X

Competitions

Compos

RULES &
AWARDS 

We are still in awe about what the scene performed at X'23. In terms of rules & awards, the setup is the same like previous years.

Respect Your Fellow Artists, Please do NOT wire or use AI

At X, we organize competitions for the best graphicians, coders, musicians, project leads, designers and organizers of the Commodore 64. It is only fair to respect the creativity and craft of creating original entries, without someone else or a computer doing the creative bit for you.

Since it is impossible to ojectively judge every entry pre-compo, we kindly request to explain your creative process in writing and share your workstages in a .zip file when submitting your graphics or petscii entry. Everything will be shared within the votox webapp with the voters during the party.

Logistics

Just use votox, but when in doubt find our compo master Burglar in the main hall on the balcony for any question relating to the deadlines, competitions and your entries.

As usual, advertised deadlines are not very strict, but please try to upload your entry early. It'll reduce stress for you as well as the compo orgs :)

x-party

Awards

13 X-Awards Are Up For Grabs!

It's the first time in decades an X follows up a previous X within a year. We gotta recover from the dark ages from 2018 till 2023. The big teams have spent their ammo and the playing field has evened out.
This is your chance.

The Top-3 of each competition will win an award, Olympics style, with an additional award for the best one-file entry of the demo competition, like White Lines/Plush last year.

General competition rules

  • All entries must be uploaded in .d64 or .prg format before the final deadline
  • Each entry must run on a stock C64 with any 1541 compatible drive and with a cartridge attached (like AR6 or Retro Replay)
  • Specify which SID you want your entry to be played on, we support both the old (6581) and new (8580) SID
  • All entries will be released at the party
  • All entries or parts of it may not have been released prior to the competitions
  • All entries will be displayed as-is, tags are allowed, the competitions are not anonymous
  • One entry per person or group, per compo
  • The organizers reserve the right to disqualify any entry
  • If it looks like you're going to miss the deadline by a bit, please talk to Burglar asap. But please do your utmost best to submit your entry well before the deadline!
  • No remote entries
  • We will be using a 1541-Ultimate to display all entries

Compo specifics

Demo
  • Submit entry as (multiple) .d64 images or as .prg if you want to be eligible for the Onefile Award
  • BASIC entries are not allowed
  • Specify 6581 or 8580 SID chip
  • Individuals may contribute to multiple entries
  • Please use a loader that is not picky about which drive wrote the disk
  • Multidisk: please add a bootfile on each diskside
  • Pro tip: when you submit your entry, share the duration of the demo or another way for us to know when the demo is over in the private comment field
Onefile demo
  • Submit your entry as .prg only (or a .prg inside a d64, which we'll copy)
  • Your entry must start at $0801 with a basic start and may not exceed $cfff (202 blocks max size)
  • Obviously all memory may be used during execution
4K
  • Submit your entry as .prg only (or a .prg inside a d64, which we'll copy)
  • Filesize may not exceed 4096 bytes, including load address
  • Your entry must start at $0801 with a basic start and may not exceed $17ff
  • Obviously all memory may be used during execution
  • Specify 6581 or 8580 SID chip
Music
  • Submit entry as .prg only (or a .prg inside a d64, that we will copy), has a basic start at $0801 and may not exceed $cfff.
  • All entries will be played max 3 minutes, we may cut it short if we believe it's looping. Pro tip: tell us the playing time when you submit your entry.
  • Specify 6581 or 8580 SID chip
  • 2SIDs are not allowed
Graphics
  • Submit entry as .prg only (or a .prg inside a d64, that we will copy), has a basic start at $0801 and may not exceed $cfff.
  • All entries will be shown for 30 seconds
  • All regular graphics formats are allowed
  • Animations are not allowed
  • Interlace, sprites, borders, rasterbars are allowed, please specify what you used when you submit your entry, so the information will be available in the voting system
  • Respect your fellow artists, please do not wire or use AI
  • Uploading workstages is encouraged, the zip file will be published in Votox during the competition
PETSCII
  • Submit entry as .prg only (or a .prg inside a d64, that we will copy), has a basic start at $0801 and may not exceed $cfff
  • All entries will be shown for 30 seconds
  • Adhere to 100% PETSCII specs: use the lower OR the uppercase ROM charset, you are not allowed to use any other chars
  • Use any fixed background color and use a fixed colormap ($d800)
  • Animations, interlace, sprites and effects are not allowed
  • Respect your fellow artists, please do not wire or use AI

Voting system & compo hardware

Vote live from your device as the battles unfold. The voting portal stays open long after the last pixel dazzles and SID tone fades to check out the scores. True to our roots, we're running the showdown on classic C64s, so prep your entries for a seamless nostalgic ride. Get ready to cast your vote and make your mark in C64 history!

NOTE: We're keeping it nice and real with two classic C64s for the competition—one rocking a 6581 SID and the other an 8580 SID. Entries will strut their stuff on a 1541 Ultimate setup, complete with AR6 or RetroReplay. Make sure your masterpiece is tuned to this vintage vibe for a smooth showcase. Get ready to impress on the classic hardware that started it all!