MSXdev'04 - Closed | MSX Resource Center

Two hours ago the MSXdev'04 competition closed. The MSX1 game development contest turned out to be a huge success with a grand total of 16 new MSX1 games released since the contest started in february. We already reported about the 12 entries that were previously released, today, the following 4 final games were released:

Seleniak - A fast shoot'em-up by the developer of Sink king, Madonna Mark II.
Chocobo Racing - A sports game by Sousouke, inspired by Square Enix's Final Fantasy games
Duck Hunt - A port of this Nintendo duck hunting games for the owners of Gunstic/Sega LightPhaser lightguns. The fourth entry from Karoshi Corporation. The game does not support the ASCII Plus-X Terminator lightgun.
Picture Puzzle - The fifth Karoshi Corporation production to enter this challenge. Reveal the hidden items by drawing increasingly difficult silhouettes

You can find a complete list of all entries over here.Most games are available in ROM and WAV format and come with instructions and stickers to put on self-made cartridges. Nestor Soriano, also known as Konamiman, will announce the winners of the MSXdev'04 contest soon. Contest organizer Eduardo Robsy already announced there will be an MSXdev competition in 2005 as well. So, there you have it. Within 6 months there are 16 new MSX games out there for you to enjoy. And they thought MSX was dead. Happy gaming!

Relevant link: Robsy's MSX Workshop

Comments (79)

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 05:29

At least, we finished "Duck Hunt" and "Picture Puzzle"!... well, my favourite game for winning the contest is "Seleniak", by MarkII. But the best thing is that 16 new games have been released for MSX in 6 months!.

And finally, I want to thank the MRC (and specially snout) for reporting every entry/status update in the contest. Well, work is done, now it's time to play these games!

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 07:31

so eurh. cool!

ps. I check the site once again to see the dev'03 status (where I am supposed to be a member of the jury).. and it's finished?! I never judged a call or two?! what up with that eh. ah, well. saves me some precious time which don't come in huge supplies these days anymore.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 08:30

MSXdev03 was closed in 1st December 2003 and cancelled as a contest due to the lack of entries and other problems, so there wasn't any "winner" or "jury". The result of MSXdev03 was 3 new games for MSX. Read more about it at:
http://www.robsy.net/result03.htm

Now, the only jury for MSXdev04 is Nestor Soriano aka Konamiman.

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 08:35

Impressive ! 16 news games, and some very good ones with that (even more if u concider they're only 8KB). Nice demonstration of what a MSX1 (and the PSG) can do. And I like the retro arcade feeling of those games

Congratulation to all participants !

By Imanok

Paragon (1200)

12-08-2004, 09:08

Just an idea...why don't you start a new poll and let people vote about their favourite game on the MSXDev'04 competition??

By msxgamesbox

Champion (397)

12-08-2004, 09:38

Unfortunately I have no programming skils but must say this is a huge success.
Looking at the contestants, there are almost no participants outside the Spanish-Latin regions... imagine the potential if the Dutch, French, Finnish also start making their games for MSXdev 05... mpaybe not 16 games but 30!
Well done Robsy!

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 10:06

I really have to stop playing that Picture Puzzle! It's quite original, fun and addictive has hell!

I LOVE IT!

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 10:12

BTW, how do u play those games on a real MSX ? I tried with execrom but that ain't working...

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 10:22

Trunks' LOADROM should do the trick. Of course, if you have a Konami Sound Cartridge (SCC+) you can use ROMLOAD as well.

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 10:34

(btw. the ROMLOAD word is actually a link [hint])

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 10:49

The intro track of Seleniak is awesome, is it Digidrum I'm hearing ?

Who needs an OPL4, PSG rulez

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 10:51

Bifi, we'll publish a pack of new stages soon!. I will tell you, I've spents days with the original game (and sometimes more then 30' each stage -when is a 15x15 inferno, with a lot of separated numbers). There are a lot of games with this "picross" gameplay, if you love the genre: "Picture Puzzle" (Success, NeoGeo Pocket), "Mario Picross 1 & 2" (Nintendo, Gameboy), "Super Mario Picross" (Nintendo, SuperNES), "Logic Pro 1 & 2" (Arcade), and 2 more games with japanese game for the SuperFamicom... I love this genre too, it's so addictive!!. I hope you like our 8KB MSX version! Thnx for the comment!

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 10:55

Maggoo: "The intro track of Seleniak is awesome, is it Digidrum I'm hearing?"

Yep, it's an awesome tune!, I think the drum is sampled too, sounds extremely well!: markII doing a good job!. "Sink King" is a fantastic game too.

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 10:59

Will there be an editor released as well?

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 11:09

Bifi: Probably :-). We are taking a little break, but we have in our "to do" list the Soukoban Level Editor and the Picture Puzzle Level Editor too. But I don't have idea of when we start developing it. It will be great to make some stages with MSX-related pictures I made 10 stages of the next pack of stages, and you'll find a lot of MSX references on them

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 11:42

OK. euh so since only ROM downloads I tried BlueMSX (downloaded the latest rom dat file) but it's not updated for the mentioned games.
question: Can I update the file myself, if so gimme some hints plz. (how's the CRC being check? etc)

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 11:51

just read on the bluemsx forum these lines:

0727CFBC mirrored Chocobo Racing (2004)(Sousouke)[0727CFBC]
F5B5ED7D mirrored Dunk Hunt (2004)(Karoshi Corp.)[F5B5ED7D]
AA568406 mirrored Gniffel 2nd version (2004)(Dioniso)[AA568406]
D90B3991 mirrored Picture Puzzle (2004)(Karoshi Corp.)[D90B3991]
6E8BB5FA mirrored Seleniak (2004)(Madonna Mark II)[6E8BB5FA]
EB165380 mirrored Stratos 3rd version (2004)(CEZ Games Studio)[EB165380]

seems like they were not included in the latest rom dat downloadable on www.bluemsx.com

well good luck
(still kinda irritating this file has to be manually updated.. blue rock, except that!)

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 11:52

http://www.bluemsx.com/blueforum/viewtopic.php?t=308

Read also the manual

Sorry, no more explanations here, especially in the comments about news, because that's often the beginning of useless discussions, misunderstandings and wars

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 11:52

Sorry, we were posting at the same time ....

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 11:54

CPU TIMING ERROR???? (I get this on runing seleniak.rom)
it's not bluemsx error. WHAT!?!

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 11:55

again , read here the explanation :

http://www.bluemsx.com/blueforum/viewtopic.php?t=308

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 11:55

(I should be more patient AND READ better

This program uses synchronous code. This kind of code relies ABSOLUTELY on T-state perfect CPU timing. Some emulators time incorrectly either the CPU, the VDP, or both.

To avoid desync of the program kernels, critical timing tests are performed on boot up. If these tests fail the game will refuse tu run.

Even though several emulators will pass the tests, it is *STRONGLY* recommended to run this video game on a real MSX and, if the computer has the capability, in NTSC display mode.

Go straight to the iron!"

So, that means that we must improve the Z80 emulation and the timing with the VDP. As it must be done also for Turbo-R support, you guess what I think : just be patient !

By Imanok

Paragon (1200)

12-08-2004, 11:55

What about the idea of making a poll, snout?

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 11:56

again, double posting..haha.
Hey Mars, IIRC, didn't I use to send you loads of (pirated) software a decennia ago?

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 12:01

You must confuse me with another guy

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 12:18

or was is PD softs? (I was head of the P.D. department for Genic/Sunrise u know..) hmm, could have swear your name sounds familair.... OR do you have any connections with Magoo (IOD) ?? help me out here.

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 12:22

I was subscriber to MC(C)M and Genic. Because I was too busy with other things at the time, I didn't subscribed at the time to Sunrise and FutureDisk.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 12:27

I think this post has become off-topic... could we go back to MSXdev04 stuff?

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 12:32

Are the rules of MSXdev 05 gonna be the same ? (MSX1 only/8Kb Rom ?)

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 12:33

That's indeed the problem with answers in comments about news .... Impossible to have "parallels" discussions .... but a question requires an answer ... so, there's no solution to this problem :
- If I don't answer to a correct question, I'm not polite
- If I answer, there's still someone that is not interested by my answer
You see what I mean ?
And still back to the thread means absence of communication, even if this is made in a positive way
So, I wait for concrete solutions about this problem

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 12:37

Sorry mars if my last post about the off-topic thing has bothered you. Not my intention, it's just i'm very excited with all this MSXdev success and wanted to read & write more and more about it. Again sorry.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 12:41

Maggoo: "Are the rules of MSXdev 05 gonna be the same ? (MSX1 only/8Kb Rom ?)"

It's in Robsy's hand, he's still tinking of it. Definitively more than 8KB, it's very restrictive... and surely MSX1 compatible games... but the rules aren't defined for now. They will come soon (I hope)!. Now Robsy is offline, perhaps he could answer you later. BTW, are you planning to enter the MSXedv05?

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 12:42

That's ok, my answer is mostly for the MRC mods !

Like you, I think that this contest is a real success. Although I'm not a great gamer, I've tried them all (also for testing blueMSX) and I must say that some of these games are really excellent !

Alas, one of the best games, Seleniak doesn't work in blueMSX (I know why), but it's perfect in openMSX. Very well conceived, very fast and very addictive !
This could be indeed the winner !

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 12:46

"BTW, are you planning to enter the MSXedv05?"

Just thinking about it, but have very little experience dealing with MSX1 restrictions... And 8Kb isn't much at all for code+music+gfx.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 12:55

I hope Robsy's rules for MSXdev05 are less restrictive, but surely that the projects will have to be MSX1 compatible. There is a poll opened at http://www.hispamsx.org with this "MSXdev05 restrictions" topic, so if you want to vote with your opinion, just do it :). I voted for "MSX1" and "16KB ROM" format. :)

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 12:56

I don't see the point in restrictions .. do as Konami did, get everything out of the MSX1.. for sure Salamander, Nemesis 3 etc. didn't fit in 8kb

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 13:00

Well, you're right

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 13:12

You can always do as Nemesis 3 did, use special features on higher generation computers, like palette change on MSX2, full hardware scroll support on MSX2+ (or V9958 'enhanced' MSX2), mega-rom support, external soundchip support, such as SCC and MSX-MUSIC. And accept more than just games...

€ 0.02

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 13:29

BiFi: "You can always do as Nemesis 3 did, use special features on higher generation computers, like palette change on MSX2, full hardware scroll support on MSX2+ (or V9958 'enhanced' MSX2), mega-rom support, external soundchip support, such as SCC and MSX-MUSIC."

Well these will be amazing add-ons to an MSX game, of course. Every MSX could run it, and the better hardware, the better display or sound.

BiFi: "And accept more than just games..."

Robsy's MSXdev concept is to be a videogame contest. Demos, music trax, etc... does not fit with its philosophy. But, again, it's Robsys decision.

By Guillian

Prophet (3528)

12-08-2004, 13:33

mars2000you: Alas, one of the best games, Seleniak doesn't work in blueMSX (I know why), but it's perfect in openMSX.

It also works in no$msx, but the sound emulation is not so good
Anyway, I patched the Seleniak ROM and works ok in BlueMSX. No timing problems

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 13:46

That's good news ! I will try the new version !

By Latok

msx guru (3959)

12-08-2004, 14:26

Wow! This MSXdev'04 is a HUGE success. Great great job!!

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 14:52

BiFi: "€ 0.02"
What does it mean??

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 15:03

it's typical forumlanguage..

"my 2 cents"

something like: "my humble contribution to all this"

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 15:30

There's a little problem with the game "Picture Puzzle", this title was already used by Hal in 1983 for another game.

Maybe should we rename the new "Picture Puzzle" as "Picture Puzzle 2" for example ?

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 15:32

Delete the "know" in my last post.

Oh ... I hate posting in the news ... No edit feature .....

By karloch

Prophet (2159)

12-08-2004, 15:42

I'm testing the games right now. The intro song of Seleniak is just AWESOME

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 15:45

are number-replacements valid for copyrighted titles ?

"p1ctur3 puzzl3" ... yeah it's a bit breezah-chick and such.. but if it's a way to bypass the (c) stuff ?

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 16:29

The MSXdev game "Picture Puzzle" is a conversion of a Neo·Geo Pocket game, originally created by Success in 2000. We knew the existence of Hal's "Picture Puzzle" for MSX, but we decided to mantain the name of the original NG Pocket game . BTW they are completely different games.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 16:31

wolf:"my 2 cents". Thnx 4 the explanation

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 16:40

btw.. I'd pick 3 games already that are very good.. but each one excells in it's own way .. I can't say that one of those games is better than the other 2 ..

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 18:20

which ones are they, wolf?

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 18:32

virus factory, for the game-idea. gfx/sound etc. not highly special.. but very nice concept

tetris, for the gfx.. (very nice gfx for msx1) .. music could be better tho

seleniak, for the intro-tune .. the game itself is highly retro, but a bit the same all-in

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

12-08-2004, 18:41

Nice wolf_. For me, the best game is "Seleniak", for those colorfull martians, smooth simulated scroll and well adjusted dificulty.
"Factory Infection" is pretty nice too, but too simply. I like it just for the concept and the aspect of well-finished product.
In second place but far from those two, I guess i'll put "Sink King" and "Picture Puzzle"...

Someone more bets about his favourites?

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 20:03

Picture Puzzle, but I already stated that... Good second is Seleniak...

By Vincent van Dam

Hero (513)

12-08-2004, 20:19

I like most of the games, but as a winner I would definately vote for Seleniak, great game and amazing intro tune!

By Latok

msx guru (3959)

12-08-2004, 20:52

Indeed, that intro tune is awesome! I wonder what tools he uses to make such tunez....

By pitpan

Prophet (3156)

12-08-2004, 20:55

It is good to see that you appreciate the games. All the programmers have done a huge work to release these titles.

About MSXdev'05, I guess that the final rules will be soon available.

And the editors for SOUKOBAN and PICTURE PUZZLE will be ready next week, I guess. I also love the PICTURE PUZZLE concept. It is really interesting! And every stage is a complete challenge.

Kind regards,

Edward Robsy

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

12-08-2004, 21:07

Latok, it wouldn't surprise me if it's MML or something.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 21:08

I wonder what tools he uses to make such tunez....

Some tool that's not difficult to make at all .. it's just that it hasn't really been done before, while the technology itself is stoneage-stuff.

Just the M & S commands in mml ..

By Maggoo

Paragon (1218)

12-08-2004, 21:16

That kind of track is more common on the Atari ST or some Speccy demos, I've also heard that kind sound in the Lyra II demo.

But this is the best sounding one by far !

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 21:19

ps.. a few more reactions, and we got a runner-up for the newspost-reactions record

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

12-08-2004, 21:24

Dioniso already mentioned he wrote his own tools.

By ro

Scribe (5057)

12-08-2004, 21:25

I was just gonna ask... are we going for a NEW record ??

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 21:26

aargh .. we're not gonna do another 62 replies

unless you had other plans ?

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

12-08-2004, 21:33

I've just checked in blueMSX the Seleniak version that has been patched by Guillian ... .It works perfect in the emulator without any timing problems ...

So, pitpan, if you have this patched version, it should be very gentle from you to put also this version online on your site !

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10135)

12-08-2004, 21:44

205 reactions on the whole frontpage now! quite an archivement (=record!) for the summerholidays, combined with the heatwave.

btw.. what apps do all those msx1 ppz use to make gfx ?

By Grauw

Ascended (10819)

12-08-2004, 21:48

Yeah, loads of reactions . But this time rightly so!

The coolest thing was to see that MkII is still active in the MSX scene. I thought Matra was a goner. Needless to say, I like Seleniak most... (not that I have tried all games already -_-;. The Matra stuff is always extremely well programmed , it's great, in particular the intro music. Also, congratulations to pitpan with the success of his competition this time! And to the creators of the games submitted: awesome .

About changing the Picture Puzzle title... That isn't any way to avoid copyrights. It does get rid of trademark issues tho'. However, might as well leave it the way it is...

I voted on hispaMSX too, for MSX2/all sound chips. I think it would be really cool if next time there would be fewer but bigger games. (yeah, I'm thinking adventures, small RPG's and platformers and stuff ;p, so what if I'm thinking too big *grin*). What can I say... I grew up with MSX2, so that's really my thing .

~Grauw

By snout

Ascended (15187)

12-08-2004, 22:22

Imanok - I think the poll is a nice idea, but I think it's a good idea to wait a bit, at least until Konamiman has announced the winners. But people can get used to the games a bit more as well, play them for more than 5 minutes and then decide which games they like the best. As there are 16 games, which is fairly large for a frontpage poll... I think we should even do 2 rounds of mini-megapolling

mars2000you - The reactions on MRC don't differ that much from the MRC forums. If things are really getting way too off-topic, you'll hear from an MRC mod, no worries about that. The edit function for users will be added somewhere in the near future. I could also implement a nested reactions-system, but that would make implementation of the reactions in the forums (which is an idea I have not completely forgotten as of yet) nearly impossible....

By pitpan

Prophet (3156)

12-08-2004, 22:24

About the patched version of SELENIAK, I have no permission from the author to put it on-line. I guess that MkII won't agree, but I will discuss it with him tomorrow.

Regarding the gfx tools, Karoshi mainly uses Adobe Photoshop and our own custom-made conversion tools.

By flyguille

Prophet (3031)

13-08-2004, 05:04

when will be released and .DSK with all games of the contest?

By Imanok

Paragon (1200)

13-08-2004, 09:02

You're right, snout... maybe it's better not to influence the final decision.

What about making a web poll to select the winner for the next MSXdev??...that way everybody could vote for his/her favourite game and the responsability wouldn't be for an only person.

By Vincent van Dam

Hero (513)

13-08-2004, 09:16

About "Picture Puzzle", I don't think Hal trademarked that name. There are more games with the same name e.g. Turmoil (used by ASCII and used by Bug Byte), or Break Out (used by ASCII and Toshiba). If an unique name is needed as I would choose to put the publisher/developers name behind it instead of numbering the thing (which is confusing since it isn't a sequal).

About the sound in "Seleniak", these kind of musics are indeed common in the ST and Spectrum scene. I recommend to check out Vortex Tracker II, which is a PC based tracker to create PSG tunes. Some of the examples included are amazing.

By viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

13-08-2004, 10:22

So, a lot of reactions . MSX is alive, and that's the proof. Tonight pitpan and I will celebrate Karoshi's trajectory (6 games in 9 months), and we will mark plans for the early future -it depends on our alcocholism state -, so now is time to celebrate. Yesterday I tested "Seleniak" in my old sony hb10p in my huge panormic TV playing with a Sega Master System joypad, and the experience was incredible! *freak mode *

By BiFi

Enlighted (4348)

13-08-2004, 13:21

Using the same name for more games is possible, but will be very confusing in the end.

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

15-08-2004, 14:24

pitpan, this message is for you as you seem to have problems with your normal e-mail address and you post from time to time here on MRC

Can you check ALL your alternative e-mail addresses ?

MkII has sent you an alternative version of the game Seleniak. This version is only for emulators with the M1 issue.

It should be a good idea to upload also this version on your site to make it available for download.

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6555)

15-08-2004, 21:20

I've just checked Robsy's site. The alternative version of Seleniak is now available for download. blueMSX users will like this excellent game !

By Manuel

Ascended (19676)

17-08-2004, 16:28

One idea for Picture Puzzle: if you accidentally mark a square, but you don't know yet if it's filled or not, there's no way to make it white again... Could a feature like this be added?
One other small thing: it's very troublesome to input the password. How about letting the user use the normal keyboard too?

Otherwise it's a great game!
A friend of mine called it 'a Japanese Puzzle'...

By NYYRIKKI

Enlighted (6091)

10-04-2009, 20:56

Just finished Picture Puzzle, but there is no end demo!

Spoiler:
MX5LPWVV4A3
KAVFBHMFREK

MSXdev'04 - Closed

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