We are happy to announce RetroChallenge for the month of October 2024! Brought to you once again by hosts urbancamo and ep00ch with support from semachthemonkey.
About RetroChallenge
In a nutshell, the RetroChallenge is a loosely disorganised gathering of RetroComputing enthusiasts who collectively do stuff with old computers for a month.
The point of this, if indeed there is one, is to challenge you to do something new with your retro-computer, to learn something new or just play for a month. It is sort of like a show-and-tell. Do something fun or interesting and let the world know. The event is very much open to interpretation… individuals set their own challenges, which can range from programming to multimedia work, hardware restoration to exploring legacy networking, or just plain fooling around. It really doesn’t matter what you do, just so long as you do it.
Take a look at the "rules" for the RetroChallenge for basic guidelines.
RetroChallenge 2024/10 Theme Categories
We have two theme categories for this event: RC2014 and Halloween Hacks. These categories will be judged and awarded separately from the standard entries. If your project qualifies, enter it into one of the theme categories! Otherwise, enter in the General category and just do your own retro thing. Check out last year's List of Entries for some examples.
RC2014
Spend some quality time with your RC2014 kit computer.
In collaboration with semachthemonkey, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the RC2014 kit computer (invented during RetroChallenge 2014) with a category just for RC2014 owners! Solder up the unassembled kit sitting on your shelf, write a fun Z80 program, or prototype some new hardware for it. If you don't have a kit yet, check out the selection on Tindie or Z80KITS and join the most active homebuilt 8-bit computer community!
Halloween Hacks
Get ready for Halloween with the help of your retro-computer!
With the RetroChallenge ending on Halloween most years, this is an obvious match. Write or port a horror-themed text adventure, modify some vintage e-waste with a halloween theme, or synchronize your haunted house animatronics with programmable logic controller from the 80's. If you don't mind your house getting egged, you could even write your own BASIC game and hand out printed copies of the type-in program to those rascally trick-or-treaters. Anything you want… with touch of the macabre.
Prizes
We will have some RC 2024/10 themed gear for the "winners" and we are working out details for some awesome RC2014 goodies too!
Hosting Options
Feel free to host your project anywhere that everyone can follow along. We are trying out a new reddit community where you can host your project updates. Blogger, your github project wiki, Hackaday.io, or the 68kMLA RetroChallenge forum (for Macs) are all great choices too. The Captain's Quarters II BBS is a perfect option for you low-bandwith luddites.
How to Enter
Fill out the Entry Form for Contestants and save the link at the end in case you want to update or change your information. Let us know in the comments if you have any issues signing up.
