Author - Neil Halliday

Games Coding Competition 2020

Welcome to the STOS Coders Games Coding Competition 2020!  This year we have decided to challenge all you clever people in three different categories of games. Enter as many games as you like, in as many different categories as you like. Just remember, each entry can only qualify for one of the categories. Make sure you are familiar with the categories and the rules which are listed below. So, choose your category, and get coding!

One Liner

Can you write a game in just one line of code? Yes, you heard it, one line of code!  It’s been done before with some great results – let’s see if it can be done again.

Ten Liner

Ten times the lines, ten times the gaming fun? Let’s find out if it means just that. Write a complete game in ten lines of code.

One of Everything

The one of everything category means just that! You can have an unlimited amount of code, BUT your .BAS file is limited to one of each resource at program load. So you could for example have:

• 1 sprite
• 1 bob
• 1 joey
• 1 PI1/PC1 file
• 1 NEO file
• 1 Tile
• 1 Map file
• 1 Tracker file
• 1 Chip Music file
• 1 Sample sound
• 1 Sound effect

But that is it!  It doesn’t matter how many memory banks you use – one massive one or lots of little ones – you can only have one of each type of asset in your game, not matter where it is stored! If you want to generate new resources whilst your game is starting up or during gameplay, no problem, go ahead, but your game must be up & running and ready to play within 30 seconds (when compiled) of running the file. The loading of asset files does not count towards your 30 seconds.

Guest Judge

This year we are pleased to welcome Francois Lionet as our very special guest judge. As many of you know, Francois is the creator of STOS and therefore is perfectly placed to select his winner from all the entries. He will be judging them on sound, graphics, originality and most importantly ingenuity and playability.

Prizes

There are some cool prizes up for grabs for the winners of each category. We also will be creating a compilation disk of all the entries once the winners have been chosen. Keep watching the website and Facebook as we reveal more details in the weeks ahead.

Submission

You must submit your entry to STOS Coders by 31st October 2020. E-mail your submissions to games@stoscoders.com including the following information:

• Your name
• The category which you want to enter
• Your game attached as an uncompiled .BAS file
• List of extensions used, along with their file extensions (if you have changed them) – even better if you can include a zipped copy of your STOS folder!
• Anything else you think is relevant to your submission

All entries must be received before 23:59 (UK time) on 31st October 2020 to qualify.

The Rules

1. You may enter as many different games as you like.
2. You must tell us which category you are entering your game in. All games outside of the stated parameters for your chosen category will be disqualified. The adjudicators decision is final.
3. Each game can only qualify for 1 category.
4. All games must be “compilable”.
5. Use as many data banks as you like, there are no restrictions, so long as the memory usage of the game sticks to the rules.
6. No databanks can existing in your source code, you must load them from disk at runtime.
7. Use whatever extensions you like, heck if you need to write a new extension for you game, even better! Tell us which extensions you are using though, and what file extension you are using so that we can create the correct environment to run them in.
8. You can’t have an extension that just does everything. For example “10 runmygame” is not allowed.
9. Everything has to be written using 100% STOS and extension commands.
10. No assembler helper routines can be used.
11. Your game must run on a 1Mb (or below) Atari ST or STE machine running at the standard 8Mhz.
12. You give permission for STOS Coders to publish videos of your game on social media platforms (such as the STOS Coders Facebook Page), STOS Coders Websites and STOS Coders YouTube channels.
13. You give permission for STOS Coders to distribute the source code of your game and any extension via social media platforms (such as the STOS Coders Facebook Page), STOS Coders Websites and STOS Coders YouTube channels as a standalone application, or part of a compilation.
14. All entries must be received by October 31st 2020.
15. The judges decision is final.
16. Winners will be announced during November 2020.

Happy STOSing!