ver. 3.3.3, m. 2023-12-02

              .            
             _|            
                 ___/\__  ____ __    / |_______ ____ _________    | VCS/XL/XE
            /       \/    \  \  /  |   ___ \    \  ______/__  | LYNX 
               /    /\__/  /\  \  \/   |  / \/ / /\  \_____    |  | ST/STe/TT
             \    \/  \  \/  / \  /  |  \___/  \/  /   \/    |  | FALCON 
             \___  __/\____/   \/___|    |__|____/_____  ___|  | JAGUAR
   \/      /______\   |____!NE7          \/

I. GENERAL RULES

  1. All the entries submitted to the competition, will be judged by all party attendants, both those present at party place and remote ones.
  2. Entries should be submitted using on-line form that is placed HERE. Please do not send entries with other contact means i.e. e-mails. If you are going to submit more than one entry, please do it on separate submissions - each entry should have own record and fileset.
  3. The unpassable deadline for submitting entries is Thursday, December 7th, 2023, 12:00 CET (UTC + 1). After this time, the form will be blocked and new works will not be accepted for the competition. We encourage you to send your works as soon as possible - it helps to present them correctly and make actions in case of problems.
  4. The submitted entries should contain at least::
    • txt information file, with the title of the work, author (s), category, required hardware configuration,
    • executable binary files or floppy disk image (does not apply to the Wild category)
    • optional, but strongly recommended, video file of recorded work; MP4, 1920x1080, 50fps - will be a 100% guarantee of correct presentation
  5. The submitted entries cannot be published earlier.
  6. All submitted entries are freeware. Participants also agree to the publication of their entries as part of collective "Silly Venture Packs" for appropriate hardware platforms.
  7. The organizers reserve the right to change the declared category in consultation with the author, in particular if the entry does not meet the requirements of a given category or meets the conditions of a category with lower requirements.
  8. All entries to music and graphics compos must be original - plagiarism, covers, photos, etc. are not allowed.
  9. The presentation will be preceded by a screen containing the title, author (s) and category. When submitting a work, it is possible to provide two forms of title - one for presentation during the competition and other for publication of the results.
  10. The entries will be published in the form of a collective package on 23rd December this year, until then authors can publish their entries on their own or send corrected, final versions of their entry.
  11. Any content that is against applicable law, as well as content commonly considered offensive are not allowed. The organizers will urge the authors to remove them, and if they fail to do so, they may withdraw the work from the competition.
  12. The organizers have the equipment listed in the hardware specification. In the event of special requirements for any entry, the organizers may ask the authors to provide the hardware.
  13. Dedicated competitions concern works for Atari hardware. Entries for other platforms may be presented in the Wild category.

II. DETAILED RULES OF THE CATEGORIES

a. Music compo

  1. Music entries can be up to 5 minutes long. If the track is longer, it will be silenced after that time.
  2. The pieces must be original, they cannot be a cover, plagiarism or alteration. It is possible to present a cover in the Wild category, then the original should be clearly mentioned in the description.

Check out the list of platform-specific requirements and policies below.

b. Graphics compo

  1. The entries should be submitted in one of the common formats available on the given platform. They can also be provided as an executable file.
  2. Be especially careful when using additional techniques available for the platform; using active interlacing, overscan, etc. may result in an incorrect presentation of the work. The works are presented at party place using a projector and streamed to the network in the form of 1920x1080 video.
  3. The works must be original, they cannot be plagiarism, alteration or a scan of a photograph.
  4. Entries are shown for 45 seconds (and that should be length of optionally delivered video file).

Check out the list of platform-specific requirements and policies below.

c. Game compo

  1. Entries in the Game Compo categories are presented in the form of a video of the gameplay and a general presentation of the game. Currently, there is no possibility of a fully interactive presentation - this is due to the configuration of the equipment for streaming.
  2. If the authors' representatives are present at the party place during a compo, they can narrate live during the playback and talk about the production. The will of this form of presentation should be reported to the organizers or the Compo Team before the competition so that the whole thing goes smoothly.
  3. We encourage the authors to prepare a video recording as they know the game best - the video file may then contain their commentary.
  4. The presentation of the game in the form of a video recording should last up to 5 minutes. In justified cases (due to the level of complexity or extensive audiovisual setting of the game), presentations may be slightly longer, but please do not overuse it :) Each case will be considered separately.
  5. If the authors will not provide a recording, a short gameplay and presentation will be recorded by the Compo Team.

III. HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS

  1. The organizers have the hardware in the configurations listed below and only from such are able to conduct the presentation.
  2. If the work requires specific technical conditions, the authors should ensure that the equipment is delivered to the organizers early enough.
  3. The above rule does not apply if the authors provide a video file with the presented work

a. ATARI VCS 2600

The following consoles are available:

  • Atari 2600 jr
  • Atari 7800 in Atari 2600 compatibility mode

As a medium, the Harmony Cart cartridge will be plugged into the console. Bankswitching modes that were used commercially before 2000 are allowed.

b. ATARI XL/XE

The following computers are available:

  • The standard configuration is an XL/XE computer with 1MB Ultimate, 2xPOKEY (stereo), GTIA, Covox
  • We consider the above-standard configuration the XL/XE computer as above plus VBXE 2.1 core 1.24 and Rapidus

Computers will be connected to the following media

  • SIO2SD (data on SD card) connected to the SIO port
  • SIDE3 (data on the SD card) connected to the cartridge port
  • SIO2USB connected to the Atari SIO port and a PC (with the latest version of AspeQT) - to emulate a disk drive or tape recorder
  • physical floppy drive
  • Atari 1010 without turbo :-)

W przypadku prac wymagających innego sprzętu (specyficzne turbo do stacji dysków, CPU 65x816, prototypy nowych urządzeń lub inne mniej popularne modyfikacje) autorzy proszeni są o określenie swoich wymagań odpowiednio wcześniej, żebyśmy mogli się upewnić, że prezentacja nie sprawi problemów.

c. PORTFOLIO / ST / STE / TT / FALCON AND JAGUAR

The following hardware configurations are available:

  • Atari Portfolio (standard config)
  • Atari Falcon 030, 14mb RAM & FPU
  • Atari Falcon 060, 14mb RAM + 256Mb RAM + ethernet
  • Atari 1040 STe, 4mb RAM, floppy-drive + CosmosEx or Satandisk
  • Atari Jaguar with CD, Skunk cartridge and GameDrive cartridge
  • Atari Lynx with AGA Cart

IV. COMPETITION CATEGORIES

Here is the standard default list of competition categories. The competition in a given category will be performed if at least one entry is submitted to it. The above hardware and competition type rules apply to the list below:

  • Atari VCS 2600
    • Game Compo
    • Music Compo
        -  each entry must be provided as a 2600 executable (i.e. .bin, .a26, etc.) and must run on a 2600 console. Do not upload tracker files alone - some of them do not maintain console restrictions (e.g. Furnace Tracker)
    • Demo Compo
  • Atari XL/XE
    • 256B Game Compo
        - games with an executable size of up to 256 bytes
    • Game Compo
    • Graphics Compo

        - graphics must use standard Atari capabilities - ANTIC / GTIA, entries using i.e. VBXE can be submitted to the Wild Compo

    • Music Compo
        - music tracks using only 1 or 2 POKEY chips (mono/stereo)
    • Covox Music Compo
        - music tracks using only the Covox extension
    • GTIA Music Compo
        - music tracks using only GTIA (1-bit) chip
    • Intro 256b
        - intros with an executable size of up to 256 bytes
    • Intro 16k
        - intros with an executable size of up to 16 kilobytes
    • Demo Standard
        - demos running with standard configuration
    • Demo VBXE/Rapidus
        - demos running with VBXE and/or Rapidus

    • ATASCII Compo - SV Edition (original idea by Logiker)
        - Graphics created witch characters in 2-colour, standard graphics mode (BASIC: 0, Antic: 2), without additional techniques like DLI or scroll
        - Screen size: standard width (40 chars) and height up to 28 lines
        - Only standard ATASCII character set, redefinition not allowed
        - Techniques increasing number of colours or adding animation are not allowed - one character per cell, 2 shades of one colour (characters/background) plus static border colour from standard Atari palette
        - Entries should delivered as standard xex binary file
        - We recommend to use Playscii with ATASCII Exporter as editor. Detailed instruction and dowload links can be found here. Attention: plugin allows generation of files up to 28 lines.

        - Other rules of Graphics Compo apply (if applicable)
  • Atari ST/STE
    • Game Compo
    • Graphics Compo 
         - graphics will be displayed using Atari ST or STe capabilities
         - please specifiy graphics mode and palette (ST 9-bits or STe 12-bits)
         - max resolution for colour mode is 416*274
         - for custom graphics format, please provide an executable file for display
    • 4chn Music Compo
        - music tracks in 4-channel MOD format (i.e. ProTracker)
    • 8chn Music Compo
        - music tracks in 8-channel MOD format (i.e. Octalyser)
    • YM2149 Music Compo
        - music tracks for the YM2149 chip, possibly using DMA channels (up to two sample channels)
    • 128b Intro compo
        - originally Boot Sector Compo - that's why executable part of entries should fit into 128 bytes. For convenience organizers allow and recommend delivery of intro in a form of system executable file - then the total size of the file can be up to 160 bytes (128 bytes are the code part and the data + 32 bytes of the header)
    • 4kb Intro Compo
        - intros with an executable size of up to 4 kilobytes
    • 96kb Intro Compo
        - intros with an executable size of up to 96 kilobytes
    • Demo Compo
  • Atari Falcon
    • Game Compo
    • Graphics Compo
        - Please deliver entries as TGA or PNG files with exact information of Falcon's graphics mode to be used to display it. In case of Falcon specific format please specifiy which software should be used to display it. Avoid using JPG - overall palette of Falcon is 15/16-bit (HiColor), not 24 (TrueColor).
    • Music Compo
    • 256b Intro Compo
        - originally Boot Sector Compo - that's why executable part of entries should fit into 256 bytes. For convenience organizers allow and recommend delivery of intro in a form of system executable file - then the total size of the file can be up to 288 bytes (256 bytes are the code part and the data + 32 bytes of the header)
    • 4kb Intro Compo
        - intros with an executable size of up to 4 kilobytes
    • 96kb Intro Compo
        - intros with an executable size of up to 96 kilobytes
    • 030 Demo Compo
        - demos using only the standard 68030 CPU & FPU
    • 060 Demo Compo
        - demos using the 68060 CPU
  • Atari Jaguar
    • Game Compo
        - all entries will be presented using real Jaguar with Skunkboard or GameDrive expansion
    • Demo Compo
        - all entries will be presented using real Jaguar with Skunkboard or GameDrive expansion
    • 256b Intro Compo
      Compiled binary file with all data included, using .bin format should be of size up to 256 bytes. Of course optional files in other formats (i.e. j64) will be bigger by all headers native to them
  • Atari Lynx
  • Atari Portfolio Game Compo
  • Wild - any work that does not meet the requirements of other categories; work for other platforms, MP3 songs, video and multimedia presentations, etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------