- The competition is open to games for "classic" 8-bit computers from the 80s, such as the Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and so on. To be eligible for competition a platform must have a "sponsor"; see the FAQ below for more details. The following platforms currently have a sponsor: Commodore 64/128/VIC-20, Plus/4, PET, Vectrex, Spectrum/128/ZX81, CPC, VZ/Laser, NES, Colecovision, Oric.
- There are two categories this year: 1k and 4k. As with last year, the maximum size of the executable, including any headers, loaders, basic stubs, and data files, is 1024 or 4096 bytes. The game should autostart or start with RUN from the basic prompt.
- The "keep it clean" rule: Porn, profanity, etc. will probably lead to an unceremonius dumping of the game. Also known as the "Don't submit a hacked Custer's Revenge" rule!
- The closing date for entries is Sunday, August 29 2004.
Voting and Submitting files:
- To vote or submit a game you need to create an account, above. This account is separate from the BBS and the information is used absolutely only for the contest.
- You can edit your vote sheet at any time; at the end of the contest, you will be asked to submit your sheet after verifying that it is correct. Voting is not mandatory for all games.
- Games are submitted using the submission form above. Entries must follow the guidelines on the webpage, must be in a common emulator format, and so on. Note that it is your responsibility to submit a game screenshot and description for the webpage.
- If you can't use the webpage, then email the organizer and we'll work something out.
- Entries must not require any non-standard external hardware or software (but are welcome to use it if available). Common sense applies here -- standard peripherals such as a joystick or disk drive are of course fine.
- There is no limit to the number of entries from each author. The MiniGame homepage will be regularly updated with new entries, and authors may ask for their entries to be updated or removed at any time up to the competition deadline.
- Entries may use all the capabilities of the computer. This includes access to all memory, sound chips, ROM routines, and use of compressors (providing that the decompressor is contained within the code).