C4 - 2005 Classic Console Coding Contest 2005

Classic Console Coding Contest 2005
Terra-Forming SEGA Saturn
6th June 2005 - 30th November 2005

Last update: 05/12/12
Read the news!

Info   Prizes   Judging   Rules   Results   Ideas   Links   Sponsors   News

Information The C4 - 2005 Saturn Coding Contest is over,
view and download results here.


This is the second SEGA Saturn coding contest ever. It's never been so easy to get into Saturn coding, because with the Saturn Game Tutorial & Demo and with SaturnOrbit, the all-in-one Saturn coding package, getting started is child's play.

The contest runs from june 6th 2005 until november 30th 2005. There are no restrictions on the type of demo, game or application you submit. The guideline is to make something to have a good time with.

New entries can be registered online at the C4 - 2005 entries page. For christmas all valid entries will be put together on one Saturn demo CD.

Use your chance to win one of our attractive prizes and download SaturnOrbit + Saturn Game Tutorial & Demo right away.
There is an award for the best newcomer, too.

This contest is run by www.rockin-b.de with the support of other people.




1st place:
SEGA Saturn videogame console (PAL, 50Hz, model 1) with pad, AC cable, new SCART cable and 2 games from The Rockin'-B.


Plus the japanese game Puzzle Bobble 2X
(aka Bust a Move 2 Arcade Edition)
box with Space Invaders from anonymous.


Plus a 30 euro purchase at www.frikidonia.com, a new spanish shop offering comics, mangas and videogame stuff!
(shipping is not free)

2nd place:
SEGA Game Gear handheld console with AC adapter(50Hz) and a brand new Sonic 2 game from The Rockin'-B.


3rd place:
Saturn modchip to play CD-R's from www.racketboy.com.
(buy your modchips and 4MB RAM Carts from him)


Best newcomer award:
An Action Replay cartridge with PC connector from The Rockin'-B.



Want to donate a prize?
Note: As far as external and donated prizes are concerned,
I can't guarantee that these people will send you the prize.
Just contact me if you don't get your prize, I'll see what I can do.
 Prizes



Judging After the contest ends all submitted entries will be viewed and sorted from best to worst by multiple judges. Sorting will be done on different aspects like graphics, sound, gameplay and overall. The judges are trustworthy and don't prefer any of the contest participants.

All scores will be summed up for each entry to give a final rating.

To get a good score ensure that your game/demo/app is fun to play.


Hints:
no fun =
crap, buggy, instable, difficult to understand, no gfx, no sfx, boring stuff
fun =
easy to get into(in-game manual), some sort of replay value

Make pre-releases of betas to get early feedback so you'll be noticed if you're on the wrong track.

Start an own topic for your entry at segaXtreme's saturn dev board and stay in contact with other devvers.


Want to become a judge?





  • deadline: november 30th 2005, 23:59 CET
  • your SEGA Saturn game/demo must run on real hardware
  • when you start coding, register your entry at the C4 - 2005 entries page
  • submit to C4_2005@rockin-b.de before the deadline
    (zip/rar archive containing:
    a multiregion ISO,
    a binary executable <- if it does not use CD,
    CDDA tracks in mp3 format <- if it does use CD audio)
  • your entry must show contest title "C4 - 2005" and webpage "www.rockin-b.de" at game start
  • teams are allowed, but sharing the prize is up to you
  • multiple entries per team/person are allowed and welcome, but only the best one will go into prizing
  • don't submit something that has been released before, unless it shows significant updates
  • all types of games/demos/emus/ports allowed
  • if you want your game included with the entries CD:
    • make sure your app (all files + all CDDA tracks) uses not more than 70 MB.
      (if you want to play longer music tracks, don't use CDDA, but use ADPCM instead, see SoundPlayer to know how, or use sequence aka midi music)
    • call SYS_Exit(0) to return to the boot cd menu (link SEGA_SYS.A). Allow to exit at any time by pressing START+A+B+C.
    • use an IP.BIN created without linking sys_init.o
  • keep in mind: make it fun to play
    (e.g. enjoyable, entertaining)
Rules



Ideas
  • port a game from GP32 or Dreamcast
  • porting ideas: DCEmu board
  • clones of sokoban, worms, death tank, lemmings, sim city, magical drop
  • an app/library to access the backup memory of an Action Replay cartridge from within a homebrew game.
  • emulator port: SMS, NES, VMU, Pocket Station, Pokemon Mini, ...




Links



Supported by
 Thanks to (in no particular order):

Mr. Saturn for the C4 - 2005 entries page,
racketboy, anynomous and madmalkav for prize support,
the unknown guy who made SaturnOrbit
and everyone who helped making this contest by making an entry or giving advice.


Buy your modchips and 4MB RAM Carts from www.racketboy.com!
Bring Life To Your Saturn - Modchip, RAM Cart, and Battery




Get your comics and videogame stuff from www.frikidonia.com!




05/12/12:
Finally, the C4 judging is over and the C4 results are published as well as the C4CD. Prize shipping will start now.
Judging turned out to be a difficult task and reading the judges comments is quite interesting.

All C4 contestants can be proud, as they made Saturn homebrew reach a new level of quality! Let me encourage you to continue your projects.

Those who did not get a prize, don't worry about that since with only a few improvements, you can make your entry a top title in Saturn homebrew.

Thanks to all those many people who where involved in the C4 - 2005!

Rockin'-B

BTW: the old C4 entries page is replaced by the C4 results page.


05/12/04:
The preliminary C4CD for the judges is done, judging starts today and will take up to seven days.


05/12/01:
The C4 - 2005 Saturn Coding Contest is over!

Finally after almost 6 months, the C4 - 2005 is over and all entries are submitted.
Next I will create a preliminary C4CD which will be used by the judges. The judging procedure will take up to seven days. Meanwhile, all contestants can customize the appearance of their entry on the C4CD:

  • a screenshot thumbnail (64x64 pixel, a transparent color can be used)
  • a fullscreen image (704x480 pixel) showing controls and further info
  • short textual description (8 lines of 20 characters each) for title, version, author, features, ...
  • an audio file that's played when your entry is highlighted
  • a readme text file

All of this stuff is optional, but I recommend to at least provide a thumbnail and text description. If you don't provide the data, noone else will create it for you. Instead ugly "Not found!" messages are displayed.

When judging is done, results will be published, prizes will be shipped and the final C4CD will be released.
Thanks to all contestants for their work!


05/11/30:
This is the last day of the C4. All contestants must submit their entries before midnight of today, 30th november 2005. Please note that the timezone used is CET.

Everybody please check the rules again. I'm really mean every contestant. Go read the rules and make sure your entry complies to all of them.

Those who use CDDA, please tell me the number of tracks you use. I'll then give you a start track number to use for the C4 CD version (like described before).

Please submit your entry in ISO/MP3/CUE format via e-mail to C4_2005@rockin-b.de. If it's more than 5MB, please upload it elsewhere (www.megaupload.com, www.savefile.com) and e-mail a link only.

05/11/28:
This is only importand for all people whose C4 entries use CDDA:

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to support CDDA start track number by Atlas. So it is needed to hardcode the CDDA start track into the entries themself. This is plain easy, make a
#define START_TRACK_NO    2
and when playing a track, always add START_TRACK_NO to your track number.
If you tell me the number of CDDA tracks you are using,
I tell you the appropriate START_TRACK_NO for your entry on the C4 CD.

To build a standalone version, use START_TRACK_NO 2, to build a C4 CD version, use the number that I supply you.

I'm sorry, but there is no other way. The sooner you tell me your number of CDDA tracks, the sooner I can create the disc.

Thanks everybody,
Rockin'-B

05/11/23:
- updates rules with:
"Allow to exit at any time by pressing START+A+B+C."

05/11/21:
- updated racketboy's URL to www.racketboy.com
- updated judging method (from absolute to relative)
- updated custom full screen image resolution for C4 CD

05/11/15:
Oh yeah, only two more weeks until the 2nd Saturn Coding Contest is over! Then a preliminary C4 CD will be created for the six judges to take up their work. If you want to be a judge, too, please e-mail me: C4_2005@rockin-b.de.

People can customize their entries on the C4 CD in various ways:
  • a screenshot thumbnail (64x64 pixel, a transparent color can be used)
  • a fullscreen image (352x224pixel, may be increased to 352x448 or 704x448 pixel) showing controls and further info
  • short textual description (8 lines of 20 characters each) for title, version, author, features, ...
  • an audio file that's played when your entry is highlighted
  • a readme text file
I very much suggest everyone to make these things. To see how it will look like on the C4 CD, you can download and play The Rockin'-B All Stars.

Okay, I know from my own experience ;-) that time is running out now for a couple of Saturn coders.
So my offer is, that you can submit your C4 CD custom media up to one week after the C4 deadline.

So you can concentrate on the game 'til the last minute and care about it's presentation later.

Keep it up!

05/09/22:
Hello guys,
today I'm happy to announce a prize update:
whoever wins the contest will get a 30 euro purchase at www.frikidonia.com, which doubles the value of the former 15 USD. All other prizes remain the same.

If all people I've been in contact with can successfully finish their entry, then it'll be a very interesting november for the Saturn scene :-) . So keep it going!

05/0905:
Now for something funny:
When I did determine the deadline data, I did not look into the calendar, but took the date from another contest. Now I was told that there is no 31st november....that's right ;-D.
Okay guys, I think it's no problem if we switch the deadline by one day to the real last day of november: the 30th.
Sorry for that mistake...

05/07/13:
There are more people developing entries than those who have registered. A lot of them are new to Saturn dev. Don't forget to register your entry as soon as possibly. Remind: feedback makes you stay on the right track!

Modified some rules to be more precise.
Added Saturn Game Tutorial & Demo to the Information section.

05/06/15:
WinterSports Eins for SEGA Saturn released!

One entry will be released soon!
First entries registered!
Modified boot CD guideline to be more precised.
Added link to C4 - 2005 discussion topic in links section.
Added boot CD guideline as optional in rules section.
Minor changes in information section.
Added news section.
 News


Legal stuff:
This page is not affiliated with, or endorsed by Sega or any other company.
All appearing trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Copyright (c) 2005 by The Rockin'-B