Jolt Country

Continuing the conversation started in this thread, this is a thread for discussing the possible/probable 2012 iteration of the HugoComp. As of yet, we haven't thrown out any suggested themes nor hammered down exact dates (I had said something but now I have a new idea).

Somebody mentioned at some point the whole Mayan prophesy thing. I figured that's as good a theme as any. My idea is that all games should deal with the "end of the world" or some idea of time running out. You could interpret that as a short apocalyptic piece or some game with an interesting timer, whatever. I thought it was just open-ended enough to be interesting.

That said, if we did go with that, we might as well move the deadline up to December 21st (and then maybe use the rest of the year for a betatesting window before official release). I still think the official start date should be November 2nd since, hey, it's a good day to start something.

I am going to try to get a demo of the first scene of Cyberganked into this. Funnily enough, it does have a mild "end of times" thing going.

You always have impeccable timing with your game ideas.

I suppose if I enter something this year I should actually write it in Hugo and not Inform again.

If you could, please YES.

I've been trying to develop an idea for Hugo Comp, sort of a sequel to World Builder. I have to write a short story for a videogame theory class I'm taking, and I'm planning on using the same concept for both.

Thanks for the suggestion of an Apocalypse theme. I've been mulling that over all day, since I saw this post, and now I think I have a workable idea!

I promise not to do any coding until after the official start date, but there's really no danger that I would be tempted to get an early start, anyways. I probably won't start until after November 2nd anyways, because I'm juggling projects and tests, and I'm trying to play all the games in the big Comp. Actually, I can't even make an absolute promise that I'll finish in time to enter Hugo Comp at all, but I intend to try.

I think the theme is perfect. It's topical, due to the Mayan calendar thing and is a good fit for IF. I have several ideas for my game already.

The adjusted schedule wont affect me at all. Getting a finished, beta tested product out before the end of the year is a nice goal.

Count me in!

Bainespal wrote:I promise not to do any coding until after the official start date, but there's really no danger that I would be tempted to get an early start, anyways. I probably won't start until after November 2nd anyways, because I'm juggling projects and tests, and I'm trying to play all the games in the big Comp. Actually, I can't even make an absolute promise that I'll finish in time to enter Hugo Comp at all, but I intend to try.

I don't intend the start date to be a hard rule. I just like having a start date for compartmentalizing my life and making the deadline feel more real, and I fully intend to use time before the start date for idea gestation.

The point is, anybody who chooses to can start early.

I was also thinking that the HugoComp games should be encouraged to have sick drops.

OK. Thanks to creative commons, mine will.

Roody runs the best comps, people.

Alright what is this? End of the world game, by Dec. 21? With sick drops?

I feel like I'm in??

That is precisely it, friend!!!

Um...

Do games for the HugoComp actually have to use Hugo?

Ah... Yes, that is my question.

RetroRomper wrote:Do games for the HugoComp actually have to use Hugo?

For this year, yes. Maybe in the future, we could also accept games written in ZIL.

I have until Dec. 21st to learn then rewrite my text game in Hugo. Okay, I CAN DO THIS!

You can do it and we can help.

RetroRomper wrote:I have until Dec. 21st to learn then rewrite my text game in Hugo. Okay, I CAN DO THIS!

Last year, we started a "getting started" page on Hugo by Example: http://hugo.gerynarsabode.org/index.php ... ng_Started

It probably doesn't tell you anything you don't already know, but like ICJ said, we are here.

I officially announced HugoComp 2012:
http://www.intfiction.org/forum/viewtop ... =23&t=6188

In the end, I decided, why put off until 2013 what you can do in 2012, so yes, people can also submit ZIL games (if so, you'll want the ZIL manual and ZILF). You're welcome!

Is there a code relationship between ZIL and Hugo?

No, ZIL is just another unsung language. It's actually what the Infocom games were written in (and therefore, compiles to z-code). I mean to write a game in it eventually myself (although I won't be this time around).

Why ZIL and not Inform 6/7? For one thing, from looking at the ZIL manual, I think it has some interesting features and I think we, as IF enthusiasts, can still learn some things from Infocom's designs. For another thing, some Inform games are bloated to the point that they run slow, which is kind of ridiculous in this day and age. Sure, that's mainly evident in places like browsers and Kindles and stuff, but I still feel, in some ways, there's more loss-of-efficiency than gain-of-functionality in some of today's games.

Holy IF crusades aside, ZIL could just use some more love. Only a couple games have been written in it (since the fall of Infocom, anyhow) in earnest, and it could use a nice spotlight. Like I said, I mean to do something with it myself eventually, but I thought that in the meantime, it's a good way to remind people it's there.