I'm happy to announce the results of Contest #3! B-Flat earned 3rd place with COTOR, Fallen Ghost came in at 2nd place with Draw3D, and Harq moved up to 1st place with Maze v1.0. Harq has been promoted to a full member of the BASIC Elite, and all earned signature bars. The two of you with finished projects (I think bflat said he needed more time?) please submit your entries to the archives. Grading etc:
Maze 1.0
By Harq (David Dohan)
Graphics: 7
The author successfully followed the genre defined for this content through a fast, versatile pseudo-3D engine. My only real complaint is that the far-distance vanishing lines didn't quite line up with the closer walls, but that's a matter of changing 4 digits in the rendering subprogram. I particularly liked the way the main menu was implemented.
Interface: 8
Controls were a cinch, although I originally tried [2nd] instead of [ENTER] at the main menu. I recognized the door when I saw it, and I enjoyed watching the maze generating. An instaquit key during maze generation would be nice, and an explanation of what the maze generator is asking (attempts? wtf?) would have helped.
Execution: 8.5
Exemplary implementation of the idea, from the fast and bug-free maze generator to the well-organized readme to the relatively accurate rendering used.
Speed/size: 9
Superb optimizations; the rendering engine itself is less than 1KB and uses no pic variables whatsoever. I like how module this turned out, and how a variety of variable types could be used for optimal size and speed given a specific application.
Overall: 32.5/40
Penalty: -1 for late entry: 31.5/40
Draw3D
By Fallen Ghost (Jean-Philippe Caron)
Graphics: 8
The graphics for this project were quite good, and the speed of calculations for rendering and rotations seemed to be well-optimized. I was disappointed that it only does solid dark shading, and didn't shade in white at all. Other than that, it seemed good.
Interface: 6
The controls, although not obvious to a newbie, were easy to memorize and somewhat intuitive, but I would have preferred using onscreen menus, maybe from a bar that could pop up from the bottom of the screen.
Execution: 7
You took a fairly difficult concept and made it into an impressive program, even with limited time. This 3D editor uses quite the innovative method to store points, lines, and polygons. If it were my own program, I would have added dynamic shading based on a moveable light source.
Speed/size: 9
At 5K of memory and decent speed, you did a superb job. Optimization was good as well.
Overall: 30/40
+1 bonus for making it a single program [31/40]
COTOR
By b-flat
Graphics: 5
Graphics were fast and quite accurate, except for large open spaces. The use of lines made it avoid pic variables, at the expense of some detail.
Interface: 9
Controls were easy to figure out, once I deduced which program I was supposed to run.
Execution: 6
I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of your engine; I could see it being quite useful in an FPS or a 3D RPG. I think this shows a lot of potential, although it could have been slightly more polished. The readme was decent.
Speed/size: 8
Small footprint, fast speed. What more is there to say?
Overall: 28/40
Maze 1.0
By Harq (David Dohan)
Graphics: 7
The author successfully followed the genre defined for this content through a fast, versatile pseudo-3D engine. My only real complaint is that the far-distance vanishing lines didn't quite line up with the closer walls, but that's a matter of changing 4 digits in the rendering subprogram. I particularly liked the way the main menu was implemented.
Interface: 8
Controls were a cinch, although I originally tried [2nd] instead of [ENTER] at the main menu. I recognized the door when I saw it, and I enjoyed watching the maze generating. An instaquit key during maze generation would be nice, and an explanation of what the maze generator is asking (attempts? wtf?) would have helped.
Execution: 8.5
Exemplary implementation of the idea, from the fast and bug-free maze generator to the well-organized readme to the relatively accurate rendering used.
Speed/size: 9
Superb optimizations; the rendering engine itself is less than 1KB and uses no pic variables whatsoever. I like how module this turned out, and how a variety of variable types could be used for optimal size and speed given a specific application.
Overall: 32.5/40
Penalty: -1 for late entry: 31.5/40
Draw3D
By Fallen Ghost (Jean-Philippe Caron)
Graphics: 8
The graphics for this project were quite good, and the speed of calculations for rendering and rotations seemed to be well-optimized. I was disappointed that it only does solid dark shading, and didn't shade in white at all. Other than that, it seemed good.
Interface: 6
The controls, although not obvious to a newbie, were easy to memorize and somewhat intuitive, but I would have preferred using onscreen menus, maybe from a bar that could pop up from the bottom of the screen.
Execution: 7
You took a fairly difficult concept and made it into an impressive program, even with limited time. This 3D editor uses quite the innovative method to store points, lines, and polygons. If it were my own program, I would have added dynamic shading based on a moveable light source.
Speed/size: 9
At 5K of memory and decent speed, you did a superb job. Optimization was good as well.
Overall: 30/40
+1 bonus for making it a single program [31/40]
COTOR
By b-flat
Graphics: 5
Graphics were fast and quite accurate, except for large open spaces. The use of lines made it avoid pic variables, at the expense of some detail.
Interface: 9
Controls were easy to figure out, once I deduced which program I was supposed to run.
Execution: 6
I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of your engine; I could see it being quite useful in an FPS or a 3D RPG. I think this shows a lot of potential, although it could have been slightly more polished. The readme was decent.
Speed/size: 8
Small footprint, fast speed. What more is there to say?
Overall: 28/40
Now I get a thingie for my signature 