Opry99er

SSGC Gaming Contest Entries 

The SSGC or "Short and Sweet Gaming Contest" was started on February 28, 2010 and ended April 15, 2010 on the Programming Forum of Atariage.com.  It brought a new interest and enthusiasm to the subforum, and many programmers from different backgrounds and walks of life got in on the fun.  The contest rules specified that the games must be written in Extended BASIC and must be comprised of no more than 30 program lines and 10 DATA lines.  These games, while tightly constrained to the 30/10 format, came out beautifully.  The programming excellence on display on this page is a true testament that game development is more about imagination than RAM. 

The contest entries are below in pseudo-alphabetical order.  Feel free to view the screenshots, download the game compendium zipfile (below), and please add comments about your favorite games!!  The Comment section is at the bottom of the screen. =)

***UPDATE***

The winners were announced last week.  Thanks to all who participated and helped make this so much fun!!!

1) Marc Hull -- Lunar Rescue

2) unHUman -- Inaccurate Invaders

3) Kurt Woloch -- SSGC Racer

4) sometimes99er -- Chronicle of Sniffing Zombie

***UPDATE***

Howard "The Codex" Kistler has been working on an excellent TI-style manual for all these games!!  Check out the SSGC Atariage thread to follow the updates.  I've put a screenshot directly below...

 ***SSGC Games***

Canyon Bomber

by: jchase 

Canyon Bomber rocks!!!  You're a black plane and you're going against the white plane.  The goal is to destroy the green terrain as efficiently as possible.  Your score depends on it!!!  Get this game, play it, and comment!!!! 

Chronicle of Sniffing Zombie 

by: Sometimes99er

Chronicle of Sniffing Zombie is a great twist on an old premise.  Combine "Minesweeper" with "Hunt the Wumpus," throw in a zombie and an invisible maze, and you get Sometimes99er's "Sniffing Zombie."  It runs fast and smooth on the real TI-99.  CoSZ is an excellent addition to the TI library and definitely recommended! 

Cyber Run 

by: Marc Hull

 Cyber Run is a brilliant example of XB game programming.  You control a moving diamond in the field of play and you leave a trail of squares in your wake.  Your goal is to collect the red diamonds WITHOUT touching the path you've already created.  Tough tough game, and an excellent addition to the SSGC game compendium!!  Try it out on the real TI-99 hardware for some great retro fun!!!

 Dark Maze

by: Adamantyr

Dark Maze--- a dungeon crawler in the purest sense of the word!  You have items to collect and an evil monster chasing you!  The name of the game is very appropriate, as the maze remains dark blue until you cross into an area.  The monster is intelligent!!!  As he approaches you, you can hear him getting louder and louder!  This game is great in Classic99 emulation on CPU overdrive! 

Fly Guy

by: The Codex

A conceptual masterpiece!!!  This game has already inspired a 9900 assembly sequel by Matthew Hagerty (author of the assembly tutorials and music player on another page of this site).  You control a fly on a randomly generated grid, and you must collect the red pellets before the spiders do!!! In CPU overdrive on Classic99, this game is an instant classic!  The method used by The Codex to generate levels is quite interesting, if you like looking at code. =)

Gravity Run

by: Vorticon 

Another great game by Walid Maalouli!  This is an excellent "tunnel-runner" that reminds me of the magnificent Parsec "Fuel Tunnel Challenge."  In Gravity Run, you are the pilot of a ship, attempting to navigate very tight and treacherous tunnels... watch out for the walls and the obstacles or you'll die before you can reach level 2... When the levels change, the colors shift beautifully! 

Beryl Reichardt: The Helm of Wooldridge

by: The Codex 

A prequel to my own "Legend of Beryl Reichardt" game.  This one is quite detailed in it's concept and packaging.  In the zip, there is a gif that has the game "key," an elaborate story in a textfile, and the game itself.  I am partial to this game--- as it has given me great inspiration to continue my game developmen of LoBR.  Play this in Classic99 with CPU overdrive turned "on".   

TI Hurdles

by:  jchase

TI Hurdles is a very cool visual treat!  It employs some very cool scrolling effects and a tough user interface... Don't hit one of the hurdles or your points go down quite a bit.  =) 

Inaccurate Invaders

by:  unHUman

Inaccurate Invaders is a slick take on TI Invaders or Space Invaders (for you Atari-ers out there).  It is quite good in CPU Overdrive on Classic99 but doesn't do too bad on hardware either!!!  The pic above is from an earlier version of the game--- in the final version, your player is confined to the ground and moves more smoothly.  Great addition to the XB library!!!

Iron Chef

by: The Codex 

Iron Chef by The Codex is a cute little game with very good graphics.  You are a chef being thrown ingredients by a temporarily insane Chairman Kaga!  He apparently had one too many bell peppers.  =)  Anyway, this game is tough!!!  You must be spot on in catching the ingredients and don't go too fast or you won't get back on track!!  Good game, fun on the real TI as well as Classic99!!!

Lunar Rescue

by: Marc Hull 

A fantastic game!!!  This one's a real pack-rat as far as code goes.  You are in command of a lunar landing module and you must reach the landing sites to rescue stranded crew members--- then you must use your thrusters to rise through the asteroid field and return to safety.  The replay value of this game is great!!!  Tough one... but fun and addictive!

 Space Trap

by: Marc Hull

And yet another slick ass game from Marc Hull!!!  This one puts the player in deep space... You are required to trap the second SPRITE on the screen without hitting the walls.  Your player is fast and it moves very realistically--- be sure to give yourself plenty of stopping space!!!   

SSGC Racer

by: Kurt Woloch 

All I can say is WOW!!!  Music, speech, graphics, parallax SPPITE scrolling... This game has it all!!!  It runs a bit slowly on the real hardware, but still very playable!!!  In CPU Overdrive, you miss the great music and speech, but the racing gameplay is fast, accurate and fun!  Kurt used the best of all XB had to offer, and created one of the best games of the contest!

Thin Ice

by: Keith Bergman

Another offering from Keith Bergman which provides devilish fun and also puts a fuzzy member of the animal kingdom in harm's way!  (I WAS assured, though, that no actual animals were hurt during the playing of this game)  Anyway, you control a treasure-hungry penguin who needs to reach the other side of a river.  Unfortunately, it's the beginning of Spring, and you are gonna find the ice a bit tough to cross.  =)  Good XB fun, plays best in CPU Overdrive in Classic99. 

TI Farmer

by: The Codex 

An excellent little game by The Codex which runs nicely on the real TI-99.  You are Farmer McOwen and you have to farm 4 plots by plowing,seeding, reaping, and hiring farmhands to help.  You get wrapped up in the strategy of this thing pretty quickly, just in time for a zombie attack!!!  They will eat your farmhands if you're not careful, so make sure you farm "smart."  There are a few unexpected thngs on their way to your farm, so have fun starting at the year 1900 and work your way up, year by year, fighting zombies... sounds like a bleak life.  =(

TI Simon

by: T. Tesch 

This is a great version of "Simon Says" by Tim Tesch.  It is the simplest of concepts and will show you how well you concentrate.  =)  The 4 boxes light up in a random order, starting with 1 beep, moving up to 2 beeps, and on up.  My best was 12.  Remember the tones and remember the sequence of lights--- as your gray matter  will be put to the test.  Great game and runs fast and strong on the iron!!!  Highly reccommended for anyone who wants to get a fix in!!!

 ZomBXB

by: Tursi

One of the earliest entries to the contest and one of the coolest!  You're Farmer McOwen and the zombies have come to attack your farm!  You must fight them off with your awesome laser gun!!  Shoot off the heads of the zombies and their bodies are harmless... they come fast and furious, however, and you've got quite a fight on your hands!!!  Pay particular attention to the intro sequence... The picture of Farmer McOwen is excellent!!!