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Entry submitted
Post Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:15 pm
wolfticket wrote
Hi, I have also submitted my first ever entry to the competition this year but I have also not received a confirmation email

Hi - I have also submitted an entry but not received confirmation - assuming in the pipeline as per thread - thanks
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:37 am
eruiz00 wrote
I am deeply thinking on submitting the game, but I think it is not fihished yet. Simply, has turned into a more complex thing than it was and it is live for me.


We're going to miss your entry but we surely respect your choice! :)
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:51 am
@Maxim 1 question: I dont have a light phaser, so i dont will vote in this entry. This will invalid my others votes?
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 12:01 pm
Brave decision mate but the right one. You are such an accomplished dev and whilst there will be disappointment in your omission this year I'm sure we're all very excited to see what you have been working on, but only when it is ready.




eruiz00 wrote
Ummm...

I am deeply thinking on submitting the game, but I think it is not fihished yet. Simply, has turned into a more complex thing than it was and it is live for me.

So.... in march we will have to enjoy all the people releases, which is a very nice thing!! Congratulations for all the submitters, you have my votes and my time to play and hear the submissions!!
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 12:02 pm
You don’t have to vote for every entry. However I’d suggest trying on an emulator for those that you can’t try on real hardware (especially those that bug out on real hardware).
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:23 pm
willbritton wrote
sverx wrote
... but so nice to see so many new people entering this year! :)

Is there somewhere where the entries are being posted already? I couldn't find anything.

Last year I wrote a game in 3 days in assembly and this year I've been working on it for best part of 3 months (in C!) so not sure whether that's a good sign or a bad one...

It will come down to the wire again (debating whether to start work on splash screen and / or cover art or forget it and start paying off my sleep debt) but I have to say I'm very excited about it (despite segarule's gloomy prediction hahaha!). My partner and I have been testing it on the Retcon and it's really really fun, like laugh out loud party game fun.

Disclaimer: there WILL be bugs.

Where is your submission?
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 2:52 pm
segarule wrote
Where is your submission?

The cover art didn't make it past the censors...

But seriously, I think I just saw Bock creating the page, so soon!
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:10 pm
For all the talk about the rookies fearing the veterans around here, I must say this year's entries in the coding competition are pretty solid. We had no demos or incomplete games. All entries play fine, have cool graphics and sounds and, most important, are pretty fun! Congratulations to all participants! You'd give the veterans a run for their money.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 8:37 am
About 2 days more to comment and vote on entries!
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Post Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:23 am
I really had an hard time voting this year. Very different entries, it's so hard to compare one against the other. What's sure it's you all did a very great work in my opinion! :)
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Post Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 3:40 pm
sverx wrote
I really had an hard time voting this year. Very different entries, it's so hard to compare one against the other. What's sure it's you all did a very great work in my opinion! :)



Well said Sverx, I had a hard time too. Some great competition this year and great fun playing some new games!!

Well done everyone.
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 3:57 pm
Hi Fans,

I put a global message for "hacks" (hope you don't blame me;) )

Concerning the hacks, I'm always very surprised by the stuff you manage to do, they all are great :)

I would like to thank all the participants for their productions, the SMSPower Team and its users and last but not least: SVERX for it's great SMSDevkit

See you
Eric :)
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:58 pm
Voting closes in about 5 hours, hurry up if you didn’t vote yet…
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Post Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:05 pm
Results are now posted!

https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Coding-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Music-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Hacks-2023

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and boo to everyone who didn't :) Everyone is a winner to me. Special thanks for those who tried and voted on all the entries and left comments.

(Technical notes: no evil voting patterns were detected this year so no votes were amended.)
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 1:11 am
Maxim wrote
Results are now posted!

https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Coding-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Music-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Hacks-2023

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and boo to everyone who didn't :) Everyone is a winner to me. Special thanks for those who tried and voted on all the entries and left comments.

(Technical notes: no evil voting patterns were detected this year so no votes were amended.)

Mine your words. Congratulations for you keep the competition.
I hope that next year the antique/experiencied members stopped the strike .
Espero que ano que vem os antigos membros tenham acabado o boicote, lol.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:12 am
Congratulations to all participants and, of course, the winners. Really strong line-up this year. You all can be proud.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 8:20 am
Congratulations to all !

This year again the library of master system games has grown with entries that I found very nice. THANKS !
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Ranking by Modal Average. Ranking with Arithmetic Mean is Flawed by the Central Limit Theorem.
Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 9:02 am
Last edited by RetroTom on Sat Apr 29, 2023 12:17 pm; edited 4 times in total
I point out the I think the ranking is not fair based on a well known mathematical reason and not my opinion.

TLDR: can't use the arithmetic mean to compute the averages for the ranking since some of the entries got less than 30 votes. So more appropriate to use the modal average.

Because the final average score which gives the final ranking, is computed using the arithmetic mean average with no weighting. By the Central Limit Theorem of statistics, we would at least 30 or more votes for every entry, to be able to apply the arithmetic with no weighting, so to get a correct arithmetic mean average for each game. 30 or more votes will give the accurate sample mean by the central limit theorem for a reference for the 30 sample size see

https://quizlet.com/explanations/questions/select-the-best-answer-the-central-li...

the first of many references that popped up in google.
Its immediately obvious that Lil Evel Knievel, Shootagem got 20 votes since each score is a multiple of 5%. I think three or four or possibly more of the games got fewer than 30 votes.

So using the arithmetic mean for the ranking is a flaw. We know from school math there also the modal average too which is an equally valid type of average to use instead of the arithmetic mean average.

I think the modal average would be more correct to use for computing the ranking. The modal average means what did most voters think the game score is be by majority.So it is the score that gets the most votes which is apparent online scores for each entry.

In this case Extreme Volleyball Infernal League will either have a score of 9,8 or 7.

Then interestingly there are three rankings with the modal average:

First, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League (1 winner)
Joint 2nd with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master
Joint 3rd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Artfull

Joint 1st with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League (5 winners)
Joint 2nd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Artfull

Joint 1st with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master (4 winners)
Joint 2nd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League,Artfull

This shows how tight the competition was this year as using the modal mean, which is equally valid to use instead of the arithmetic mean. There are three rankings and in one of the ranking there are two position with a score of 7 or 8 with a minimal points difference of 1.

The analysis applies to the other competitions too because of the numberof voters.

Ranking with my heart and not my head I still think Extreme Volleyball Infernal League was the best game entry this year as one of the rankings above may mean.

So congratulations to all participants. I enjoyed playing all the seven new games this year.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 9:28 am
RetroTom wrote
Joint 1st with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League (5 winners)
Joint 2nd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Artfull

I'll take it! Haha.

Personally I see the scoring as a bit of fun really. As many have said, all the games are good value and simply completing a game for the system is a huge achievement.

While we're discussing the voting system though, the other thing I'd point out is that the points are purely arbitrary - so one person's 6 could be another's 4 which is another reason why arithmetic mean is problematic. I would think some kind of ranked voting system where you had to list your favorite entries in order might capture intent better, but that all sounds terrifically complicated to set up and who has the time!
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 3:13 pm
Just releasing these things is the real victory. I take my hat off for all of you guys and gals who can make something with the Master System hardware. I'm no programmer, but it's clear even to someone who can't create a "hello world" (I tried) that you move mountains to make these wonderful homebrew happen. Seriously, you're like magicians to me and your games fill my eyes with wonder exactly just as myself as a kid felt 30 years ago playing Alex Kidd for the first time. Bock, Maxim, ichigo, Kagesan, sverx, willbritton, eruiz, Under4Mhz, raphnet, haroldoop and all the others... for me, these names stand up there along with the likes of Kotaro Hayashida, Bo, Rieko Kodama and our other childhood heroes in the Master System pantheon. None of my words will ever be able to express my gratitude to all of you SMS homebrewers for making me still feel like a kid with my favorite video game console. Thanks to this years' and all previous' years competitors. You're giants.
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Post Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 1:34 pm
RetroTom wrote
Joint 1st with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League (5 winners)
Joint 2nd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Artfull

@RetroTom - like willbritton I think I much prefer your algorithm haha!
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Post Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 3:05 pm
SteveProXNA wrote
RetroTom wrote
Joint 1st with score 8, Shoot a Gem, Where is it?, Primates, Monaco Master, Extreme Volleyball Infernal League (5 winners)
Joint 2nd with score 7, Lil Evel Knievel, Artfull

@RetroTom - like willbritton I think I much prefer your algorithm haha!


@RetroTom - like willbritton I think I much prefer your algorithm haha!

Hi. I know what you mean and thanks for the positive feedback to my comment.

"your algorithm"

But to be clear, it's wrong to say it's my modal algorithm if that is what you did mean, so no new algorithm from me. Because I didn't invent the modal average and these sorts of averages have been known for centuries and I learned this math from school. What I simply did was type out the rank of the results by modal mean instead of arithmetic mean since the ranking using the arithmetic mean is objectively mathematically flawed. As I explained in my comment above a couple of days ago.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 9:40 am
I do agree the arithmetic mean is a simple approach and everything, note however that every entry has a rather small number of votes (it's not like some have thousands and some have 20) so I think this situation makes that 'fair' again. And, as said, it's simple.

Ranking the entries in order could also be interesting, but this likely wouldn't allow ties, so to allow ties you would end up with some points system which is basically the same as giving some vote 1 to 9 again to each entry, which will bring us to the start.

In short, even if you have a point, I wouldn't actually change the current system, as it works well enough that it doesn't really need fixing.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 10:36 am
Well, we just use it because it's simple. The specific ranking doesn't matter much anyway, we do this for fun! The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 11:00 am
Last edited by RetroTom on Tue May 02, 2023 11:32 am; edited 4 times in total
sverx wrote
I do agree the arithmetic mean is a simple approach and everything, note however that every entry has a rather small number of votes (it's not like some have thousands and some have 20) so I think this situation makes that 'fair' again. And, as said, it's simple.

Ranking the entries in order could also be interesting, but this likely wouldn't allow ties, so to allow ties you would end up with some points system which is basically the same as giving some vote 1 to 9 again to each entry, which will bring us to the start.

In short, even if you have a point, I wouldn't actually change the current system, as it works well enough that it doesn't really need fixing.


@Ssverx I politely disagree with your message which I think is based on your opinion and can't be supported up by correct math. What I am saying is not based on my opinion and is supported by correct math or the Central Limit Theorem.

"it's not like some have thousands and some have 20"
That's the reason why you can't apply the arithmetic mean the Central Limit Theorem requires 30 or more.


"so I think this situation makes that 'fair' again. And, as said, it's simple. "
We will have to agree to disagree and I don't think it is always appropriate to use the simplest math you know if that is what you did mean by above.What I am saying is not based on my opinion. It's based on mathematical truth which is the Central Limit Theorem. To be fair it needs 30 or more votes in each entry to make a fair comparision using the arithmetic mean, that can't be disputed as it based on the Central Limit theorem which is a mathematical truth established since 1810. So I think the mode is the fairer average to use to rank the entries.


About the ties you talk about. It just turns out that ranking by using correct maths or using the mode produces ties which is acceptable for a data set less than 30, and I think ties is okay or preferable to using the incorrect math of using the arithmetic mean average ranking. Bimodality produces ties but I don't think is an issue. I can live with having 5 winners and the 5 winning games are all good. I don't think having ties is an issue. Even if there are a ties it means the ranking for the winners is fairer since it avoids the possibility of wrongly not awarding a winner due to using incorrect math of the arithmetic mean ranking.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 11:00 am
Last edited by RetroTom on Tue May 02, 2023 3:07 pm; edited 3 times in total
Maxim wrote
Well, we just use it because it's simple. The specific ranking doesn't matter much anyway, we do this for fun! The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality.


I just saw Maxim's message . Having more than one mode or being bimodal is not uncommon or weird it just means it is considered that there is more than one modal average which may produce a tie..But I think there is no harm using the fairer modal ranking or having tied winners. Tied winners is more suitable for less than 30 votes for all entries I think. I was just pointing above that it is not mathematically correct to use the arithmetic mean to do the rankings. So suggested to use an alternative but well known average. So modal average came to my mind as a candidate to use instead of the arithmetic mean average. The mode is an equally valid average to use instead of the arithmetic mean. Also having tied winners may possibly mean more entries as there may be the possibility if having more chances of winning. I don't think having more possible entries is a bad thing. But the modal average may also produce a unique winner. The modal average does not always produce ties. I think It's less likely to produce a tie if there is a very clear winner of a high quality new entry. I think something like a new game entry comparable to the best game already on the master system will likely not end in a modal average tie.

If it's all for fun then the rankings with the arithmetic mean which is incorrect doesn't matter.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 1:18 pm
RetroTom wrote
I politely disagree with your message which I think is based on your opinion and can't be supported up by correct math.


Sure, what I wrote is just my opinion. I had implied that, in fact.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 1:29 pm
sverx wrote
RetroTom wrote
I politely disagree with your message which I think is based on your opinion and can't be supported up by correct math.


Sure, what I wrote is just my opinion. I had implied that, in fact.


I just wrote that part to be clear to anyone new to reading the thread.Because your use of English language in your previous message was not clear enough to me,by implication, in your previous message to say your message was just an opinion and not supported by correct math.

Anyway, the mathematically incorrect rankings with arithmetic mean don't matter since Maxim wrote above it's all for fun.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 7:07 pm
Maxim wrote
Well, we just use it because it's simple. The specific ranking doesn't matter much anyway, we do this for fun! The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality.
Applause. Im curious about why @xfixium dont entered with at least a demo of 2 amazing ports TMNT/Castlevania. And more curious even about that NES game @eruiz is porting. Anyway im happy because qbasic gorillas was converted for our SMS. There is others pc games that could be great in our beloved console like Plants vs zombies, Maniac Mansion, Secret Monkey Island (a dream), Nebulus, Warcraft...
PS: Next year Maxim could include a category "Newbie" for avoid discouraging.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 7:33 pm
Maniac mansion would be interesting. You know it's a VM right, so options would be either try and port the VM for SMS or write the game from the ground up. Big job though. Not sure I have the stomach for it.

I am thinking of another PC port for next year though......
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 7:46 pm
Yep, Lucas Arts' point and click adventures used a VM named SCUMM; if someone ports it to the SMS, plenty of new games would become available. Considering there existed ports of Maniac Mansion for both C64 and NES, it kinda looks like the SMS could be a viable target for a VM implementation.

Also, Sierra had their own VM for their adventure games; I wonder whether the existing King's Quest port for SMS includes a VM implementation, or if it was implemented from scratch.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 7:53 pm
segarule wrote
Maxim wrote
Well, we just use it because it's simple. The specific ranking doesn't matter much anyway, we do this for fun! The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality.
Applause. Im curious about why @xfixium dont entered with at least a demo of 2 amazing ports TMNT/Castlevania. And more curious even about that NES game @eruiz is porting. Anyway im happy because qbasic gorillas was converted for our SMS. There is others pc games that could be great in our beloved console like Plants vs zombies, Maniac Mansion, Secret Monkey Island (a dream), Nebulus, Warcraft...
PS: Next year Maxim could include a category "Newbie" for avoid discouraging.


@segarule when you quote above "The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality."

To be clear, that doesn't mean I agree that using the arithmetic mean is the correct average use (after all it's mathematically incorrect as said) if that is what your comment or quote above means. Personally if I am doing something for fun I still like to be fair and why not. Also notice I said the modal average was a candidate alternative to the arithmetic mean and it's possible that another type of average can be used that does not have bimodality or multimodality. Like Maxim said above it's just for fun so this means using the arithmetic mean will still be used which may produce mathematically incorrect rankings. I am sure there are people with a numerical background who are okay with this but personally I wouldn't use the arithmetic mean for the rankings as it may be problematic.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:10 pm
haroldoop wrote
Yep, Lucas Arts' point and click adventures used a VM named SCUMM; if someone ports it to the SMS, plenty of new games would become available. Considering there existed ports of Maniac Mansion for both C64 and NES, it kinda looks like the SMS could be a viable target for a VM implementation.

That is a tempting prospect!

I studied SCUMM a little bit some while back and it's not really designed for general purpose game design - it was very much a LA internal platform. Also the various versions of the VM are not very compatible.

I'm not sure about the NES port, whether it ported the entire VM or just the game, but I would have thought that at the very least it would need some kind of compression of the data files and quite possibly some conversion of screen resolution and / or colour depth on the graphical assets.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:18 pm
I may be wrong, but as far as I know, neither the SMS King's Quest nor the NES King's Quest 5 run on a VM. But people say Maniac Mansion does run on SCUMM.

On a sidenote, it would be really interesting if someone could port Infocom's Z-Machine to the SC-3000.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:24 pm
Some interesting back-story here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maniac_Mansion
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:41 pm
RetroTom wrote
segarule wrote
Maxim wrote
Well, we just use it because it's simple. The specific ranking doesn't matter much anyway, we do this for fun! The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality.
Applause. Im curious about why @xfixium dont entered with at least a demo of 2 amazing ports TMNT/Castlevania. And more curious even about that NES game @eruiz is porting. Anyway im happy because qbasic gorillas was converted for our SMS. There is others pc games that could be great in our beloved console like Plants vs zombies, Maniac Mansion, Secret Monkey Island (a dream), Nebulus, Warcraft...
PS: Next year Maxim could include a category "Newbie" for avoid discouraging.


@segarule when you quote above "The mode is way too imprecise (produces many ties) and can do weird stuff around bimodality."

To be clear, that doesn't mean I agree that using the arithmetic mean is the correct average use (after all it's mathematically incorrect as said) if that is what your comment or quote above means. Personally if I am doing something for fun I still like to be fair and why not. Also notice I said the modal average was a candidate alternative to the arithmetic mean and it's possible that another type of average can be used that does not have bimodality or multimodality. Like Maxim said above it's just for fun so this means using the arithmetic mean will still be used which may produce mathematically incorrect rankings. I am sure there are people with a numerical background who are okay with this but personally I wouldn't use the arithmetic mean for the rankings as it may be problematic.

Friend, i agree about fun in show the results dont matter the method. E olha que eu tive minha pontuação anulada em um ano desses, rs.
BTW, you submitted any entry this year? Look, the problem dont is Who is winner but WHAT the members gain with competition. They gain knowledge, friendship, fun and sometimes profit. The competitors will gain much more than final result.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:53 pm
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I am thinking of another PC port for next year though......

You will i wondering for 1 year??? Which game do you pretend port?
Searching in google i see that would be difficult port Monkey Island for SMS.
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Post Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 8:59 pm
segarule wrote
Quote
I am thinking of another PC port for next year though......

You will i wondering for 1 year??? Which game do you pretend port?

Haha, no clues yet, mostly because it probably won't happen!

segarule wrote
Searching in google i see that would be difficult port Monkey Island for SMS.

Yeah it's a huge game and I would think hard to do it justice on the format. Cracking game though.
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 6:44 am
ScummVM formatted data, with some conversion, could be handled on SMS although a lot of the features may have to be stripped. I think converting the art would need a lot of skill.

I did experiment with a Z-machine implementation for Sega computers, I got stuck on the memory requirements. There is an implementation for Game Boy that implements a virtual memory model to get around it somehow, but technically the standard expects at least 64KB of work RAM…
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 7:40 am
Maxim wrote
I did experiment with a Z-machine implementation for Sega computers, I got stuck on the memory requirements. There is an implementation for Game Boy that implements a virtual memory model to get around it somehow, but technically the standard expects at least 64KB of work RAM…


A cartridge with 128 ROM banks + 4 RAM banks would do?
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 8:35 am
sverx wrote
Maxim wrote
I did experiment with a Z-machine implementation for Sega computers, I got stuck on the memory requirements. There is an implementation for Game Boy that implements a virtual memory model to get around it somehow, but technically the standard expects at least 64KB of work RAM…


A cartridge with 128 ROM banks + 4 RAM banks would do?

Doesn't the standard Sega mapper support only 2 banked RAM slots, i.e. 32KB, plus the 8KB base?
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 9:41 am
willbritton wrote
sverx wrote
A cartridge with 128 ROM banks + 4 RAM banks would do?
Doesn't the standard Sega mapper support only 2 banked RAM slots, i.e. 32KB, plus the 8KB base?


Yes, I should have been clearer. I had thought about using RAM mapped as ROM banks after the 128th so you would map 'ROM' bank 128 to access RAM bank 0, 'ROM' bank 129 to access RAM bank 1 and so on...

So the msb of the page number in the page register(s) would switch between the ROM and RAM 'half' of the board. ROM could be any size up to 128 banks, same for RAM (but you will likely have less RAM onboard)
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 10:04 am
The NES version of MM use a SCUMM engine. Not Famicom version
https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=SCUMM/NES
Curious is that PCB dont used Very resources. It have +8 KB work RAM + 8 KB of CHR RAM and MMC1 chip.There a 8 KB of battery save too with 256 KB ROM.
More
Here:
https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=Maniac_Mansion&mobileaction=toggle_...
and here:
https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=ScummVM_Tools#extract_mm_nes
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 11:38 am
Adding plenty of extra RAM to the cartridge would open the door for many otherwise unfeasible ports.
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 12:08 pm
sverx wrote
Yes, I should have been clearer. I had thought about using RAM mapped as ROM banks after the 128th so you would map 'ROM' bank 128 to access RAM bank 0, 'ROM' bank 129 to access RAM bank 1 and so on...

So the msb of the page number in the page register(s) would switch between the ROM and RAM 'half' of the board. ROM could be any size up to 128 banks, same for RAM (but you will likely have less RAM onboard)


haroldoop wrote
Adding plenty of extra RAM to the cartridge would open the door for many otherwise unfeasible ports.


For sure there are many ways to add extra RAM to the cartridge that would work. Further to sverx's suggestion, I would point out that known Sega mappers use at most 5 or 6 bits to address ROM banks*, so feels like any of those top 2 or 3 bits can be used to address RAM banks, which are effectively treated exactly as ROM banks except they happen to be read/write. That would mean that, depending on exact configuration, you'd have a total space of 4MB which can be partitioned into read and read/write as desired. I think it could be quite easy to adapt a cartridge with a Sega mapper to map some RAM like this; and designing a new custom cart would be easy enough.

The thing I'm wondering about for practical purposes is what the support for something like this would be for both emulators and also Everdrives as these together represent probably the majority of the ways that players consume games today. Does anyone happen to know what kinds of mappers Everdrives support out of the box?

* P.S. I'm actually not clear whether 8MBit games (SFII, Sonic Blast only?) use a Sega mapper or some other mapper, but this page seems to imply Sega mappers can support up to 6 bits (for 8MBit), although this page only lists mappers with 5 bits (for 4MBit).
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Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 12:17 pm
willbritton wrote
I'm actually not clear whether 8MBit games (SFII, Sonic Blast only?) use a Sega mapper or some other mapper, but this page seems to imply Sega mappers can support up to 6 bits (for 8MBit), although this page only lists mappers with 5 bits (for 4MBit).


Theoretically, SEGA mappers could support up to 256 16 KiB ROM pages (8 bits counters) but existing SEGA mapper chips support up to 5 bits only, AFAIK.
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Congrats to everyone
Post Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 8:22 pm
Non-SMS dimensions of life got in the way for me. I have yet to even sit down properly and play/listen to this year’s entries. But then I have something nice for the evenings to come.

Congrats to everyone who participated in and around the competition, and thanks for keeping the scene alive!
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Post Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 11:29 am
Another fantastic year and congratulations to everyone who got involved with an entry with coding, hacking and music. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the entries and will be going back to quite a few.

Well done to Maxim and co for running another successful comp again this year too.



Maxim wrote
Results are now posted!

https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Coding-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Music-2023
https://www.smspower.org/Competitions/Hacks-2023

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and boo to everyone who didn't :) Everyone is a winner to me. Special thanks for those who tried and voted on all the entries and left comments.

(Technical notes: no evil voting patterns were detected this year so no votes were amended.)
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