LynXmas 2020 Game Jam

[Igor]

I'm going to try and publish an article on all the games in the next couple of games, thanks to everyone for submitting! I feel like this has been the most successful jam (can't really call it a competition) so far. From the participants - what's your feedback? I've already said it earlier but the sense of community and sharing and early releases of screenshots and some ROMs has been amazing, that's the kind of atmosphere I wanted for the other comps I've hosted too. Would making it a ranked contest have made it any better? (I think not tbh, collaboration trumps competitiveness in the Lynx scene I think) Would prizes have made it better? (again I think not, but I'd like to see how new devs can be attracted to our little scene too)

[+karri]

51 minutes ago, Igor said:

From the participants - what's your feedback?

I love the discussion about the techniques and solutions. Having a real goal like a published cart adds to the excitement.
I am also very happy about @Nop90 taking the time to break the 256 note limit in ABCmusic. I hope to add this feature to the repository. Together with my brand new Python tool to convert sheet music to Lynx ABCmusic form. Having a tool like this makes an easy workflow for creating new music for the Lynx.

 

There is a free piece of software called Musescore. In that module you can open any MIDI file and it will show the music as instruments having scores. From here you can reduce instruments, and re-arrange the tune in any way you want. Once it sounds right you can export it into Uncompressed MusicXML format. My Python tool can then read the score and output it as ABCmusic.

 

About ranking... Well, I don't really need a contest to know which title will be the most played this Christmas. The RED entry is my favourite. The rest share the 2nd place. (Well, I have not yet played through any other entries except my own. But once the kids head up north and I have some spare time I will enjoy the other entries.)

 

Prizes would not have made it any better imho. Dealing with prizes is also a bit difficult in these times when posting anything costs a fortune and takes ages. But I really like the idea of getting a T-shirt or a poster from an event I participate in. The wonderful colour booklet @Fadest sent me with all the games in the 30-years competition is my favourite collectible. I also have the drawings from William Thorup which were just awesom!

[LordKraken]

My feeling is that the short amount of time made the event much more focused, with participants regularly sharing progress and encouraging/helping each other. 

 

Ranking, well depends. It's always interesting to know what people think about your game - after all many successful indie games started as very unpolished game jam contributions. The only question here is: Would ranking impact this community feeling we all appreciated greatly during this game jam?

 

Also an official cartridge release is for me the best possible prize (I'm aware it's only possible because we had this strict 32kb limit). 

[Nop90]

2 hours ago, LordKraken said:

Also an official cartridge release is for me the best possible prize

I agree

[Nop90]

I added the LynXmas Game Jam infos on Demozoo and Pouet

 

The information are not complete, everyone interested can add new infos or edit the existing ones. 

 

 

[Igor]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'll look into the cost of getting t-shirts made for the next one, I quite like that idea myself @karri.

Apologies for the long time to reply to all this - we hit the "3 week" mark with baby and he decided that sleep is not essential 😅

 

I've started adding event info to AtariGamer.com - https://atarigamer.com/lynx/event/LynXMas2020/5635329990066176

Will list each of the games next and will write up an article on it all after too (assuming baby lets me!)

 

Already talking to @Albert about what we need to do to get this cart published. I'll probably need a hand from some of you to help me figure out segments and how to build the final ROM.

[+karri]

6 hours ago, Igor said:

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'll look into the cost of getting t-shirts made for the next one, I quite like that idea myself @karri.

Apologies for the long time to reply to all this - we hit the "3 week" mark with baby and he decided that sleep is not essential 😅

 

I've started adding event info to AtariGamer.com - https://atarigamer.com/lynx/event/LynXMas2020/5635329990066176

Will list each of the games next and will write up an article on it all after too (assuming baby lets me!)

 

Already talking to @Albert about what we need to do to get this cart published. I'll probably need a hand from some of you to help me figure out segments and how to build the final ROM.

The easiest way may be to compile *.o files in the BLL style and save them as cart segments, without the header. In the directory you need the loading address and the length.

There is a rarely used command in cc65 library:;
 

; Karri Kaksonen, 2010
;
; lynx_exec(fileno) loads a file into memory but after the read the CPU
; does a jump into the loaded start address.
;
; lynx_exec is often used in compilation carts when you run small demos
; created with various (non-cc65) compilers.
;
; void lynx_exec(int fileno)
;
        .importzp       _FileDestAddr
        .import         pushax,ldax0sp,incsp2
        .import         _lynx_load
        .export         _lynx_exec

; ---------------------------------------------------------------
; void __near__ __fastcall__ lynx_exec (int)
; ---------------------------------------------------------------

.segment        "CODE"

.proc   _lynx_exec: near

.segment        "CODE"

        jsr     pushax
        jsr     ldax0sp
        jsr     _lynx_load
        jsr     incsp2
        jmp     (_FileDestAddr)

.endproc

 

So you can just use that one to launch a game.

[Fadest]

8 hours ago, Igor said:

Apologies for the long time to reply to all this - we hit the "3 week" mark with baby and he decided that sleep is not essential 😅

Don't worry, when he will be 16, he will find it is useless to wake up before noon.

Spoiler

(years, not weeks)

 

[Igor]

Thanks @karri! I'll give it a try.

@Fadest here I was hoping it would be weeks lol

[No One You Know]

On 12/21/2020 at 7:06 AM, Fadest said:

Don't worry, when he will be 16, he will find it is useless to wake up before noon.

  Hide contents

(years, not weeks)

 

As an actual 16 year old, I can confirm that that is not an exaggeration.

[Nop90]

Any news about the production of the cart?

 

[Igor]

On 2/22/2021 at 2:38 AM, Nop90 said:

Any news about the production of the cart?

 

All depends on when @Albert will have his carts ready...