I'd like to announce the



This year's theme is Tools, Sims, and 3D.


  1. Entries will be for the fx9860, the Prizm, and the Classpad
  2. All entries must have been received by the 15th of August, 0:00, UTC in a topic on casiocalc.org. Results will be announced around one week later, depending on the amount of entrants.
  3. No previously released program may be submitted, but entrants are encouraged to release at any time during the next three months.
  4. Work must be original, but porting and usage of libraries are allowed.
  5. All entries must be in a zip file under a folder (not directly in the zip). They must have a readme, and source must be provided.
  6. Programs may be entered into multiple topics; for example, if I have a 3D simulation of a globe, I could enter it into both 3D and educational.
  7. Judges may not judge categories in which they will enter. Judges must apply by the 10th of June
  8. Prizes will be userbars, and whatever else we can get donated


Categories

C/Asm, Lua, and Basic will be judged together, with handicaps listed in the topics section.


  • Three Dimensional
    Create a program that utilizes 3D in some way. More points will be given for realism and better rendering (Raytracing versus Raycasting)

  • On-Calc Language
    Create any language that can be compiled or interpreted on the calculator. Points will be given for greater extensiblity, library support, and usability (or unusibility for esoteric languages- though they must be tasteful [line noise is not tasteful]).

  • Shell/File Manager
    The the Prizm (and to a lesser extent, the fx-9860) need shells (Of the $ kind) and file managers to enhance usability (and display pictures). Points will be awarded for usability (No mice, except for classpad) and features.

  • Educational/Simulations
    Create something educational, or something to simulate (Virtual ant farm gogogogo). Program must be original and creative (we already have enough programs that solkve the quadratic formula). Make something kids can learn from.

  • Editor
    Create an editor of some sort.


Judging Topics

Topics will be judged on the following, using a 1-5 scale for each.



  • Category
    These points are to how well it meets each category's specs.

  • Graphics
    Is it snazzy? Do the features pop? Does it load fast? Two extra points will be awarded for basic games in this category.

  • Features/Originality
    What features are in this game/tool that make it different? What does it have that ABC doesn't? One extra point will be added in this category for lua and basic.

  • Documentation
    Is the readme thorough and well-written? Is there in-game/tool help? If I have a problem, is it easy to figure it out?

  • Usability
    How easy is it to do common tasks? Is the interface intuitive? Are the controls standard?

  • Bugs
    This is a negative category; If there are many bugs, this could seriously detract from your program, however, if there are no bugs, you don't have to worry.

  • Portability
    Up to 5 extra points will be awarded for porting your program to other platforms. More points will be given for reproducing the game more exactly (for ports to inferior hardware) or using the new features to give a new experience (for superior hardware). A multiplier will be added, depending on the language of the game: *.3 for basic *.75 for lua and *1.0 for C/asm.

  • H2G2
    This category's points will be awarded because the judges "really want to."

Remember folks, work hard, do great things, and most of all, Have Fun.
Can a team of multiple programmers submit a single entry? What Merth and I have been working on fits the topic, but it's a joint effort.
Tari wrote:
Can a team of multiple programmers submit a single entry? What Merth and I have been working on fits the topic, but it's a joint effort.


I'd have to think about it; I'm not sure whether group projects would imbalance the field.
Oooh nice. Perfect. This is something I needed to push me into coding for the Prizm. I will be entering into... hmm: 3-D, on-calc language (I have always wanted to do this) or an editor. Anyways good luck to all those entering and I hope to have some real competition.
That seems like an awful lot of topics for a contest of this magnitude; are you saying that there are twelve total topics? Will you be awarding 1st/2nd/3rd on a per-topic basis? If so, I think everyone will be a winner.
KermMartian wrote:
If so, I think everyone will be a winner.


Completely true, considering that even today, there are not a huge number of Prizm developers. I would suggest narrowing this down to "utility", "educational", and "recreational".
Ashbad wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
If so, I think everyone will be a winner.


Completely true, considering that even today, there are not a huge number of Prizm developers. I would suggest narrowing this down to "utility", "educational", and "recreational".
Indeed, and perhaps combine all of the languages together, with a reasonable balance given by the judges between the languages to level the playing field between what's possible in BASIC and ASM/C.
KermMartian wrote:
Ashbad wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
If so, I think everyone will be a winner.


Completely true, considering that even today, there are not a huge number of Prizm developers. I would suggest narrowing this down to "utility", "educational", and "recreational".
Indeed, and perhaps combine all of the languages together, with a reasonable balance given by the judges between the languages to level the playing field between what's possible in BASIC and ASM/C.


Hmm... Maybe I could reduce the basic categories to 3D and educational, as those are the only ones where Basic is really feasible. I could also cut Music/Video, unless I get some more support for that.

A lot of the reason for this contest was to get new programs out for the 9860, prizm, and classpad that we don't have any of. For example, we don't really have any editors, shells, or on-calc languages for the prizm, or shells for the 9860. (I'm not sure about the state of the classpad).
Indeed. I think you should probably scale back your expectations for the contest. In the past, summer contests are historically quite unsuccessful. People have started out the summer very gung-ho about their entries, but have gotten distracted with summer classes, summer projects, and summer relaxation, and not successfully completed their entries by the end of the summer slash end of the contest. I hope that you guys get more people excited, though, and hopefully you'll get a decent number of entries. On an unrelated note, I have moved this topic out of Cemetech Contests and into the Casio FX/Prizm subforum.
I agree with Kerm on the summer thing. I usually start the summer with a lot of plans and ideas in my mind, thinking "I'll have a lot of time to do/implement/code these", and when I notice it's September already and I'm back to school again. Smile Based on my personal experience, the best summer projects are the ones you can complete in one or two days before you loose motivation or get distracted by other things like new projects and ideas.

Also, coding add-ins for the Prizm other than games (even after a year after 3rd party development has started) is, IMHO, still pretty much a job of discovering new puzzle pieces in the development scene - new syscalls, new OS behaviors, new ways to brick a calculator (who knows?), etc. I think this slows down development for lots of people and also demotivates them (eh, not everyone knows as much as Simon Lothar Wink ), for example, when you ask a question about some file-handling syscalls and nobody knows the answer - I've been there, and I still don't know the answer...
#casiocalc wrote:
[15:09:11] <@ffisch> i think maybe we should leave them in. we know a lot of syscalls for 9860, so i think we will see quite a bit of activity in that area
[15:10:18] <@ffisch> it would be only the prizm that would have drawbacks in that category


For this reason I shall leave editors and file managers in, but video/audio will be cut. All languages will be judged in the same categories, but with the following changes:

In portability, programs will be rated like normal, but the final score will have a multiplier added: *.3 for basic *.75 for lua and *1.0 for C/asm. Basic will also have a 2 point handicap in graphics, and 1 point in features. For the moment, there will be a 1 point handicap in features for lua, as there are few libraries. The rules will be updated accordingly.
What kind of an "Editor" are we talking about here?
Spenceboy98 wrote:
What kind of an "Editor" are we talking about here?


I was thinking of a text editor, but it really could be anything. The definition was intentionally left ambiguous.
seana11 wrote:
Spenceboy98 wrote:
What kind of an "Editor" are we talking about here?


I was thinking of a text editor, but it really could be anything. The definition was intentionally left ambiguous.


cross-platform on-calc image editing software++ Very Happy

(That's what I was thinking when I saw "editor")
seana11 wrote:
Basic will also have a 2 point handicap in graphics


seana11 wrote:

[*] Graphics
... Two extra points will be awarded for basic games in this category.

Which of these sentence is wrong ? Will a basic game receive 2 extra points or will it be penalised of 2 point ?
I agree with Cartix's confusion. I also don't understand what you mean by multiplying BASIC programs by 0.3. That would seem to lower BASIC entries' scores to me...
Yes, the aim of the multiplication is to make basic ''compatibility'' score lower, what is (it(s my opinion) stupid :
The prizm basic is about the same that the fx... basic, so there will be no problem in compatibility
The prizm SDK isn't the same that the fx... SDK, but I think that a Prizm add-in is not so difficult to port to fx...
LuaFX isn't compatible with the prizm, and it's also uncompatible with CPLua
So I think that a basic program must have more compatibility points than an add-in, which must also have more point than a LuaFx program Wink
Cartix wrote:
seana11 wrote:
Basic will also have a 2 point handicap in graphics


seana11 wrote:

[*] Graphics
... Two extra points will be awarded for basic games in this category.

Which of these sentence is wrong ? Will a basic game receive 2 extra points or will it be penalised of 2 point ?
A two point handicap can mean giving them an additional two points.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/handicap#Noun wrote:
handicap
An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race (or other contest of skill) to the competitor possessing disadvantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success.


It's an ambiguous term, but I'm assuming it's that they get an additional two points.
Ok. Thanks. Good news Wink
The point of reducing the score of porting a basic game is because of the relative ease of which it is to port a basic game, as compared to a C/asm game. It may only require retyping the source of the game into a different model of calculator.
  
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