not provide any gaming features but encapsulates the window management, graphic, input and sound code.

Can i use the framework in that way?

To see it running look at my sample game i made for a valentines day competition: Love Me Do