UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge! (Extended to Nov 1st)

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uze6666
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UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge! (Extended to Nov 1st)

Post by uze6666 »

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Important news: The deadline is extended to November 1st 2014 at midnight GMT-5.

The Uzebox community is officially launching its second game coding contest! We aim to stir interest in peoples to realize games and ideas sleeping idle in a corner of their brain! The contest will offer prizes in hardware and cold hard cash!

Uzebox is a retro-minimalist open-source 8-bit game console boasting over 90 games and demos, tools and documentation all contributed by a avid community. Development can be done on the Uzem emulator or by building your own kit, available at Adafruit.com and hwhardsoft. Assembled kits can be bought here.

RULES
  • The contest will launch March 1st 2014 and close November 1st 2014 at midnight GMT-5.
  • Participant *must* register to participate.
  • The registration date limit is July 1st **Extended** To register, send the administrator a personal message on the forums with a rough idea of the game you are planning to present (if possible). It will remain secret but if someone had registered the same idea before you will be advised. Also provide your level of skills/experience in programming from 1(total novice) to 10(expert). There is a special prize to encourage novices and beginners.
  • Participants will be listed at the end of this post
  • More than 1 entry can be submitted per participant but only one can win a prize
  • You can share the progress of your game at any time during the compo as long as you registered it
  • Existing WIP games never completed can enter the contest...perfect occasion to finish em up ;)
  • More than one person can work on an entry but only one prize will be attributed to the entry
  • Source code will need to be submitted along the binary and we must be able to compile it
  • Projects must be made to run on the hardware and emulator.
  • Projects must be games or other useful and interactive programs (like Uzeamp, a tracker, etc). No demos will be accepted (demos in the traditional sense, i.e: Second Reality by Future Crew).
  • Projects must not be a simple update of an existing Uzebox game.
  • Projects must be at most 61440 bytes long to be compatible with the Gameloader.
  • Any video mode can be used
  • Any kernel version can be used
  • Custom kernels and video mode can be developed and used as long as it runs correctly on the real hardware and the emulator.
  • Jury will be made of a panel selected by Uze
  • Rules may be subject to change
  • Money prizes will be payed out exclusively via Paypal.
  • Judging will be made by summing and normalizing the rating from 1(lowest) to 10(highest) on several criteria:
    • Game Play: How the game plays and reacts, AI level, game dynamics, etc
    • Originality: Bonus point for an original game concept (i.e. not a port of an existing game)
    • Graphics: Quality and richness of the in game graphics
    • Sound & music: Quality and quantity of sound effects and in-game music. Bonus points for original effects and music.
    • Completeness: Bonus point for things like many game levels, main menu, high score panel, attract mode, etc.
    • Technical prowess: custom video modes, complex effects, etc will be awarded bonus points
  • Prizes will be allocated as following (subject to change for the equivalent or better):
    • 1st: 300$ + Uzebox full Kit + 3D printed enclosure + a 7" TV monitor
    • 2nd: 150$ + E/Uzebox Base Kit
    • 3rd: 50$ + Simon Says DIY kit
    • 4,5,6th places: Simon Says DIY kits
    • All other participants who crossed the finish line: t-shirts?
    • Extra bonus prizes awarded independently
      • 150$ for best real-time strategy (RTS) game
      • 200$ for best game made by a novice/beginner
      • 200$ for the most impressive technical feat/and or hack (especially if it is well suited to be used in other games!)
A big thanks to our benefactors, that graciously contributed (or will shortly ;) ) to the prize pot!!
  • D3thAdd3r
  • CunningFellow
  • schepers_cp
  • Uze
  • Harty
The compo officially starts march 1st. In the mean time if you'd like to contribute to the prize pool, please send me a PM. Naturally , the biggest the prizes the most interesting the compo will be!

Registered Participants
--------------------------
CunningFellow
jhhoward
nicksen782
shockdesign
HylianSavior
Old_chmee & thefake
Grobian99
Stache
Kerby
Alda
Ottjo
Ellipsis
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schepers_cp
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by schepers_cp »

example of what i'm thinking right now:
150$ of the rts prices will be for the 3 participants with the highest score in average with as genre rts (one note: a tbs is allowed too!)

and the remaining 50$ will be given to uze6666 for the total jackpot~
note that this was just an idea. :)

also, i got one raspberry pi with eu-adaptor and neat case for in the pricepot if that's alright.
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by CunningFellow »

As said in other thread - I will donate at least $200 to a novice/junior section.

I have no idea how to ascertain the validity of someones claim they are a novice though. Thoughts on that anyone?

I may also donate some Uzebox hardware as "encouragement prizes" along the way.
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by Harty123 »

nice. If we need more Simon Say kits (for 7th and 8th places for example) I will also sponsor it.

Do we have a logo for this compo (as for the UCC2013)??
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by uze6666 »

example of what i'm thinking right now:
150$ of the rts prices will be for the 3 participants with the highest score in average with as genre rts (one note: a tbs is allowed too!)

and the remaining 50$ will be given to uze6666 for the total jackpot~

note that this was just an idea. :)

also, i got one raspberry pi with eu-adaptor and neat case for in the pricepot if that's alright.
So you mean splitting 150$ between 3 participant? Since there's was no such entry last year and no RTS title on the Uzebox library as of now, I'd suggest you allocate the prize to a single entry. Moreover, if there's end up being no RTS entry, would you be ready throw the 150$ in the prize pool? As for hardware, as long it is brand new and unused, RPi is a great giveaway. Although due to logistics and cost of shipping stuff worldwide, prize money is probably preferable.
As said in other thread - I will donate at least $200 to a novice/junior section.
I have no idea how to ascertain the validity of someones claim they are a novice though. Thoughts on that anyone?
I may also donate some Uzebox hardware as "encouragement prizes" along the way.
That's a nice and tidy amount. :) Though I'm not sure we can ascertain that someone is novice. What's the criterions anyway? Never coded in C? Or made a game? Being a student? Or under x years old? Seems tough to check in any cases...Why now throw the amount in the pool for all then?
nice. If we need more Simon Say kits (for 7th and 8th places for example) I will also sponsor it.
Do we have a logo for this compo (as for the UCC2013)??
Great Harty, thanks! These are nice little kits and it will undoubtedly be a relieve for the participants to hack something else after coding for 6 months on the Uzebox! :lol: No I haven't had time to work on a logo for this year. Do you need it for tonight deadline? I can update test on last years one's if you think that will be enough.

Btw, I'm expecting every donators should wire me the funds in advance (i.e before the compo starts) to be sure they are available when the contest ends. Ideally all hardware should be sent to either me or Harty (depending were you live) for dispatch when contest ends. Send me a PM and I'll give you the details. In case the event somehow fails, I'll reimburse everybody promptly.
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by Harty123 »

uze6666 wrote: Great Harty, thanks! These are nice little kits and it will undoubtedly be a relieve for the participants to hack something else after coding for 6 months on the Uzebox! :lol: No I haven't had time to work on a logo for this year. Do you need it for tonight deadline? I can update test on last years one's if you think that will be enough.
Let me ask first our team. If it is possible to add this information to the news I need a logo or another offical picture in the next 2 days...
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

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Let me ask first our team. If it is possible to add this information to the news I need a logo or another offical picture in the next 2 days...
I sure can come up with something within 2 days, but by today's wont be possible since I'm not even home!
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by schepers_cp »

So you mean splitting 150$ between 3 participant? Since there's was no such entry last year and no RTS title on the Uzebox library as of now, I'd suggest you allocate the prize to a single entry. Moreover, if there's end up being no RTS entry, would you be ready throw the 150$ in the prize pool? As for hardware, as long it is brand new and unused, RPi is a great giveaway. Although due to logistics and cost of shipping stuff worldwide, prize money is probably preferable.

okay, i'll put the 150 plus the other 50 to a single entry then, and if there's no rts game submitted, i'll share the money of the first 3 prizes.
and you're right about logistics and stuff, so no raspberry pi.
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

I'll sponsor a technical prize which I'm working out divisions with Alec. Not related to the overall game judgment, the most impressive technical feat/and or hack; especially if it is well suited to be used in other games. This is mainly based on how complicated it was to pull off, what it accomplishes, and how useful for future games it is. It is simpler to complete a game by steering clear, but I would like to award a little extra for someone trying something a bit more grand and making it happen. Source for at least the features has to be available at time of judging to win the prize of course. This is supplemental, so 1st place entry could also win this. 1st place will have a harder time winning this than an impressive entry that didn't place top 3 however. And maybe its not a good idea and it will get redistributed in another way, as we have some time to think on the contest layout ;)
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Re: UCC2014: The Uzebox Code Challenge is back!

Post by CunningFellow »

uze6666 wrote:Though I'm not sure we can ascertain that someone is novice. What's the criterions anyway? Never coded in C? Or made a game? Being a student? Or under x years old? Seems tough to check in any cases...Why now throw the amount in the pool for all then?
I really would like to put money towards encouraging novices.

I don't think age is a good criteria. A 40 year old that worked as a truck driver all his life but has decided to start coding last week would be more challenged than a 10 year old that already programs other systems in assembly language.

I think maybe let the entrants themselves decide if they are a novice?

It is open to unethical people cheating I guess but I can't think of a fairer way.

Make anyone going for the novice prize make a thread about themselves and post progress on the game as they go along. Having progress checkpoints (not timed) to complete probably will help them across the finish line also.

If Uze could start up a new subsection in the forum for "code challenge classroom" I will try to help people as the go along.

I think having a novice section with checkpoints along the way can draw in more attention to the Uzebox overall.
schepers_cp wrote:if there's no rts game submitted[\quote]

I'll do one as long as at least one or two other people with some kind of track record step up. I've never really played any RTS games in my life, so the game play will probably suck. I'll make an interesting video_mode and RTS game engine though :)
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