Home | E-mail

Introduction
Following the enormous success of last years MagiC Game Contest, MagiC Online and the Place2be are proud to present their next generation competition, that will once again unite the existing community and breathe new life into the Atari platform. This year the organizers are able to provide not just one contest, but three. Besides two coding contests, the "Little Big Competition" also features a special graphics contest in cooperation with the Atari Icon Library.

Dedication, Skill and Creativity. The Atari 3 In One.

Big ports, little helpers and a new look
We have decided to split this years contest into three categories.

... big ports
The aim of this contest is to create the best possible software port to the Atari platform. There is an abundant amount of quality software packages available, complete with sources, waiting to be ported to our platform. Why not take the challenge to create the best possible Atari version?

• see rules for the exact requirements of the port
• see suggestions page or this page for possible ports to the Atari platform

... little helpers
The aim of this contest is to create a (relatively) small and useful tool or utility; a program which simplifies everyday use and/or increases overall productivity. Interested entrants may examine features from other platforms, deciding to merge the best features of these systems with the elegance of the Atari environment. More Creative participants may choose to implement their own innovations; innovations that will dramatically increase the ease of use and/or efficiency of certain tasks. Will you be the one who revolutionizes the Atari platform?

• see rules for the exact requirements of the tool/utility
• see suggestions page for a possible little helper

... a new look
Every user is not a skilled programmer; but every user is equally important to the survival of our platform. This contest celebrates this fact by encouraging the use of artistic and aesthetic skill: to create a modern new look for the "Atari Desktop 2001". For a long time, the Atari desktop has been an eclectic mixture of Icon Sets, background pictures, and winframes which were mainly adapted from other platforms. Our aim is to create a new coherent and original looking desktop. So here's the plan: -

1. icon set: Originally, the Milan II had planned on introducing Glow Icons to the Atari platform, but now it's up to us. The first part of the Atari Desktop 2001 competition is to create the best looking set of glow icons. If you are not familiar with this style, you are encouraged to view the following sample images of some Amiga conversions. (Courtesy of Joachim Fornallaz)

1. background pictures: Create the best looking background picture for use in our favorite Atari desktops.
2. winframes: N.AES 2 and MagiC 6 both introduced the possibility to change the appearance of the window elements by using winframes. So the aim is to create the best looking winframe. Example Winframes, by Jonas Klereborn:

• see rules for the new look contest for the exact requirements

Any individual who wants to take part can contribute to one of the subcontests mentioned above. You don't have to create an icon set, background picture(s) and winframe(s). At the end of the contest the Atari Community will separately vote for the best icon set, picture and winframe. After that we will compile a package out of the best contributions (and possibly fill in some Amiga glow icons, which otherwise might be missing) into the "Atari Desktop 2001" package. All icon sets will be added to the Atari Icon Library.

Competition sponsors
Our contest would not be possible without the kind help of our sponsors. Here is the place to say thank you and introduce:
 

We have not yet decided which prizes will be given to what contest. But we will keep you informed. If you would like to support us by sponsoring our contest then feel free to contact us!

Registration and support
If you want to take part in one or more of the contests, then please register by filling out the form below. This is needed to decide whether to skip one of the contests or not. You have no obligations after registering, it is just for information purposes. It also helps to verify that no one works on the same port.

It is also possible to register for the contest as a team of people (to be able to finish bigger projects). Just enter the names of all team members separated by a comma into the registration form. Although you won't receive any help from us when it comes to deciding which team member gets what prize ;-) Any individual can contribute with several productions to all three contests. It is possible to work for one or more teams and on one-man productions. Whatever, just be productive.

If you register you also have the option to receive free newsletters from us, which keep you informed about the latest contest news (new sponsors etc.).

This year we are also able to offer a free translation service to all our contestants (kindly provided by TransAction and DDP). This way we can assure that the user interface (probably even the manual) of all contributions is available in all major languages.

If you need beta-testers (with a certain system configuration), feel free to contact us and we will see what we can do.
 

Rules...

big ports and little helpers

• All programs must state that they were "Produced for the "Little Big Competition" both in the readme's and Info Box!
• Programs may be shareware but may not be crippled in any way.
  
• Programs have to work under both MagiC and N.AES (2). TOS support is optional.
  
• using extended MagiC objects is allowed as N.AES 2 supports them.
• Programs can make full use of system extensions which are freely available. We even encourage you to make your contributions support modern features like BubbleGEM, OLGA etc.
  
• Programs may make full use of NVDI 5's extended VDI calls
  
• Programs which need network/internet support of some kind may use every TCP/IP stack available for the Atari (STiK/STinG or MiNT/MagiCNet preferred).
• Porting a software may also include reprogramming a software (big ports)
• A port should either feature a GEM-interface or shell (exception:
  e.g. games running in fullscreen mode - VDI output still required of course). Contact us if you are unsure. (big ports)
• system requirements can be set freely (minimum processor, RAM, resolution etc.). Note: People who can't use your software won't be able to rate it. On the other hand people who see software pushing their 060 to the limit might be very happy and give high rates to your software.
• Adding hardware specific parts (e.g. direct screen access) is only allowed as an optional feature to speed things up on original Atari hardware.
  

new look

• the icon set needs at least 12 entries
• icon sets must offer 2, 16 and 256 colour versions of their icons
  
• 16 and 256 colour versions have to glow
  
• other animated features are optional
• icons have to be your original artwork (no conversions from other
  platforms!)
  
• background pictures can have any of the following standard sizes: 640*480, 800*608, 1024*768 (supporting several resolutions is welcomed)
• colour depth can range between 1-16 Bit (supporting several colour depths is welcomed)
• pictures have to be your original artwork (scanning is allowed)
  
• you have to create the winframe(s) for both MagiC and N.AES (2)
  
• see the example archive which contains a MagiC and N.AES winframe
• winframes must support all colour depths
• NVDI 5 palette has to be used
• winframes have to be your original artwork (no conversions from other platforms!)
• Instead of making a standard MagiC winframe you can also make an enhanced NatFrame winframe as NatFrame is free.

voting

1. An exact description and rules for the voting procedure will be included to the vote forms.

Deadline
Deadline for all contributions is May 12th 2001. No contributions will be accepted after this date.

Contributions should not be released before the deadline, otherwise we'll have to disqualify this entry.

Absolutely no contributions that are publicly released prior to the May 12th deadline will be accepted. This includes public "alpha" and "beta" releases. The aim of this competition is to spark the creation of /new/ software and "themes" for our platform, therefor, no existing programs, icons, winframes, or Background images may be updated and entered into this competition. Failure to comply with this rule will ultimately result in disqualification. Entries may not be released prior to the deadline to ensure equality and fairness to everyone involved. All entries will have the same timeframe to be tested and voted upon. Furthermore, until the official closing of the competition and judging, ALL programs/sets will ONLY be available in a single archive. Individual downloads will be made available after this time. All contributions will be available for download on May 13th from this page.

The team behind this years contest
This years contest has dramatically grown in size and we are glad that some loyal Atarians offered us their support and help. So here is the place to introduce:

Bengy Collins

Co-Organizer Bengy Collins runs one of the the largest English portal sites, Magicos.de. Bengy also has a monthly column in the German ST-Computer magazine. Co-Organizer of last years MGC 99.

Jan Daldrup

Co-Organizer Jan Daldrup runs the largest International portal site, place2be.de. Jan works for the German st-computer magazine. Co-Organizer of last years MGC 99.

Joakim Högberg

Co-Organizer of the "..new look" subcontest, Joakim is the Father of the "Atari Icon Library" and continues to prove beneficial to the Atari community by his continued work on essential utilities. Currently Co-authoring aICQ with Dan Ackerman.

Rafal Kawecki

Rafal is the webmaster of a popular Polish news page and will represent our contest in Poland. He translated the contest pages, kindly provided us with sponsors and manages the contact with Polish authors.

Thomas Raukamp

Thomas Raukamp, current editor in chief of the largest paper based Atari magazine, gives us the opportunity to constantly inform all readers of st-computer about the contest. Thus we are able to reach a far bigger number of Atarians including those without Internet access. ST-computer is also generously sponsoring the contest.

TransAction

TransAction and DDP are crews of people who support the Atari Community by providing high quality translations of recent software releases. This year they also kindly help all contestants of the coding competition by freely offering their translation service to them.

DDP

TransAction and DDP are crews of people who support the Atari Community by providing high quality translations of recent software releases. This year they also kindly help all contestants of the coding competition by freely offering their translation service to them.

Joachim Fornallaz

Joachim Fornallaz, the respected author of essential utilities and Milan Webmaster, has kindly volunteered to create a custom GEMSetup Installation routine. The custom GSU will ship with the final LBC archive and will allow for easy and uniform installation.

MyAtari magazine - Feature #2, December 2000

Contents
Features
Previews
Reviews
Regulars
Adverts

Copyright © 2000 MyAtari