Amiga Game Compo 2005/2006

General:

We're arranging an Amiga games development compo. The idea to encourage people to start making Amiga games again that runs on our beloved Amigas. The game may be anything from a platform game on a basic A500 to a 3D first person shooter on an accelerated Amiga with RTG.

Rules:

• Must run on a 68k based OS3.1 Amiga.
• Must be a original game, clones of games are accepted but it may not be based on someone elses code.
• Must be completable for the player. It can be a short game (like a demo) but it must have a definite end (unless it's a tetris kind of game with no end).
• Must be freely distributable so it can be uploaded to Aminet once the compo is over.
• Must be installable on a harddrive.
• Must be a new game, not something already released by the author unless it's a major overhaul of the game and gameplay.

• Can consist of as much people as you wish, but you will be responsible for dividing the price by yourselves amongst the team members.

How your game will be judged:

• It's more important that the game is fun to play than that the game is technically advanced.
• It's positive if the game has original artwork and music.
• It's positive if the game does not require more CPU, RAM, software etc. than it actually needs. For example there is nothing wrong if a 3D first person shooter game would require a 060 to be playable, but if an A500 style platform game would require a 060 to be playable it is not ok.
• It's positive if the game makes use of available features of the intended machine configuration(s). For example if you plan to make a scrolling platform game which will be using ECS or AGA, then make use of the hardware scrolling abilities of the chipset.
• It's positive if the game is adaptable and runs on as many different configurations as possible. i.e

Pros:

• The game supports a CD32 Gamepad.
• The game supports RTG.
• The game supports network-play.
• The game is multitasking.
• The game is system-friendly.

Cons:

• The game requires a CD32 Gamepad.
• The game does not work with AGA (if it's a RTG game).
• The game is only network playable.

These pro/cons are not definite and should be regarded with common sense. It's no shame in making a game that fully exploits the features of ECS or AGA and doesn't support RTG because of the job that is required to combine them. On the contrary it would be bad to make a game that uses the CD32 pad and doesn't support keyboard play for the people who only owns a normal Amiga joystick as it's not much work.

Something more regarding the art of applying common sense - preferably use common solutions so everyone can enjoy the game without needing to install alot of uncommon software, i.e

• A configuration program or even the game itself could use MUI since it can be considered as something everyone has nowadays.
• If you're making a game with network-play, you should use a resonable standard for the communication. TCP/IP would be a good choice, IPX/SPX would not.

Suggestions for games:

• A dogfight style game with network-play support
• A top-view racing game that supports RTG
• ...

Hardware that the game can/will be tested on:

Amiga 4000
Apollo 4040 (040 40MHz) with 128MB RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.9
AGA (2MB Chip) / Cybervision 64 (4MB)
Ariadne II Ethernet (TCP/IP)

Amiga 4000
Cyberstorm PPC (060 50MHz) with 128MB RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.9
AGA (2MB Chip) / Cybervision PPC (8MB)
Ariadne Ethernet (TCP/IP)

Amiga 1200
Blizzard 1230-IV (030 50MHz) with 32MB Fast RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.1
AGA (2MB Chip)
PCMCIA Ethernet (TCP/IP)

Amiga 1200
Blizzard 1260 (060 50MHz) with 128MB Fast RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.1
AGA (2MB Chip)
PCMCIA Ethernet (TCP/IP)

Amiga 2000
GVP G-Force (030 25MHz) with 5MB Fast RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.1
OCS (1MB Chip)
A2065 Ethernet (TCP/IP)

Amiga 500+
Standard 68000 (7MHz) with 4MB Fast RAM
Kickstart 3.1 / Workbench 3.1
ECS (1MB Chip)
Nullmodem network (TCP/IP)

Amiga 500
Standard 68000 (7MHz) with 512kB Slow RAM
Kickstart 1.3
OCS (512kB Chip)
No network