Oldskool competitions

General

Limitations
  • Allowed platforms are Home Computers and Home Consoles up to and including the time period of the 4th generation of Video Game Consoles, Handheld Systems up to and including the 5th generation, or any device with a CPU that has a 16 bit or smaller data bus. These are for instance C64, VIC20, Atari XL, Atari ST, NES, SNES, Master System, Mega Drive, ZX Spectrum, Game Boy Color, …
  • Amiga OCS / ECS demos go into the Amiga demo compo, not oldskool. Amiga OCS / ECS entries are accepted in Oldskool 4K Intro, Oldskool Graphics and Oldskool Music.
  • PC entries are accepted for CPUs up to and including the 486.
  • Entries which require an FPGA solution to run the production such as an Ultimate64 are accepted for the Wild compo, not oldskool. Note that FPGA solutions for peripherals are OK (such as the Ultimate1541 cartridge) - we’re talking full computers here, not multicart or storage add-ons.

Oldskool Demo

Limitations
  • Maximum running time: 8 minutes including loading/precalc, which won’t be shown.
  • The program must be launchable using the standard command / procedure for that platform. For C64 this means LOAD ““xyz”",8,1 then RUN; for ZX Spectrum this means LOAD “”, and so on.
Before you submit your entry
  • Entries in this compo will be video recorded. For the following platforms: C64, VIC-20, Plus/4, Atari 8-bit, Atari VCS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Mega Drive, SNES - we will handle recordings in-house.
  • For all other platforms, please bring your machine to the party - we will contact you during the party to arrange a video recording. If your machine does not provide a standard composite, S-Video, SCART RGB, VGA or HDMI video output, please contact us as early as possible before the party.
  • If you are submitting remotely, or unable to bring your machine for any other reason, you will need to provide a video capture along with your entry - preferably from the real hardware, or otherwise an emulator. In addition, you must provide proof of it running on the real hardware (for example, a camera recording of the entry). If you need help with any of this, please contact us as early as possible before the party.
  • Please state if your entry requires any user interaction (pressing space at the end of parts, etc).
  • The entry has to be submitted to the party intranet as a standard media image file (disk, cartridge, tape etc) for your platform.
And finally
  • For C64 : Please state which SID chip to use (6581/8580). This information will be displayed on the info slides for your production.

Oldskool 4k intro

Limitations
  • Maximum size is 4096 bytes (16 blocks and 32 bytes on C64). The production must be a single file. If the minimum cartridge image for your platform is larger than 4096 bytes, only the first 4096 bytes of the cart may be used.
  • Maximum running time: 8 minutes including loading/precalc, which won’t be shown.
Technical Requirements
  • The program must be launchable using the standard command / procedure for that platform. For C64 this means no autostart or SYS commands; for ZX Spectrum this means LOAD “”, and so on. All bootstrap code required to launch the intro in this way is counted towards the 4096 byte limit - ZX Spectrum people in particular should note that this means you must include a BASIC launcher within the 4K.
Before you submit your entry
  • Entries in this compo will be video recorded. For the following platforms: C64, VIC-20, Amiga OCS/ECS, Plus/4, Atari 8-bit, Atari VCS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Mega Drive, SNES - we will handle recordings in-house.
  • For all other platforms, please bring your machine to the party - we will contact you during the party to arrange a video recording. If your machine does not provide a standard composite, S-Video, SCART RGB, VGA or HDMI video output, please contact us as early as possible before the party.
  • If you are submitting remotely, or unable to bring your machine for any other reason, you will need to provide a video capture along with your entry - preferably from the real hardware, or otherwise an emulator. In addition, you must provide proof of it running on the real hardware (for example, a camera recording of the entry). If you need help with any of this, please contact us as early as possible before the party.
  • Please state if your entry requires any user interaction (pressing space at the end of parts, etc).
  • The entry has to be submitted to the party intranet as a standard media image file (disk, cartridge, tape etc) for your platform.
And finally
  • For C64 : Please state which SID chip to use (6581/8580). This information will be displayed on the info slides for your production.

Oldskool Graphics

Limitations
  • This is a cross-platform competition. Submit entries for any oldskool platform (C64, OCS Amiga, VIC20, Atari XL, Atari ST, NES, SNES, Master System, Mega Drive, …) that is able to display pixels!
  • All formats / modes are allowed, provided they fit the capabilities of a real-world oldskool platform (and not for example “a PNG I drew in my favourite pixel art tool using the C64 palette”). Please specify which mode you use - this will be displayed on the beam slide before the entry.
Before you submit your entry
  • Include exactly 10 (ten) working stages of your entry. All entries without plausible working stages will be disqualified. Working stages may be delivered as plain image files or executable files - please ensure these are clearly distinguished from the final image in your submission (e.g. placed in a subfolder or separate disk image).
  • On platforms that have no ‘standardized’ image format or use code tricks to display the image (such as C64, Atari XL, …), the entry has to be delivered as both an executable program and a PNG image. Otherwise a standard image format for that platform such as IFF on Amiga is fine.
And finally
  • Only the picture will be shown, no sound, no decrunch sequence, no credits screen.
  • Pictures will be shown full screen (resized via box sampling, to minimise blurring and pixel distortion).
  • No multi-screen or scrolling pictures. Your image must be displayable in its entirety as a static screen on your chosen platform - for Amiga, this means a maximum of 640x512/16 color (OCS/ECS hi-res interlaced). If you can achieve higher resolution / colour depth than this, this will be accepted, but you’ll be expected to prove it by providing a player executable.
  • Entries that are suspected of the usage of AI are to be further inspected by a jury.

Oldskool Music

Limitations
  • This is a cross-platform competition. Any oldskool platform (as defined above) that is able to generate sound can compete!
  • Maximum file size is 2MB (2097152 bytes).
  • Accepted entries include (but are not limited to): music made for sound chips (such as SID, YM, AdLib); sample-based music on those chips; chiptunes in tracker formats such as MOD using simple waveform samples; and music made with software synthesis (such as AmigaKlang, AtariKlang). Tracker music (MOD, S3M, XM, IT) using regular non-chip samples belongs in the Tracked Music competition - organisers may move or disqualify such entries at their discretion.
Before you submit your entry
  • The entry has to be delivered either as an executable program or a recognised standard file format (such as .MOD) that can be played on the target platform. (If you are using a cross-platform tracker such as Furnace, the file you deliver must be usable on the real hardware, not just within that tracker.) The file (executable or data file) must be within the 2MB limit.
  • Always include an MP3/OGG encoded version of your tune with your submission. This must faithfully replicate the sound as it would be heard on the real hardware, with the exception that you may maximise volume to peak level, and/or mix stereo channels together to produce less-than-100% stereo separation or mono output. No other post-processing of the audio is allowed.
And finally
  • Screen contents will not be displayed so don’t waste your time creating fancy effects.
  • The maximum allowed pre-calculation time (in case your player needs it) is 30 seconds.
  • Entries may not loop and have to end with silence.
  • For C64 entries, please specify clearly if you require a specific SID chip version on the submission form!