SEGA Saturn Coding Contest (C4 - 2007)



Download and view the results here.





News

2008/04/19:
All prizes have been shipped!
I'm very happy that all the packages arrived at their destinations in Canada, USA and France without any problem. Four homebrew Saturn developers were equipped with the USB DataLink device, which is very useful for testing homebrew applications on Saturn.
The money prize transfers have been successfully completed as well. VBT donated his money prize to support the next contest, a big thanks to all your support, VBT!
So with that, the C4-2007 is finished in every aspect. Now there's a few months for people to rest a bit, until the next contest starts. See you at the next C4-2008, coming soon this year!


2008/04/09:
Ryo Suzuki, one of our judges, was missing his judge rating on the website. He told me, I had a look and couldn't believe that I had forgotten it somehow. The files were placed in a subfolder, because I received two text files from him, while the others sent in one text file. Anyways, there os no problem at all. I've added his ratings and they didn't change the ranking. However, the distance between first and second place became more clearer.

Yesterday, all prizes have been given over to the postal office, I expect them to arrive at the contestants within the next two weeks. Money transfer has also started last weekend and should be completed a bit earlier. Thanks to all contestants for their work, especially to vbt who has always entered high quality Saturn games. The last two years, he made significant contributions to the Saturn contest by entereing two entries.

That not enough, I couldn't convince vbt to take the money prize. I'll take it for the next contest!


2008/04/03:
Long time no see!
This website hasn't been updated since a long time, instead I was in contact with the contestants at the segaXtreme forum or via e-mail directly. Sorry for the lack of updates and promotion, this time I had only few time spare for these things, because my own entry demanded so much time.

To get you up to date: the contest is over, I have received six entries, five judges have rated the entries, extra points have been assigned as well and I have summed up the final points, so we know now who the winner is! Videos of all entries have been recorded and uploaded to youtube. The download package is available, too. Everyone can try out the entries on his own!

This year, the raw size of the entries is about 960 MB, a new record!!!! Judging with the new points based rating system is really exciting, as the battle for the first place is an absolutely close one: without extra points, two entries have got the same number of points (57). A draw decision, so the extra points have to decide.

The list of extra points has been updated with things I had promised in the SX forum a couple of months ago, but only those things that actually have an impact. It's the usage of homebrew libraries that is rewarded with an extra point, too. It was also suggested to give extra points for animations done without SBL or SGL.

The judges have done an excellent job! We have more judges than ever before and they supply us with comments that are worth reading and fairly balanced decisions. Next, the prize shipping will begin. I'm still waiting for two contestants to give me their contact details. So come on, don't hesitate, your prize is waiting!

Just as a side note: judging has been done with the original submitted entry, meaning one entry per CD. I have to say this, because there is still a little bug in teh Atlas bootloader that drives the C4 contest CDs, which causes some entries to not work as original and some others to not work at all. For this reason, entries that the Atlas bootloader is not compatible with are supplied as seperate single game CD images and all entries are being judged without any bootloader in use.

Okay, everybody thanks for your patience. Now it's time to play! Head over to the results section, to download the entries and to view videos and judge comments!


2007/11/10:
It's already been a couple of days since the 10 USB DataLink devices are finished. I have equiped them with a cable twice as long as the original one, as I do have enough flat cable for 40 units and the length can be increased without affecting the transfer reliability.
Just to clearly point it out: the Saturn USB DataLink is no invention of mine, it's hardware and software has been developed by gameofyou and it can be purchased at the officially website www.gamingenterprisesinc.com/.
Right from the start, I thouth of the Saturn USB DataLink device as one of the most useful things needed for Saturn development. But it appeared to be rather expensive, a reason why I haven't had one myself, for a long time. So I thought about ways to offer it cheaper. This Saturn Coding Contest clearly is a suitable event. So I ordered 10 times the kit version only, grabbed the rest of the components from different distributers all over the world and built the units at home. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing ;) .

From now on, I will start to work on my own entry. It'll be closely related to the Police Officer Smith game, a graphic adventure that we (Arnold and me) are working on, since almost 1.5 years.

Some links you might find useful to start developing Saturn games and to enter this contest:
Documentation Antime's docs, libs and stuff
Saturn docs (SX)
Game Basic docs (SX)
Saturn Game Tutorial
Example Code Saturn homebrew game repository (SX)
Game Basic example programs (SX)
Game Basic Database
Tools
Saturn development tools (SX)
Game Basic Tools (SX)
SaturnOrbit - all in one Saturn development package


2007/10/31:
Hello everyone,
I've had some nice progress building the Saturn USB DataLink devices that can be won here in this Saturn coding contest. Two weeks ago, I successfully built the first unit, it worked right from the start! I've used it intensively and it proved to be a very reliable and useful device. You can see it working here on this video:

This week, I managed to solder the remaining 9 units. My girlfriend even helped me to apply some of the neccessary modifications to the case, in order to fit the pcb in. So I'm sure in one or two days, the units are finished! Here you can see a work in progress picture:



Oh and by the way: I also made a little banner:



Happy coding and see you soon,
Rockin'-B

2007/10/13:
New prizes arrived! Arnold donated 5 very nice games for SEGA Mega Drive, plus a hint book. I put those six prizes in a seperate table, along with 7 of 10 USB DataLink devices. These prizes are independent from place/rank of your entry. Instead, everyone can win them by achieving 1-3 extra points.

All components of the USB DataLink devices have arrived, I start building some of them, now. See the mass of electronic components:


2007/10/03:
Added extra points for dual cpu usage and SCU DSP usage.
2007/10/03:
The new C4 - 2007 SEGA Saturn Coding Contest starts now. Have a look at the prizes, it's worth a try! Happy coding everyone.

Info

The SEGA Saturn videogame system has been released in 1994. With it's 32-bit dual CPUs, two graphic processors, 16-bit sound processor, sound DSP and mathematical DSP, it's one of the most exceptional and interesting pieces of hardware that a hobbiest programmer can develop for. The wide range of original and unique peripherals like a NetLink modem, Floppy-Disk Drive, Video-CD MPEG cartridge, printer, link cable, lightgun, RAM extension cartridges made this outstanding entertainment system being ahead of it's time.

A lot of it's power and potential is still uncovered, due to it's limited lifecycle. This is both, the mission of this SEGA Saturn Coding Contest and the general opportunity of homebrew Saturn development: to unveil it's real power piece by piece.

For the third time, this SEGA Saturn Coding Contest will give birth to another batch of brand new games and demos to be played on the classic SEGA Saturn videogame console. With high-value prizes (worth 850,- Euro in total) it encourages hobbyist programmers to join the Saturn development community. The new well-thought extra points system supports existing homebrew Saturn developers to create even higher quality entries than before and to become better and better.


What's new this year:


Prizes

There are two types of prizes to win: money prizes for the three best entries and a USB DataLink device for every contestant. To prenvent misuse, this very valueable and expensive item is only given away under this condition: get three extra points or become one of the three best entries

1st place:
2nd place:
3rd place:

prizes for extra points:

These prizes are independent of  the rank your entry gets. Each of the prizes listed here costs a certain amount of extra points. No matter which place your entry scores, if you got some extra points, you can exchange them for these prizes. If multiple contestants want the same item, the one with the highest placed entry gets it.

picture extra points comment
USB DataLink device for SEGA Saturn costs
3
extra points
limited to rank 4-10
USB DataLink device

Connects SEGA Saturn with modern Personal Computers. Can be used to backup and transfer save games, as well as downloading and executing homebrew games on Saturn.

Constists of Hardware unit, cables and software for Windows Operating System.

Requires SEGA Saturn, an Action Replay Pro or compatible cartridge with Commslink connector and a PC or Laptop with USB interface.

For further Info, see it's website: www.gamingenterprisesinc.com/
costs
1
extra point
Comix Zone
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

region: PAL version
in-game text: english language
manual: multi-language
condition: good, complete

A fighting /action game similar to Streets of Rage. I've played it I'm absolutely stunished! It features some nice special effects, all animations are very smooth and the comic book style is unique and very original. From all games here, I enjoyed playing this one the most.

costs
1
extra point
Eternal Champions (Classics)
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

region: PAL version
in-game text: english language
manual: german language, printed 100% in color
condition: good, complete, with move list and advertising poster

2D fighting game, SEGAs incredible answer to Street Fighter, this one is a must have!
costs
1
extra point
Landstalker
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

region: PAL version
in-game text: german language
manual: multi-language
condition: good, complete, manual in used condition

RPG, supports saving. Beware: german in-game language only.
costs
1
extra point
Light Crusader
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

region: PAL version
in-game text: multi-language
manual: no manual
condition: good, only cartridge and case

Sort of an action adventure in isometric 3d perspective. It looks and plays very good. Supports saving..
costs
1
extra point
Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

region: PAL version
in-game text: english language
manual: no manual
condition: cartridge was broken, fixed with tape. game works fine

2D fighting game
costs
1
extra point
Tips & Tricks
for SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

language: german
condition: good inside, used outside

Contains detailed hints and walkthroughs for 34 SEGA Mega Drive games. Includes also screenshots, passwords and maps. Beware: it's in german.


Donators:
vbt: 30,- Euro
Arnold: 5 games and a hint book
Arnold & Rockin'-B: 40,- Euro
Rockin'-B: rest of money, shipping costs, 10x USB DataLink devices:

USB DataLink device for SEGA Saturn

This is how it looks now. Building all 10 devices from these mass of electronic components will require some time though :)



Well, I though it'll cost less if I take the cheaper kit version, order electronic components myself and take profit from discounts I got, but unfortunately, it did cost a lot more. Anyways, you can get them for free in this contest!

Rating: points and extra points

The entries are rated in three categories: graphics, sound and gameplay. There are 1 to 5 points given in each category, the better your entry, the more points you get. Additionally, there are a couple of extra points that can be collected by implementing some advanced features, see below. All these points are summed up to determine the ranking.

Extra points

Each of the following listed features gives you an extra point, when implemented in your entry. You can implement as much of these features as you like. Their difficulty ranges from basic, over advanced up to expert.

graphics

sound
Sound implementation examples:
  1.  PCM playback using SGL-library
  2. WAV playback by converting to PCM in memory
  3. AIF playback using PCM library of SBL, playback methods are: memory,  file and stream
  4. CD-Digital-Audio playback with CDC-Library
  5. sequence playback using SGL library, similar to midi
gameplay / other
peripheral support

Further Rules



Legal stuff:
This page is not affiliated with, or endorsed by Sega or any other company.
All appearing trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Copyright (c) 2007 by The Rockin'-B