ABOUT

Sinclair BASIC is a derivative of Dartmouth BASIC and to celebrate the birthday of ZX Spectrum (35), Dartmouth BASIC (53), and the birth of the new ZX Spectrum Next, we want to host a BASIC Game Jam.

So create a game in Sinclair BASIC!
Use an emulator or real ZX Spectrum 16k, 48k, 128k or ZX Spectrum Next if you have one!

You can Follow me at @Gazzapper to be updated about any rule changes or news related to this jam.

Sinclair BASIC and ZX Spectrum were responsible for kickstarting the UK Microcomputing boom of the 1980s.
The machine was used throughout all Europe in various clone forms but the core of the machine remained the same.

The very first Football Management sim was created on the ZX Spectrum in Sinclair BASIC.

SAMPLE OF SINCLAIR BASIC

10 PRINT "Hello World ";
20 GOTO 10

INFO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_BASIC

There are plenty of resources online and books to help beginners learn :)

GAME CATEGORIES

- Arcade / Platformer
- Adventure (Text or Graphical)
- Strategy / Board

RULES

- Only BASIC - No machine code
- Aim for between 100 and 500 lines of code. Allowances made for going over 500 (Wanted to keep it achievable in time period)
- Keep to the 3 categories.
- .Tap files or .z80, .sna

TOOLS

- Real Sinclair machines or Emulators
- Some emulators: Spectaculator, Marvin, ZX Spin, FUSE (Unix)

http://www.spectaculator.com/ (Windows)

http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net/ (Unix)

http://torinak.com/qaop#128#reset#reset (Chrome)

http://everychildcancode.org/basin/ (Windows based IDE for Sinclair BASIC)

If you are new and want to learn more about ZX Spectrum Basic you can check out our book

ZX Spectrum Games Code Club on Amazon - Printed and Kindle versions.

(Kindle version on special £4.99)

Retro Pixel Art Sketch Pad - Drawing basic pixel art - planning art for games (blank grids)

TIP: For better experience for new users use 128k BASIC mode.

FAQ

Q: What types of platforms or engines are allowed?
A: Whatever you use normally, Windows, Mac, Linux or a real ZX Spectrum but you must develop in BASIC generate a .tap or .sna or .z80 file.