and what is retro? can i do retro gameplay with uated visuals, like in pepe (classic SNES era beat 'em up) or do the visuals have to be retro aswell?
what defines retro? is doom retro? can anyone with an ego shooter apply? what about tetris?
a little bit more info on that part would be good...

Retro games? I think my 3D-Tetris game would fit. I know it would be the third time I participate with the same project, but this time it will be much better^^.
And this is of course a good motivation to work harder finally finish the update I announced already one and a half years ago
And I'm planning to rename it, because, as HeelX said, I might get legal problems with the name "Tetris" at one time...

Thx for bring my Chest in

Hm, maybe you can't define the term "retro" but you KNOW what it is "retro" or not when you SEE it. For instance, your Popeye game is definetely NOT retro for me. I think the look and presentation as well as usage of "old" techniques is very important to be considered "retro". E.g. the new Megaman game is brand new but also retro as hell, they even simulated flickering and limited sprites like on the NES. Consider making a Popeye game in 2D with no interpolated sprites or no sprite rotation and sprite animation and that stuff with old skool 8bit-music :-) that would be a charme!

I think JCL/George should -not- define what "retro" is, because it is a style, a feeling.. the users should decide.

Just my thoughts.. what is important are some clear instructions regarding legal issues. The rest should be relatively loose. Haha, a screen resolution limitation would be neat, like 256x224 for the SNES ;-)

@heelx:


I dont believe that the Intension of this Contest is to recreate old games only using the 2D engine.

In this case the Artists here around would have a big plus because of their painting skills for all the panels and sprites.

If I get it right, so we should create games from old concepts in an more modern style.

Like I said Turrican in 3D!

And yes JCL or George should say a few words more about.

greetings,
gri

Ok, don't let us discuss it, just wait and see. I guess JCL and George will be a little bugged again because everytime a contest gets announced everyone is yellin' around ;-)

Thank you for the kind comments, guys. And thank you, Landixus!

A retro game is one that uses an old gameplay idea / concept. If it used to run on a Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, etc it's certainly good to go for the contest. We don't want to limit the contest to those games though, so feel free to choose any other thing; a 3D remake of an old 2D game would be interesting as well.

Always make sure to have the written permission of the author / copyright holder if you plan to use his work - it's one of the perpetual contest rules. I'd change the name of the game a bit, use slightly different characters for it, etc. The big guys won't have you arrested if you use their work - they'll usually send you a letter written by one of their lawyers first.

The deadline for the contest is the 1st of February 2010 - it's written in the magazine.

great AUM as usual, George!

so would you consider N64 3d games as retro?

I guess so.