COMPETITIONS

Outline is an Atari party at heart, but all platforms are welcome to strut their stuff.

General rules

Outline has traditionally offered a wide variety of competitions, in 2023 we have limited the line-up to demo, 128 byte intro, 256 byte intro, music, graphics, photo and animation (some of these with subcategories). All these competitions are multi-platform.

1. Don't be an idiot. Don't break any Dutch laws, respect copyright law and don't cheat.
2. Anyone is allowed to participate in our compos, also remotely. Please send your entries to [email protected] (online upload will be announced later). Supply all relevant details regarding platform, format, etc. Optionally, you may supply a description to be shown before your entry is played.
3. Only previously unreleased work may be entered into the competitions.
4. Competitions can be merged, split, or cancelled at the compo team's discretion. However, we will try to seek agreement from the involved creators if feasible. Rule of thumb is that at least three entries are required for a compo to be held.
5. Technical details, formats and platforms for entries will be announced before screening.
6. Please supply a link to a video capture for any real-time entries - regardless of platform. If you're unable to provide one, please let us know beforehand. Similarly, participants in the music competition are requested to supply MP3 or OGG renditions in case of non-modern or uncommon formats.
7. The compo team reserves the right to apply preselection in case of large numbers of entries, or to filter out troll/low-effort entries. Entries not shown in the competitions will not be released by Outline.
8. The compo team has the final word on things. We are reasonable people though, so we will do our best to be of help!
9. The maximum size for entry uploads to our partysystem is 1Gb.
If you wish to submit a larger file, please upload it elsewhere and upload the link in a text file or the comments on our partysystem.
10. The submission deadline for all entries is Thursday evening, May 18th, at midnight (CEST).

Executable competitions

Demo competition

1. We accept realtime entries for any platform - PC, Atari, Amiga, C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, plotters, fridges, etc. etc...
2. There is no file size limit. Note that size-limited productions such as 4k's and 64k's are also welcome to compete!
3. We also accept games or any other interactive entries, provided that gameplay or interaction are adequately demonstrated in a video capture.
4. Pure videos/animations are not eligible for this competition.
5. Please supply a link to a video capture of your entry. If you're unable to provide one, please let us know beforehand
6. Maximum playtime: 10 minutes.

128 byte competition

1. Entries for all platforms are accepted.
2. Please supply a link to a video capture of your entry. If you're unable to provide one, please let us know beforehand.
3. In case of DOS entries, please clarify whether your intro targets classic (MS-)DOS, FreeDOS, DOSBox(-X), etc. In the latter case, specify configuration requirements (cycles, cores...) if applicable.
4. Maximum file size is 128 bytes for DOS and other platforms/formats which do not require an executable header. For other platforms, standard header size does not count towards the 128 byte limit. However, using the header to store custom code/data is not allowed.
5. If we receive enough entries for this compo we'll split them between an oldskool and a newskool category.

256 byte competition

1. Entries for all platforms are accepted.
2. Please supply a link to a video capture of your entry. If you're unable to provide one, please let us know beforehand.
3. In case of DOS entries, please clarify whether your intro targets classic (MS-)DOS, FreeDOS, DOSBox(-X), etc. In the latter case, specify configuration requirements (cycles, cores...) if applicable.
4. Maximum file size is 256 bytes for DOS and other platforms/formats which do not require an executable header. For other platforms, standard header size does not count towards the 256 byte limit. However, using the header to store custom code/data is not allowed.
5. If we receive enough entries for this compo we'll split them between an oldskool and a newskool category.

Music competitions

1. Entries for any platform and of any format (streaming, module, executable, chip) are accepted.
2. Please specify the format of your entry in the partysystem's comment field.
3. Original works only: remixes, covers and previously released songs will not be accepted.
4. All entries will be played with the latest version of XMPlay (version 3.8.4).
5. If you're submitting an entry in a format not supported out-of-the-box by XMPlay, please also provide an MP3 or OGG version alongside the original file.
6. Multichannel modules (XM, IT, S3M) will be played using default XMPlay settings (sinc interpolation, sensitive ramping, 50% stereo separation). MOD files will be played with interpolation and ramping disabled, and 50% stereo separation. If you need other playback settings for your module, please specify.
7. Maximum playtime is 4 minutes. Longer entries may be faded out.

Graphics competitions

1. Please specify clearly in the public comment field of your entry on our partysystem exactly which tools (including AI) you used to create the image.
2. Entries for all platforms and of any resolution and colour depth are accepted, including executable graphics.
3. For freestyle graphics7 entries, provide at least three work stages.
4. In case of obscure formats or executable graphics, please also provide a version (including work stages if applicable) supported out-of-the-box by IrfanView alongside the original work. For your own sake, lossless formats (such as PNG) are preferred.

Atari ST/STE graphics compo

1. Resolution of your single frame picture must be 320x200
2. You can use the system maximum of 16 colours in either ST (512 colours 3:3:3) or STE mode (4096 colours 4:4:4)
3. The default picture format for this compo is PI1 (32034 bytes for ST and 32066 bytes for STE palette)
4. All pictures delivered to the compo must be convertable to PI1 format
5. You are encouraged to deliver a 1920x1080 PNG version of your image along with the original file, in this version you can crop/pad/scale to add a visible border as it would be shown on original Atari monitors (please use nearest neighbour scaling only)
6. If you do not deliver your own 1920x1080 PNG we will show your picture nearest-neighbour scaled 5x to 1600x1000 with 160px of border in colour 0 on the left and right, and 40px on top and bottom

Freestyle Graphics

1. Any file format supported by IrfanView is allowed (for your own sake, lossless formats are preferred).
2. Please provide at least three workstages.

Executable Graphics

1. Maximum size for your executable is 4096 bytes or 256 bytes including header.
2. Please include a PNG version of the executable's visual result. If you want you can resize/crop to a 1280x720 picture to correctly represent border colours (etc).
3. Any file format supported by IrfanView is allowed (for your own sake, lossless formats are preferred).

Photo

1. Please specify whether your entry is a 'pure' photo, retouched, or a collage.
2. In case of major editing and/or compositing we may decide to move your entry to the Freestyle graphics competition.

Miscellaneous competitions

Animation/Wild

1. This competition is for non-realtime entries: videos, rendered animations, etc.
2. We accept any file format that can be played back by VLC Media Player.
3. Maximum playtime is 10 minutes.