We're starting off this year with the next contest for Cemetech, and this year we've got good things under our sleeves. You may have heard it being teased a bit, so let's dive into the details! This contest has been masterminded by naga_s/naga_serpentis.



The Tools
For this contest, you will be making a game using "Hybrid BASIC" using TI-BASIC and your preferred library, such as Celtic III, xLib, DoorsCS[E], Celtic CE, etc. With that being said, you will be using any of the following calculators for your entries:

• TI-83/84 Plus/Silver Edition
  
• TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition
  
• Any variant of the TI-84 Plus CE/T, TI-83 Premium CE
  
• Any variant of the TI-84 Plus CE Python/T/Edition Python

Of course, the TI-84 Evo has no Hybrid BASIC libraries yet. In this contest, you will NOT be using any sort of assembly, C, Axe, Ion, ez80 Assembly as the backbone for your entry. The only exception is to provide QoL ("Quality of Life") improvements for your program such as turning off the run indicator.

The Theme
You will be making some sort of a dungeon crawler. If you remember my Base 3 CE game I made a while ago, you'll be making a similar game in your own way. For your entry in the contest, your game must include at least two things:

1. A basic storyline: It doesn't have to be super complex or full of lore. A simple story goes a long way for your title.
   
2. An HP (Health Points) system: The player and all enemies must have HP. One-hit kills don't count!

Of course, your game shouldn't be limited to these: add other things to make it more fun such as power-ups, levels or rooms, achievements, and more! Whatever you believe will make your game look better, have at it!

Judgement and Scoring
For this contest, your program will be judged on various categories. The highest score you can earn will be 100, and it will be influenced for each category. However, there are some conditions that might push your score above 100.

• Optimization (30pts): Optimization of your code is vital for your game to be snappy and fast for the player.
  
• Gameplay (20pts): The play-through is also important, you want your game to be fun and exciting to the player. Having an attention-grabbing game encourages more people to play and actually finish the game.
  
• Graphics (10pts): Your game needs to be stunning to look at! Black text on white background are caveman times; we have the tools to make games look good! Use it! 🙂
  
• Originality (10pts): Your game should be unique! You can use ideas and inspiration from other games and creators, but don't copycat. You will lose 10 points for a direct copy from someone else!
  
• Technical skill (20pts): Your usage of Basic and Celtic CE is also vital to being successful in your entry. Pushing them to their limits to deliver something many will enjoy will get you through the long run. This category will also depend on any bugs and/or errors in the program. It is important for your program to have all its bugs squashed to deliver an excellent experience.
  
• Other Attributes (10pts): The judges will judge your entry to look for clever, unexpected, or otherwise skillful additions. More points are earned if your entry really tickles the judges' fancy!

Extra Credit: That's right, there's extra points that will be given if you go the extra mile and add more to your entry if you feel adventurous enough. Here's a list of what those can be:

• Achievement systems
  
• Game save-data system (bonus points for anti-tampering)
  
• Sprite usage over tokens
  
• And possibly more...

The judges for this contest will be:

• Naga Serpentis (naga_s)
  
• RoccoLox Programs (roccoloxprograms)
  
• iPhoenix (i.phoenix)
  
• KermPhD (kermmartian)
  
• KaiTheMouse (N/A)

Contest schedule
This contest will have an organized schedule to keep things fair, with these dates:

• May 10th, 2026: Contest announcement, contest begins
  
• June 4th, 2026: One week before the contest ends
  
• June 11th, 2026: Contest ends
  
• June 25th, 2026: Winners Revealed

Users will have one month after the starting day to complete their entry to win.

Prizes and Winners
For this contest, there will only be three winners this contest, and ties will not be permitted.
If you are a winner of CC27, here are the prizes that will be given!

• TI-84 Evo (Lavendar): First Place winner
  
• TI-84 Plus CE Python (Totally Teal, downgraded): Second Place winner
  
• TI-84 Evo Emulator License Key (4 years): Third Place winner

The calculators will include an extra battery. The prizes will also include a special hand-written note and sticker! To prize winners both in the United States and internationally, shipping up to $20 is included with your prize, and basic insurance coverage will be added. Your package will be delivered via USPS. Any shipping costs above $20 will be covered by our wonderful friend KermPhD. US "no export" countries are excluded. The unit(s) are "as-is" and are in working condition prior to this contest.

Final information and contact
Good luck everyone! I expect the competition to be intense especially for the prizes! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or anything else, please hit up naga_s by commenting on the thread to this announcement or by reaching out to the contest judging team. If you have other questions or concerns, please reach out to the administrators of Cemetech and its respective Discord and they will assist you whenever they are available.

Thank you!

Can you use your own libs? What about that useful little XCOPY asm program?

I would say that’s fine, as long as the program doesn’t do too much heavy lifting in your entry and isn’t considered the “spine” of the program

It has come to my attention of some users asking if AI usage for this contest is permitted, and for clarity I'll post it here in for future reference...

Usage of AI from any model such as Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Co-Pilot, etc. are strictly forbidden in this contest and usage of AI will have you and your entry disqualified with no chance of appealing.

If you have any questions for your entry or programming, feel free to ask us for assistance!

Not that I'd imagine AI would be very useful for a tokenized language like TI-BASIC with obscure libraries on top of that.

This should be fun I haven't tried using any ti basic libraries like Celtic ce but I'll figure it out thanks for this opportunity!

Thank you for running this, naga_s, and for contributing great prizes.

It's worth noting (because it has been so long since our last contest!) that if you intend to submit, you are expected to create and maintain a thread for your entry in the contest subforum.

Great idea for a contest! What was the justification for not allowing C and assembly entries?

TI-Basic doesn't get a lot of attention nowadays because most programs are using C, Assembly, ICE, etc. and I don't see very many options for TI-Basic.

Since TI-Basic is easy to understand, and the libraries for them are simple to use and learn, I thought it would give the contest a bigger opening especially for programmers (like myself) who don't really have experience in C or assembly.

Many games can be made with C or assembly with no problem, since you have more access to the hardware of the calculator and it would be easier to make them. With TI-Basic, it forces you to develop using the restrictions of Basic. The libraries do help quite a bit with games since Celtic CE absolutely improves the Basic experience. Also having the contest with C/Asm entries sets myself up for failure since I can't exactly read their code...

How should I submit my game once it's completed? Should I just upload it to Cemetech archives?

I have a question this was discussed in the SAX chat but could you just use vanilla ti basic without any libraries?

You can!

You can submit it to the archives or [url=mailto:admin@cemetech.net]email it to the admins[/url] (though if you go that route, please send it to me as well)

Ok thank you for letting me know if I can't get the hang of libraries I'll do that!

What do you mean by "copycat" ?
A copy of an already made game in TI-BASIC ?
Or a copy of any game existing in this world ?

I think an exact copy of any game. I think the whole point of the contest is to create your own lore.

I only found out about this contest a few days ago, and I don't think i have enough time to brush off my hybrid basic knowledge and hammer something out, but I will eagerly watch what others create and look forward to hopefully participating in the next one!

Is an asm snippet to generate a random matrix allowed?

I've been in Europe, so I just saw this now. This is a great idea for a competition! We'll see if I can crank something out with Celtic CE in time...

It has been many many moons since I did any basic on a calculator; but this makes me want to pull one out during tv time.
Just saw this thread, but 10 days might be enough if my fingers got that ti-basic muscle memory still.

Edit: cannot find my usb cord, and the one calc I could find does not have doors installed ☹️

Edit edit: thank you prime. Getting one asap.