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PalmOS® Demo Coding Competition 2002

[Palm Demo Screen]
* image simulated, based on screen shot from the Future Crew demo (winner of Assembly'93 competition)

Finalists (256 byte):

Andrew Empson
demo size = 220 bytes

Carsten Köckritz
demo size = 116 bytes

cydo
demo size = 254 bytes

Renaud Malaval
demo size = 120 bytes

Daniel Morais
demo size = 256 bytes

Finalists (1k):

cydo
demo size = 960 bytes

Laurent Thaler
demo size = 972 bytes

Gavin Maxwell
demo size = 818 bytes

Alexander Pashnin
demo size = 940 bytes

Regis Nicolas
demo size = 1006 bytes

Andrew Empson
demo size = 1020 bytes

Regis Nicolas
demo size = 1014 bytes

Rodolphe Pineau
demo size = 762 bytes

elDyne
demo size = 356 bytes

cydo
demo size = 606 bytes

Finalists (4k):

Daniel Morais
demo size = 3912 bytes

Carsten Köckritz
demo size = 4096 bytes

Andrew Empson
demo size = 3856 bytes

Ralf Dietrich
demo size = 3986 bytes

Ralf Dietrich
demo size = 3062 bytes

Finalists (demo):

Nemanja Bondzulic
demo size = N/A

Evgeny Shcherbinin
demo size = N/A

Markus Dresch
demo size = N/A

Zolotov Alexandr
demo size = N/A

Gavin Maxwell
demo size = N/A

[Press Release: April 5, 2002]
[WINNERS: Press Release July 30, 2002]

Introduction

A demo is a program that serves the purpose to present the technical and artistic skills of its makers and produce audiovisual pleasure to the viewer. The original ideology of the demo programmer is to build everything from scratch and push the hardware to its limits and beyond it.

For some more information on the demo scene, check out the web page Computer Demos - The Story So Far.

Device Specification

All demo submission will be tested and judged based on hardware specifications of a Palm m505 device. All submissions will be tested on an emulator before being executed on a real device. If your application does not run on POSE due to incorrect emulation of the m505 hardware, you will need to request an exception for your submission by emailing: contest@mobilewizardry.com. It is a requirement that the submissions handle system events correctly (power on, exit etc.), source templates are provided in the Sample Code section.

Palm m505 Specifications:

  • Motorola DragonBall VZ (MC68VZ328) 33Mhz
  • EPSON SED1376 display controller (80K VRAM)
  • screen resolution of 160x160 (capable of 16K colors)
  • 256K dynamic heap, approx 4K stack

Documentation Downloads (Hardware Specifications):

    [Download] palmos-CPU-MC68VZ328.zip [2.2Mb] - pdf documentation.
    [Download] palmos-DIS-SED1376.zip [1.0Mb] - pdf documentation.
It is not known how well the PalmOS® emulator supports the emulation of the Palm m505 hardware - testing on real units when tweaking hardware may be required.

Development Kits/Tools

All competitors are free to use the development kits and tools of their choice, a few common development kits are listed below.

Hints / Tips

Demo coding has been around for quite some time (+10 years) and there are a lot of resources for demo coding on the Internet! Consider the following web/ftp sites when getting started:

Beware of calling PalmOS® API routines; they are very capable of taking up a lot of execution space! Take advantage of the hardware, be sure to read the provided documentation! They may also make your code smaller, if used in the correct time and manner.

Sample Code

The following sample code have been designed for execution on a Palm m505 unit. They are not optimized for speed or space but for clarity. They are provided with NO WARRANTY - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

CodeWarrior R8 / PRC-Tools
Aaron Ardiri has provided a template and a sample demo (complete with sources) for use with the CodeWarrior R8 and PRC-Tool development kits. Each one of these samples qualify as a 256 byte entry!

    [Download] palmos-template.zip [9254 bytes] - source code.
    [Download] palmos-tvstatic.zip [9697 bytes] - source code.
In order to create a small binary, there are some limitations. Be sure to check your compilers limitations! In our internal tests, we have seen that PRC-Tools generates smaller binaries than CodeWarrior. You may be able to generate even smaller binaries using a tool like PILA and writing pure m68k assembly - the optimizers for C are good in our tests though.

Contest Rules (last updated: 17-jun-2002)

[submission]
- Competition is open to all developers.
- Source code is not required (bonus points if provided).
- Multiple  submissions from same author(s)  will be accepted,
  author(s) eligible for one section prize only.
- Submissions must have PalmOS® creator ID of "MWDC"
- Submissions should be in .zip format (www.winzip.com)
- All submitted entries remain the property of their  authors,
  although the contest providers shall be able to make entries
  available for download from the contest website, after final
  submission date.
- Send contest submissions to contest@mobilewizardry.com.
- Submission "size" refers to the size of the executable (prc)
  code resource 1 (code0001.bin). The demo should be contained
  fully in this resource.  Judges have the right to remove all
  resources with exception of code0001.bin from the submission
  for execution. Applies to size based submissions only.
- Submitted entries will be tested on POSE using an m505 efigs
  rom image disabling the following debugging check options:
    - Hardware register access
    - Proscribed function call
    - ROM access
    - Screen access
    - UIMgr data access
  These options are available under  Settings->Debugging menu.
  Errors during or on exit of emulation will void submissions,
  unless an exception has been granted prior to submission.
- POSE 3.5 will be used with evaluation of submissions using:
    - 4.0 enUS m505 release rom
    - 4.1 enUS m505 release rom
    - 4.1 efigs m505 release rom
- Submissions must handle System events  (power off, exit etc)
  appropriately (process SysHandleEvent).
- All submissions must be received by 23:59 CET 30-Jun 2002 in
  electronic format. Email delays are not to be accounted for.
- Submitted entries must have the developer name(s),  address,
  email-address  and telephone number included.  These details
  are for internal  use only and will not be released to other
  individuals or organizations.
- Malicious/Harmful submissions will not be accepted.
- Ammendments to competition rules to occur on request/demand.

[evaluation]
- All judges decisions are final.
- Overclocking utilities are not permitted with submissions.
- Submission categories:

    - 256 byte
    - 1k (1024 bytes)
    - 4k (4096 bytes)
    - demo (no size restriction)
  PalmOS®  applications must initiate specific API routines in
  order to operate correctly. A 96 byte deduction will be made
  to submission sizes to accomodate these requirements. If not
  100% clear with requirements: contest@mobilewizardry.com
- Judges will grade on originality, wow-ness and presentation.
- Winners shall be announced on the  contest website one month
  after final submission date.

[prizes]
- Major prize pool (overall ranking) consist of:

- Category prize pool consist of:
- Prizes are shown in recommended distribution order.  Winners
  have choice of prize from prize pool in order of placing.
- Prizes may, depending on availability, be substituted at the
  choice of winners with products of equal value at completion
  of the contest.
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