At Cemetech, programming and trains are inextricably tied. As the summer rolls along, you are challenged to jump onboard Cemetech Contest #17: On Rails. For this contest, you are tasked with creating a train-themed calculator game in the calculator programming language of your choice.

Unlike the past few contests, CC17: On Rails has relatively few restrictions and an opportunity for peer review of entries. Participants are encouraged to seek help and suggestions from other members during the trip in order to encourage learning. Please document any assistance that you request or receive in the thread associated with your entry. The final game versions must be submitted to contest at this website’s domain name by August 31st.

Following the submission deadline, there will be a two week window for Cemetech members to play and vote on their favorite games. The judging panel will evaluate the code for characteristics such as coding style, optimization, and functionality. Quality of communication about the game will also be taken into account by the judging panel. Entries of contestants who demonstrably act on feedback will be judged more favorably.

Prizes for this contest have yet to be finalized; however, the contestants with top ranking entries will be offered physical prizes. More information on Contest 17 prizes will be published when a decision is made.

Timeline:
▪ June 20th: Contest begins; initial feedback and suggestions period
▪ August 31st: Final games submitted to Cemetech Archives
▪ September 2nd: Voting period begins
▪ September 14th: Voting period ends
▪ September 18th: Results released

Rules:
▪ The game must include a train or railroad related theme.
▪ All contestants must actively maintain a topic on their entry. The topic title should be in the form “CC17: [Your Cemetech Username]”.
▪ Contestants may not release binaries until the end of the contest; however, posting short code segments is acceptable.
▪ The contest will run until August 31st, 2016, at 11:59:59pm Eastern Time. No late entries will be accepted. If multiple entries are made, only the latest one will be scored.
▪ Cemetech members may vote on their top three picks during the voting period of September 2nd through September 14th, 2016.
▪ Code judging will be performed by a team picked from among the Cemetech administrators and members; all judges are disqualified from entering the contest.
▪ The game may be be in any programming language, provided it will run on a standard graphing calculator operating system. The use of commonly available shells and libraries is also allowed.
▪ Fine print rules are available here.
I somehow completely missed this frontpage article, and I saw it at calc.news during a break at work Sad
Anyway, it looks very cool! I have some insane ideas, but that's all secret...
For submitting, do I need to include a screenshot of the game/whatever? Or already in the thread?
What's calc news? You need to submit the files the way you would submit them to the archives normally; we will ask you afterwards if you want your entry accepted to the archives or rejected. That includes screenshots. Of course, note the parts about getting feedback from the community: maintaining an active thread about your project with screenshots and progress can only help your score.

I have to point out that despite my well-known propensity for TRAINS, I did not help to pick this topic; I was merely overjoyed when jonbush, our eminent master of contests, presented the topic. In fact, I'm hoping I'll be able to enter something myself.
Does it have to be an original game, or can we borrow ideas from other games?
Ivoah wrote:
Does it have to be an original game, or can we borrow ideas from other games?


Originality is encouraged, but you may borrow ideas from other games provided that you do not borrow code from those games. For example: train themed _____ would be allowed, as long as you don't steal someone else's open source _____ calculator program and insert train sprites.
KermMartian wrote:
What's calc news?

Juju made a website that is pretty much an RSS feed aggregator for alot of the calculator-based forums and hosts it at http://calc.news
I'm so excited!!! Can't wait to start!
Also, whats a binary? Question
Battlesquid wrote:
Also, whats a binary? Question

Your code source
I have a neat idea... Smile not going to tell anyone though.
PT_ wrote:
Battlesquid wrote:
Also, whats a binary? Question

Your code source
Not quite; in fact, it's the opposite. The binary is the compiled blob (think .exe or .8xp) that your code compiles into.
KermMartian wrote:
What's calc news?
He's refering to http://calc.news , like ordelore said. It's a new incarnation of TI-News (the last two closed in 2004 and 2007, respectively) https://web.archive.org/web/20070102014239/http://www.ti-news.net/conglomerate.php
DJ_O wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
What's calc news?
He's refering to http://calc.news , like ordelore said. It's a new incarnation of TI-News (the last two closed in 2004 and 2007, respectively) https://web.archive.org/web/20070102014239/http://www.ti-news.net/conglomerate.php
Yes, got it. Oh, I'm quite familiar with TI-News; I was very sad when it closed the first time. Smile
KermMartian wrote:
PT_ wrote:
Battlesquid wrote:
Also, whats a binary? Question

Your code source
Not quite; in fact, it's the opposite. The binary is the compiled blob (think .exe or .8xp) that your code compiles into.


K Thanks Very Happy
Awesome contest idea! I'm enjoying the fact that the deadline is at the end of august, letting those of us who are on vacation right now have a chance to enter.
Is there any possibility that the available languages/environments could be expanded to PICO-8? It definitely has the same feel as programming on a calculator, what with it's restrictions and all, and is extremely fun to program in. Games made with it can be uploaded to the web or exported as HTML pages, so judges and others being able to play the games wouldn't be an issue.
I understand if you guys want to limit entries to calculators, but I figured it was worth asking about.
Unicorn wrote:
Awesome contest idea! I'm enjoying the fact that the deadline is at the end of august, letting those of us who are on vacation right now have a chance to enter.
Yep, that's the hope. Good luck on your entry, and don't forget to start it when you get back from vacation! In fact, that goes for all of you: don't let the chasm of time between now and the deadline make you complacent. Work on your entry and try to get it done now, because that deadline will appear very suddenly.
Ivoah wrote:
Is there any possibility that the available languages/environments could be expanded to PICO-8?
Is there a calculator emulator for the PICO-8 architecture of which you're aware? I feel that if you want to make a PICO-8 game for the contest, that making a PICO-8 calculator emulator would also be necessary to enter it.
KermMartian wrote:
Ivoah wrote:
Is there any possibility that the available languages/environments could be expanded to PICO-8?
Is there a calculator emulator for the PICO-8 architecture of which you're aware? I feel that if you want to make a PICO-8 game for the contest, that making a PICO-8 calculator emulator would also be necessary to enter it.

No there isn't. I guess I'll just port my project to the Nspire then. I won't be too hard, as they both use Lua.
KermMartian wrote:
Yep, that's the hope. Good luck on your entry, and don't forget to start it when you get back from vacation! In fact, that goes for all of you: don't let the chasm of time between now and the deadline make you complacent. Work on your entry and try to get it done now, because that deadline will appear very suddenly.

Indeed! I'll try me best to get something done before getting home, though the lack of online C emulator does hinder me... Razz
Anyways, SC3 will definitely help, constantly troubleshooting the C SDK won't be a problem. Very Happy
Can subprograms be used? For example, a TI-BASIC game with a custom basic subprogram? Or custom ASM program?

It makes for more manageable code.
Minxrod wrote:
Can subprograms be used? For example, a TI-BASIC game with a custom basic subprogram? Or custom ASM program?

It makes for more manageable code.


Yes, subprograms can be used - provided that all necessary subprograms are provided with the final submission. Packaging all subprograms in a group is preferred.
  
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