Welcome to the 1st Retro Platform Jam! The objective of this jam is to make a game that runs in an emulator or on real hardware for any obsolete platform OR Fantasy Console. The idea is to build a game with unusual limitations. All participants and contributors will have the opportunity to vote after the submission period ends March 28th.

Rules

1. Since developing for retro or restricted platforms is hard enough already, the only submission requirement is a playable game. For the first jam, there will be no themes or additional restrictions.
2. You may use any assets you have the rights to use. This includes libraries, frameworks, engines, external tools, and previously-made graphics or sounds.
3. Your submission should specify which emulators or hardware platforms and revisions, if any, your playable game has been tested on.
4. Individual and team submissions are both accepted with no team size restrictions.
5. No NSFW content, sexism, racism, discrimination or any kind of exclusion is allowed.

Voting

Games will be rated by participants and contributors in the following areas: 

• Fun - how fun is the game to play? How good does gameplay feel?
• Game Design - how well is the game constructed? Do the game systems work together to make a cohesive whole? Are there innovative game mechanics or concepts?
• Platform Usage - this is basically our graphics and audio category, but submissions might be for platforms with radically different audio and visual capabilities. Do the graphics and audio represent the standards and style of the chosen platform? Are the graphics and audio aesthetically pleasing and/or creative?

Community

In addition to the Community section on the jam page, participants are encouraged to join the RetroDev Discord at https://discord.gg/Vy87aJjEDB

Example Platforms and Tools

Games for the Atari 2600, NES, SNES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, 68k Macintosh, Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga, Spectrum, PICO-8, Dreamcast, and more will be accepted. If you have a software-only platform such as a Fantasy Console you would like to build for and experiment with, feel free to submit!

Below are some tools and resources for developing games for retro and constrained platforms.

Engines, SDKs, and Dev Environments

• GBStudio (https://www.gbstudio.dev/) is a drag-and-drop game development environment for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color.

• 8bitworkshop (https://8bitworkshop.com/) provides an online, interactive assembler and a number of books to build games for the NES, Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and more. It would be possible to build your entire game on their site!
• The SGDK (https://github.com/Stephane-D/SGDK) is a C-based development kit for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive that can help a programmer start a game for the platform more easily than using pure 68k assembly language. If you want to get running quickly, are using Linux or MacOS, and are comfortable with Docker, the entire environment can be run from a Docker container.
• Butano (https://github.com/GValiente/butano), a modern C++ high-level engine for the Game Boy Advance.
• C64 Studio (https://github.com/GeorgRottensteiner/C64Studio/) is a program that helps developers build for the Commodore 64. A manual of Commodore 64 hardware and programming info is available here.
• PVSneslib (https://github.com/alekmaul/pvsneslib) is a C-based library for SNES development with compilers and examples included. Additional information about developing for the SNES can be found at https://wiki.superfamicom.org/ and https://problemkaputt.de/fullsnes.htm.
• DreamSDK (https://www.dreamsdk.org/), a modern development environment for the Sega Dreamcast.
• Jo Engine (https://www.jo-engine.org), a 2D and 3D game engine for the Sega Saturn.
• Scorpion Editor (https://github.com/earok/scorpion-editor-demos), an editor and compiler for Amiga.
• Multi-Platform Arcade Game Designer (https://jonathan-cauldwell.itch.io/multi-platform-arcade-game-designer), a tool to create games for various 8-bit computers including the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC, and more.
• PICO-8 (https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php), likely the most well-known fantasy console.
• TIC-80 (https://tic80.com/), a fantasy console with a mostly unrestricted free version.

Compilers

• z88dk (https://github.com/z88dk/z88dk), a C compiler and assembler for various 8088 and z80-based computers.
• SDCC, the Small Device C Compiler (http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/), a C compiler suite for a large number of processors, particularly ones used in embedded devices.
• cc65 (https://cc65.github.io/), a C compiler for 6502-based systems including the NES, Commodore Vic-20 / C16 / C64, Atari 2600 / 5200, Apple II, and more.

Forums, Tutorials, and Wikis

• msx.org, the MSX Resource Center.
• Lemon64, an all-around resource for the Commodore 64 scene.
• SpritesMind, a community for Sega console and arcade hardware development.
• NESDev Programming Guide, a very comprehensive set of articles, tutorials, and links for programming games on the NES.
• The Awesome Game Boy Advance Development List, a list with links to various resources for GBA development.