The Hugo Speed IF

This is a discussion / support forum for the Hugo programming language by Kent Tessman. Hugo is a powerful programming language for making text games / interactive fiction with multimedia support.

Hugo download links: https://www.generalcoffee.com/hugo
Roody Yogurt's Hugo Blog: https://notdeadhugo.blogspot.com
The Hugor interpreter by RealNC: http://ifwiki.org/index.php/Hugor

Moderators: Ice Cream Jonsey, joltcountry

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

The Hugo Speed IF

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

There is talk about a Hugo Speed IF. Here's why I can't do it over Thanksgiving Break: I will be in New Orleans for it. I would probably get a stilleto through the eye if I tried to program on that trip. HAWT.

I have 12 days off work starting on like December 22nd. Any chance we do it that week?

I have one question. Do we want it to be just a speed IF that happens to have Hugo games, or do we want to "show off" Hugo at all?
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

We (Gerynar, Johnny, and I) had already agreed to not have it on Thanksgiving or Black Friday, so knocking out the rest of the weekend is not a problem.

I've been considering pushing it up to this weekend, but I also am not in a huge hurry to do it (so soon after that EctoComp game).

The impetus behind this idea was so that we Hugo people could write a bunch of small games in one go. I don't expect many other people to jump in, just because it is a SpeedIF organized by Hugo people, but not inviting other people to write games kind of seems like a dick move.

I was also thinking that we have a robot/automaton theme, partly just because I semi-recently did order_response and character scripting pages on HxE, and it seems like a premise that might call for cute, little order-the-robot games (and everybody would get that experience), but we could go in a different direction, of course.

Anyhow, end of the year SpeedIF definitely sounds great, but that is also when they usually have the yearly New Year's SpeedIF. We could try to cram them both in around that time, but ideally, if we could try to move the Hugo-organized one earlier, that'd also be cool.

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Roody_Yogurt wrote:The impetus behind this idea was so that we Hugo people could write a bunch of small games in one go. I don't expect many other people to jump in, just because it is a SpeedIF organized by Hugo people, but not inviting other people to write games kind of seems like a dick move.
What part is a dick move? Not inviting others, or telling people that we only want Hugo games in the Hugo Speed IF?

Honestly, Hugo gets shit on by the rest of the world enough that in this case I think it's A-OK to give an extremely thin-lipped smile if someone enters the Hugo comp with a game made from Lisp BASIC.
I was also thinking that we have a robot/automaton theme, partly just because I
"am a robot????!"

I'm in. How about we announce it DECEMBER 22 and games are due before DECEMBER 31?
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

There are always people who are vocal about wanting to partake in the next SpeedIF, whenever that is, and historically, they have always been somewhat of a community-run (where "community" = "ifMUD"), anyone's-invited type of event.

Of course, on the flip side of that coin is the fact that things like the EctoComp are basically a SpeedIF and this was the first year they allowed non-ADRIFT entries.

It is true that many dismiss or shit on Hugo. I am pretty good at assuming that only the idiots write it off like that, but I can understand and appreciate the want to do things to increase Hugo pride. If we, as a group, want to run our own thing, so be it.

So, okay, if we're sure we'd like to have it at the end of the year, I'm cool with that, too. Worst case scenario is that I'll be shooting to write two crappy games in that time, assuming they also have the regular New Year's SpeedIF then. That's still cool.

User avatar
Flack
Posts: 8822
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:02 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Post by Flack »

Can I enter a game in Inform 6 if it contains a NPC named Hugo?
"I failed a savings throw and now I am back."

Bainespal
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:59 am

Post by Bainespal »

If I'm able to get my current game done to the point where it can be played through without using Hugo Fix commands, and if this Speed IF is held after my semester ends, I think I would participate.

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Flack wrote:Can I enter a game in Inform 6 if it contains a NPC named Hugo?
If you know Inform 6, you basically know Hugo. It's that simple! Wouldn't it be nice to add ANOTHER language to the ones you have written programs in???
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Bainespal
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:59 am

Post by Bainespal »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:If you know Inform 6, you basically know Hugo. It's that simple! Wouldn't it be nice to add ANOTHER language to the ones you have written programs in???
I can confirm this, at least for my own case. I spent practically all my junior high years learning Inform 6, and then when Inform 7 came out I was disappointed that I couldn't really pick it up easily from what I learned before. It was easier to go from I6 to Hugo than from I6 to I7.

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

Glad to hear it, Bainespal!

So, it seems like we are definitely moving in an only-Hugo-games-allowed direction! The fact that I know of at least one non-Hugo person already planning to join us (and that there are at least a couple more ifMUD people who are on-the-fence Hugo writers) makes me feel much more comfortable about doing so.

Anyhow, so if we're going for one of those more-than-a-week-to-write dealies, should we just call it a minicomp? Specifically, since some non-regular Hugo people are interested in writing something, we could call it the Hugo Open House Minicomp or something.

Ideally, I'd like to announce something on intfiction sometime soon, just so there's a chance that somebody might go take a look at the Hugo Book that otherwise wouldn't.

Robb, what are your thoughts?

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Let's announce the Hugo Open House Mini-Comp. Games can range from Speed IF to something people had been working on for quite some time. Games due ... well, the 31st is on a Saturday, and Hugo programmers are the types who go out and rawck the New Year, you. Games are due the morning of the 31st, then?
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

Cool, I will bounce the idea off of the Hugo guy over at the ifMUD to make sure they don't have additional ideas, but I imagine we will be announcing this thing soon.

User avatar
Tdarcos
Posts: 9333
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 9:25 am
Location: Arlington, Virginia
Contact:

Post by Tdarcos »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:
Flack wrote:Can I enter a game in Inform 6 if it contains a NPC named Hugo?
If you know Inform 6, you basically know Hugo. It's that simple! Wouldn't it be nice to add ANOTHER language to the ones you have written programs in???
I looked at the video on Inform 7 http://inform7.com/learn/movies/ and it reminds me too much of COBOL and its extra verbosity compared to Hugo, Inform uses a lot of noise words to make it look more "English Like" as opposed to being a specialized language for writing a type of program, the way SQL is a specialized language for writing database queries.

What I do like is the editor it shows, and I was thinking it would be nice if Hugo had a type of IDE or assist program so that as you create an adventure the editor helps you out, you might click on a room, and it shows you directions you can go in a drop-down, or create a new room, or something else, and thus you don't have to remember the locations, the IDE does that. Or if you want to do something there can be a defined sequence for it and the IDE inserts it as needed.

I considered writing one. It would read your code and fill in all the data tables for various actions, objects, etc. So if you want to know what a particular command does you can look it up, add a new one and so on. It would have check boxes for actions or locations to add. Take a lot of the grunt work away.
Alan Francis wrote a book containing everything men understand about women. It consisted of 100 blank pages.

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

Well, Commander, if you took a swing at it, we'd applaud your efforts!

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I am entering this. I will try to make a post on the main page of JC so it shows up on Planet IF.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I have some errands to run today, but I *will* blog about this and get it on Planet IF today.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

A game has been submitted! I think there will be a couple more finishing touches added, but for the most part, Marius Mueller (Taleslinger) is done with his entry for the Hugo Comp!

The rest of us can use this as a kick-in-the-pants to put some more work into our respective games before the holidays steal all of our time! Happy Hugo Comping!

Bainespal
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:59 am

Post by Bainespal »

I've never participated in a Speed IF and don't know what they're like, but my understanding is that entries are not expected to be tested and thoroughly debugged. As far as I understand from the announcement thread on Intfiction, even though the Hugo Open House Comp isn't a classic Speed IF, there's still no pressure to have a refined entry.

So, would it be alright for me to enter my long project in a very rough, untested state? I fear that would be abuse, making the Open House a sort of public beta (or, unfortunately, really a public alpha). However, if I could get it workable by the deadline, I'm strongly tempted to enter it, just because I've been working on it for a long time and all. How far does the toleration for bad and broken games go? ;-)

I feel it would be more responsible for me to write a new game, following the classic Speed IF tradition of turning something out in one sitting. That way, my entry would explicitly have been written as a buggy Speed IF, and it won't be long enough to be too annoying.

I'm thinking I'll keep working on my long project until Christmas, and then maybe I'll be able to throw something else together before New Years' Eve to enter the Open House.

Also, I want to clarify how to enter. All I have to do is post a download link before New Years' Eve, and I'm in, right?

It'll be good. Thanks for organizing it, people. :)

Roody_Yogurt
Posts: 2179
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 6:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee

Post by Roody_Yogurt »

The Hugo Comp aims to be all things to all people, so submitting a game you have been working on for a long time is quite okay. If you'd like to use Hugo Comp as motivation to put the finishing touches on a game, Hugo Comp is there for you!

If you want to try you hand at throwing something small together quickly, that's okay, too!

The one point of consideration is, the Spring Thing 2012 comp is going to have a crazy amount of money in it, and I know that at least a couple of us Hugo authors would like to enter it. If your game is a larger game and- after betatesting- could conceivably shape up into something enjoyed by many, you might want to possibly hold off on releasing it.

Whichever way you go, Hugo Comp will support you!

Bainespal
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:59 am

Post by Bainespal »

Roody_Yogurt wrote:Whichever way you go, Hugo Comp will support you!
That's good to hear. I'm leaning towards throwing something together quickly, but if I really get going on my long project this week, I may just want to keep on with that and release it.

At any rate, I really really hope I have something to offer for this. I owe it to the little Hugo community for all the help you've given me.

User avatar
Ice Cream Jonsey
Posts: 28879
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2002 2:44 pm
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Understood. If you want us to check in with you before we release the games, we can do that. Right now I know of three games in development: mine, Roody's and then another guy who may not want to go public just yet.

I just finished the author's playthrough tonight, which means (even for a 5 minute game) there are probably 40,000 bugs and such. So I will try to squash 39,999 of them before New Year's Eve.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

Post Reply