Reminder: next weekend is the SpeedHack.

The 2011 template is available. If you are using C/C++, then you must^[1] use it. So download it now and get your questions answered before next weekend.

You should also be working on a list of excuses to use as the reason why you dropped out a few minutes into the competition. "The rules sucked" is not a valid reason because you know that ahead of time. Likewise "my girlfriend came over" doesn't work because a) you don't have one and b) pretending that you do, you should have told her to stay away given that the date has been set for longer than whatever other plans you are making up.

For this year, all C/C++ programs MUST be source compatible with either Allegro 4.4.2 or 5.0.3, no exceptions. i.e, Do NOT use functionality from SVN, unless it is optional.

If you use some other language, then it doesn't matter since nobody will be able to easily compile or run your game anyway.

I'm dropping out BEFORE the competition starts. My job is taking us all to an amusement park.

Bet your job doesn't do that.

You can't let a little thing like going to an amusement park stop you from participating in speedhack, just get one of these and code on the rides .
{"name":"41Y6FHsLxLL._SL500_AA300_.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/c\/ac1c7729bc540ff7a997fadc85851782.jpg","w":300,"h":300,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/c\/ac1c7729bc540ff7a997fadc85851782"}
I'm not participating in speedhack since I've been away from allegro for so long, but I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with .

Downloaded and set up my framework with the correct folders and the make file included.

I now see how the makefile works too so all I need to do is change the one line to the game name and I'm up for business

Append: Do I need to place my headers in the "include" directory as I always place mine in the "src" directory?

Append 2: Where is the read me file that we need to edit? Or are we not having one this year? The read me file that was included is just instructions to us

I'm out. I already have obligations that week. Good luck to the participants.

I'm not going to participate... I have way too little experience to come up with a game and make it in such a short timespan

Neither do I but I'm going to give it my best I don't think it matters if you don't end up with a playable game it's just for fun

I would've tried if I wouldn't have been in Germany that weekend, without access to the Internet

That's a shame. Oh well. There is still enough people participating Have fun in Germany.

It's cleaner to keep the two separated, but it doesn't really matter. You have almost a week to figure out how to configure your IDE to work with an include folder, and part of the great joy of SpeedHack is trying new things...

There may be one posted after the rules are up, but if not, it should include the same things as always.

The only reason I don't use include for my headers is because I use the include directory for allegro includes xD.

However, I looked at the test script you included in the 2011 template and by the looks of it I can just place all my headers in the include folder when [That's if I complete it ] I upload my entry and it should compile using the makefile with no issues.

Okay, Just in case I shall download the 2009 one and fill the parts in that I can since we have no idea what we will be making .

Edit: I forgotten how to add references on these forums now :/

Hey, even if you don't think you can make a complete game over a weekend. Just take it as a test to see how far you can actually come. You might be surprised.

I,m in. I really hope to submit an entry this time.

For those in doubt, do what Trezker said.

You almost tempted me to join. Then I thought of the technical requirements. Those are mostly so hard, I can't even think of a abstract scheme to implement them.
*Spins to prove his point*

That's not so hard

Ugh... that's what I'm talking about. Fairly trivial (result), but I would be happy if I could implement that alone in one weekend. (You have to monitor keyboard input throughout your game... or only during the menu... or implement a text-field...)
Doubting... If I like the next spin, I will join.

#
Genre requirements

Insanity! (Good)
Your project should either be about insanity or have a featured character who is insane.
#
Technical requirements

There are 2 technical requirements:
Speed (OK)

The player cannot control the speed of anything in the game: everything's always going full throttle. Think: mario who's always running, asteroids with the engines stuck on, etc. The faster the better :)
Unbeatable (OK)

The game must be unbeatable - it just keeps going on and on and on and..
#
Artistic requirements

There are 2 artistic requirements:
Boing boing! Spring time! (Good)

People love bouncing. Thus your game should feature springs. This can be either springs as characters or enemies, or part of a character. Or this can be bumpers or other items used by the player. Or any crazy idea about the use of springs. Extra kudos if cleverly used in the game or if it's the core of the gameplay. Bonus if there are realistic spring physics.
Look Mom I can Fly (Great)

Ground based transportation is boring. The player should be able to fly in some way or other. It doesn't have to be zooming around in a 3d space (extra kudos if it is), but the player can not be anchored to the ground at all times.
#
Bonus rules

There are 2 bonus rules:
Act of Chewbacca (Great)

You can opt out of one rule if your game contains no verbal communication at all. Your game can't use words, but it can still use symbols, icons and descriptive sound effects.
Act of Act of Recursiveness (Good)

Clever use of recursiveness will give bonus. It could be a code thing or something in the graphics. It could even be the way you interprete a rule. If one rule says you have to save a princess, you could make a game where a princess has to save a princess.

:|
Heh, I'll try it Maybe it will jump start me into actually producing a game. Hopefully it will be fun to see me fail anyway.

Im in doubt that I'll get a game done in time but I'm just going to go with it It's only going to mess me up on the genre really because I cannot do some types of games as I haven't gotten round to learning. For example.. Platform games. They are my weak spot xD

Edit: Good to see you are in

Fudge! I'll have to look through the change logs... I hope the SVN of 5 only added extra functions. If I just use the old manual to reference everything I type in, it should be fine

I'll stick to Allegro 5.0.3 except when I use the monolith-mt with the binary it causes errors so I just static link them one by one instead xD.

I'll leave the makefile alone as I know Matthew wont have a problem with the compiling since he set it up with 5.0.3 I only need to change the NAME whatever that may be

Can't wait too see the rules. Will my face be a :O or a XD

Looking forward to it...don't know for sure how much time I can get to spend on it, but I'm gonna at least try.

My problem is that my weekend is Thursday-Friday-Saturday and not Friday-Saturday-Sunday, so you stole one day from me (well, half day).

And anyway I'll probably drop out because my friends will come up with something more fun to do over the weekend

This year, for the first time, you will be able to upload an additional 10MB of resource data (images, music, etc).

Before you get excited or angry, this is not a waiver of the base 250KB limit. Your entry (source code and essential resources) must still fit within that size and be playable (although perhaps with a subset of levels). The 10MB is an optional, extra ZIP file that is uploaded independently.

The real differences from past competitions are:

• You can upload that data directly to the SpeedHack site

  
  

• When judging the finished games, people may consider that extra resource package as part of the official entry.

If I read that right, ways to use that extra 10MB:

• Base game is like a demo of a full game, but still follows all the rules

• Base game uses a small/simple set of resources that might make it retro looking, but the extra 10MB allows you to have a game that uses any combination of: more frames of animation, more variety of sounds, higher quality images/sounds/music, more levels, and other stuff I can't think up

Knowing me, I won't even bother with that extra space.

I'm not participating because I clearly would win. I want to give someone else a chance to grab the title.

That's a lot of extra space for one weekend but hey

I always thought 250KB is way too much, I'd have reduced it not increased. For example this is only 256 bytes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vzcMdkvPPg

I'm going to try and do up an entry.

I might get the "at least you tried" award.

10MB is a great boost for sound packs / high res graphics, etc... sounds great.

I might join in, but likely will not be able to. Or if I did, my C++ and game-foo are a bit rusty (I've been in Biz land.)

Heck, I'd love to just be able to get a weekend of programming in...

edit/obligatory hijack: Is anyone interested in doing an "audit" of speed hack? (Like when you audit a class in college, you sit in and what-not, and hopefully learn, but it's not graded...) -- Maybe I'm the odd man out, but it may be appealing for those of us who are no longer using C++/Allegro to follow along with a 72-hr game competition of our own (following the same rule-o-matic/72-hr time period, maybe 10mb file limit max for everything in one package, etc -- simple rules, just have fun... )

This was made to test some things of my Framework. Does this work okay for you guys as it jumps on my system :/

Download

Append: Added a screenshot.

{"name":"604482","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9fc968e11d50c9a2a6635f6a1e63856f.png","w":665,"h":526,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9fc968e11d50c9a2a6635f6a1e63856f"}

It works here.

Thank god for that. I asked someone else to try it and he said it just opened then closed At least I know it works. Thanks MiquelFire

Works on my work machine at a decent speed but yeah, it flip flops between smooth and just slight moments of being a little "jumpy"... (It's a shitty computer though, so go figure.)

My $.02: Keep in mind, just because it works on some machines doesn't mean it will work everywhere. Make sure to check return codes to see if an API call is failing, etc, and show an error to the user with a message box instead of just making an invalid call which will crash the application.

FYI: I tried it with, and without the data folder present. Without, on my machine, causes the app to come up with a blank black window and do nothing until I close it. So if it came up and then went down for someone, it wasn't a file issue, you seem to be handling those alright (though it would be better if the app complained and said "I can't find my data!" -- I get that this is a "framework" though, so I will shut up now.)

Worked on my work machine too. Smooth, no issues. Also a crap computer so I'm a bit surprised.

Yea, I all returns are checked and comes up with a dialog. I will be adding checks on the images later on tonight if I get some time for now it just checks that it exists before drawing them to the screen to stop segmentation faults.

I'm going for the "We wish you hadn't tried" award.

Works great on mine, though mine is a gaming rig.

I've signed up for the competition, I'll see how it goes even though I'm pretty sure I won't come up with an entry (probably won't even start one). I've already got Friday completely booked, and Sunday is work for me...

I have a couple of hours Saturday where I'm travelling to Lincoln to get some stuff. I'll be rushing back for sure xD

Good to see more people are going to join in I wasn't aware of Allegro back in 2009 so I couldn't have joined in

I'll be there if I can clear my work schedule before then.

I almost forgot to enter >.>. Somehow I thought that voting on that date thing counted as entering the competition...

My odds of joining this year are close to zero, unfortunately, but I still wanted to chime in and wish everyone participating good luck .

It looks like this year's SH will be a little bit smaller, but seeing as there are a few days left, perhaps more people will still register.

Concerning the 10MB additional resource file, it seems a rather strange concept to me. It straddles the line between keeping the 250kB limit and increasing it to 10MB, but in the end I don't think it makes anybody happy. The people wanting to use nice hi-def stuff for their games will still feel unable to do so (since they would have to cut it out of the 250k version, and while it might be feasible for music, not so for most graphics). The die-hards who'd like the limit to stay forever will feel like it was lifted.

Just my 0.02$, obviously worth even less considering the fact that I'm not taking part anyway.

Again, good luck to everyone - looking forward to trying your games!

I could say I'll join, but every past attempt has failed utterly. I figure I should at least finish a pong clone before I commit to something as serious as speedhack.

In any case, I think I have a "family reunion" next weekend anyway so I probably couldn't do it even if I could.

There was that time I teamed up with Samuel Henderson for "Bananarama"... That was actually looking like it might go somewhere at one point. Then it all crashed and burned.

I wonder if I could bend the rules and build off of Intern's Quest. The code (and resources) have technically been available for a couple of years now.

Don't worry bammcaig. I've got you covered

how long is the voting window?

Voting closes 1-2 weeks after the competition is over. But only people who submit an entry can vote. However, it's perfectly acceptable for a SpeedHacker who doesn't have the time to test each game to delegate his voting privileges to a non-participant.

That's too bad. Garbage Quest was awesome!

I'm having a semester break right now, which will end on August 1st, so I'm in. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish a game like last time.

I am so excite!!!

In case I participate, anyone who doesn't wants to have my voting rights?

I'm In!
I just have a few questions...
Can I use to make my game a framework, based in allegro5?
Or I can just use allegro's lib?
I know, that someone have just answered it, but I have looked and dont find a thing about it.
Thanks in advance.

Use whatever you want. You just have to provide that whatever.

Thanks GullRaDriel...
So, I cant use the framework... Its libs cant fit in 256kb...

You only need to provide the sources of it as well though.

So unless the sources themselves don't fit, it should be ok. There was a rule saying that your own framework is only allowed if you published its sources some time before the compo - but I don't think that's very important.

And if your framework is more than 250KB of source only, well, maybe it's a little bit overloaded for a 2 days compo ^^

The prize isn't a million dollars so it doesn't really matter if your entry is disqualified anyway. Have some fun and maybe create something to be proud of.

Two or so of my TINS entries were disqualified It just hurts anyway, doesn't matter that it doesn't matter

Well it wouldn't have hurt if you had joined knowing they would be disqualified. To think you can compete and be disqualified would suck, but to participate anyway knowing that your entry was invalid would be pretty harmless.

TINS is not SpeedHack Elias ;-p X-D

One sec, you say the framework has to be published? Okay, posted onto my website xD.

Yeah, I think you are right.. But almost half of the size of my framework source is because of the comments. XD
Anyway, I will just use the parts I will really need.
So there'll be no problem at all.

Same here. I have audio coded in but if I don't get time to make any audio then it's coming out.

Gay code?
(This attachment certainly is, but if I get desperate I might use it.)

Interesting that last night, I decided to post my 'framework' on Bitbucket. (it's really nothing more than some template code and not a framework)

BTW, as Mercurial doesn't keep tabs on empty directories, the obj directory needed for the makefile isn't there, and I see nothing in the makefile about creating it.

I have a framework, but I'm including it with my game's source (and labeling it in my readme as such) . I don't need to exploit the rules to finish my entry .

There's no rule that you have to post your "framework" or secret library ahead of time. If your library is a legitimate entity by itself, you don't have to include it with the entry.

People will know if you are trying to cheat the system and will humiliate you accordingly.

The framework is part of the source so it will all be included anyway's

I'm still hyped up for it Hurry up and be Friday

I always find it weird when output directories like that are assumed existing by the build system... You're the build system! You make it!

I usually add ${BINDIR}, ${LIBDIR}, and ${OBJDIR} targets to my Makefiles. You're able to modify the provided Makefile, AFAIK. As long as the only thing people need to do to build your game is run make it doesn't really matter. Alternatively,...

mkdir obj &&
        /bin/echo -n > obj/EMPTY &&
        hg add obj/EMPTY &&
        hg commit -m "Adding EMPTY file so obj dir is created by Mercurial."

Is this year's competition officially using Mercurial or is that just for your own personal use?

That'll be his personal thing

I'm heading for the "Well, at least one of the rules was yours" award.

Ah, yes, I confused it with the TINS rules (which require to publish what you use at least 2 weeks earlier). Anyway, the TINS rule which got me disqualified was failing to vote on all other entries :/

Voting is also mandatory for the SH if you want to get more than an "honorable mention" in any of the categories. But all you have to do is rank at least one game in each of the categories. You don't have to play them all, nor should you feel compelled to.

Part of winning is making a game that looks good (i.e., more apt to try it out) and is easy to get up and running.

I'm just using Mercurial because it's my SCM of choice.

Plus I'm using MSVC, it doesn't use that makefile, so yea, being too lazy to make sure the makefile works.

I had planned on publishing my framework prior to the compo, but the parts I'll be using are small enough that I can just include it in the source.

I might end up joining anyhow. I haven't used Allegro in ages, so I'll probably stick with 4.x though. Heck, I haven't even worked on programming a game in ages, though I do deal with graphical visualizations all day at work, so at least I'm not totally rusty (not that my .NET/Direct2D/DirectWrite/internal viz library experience translates back to Allegro very well ).

I'm completely green to all this, but I got my game framework(if you can call it that) working on my machine using the template. Would someone mind building it and letting me know how it works? It's allegro 4 code. I'm going out of town tonight (no computer access until I get back)and I want to be sure I'll be ready to go when I get back Friday night.

Attachment: http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/604487

Aww, I was trying to make some space but it's impossible I'm working all days until Saturday, I thought these SH competitions were on weekends, I would have just the Sunday but I would try it.

Edit:

Wait... I didn't read the 1 in the web page, I thought there were just 21 hours... Damn I shouldn't zoom up the browser so much... So it's Saturday and Sunday, right?.

Edit2:

... After voting for 50 rules I know that I'm able to accomplish just the 10% from those that I saw in a weekend, let a lone just one day... I'm out.

Bah, I can't let Speedhack go by without trying. Is 4.2 still allowed?

As long as it is source compatible with 4.4.

I have a last question ( I think XD ), Lets say I will use lua scripts in my game, or even a xml lib. I will have to include its source as well? or its lib? Thanks in advance... again! kkkk

See the post above:
http://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/607857/925152#target

That's not the entire story though, since the FAQ says:

AMCerasoli, SpeedHack is a 72 hour competition. Is starts on Friday and you have to submit your entry Sunday before the competition ends.

Also, you don't have to implement all 50 rules you voted. Only a few rules are randomly selected before the competition starts and those are the ones you have to try and implement. Try spinning the rule-o-matic to see an example.

I suggest you join. Nothing will happen if you can't finish an entry or if you decide to drop the competition.

I was also confused with the TINS rules. (They should call this TINTINS ) I will certainly have no need for the 'public domain doesn't need to be included rule'.^[1]

Squirrels.

The difference:

You only need to send me the program source, data, makefiles, documentation and any additional libraries that you needed to compile the program.

versus

Libraries, add-ons and public domain code that is self contained (compiled independently from your code) does not need to be included.

So, if I use the PNG add-on, I have to include the libpng's source? Or just the headers?

Ugh, no and no.

The text on the intro page just a high level description of how the competition works. "Any additional libraries" doesn't mean the library itself must be present; a reference to the library in a readme file is sufficient.

The FAQ makes this clear:

As does the rules page:

Oh fuck it. Looks like there was no 2010 Speed Hack, and for all I know this could be the last one. I'm back, bitches. (Too much DNF... )

Though, whether I will actually accomplish anything, is yet to be seen.

I see BAF, Derezo, Dustin, Elias, Mark, ML, MiquelFire, Oscar, SiegeLord, and Slartibartfast are all in.

Would be epic if we could get Bob, 23, and X-G in on this. The world may end next year, after all.

Aight. Let's get this shit done. Hopefully I can get visual studio installed before Sunday.

I think you forgot Bruce Perry in your list, he's like Mr Speedhack himself

Stop that! You're ruining the bell curve.

Your face is a bell curve.

(That said, I don't get it - what bell curve did you mean? )

I've managed to find some time for this weekend, so I'm in.

Time to read that template and get the latest Allegro 5 working.

Good luck to ya all !

Yea that is the problem man... I would really love to participate in this competition believe me if it had been few weeks ago (yes when I was here talking shit all the time) I would have participated. But just right know I can't... I want another SpeedHack this year!!! .

I know, I just was saying that from those that I saw, I would be able to finish just the 10% of them... Probably not, probably the 60%, but I would have just the Sunday to finish it, because I work Friday and Saturday all day...

But anyway good look to everybody and show what is Allegro able to do in just two days!

Well, You can't really judge allegro on us using it. We could be out dated ourselves

I'll do a remake of my 2007 Speedhack entry?

Ok I'm all set now. Scrapped over some pieces of code from here and there(stuff that's been on my public repositories for months ) just so I don't have to bother remembering most of the setup for A5 stuff.

Now gimmeh the gamez!

Anybody not participating who wants to team up for some contributions in their spare time? :D
Ignore that, nobody likes working. Someone who could help testing a sneak peek before uploading the final entry would be better.

OK, I have joined, but I don't have high hopes...

I will try my best to write cross platform code. However I have never compiled or wrote anything in Linux. I will however only be using the allegro 5 libs and addon's so they are cross platform. I wouldn't have bothered writing this but it seems that some of the users on here use Linux

When I can be bothered (Not in a long time), I shall learn how to use Allegro under Ubuntu or summets.

Not long now till the competition starts so good luck to all. I'm looking forward to seeing the rules now

This will be my first speedhack.

Looking forward to it as well and also curious about the rules. 17 hours to start.

Will upgrade from 4.2 to 4.4 tonight. Have a few dozen lines of code down in preparation.

I think that in Allegro if you are doing something Windows specific then you would know it.
Other than that - Just remember that unlike in Windows, filenames are case-sensitive, so don't #include <filename.h> a file named Filename.h and you'll probably be fine

Team Darkbits will assemble tomorrow and we are really looking forward to it. Good luck everyone!

OH NO! NOT TEAM DARKBITS! WE'RE DOOM! WE WON'T WIN! AHHH!

Whatever.

The only thing you should have to worry about if you're only using Allegro is to keep file paths case-sensitive and use slashes ("/") instead of backslashes ("\\"); both of which any sane person would be doing regardless. Otherwise, Allegro takes care of the platform specifics for you.

PMS?

The secret rules are in place.

Site is updated.

Time to get exite!

"This year there might just be a special rule that may require you to check what other people are doing..."
Interesting.

OH NOES ML IS STARTING HIS ENTRY EARLY!!!!

Less than 12 hours to go! Time to get a simple framework up.

Frameworks are for pussies.

Hey, it's convenient, OK?

{"name":"Cat%20Carrier.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/5\/95cf54667d8165607516d4d85a590408.jpg","w":760,"h":587,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/5\/95cf54667d8165607516d4d85a590408"}

I don't even have a computer yet.

Sent from my iPhone.

Yes you do. You're just holding it wrong.

-Steve Jobs
Sent from my iPad.

excite

you guys crack me up

I know about case-sensitive file-name with Linux as the person that hosts my site is using Linux and I have to be careful with my PHP scripts.

Just hope one of the rules are not Networking as I only know how to use WinSock and most of you should know that is windows only and that I would need to learn how to do it for Mac and Linux, or I could use a bonus Act if there is one to get rid of a rule

One thing that is important to think about is line endings when opening text files in text mode. If you create text files, make sure you use Unix line endings.

I always use "\n" anyway's, That seems to work with both Windows and Linux created test files XD. It's "\r\n" in Windows right? I haven't used that in years so I could be wrong there :O

The curve rating entrants' epicness.

Biggest thing to watch out for is file name casing, IMO:
Ex: #include "hello.h" != #include "HELLO.H"

ah, fuck, beaten.
Twice.

Ooh backslash advice, forgot about that one. Must incorporate.

With a couple of defines you can make winsocks 2 code that's cross platform for Linux, et al. Even the startup/shutdown stuff, and different include file pathes...

Yea figures I'd still need to learn how Linux does this though XD

I think framework is a much over-used word. A couple of helper functions makes not a framework

Kewl rules.

Nice catch. Yes, this can matter as well.

The standard IO layer in Windows automatically converts your "\n" to "\r\n" in text mode. If you specify binary mode then it will do exactly as you tell it. Just make sure that any text data files that you create with an editor, etc., uses UNIX line endings and you'll be fine. Alternatively, you could write the text handling routines to deal with any line endings.

Or, you know, just open them in text mode.

pthread_mutex_lock.c:84: __pthread_mutex_lock: Assertion 'mutex->__data.__owner == 0' failed.
This is great
(I get that from an al_get_next_event)

EDIT: Whoops, that's what I get for not correctly initializing my variables

So I wanted to make a second blog post, but it won't let me. Is the speedhack blog down?

Are there any Bonus rules that aren't simply 'you can ignore rule X'? Or as I like to think, the 'you can go ahead and use the game your wrote over the past 2 months and simply use the bonus to negate any issue' rule

It should work. Maybe you are triggering a bug with the contents of the post.

Given that the only rules are:

• Genre/artistic/technical

  
  

• Must be done in 72 hours

  
  

• Must be < 250 KB

  
  

• Must use Allegro

There aren't many options for a bonus rule...

If there were some sort of point system that affected winning, then bonus rules could be more like +5 points ... but I'd rather winning simply be based on votes.

I think text mode is platform specific so I think certain operations will require you to manually handle different EOL characters *ahem* "sequences". That is, if the text file being read was written on a different platform. I could be wrong... In theory, if you use binary mode and always use UNIX line endings then it shouldn't ever matter and you could move the files between platforms without issue. Of course, the real solution is to format Windows and install Linux.

This thread title sucks.

Agreed.

That's the point.

In theory, if you open text files in text mode it shouldn't ever matter. >.>

Weird, I tried changing "penis" to "p3n1s" but still won't post. Just get a completely blank page... I think the speedhack website has turned into an evil dictator that refuses to let me criticize it... Oh well.

{"name":"604502","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/1\/9\/19bcff1a59dd9c471d3af2e4f98a2a92.png","w":269,"h":445,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/1\/9\/19bcff1a59dd9c471d3af2e4f98a2a92"}

Heh; I've only entered one of these ever IIRC. The old six-hour Blitzhack.

I'm tempted to think about it. I actually don't know what kind of time I'll have this weekend.

REVISION: Scratch that; didn't realize it already began.

Weird. I thought sometime before 2004 (my first speedhack) you had done something. There was a speedhack where all the resource files were provided and everyone had to make do... Weird, I can't find that speedhack. Maybe it was something else. xD

Yeah. That was the Blitzhack.

Not if the file was created on a different platform. I think that if you open a Windows-style text file in Linux you will have trailing "\r" characters in your lines, which might be a problem if you don't account for it.

So what you're saying is, the text mode is a lie...?

Anyway, if I had to write one of these by hand (which I wouldn't, because that's just a waste of time) I would just treat \n or \r as new lines and ignore blank lines. Keep it simple stupid. ;-)

@ML: I still can't post blog updates. This one didn't even have any bad words. Just lost 5 minutes of typing.

Oh well, about to head home from work, in a few hours I'll be starting in on le hack de speed.

edit:

Nice. I didn't even know there was a Blitzhack (at least, today I didn't; apparently years ago, I must have, if I downloaded and looked at the entries...)

edit: Okay, I guess I'll just tweet with "#speedhack" for my blog for now. Since I can post comments fine, but not new posts. It's super lame.

In a matter of speaking, yes. The only difference between text mode and binary mode (AFAIK) is that EOLs are converted to and from the native EOL sequence automagically. In Windows, this means converting 0A to 0D0A and back again. In Linux, it's effectively the same as binary mode, AFAIK, because the native newline is the same as the C newline (0A). Expecting anything more is ridiculous; in fact, even that much is ridiculous. If a Linux system encounters 0D0A in a text file there's no real way to know that it isn't supposed to literally be 0D0A. Converting it to just 0A might be wrong. Those aren't the only two EOL "sequences" either. Older Macs used 0D, and I think there might even be a few lesser known systems that use completely different bytes or sequences. You can't possibly expect for every operating system to know about every other operating system's conventions. The only solution is for the application to account for the difference in a special way or to standardize the format so that only one is ever encountered.

Grrraw 20 hours in and I haven't had a chance to write a single line of code yet. I'm so fucked this speed hack. Oh well, at least I got my computer working again. Will try to blog about it in a second. Shit better work or I'm just not even tryin'...
edit: Shit don't work. I get 500 errors in latest Chrome and IE, and just a blank page of emptyness in Firefox.

Doesn't that fly in the face of having modes with well defined behaviors? Why isn't there a mode that does that, and if you don't want that behavior you don't set it? Seems trivially silly to me.

52 hours is still a lot of time, and it's not like you were awake the entire 20 hours

Meanwhile, my code looks like a steaming pile of shit with little C and C++ shaped corn, but so far it is working and looking fine

I started coding, but plans came up last night, and today is shot for some other plans. Tonight and Sunday will be a coding blitz, that's for sure.

CROSS-PLATFORM TIP:
I've been out of the C++ scene for awhile now, but it appears that MSVC doesn't have snprintf, instead it has sprintf_s (with about the same signature.) I'm guessing *nix doesn't have sprintf_s though, so try this:

#if _WIN32
  #define snprintf sprintf_s
#endif

Actually more like 28 hours with other weekend plans, but still, this is sweet, I'm glad I'm doing Speedhack again.

I think it has _snprintf.

Stupid question here. Do you use fonts? With a small file-size...? Or is there a sane way to obtain the fonts installed on somebody's system?

That's one thing lacking from A5, there's no default font you can use without including it.

For SpeedHack, you need to use bitmap fonts.

My project has files grouped into directories (with .cpp and .h together), but it seems that the provided makefile doesn't detect files inside directories (inside src folder). This is a small issue for now, because I'm using Codeblocks without the makefile for the development, but I really should resolve it ASAP before the deadline. I did some search, and it seems that the way to go is to have a makefile for each folder. That seems a bit troublesome. Is there an easier way out?

As the readme says:

There are a few lines in the Makefile that you could copy and paste for each sub folder to add support.

Or you could dump all your source files into the same main folder.

I'm using a TTF font. It's barely 20 KB and I'm sure it's smaller when compressed.

By the way, I just realized that it doesn't have some of the glyphs I need so I'll be needing another one.

I'm assuming that's a joke (but I would like to confirm.)

I wish there were, the MAllegro wrapper for .NET that I started writing could export them, but that source is long gone, and it was in VB.NET 2005.

Anyway, most of the .ttf files I've found are ridiculously tiny... The font I'm using is 21K unzipped -- It's from some free-fonts archive (the same site that the allegro 5 tutorial that uses "pirulen.ttf" links to.)

I just mean that while verdana.ttf is 200KB, if you create a bitmap font with the size you need, it will be very small. Of course if you use a smaller TTF with less characters or whatever, then you'll be okay from a size perspective.

Are we allowed to submit as a 7-Zip archive?

Nope.

The rules state that all entries must be supplied in a ZIP file. 7z might be problematic, particularly for some Linux users, I guess.

I thought Shawn once submitted as a tar.gz

It shouldn't be, since there's a linux version.

I'm using the FreeMonoBold font: http://www.gnu.org/software/freefont/index.html
It compresses to 81kb, but it is the only asset I need as I generate my own sound and all graphics are primitives. (My source code zips to ~8kb)

I'm using bitsream mono. As well as one png (currently) for in-game graphics. Everything is 51KB compress for now.

To keep things standard and fair, ZIP is the only allowed compression. And while zipping a 7-zip would satisfy the upload page, it still wouldn't count.

But you can compress your data with whatever algorithm you want if your program includes code that can decompress it.

I didn't make it very far before I gave up

Very rusty with allegro now. I'm still going to get more familiar with A5, but I'll have to wait until another year for Speedhack.

Well, my entry can be called done, but there's 1 problem that I don't really understand.

I'm testing on vmware to see if my game runs on linux, and make seems to compile it alright. But when I try to run the executable, this problem pops up:

error while loading shared libraries: liballegro_acodec.so.5.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I'm using the makefile provided by ML, and I'm completely ignorant to how it works. The A5 examples that I just built work fine. What should I try?

Are you sure allegro was built and installed successfully?
Remember that after generating the makefiles with CMAKE you need to both make and make install, and I think you need to be su for one or both of these steps.

I also need some help, I'd love it if some Windowsy people could try to compile and run my game http://www.speedhack.allegro.cc/entry/11/8789
(Also, is the readme.txt just one long line?)

make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Your entry compiles here on mingw in Windows.

I believe so. I was su for compiling it, and all the compiled examples and demos work(even the acodec ones).

So I'm a bit lost here.

EDIT: I had missed the last step ML said. Now it works. Woot!

Thanks
I made the game on Debian so Windows was the platform I was worrying about. (Not anymore though )

I always forget that step
When I made my own makefiles I just made that part of make install

Congrats

EDIT:
@Dario: I'm wondering - does the game run? (specifically, press space and see that it doesn't crash after three seconds )
I'm generating SFX in the game, and I'm sure something is bound to go wrong with that

(This is no longer @Dario: )
I have to say it was really fun making a game in 72 hours, and it boosted my confidence by a bit.
Thanks for organising this event!

Slartibartfast: I tried to compile and run your game in Visual studio (just put all the files into a project with allegro configured).

It compiles and runs, but when I press space to get past the blue startup screen with text it crashes. Sorry that I don't have more time to try or debug, just posting to let you know.

Also, the text box seems to not fit well, because the text breaks mid-word sometimes, making it harder to read.

My entry is up, source and Windows binary included. If someone can try and build it... I used an older makefile to build it but couldn't try the default makefile as it links against the monolith lib.

I hope it works.

Submitted.

{"name":"604506","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/8\/d8ff7cfaa7bfe8977b73f10bfb5ea7d4.png","w":1280,"h":1024,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/8\/d8ff7cfaa7bfe8977b73f10bfb5ea7d4"}

EDIT: Ken, the binary you provided didn't work for me(something about the jpg not loading), but building it with the makefile you provided worked. So I guess it's fine.

Dario ff:

In Linux I had to comment this out:

    if (keyb.display != display) {
        // Clear_Keyboard();
        //return;
    }

Otherwise no input unless you you tab away from the window and regain focus. Perhaps you need to initialize something somewhere, or not even bother with that check.

Also, what's the point of this?:

 al_flush_event_queue(event_queue);

With it, some close window clicks are discarded.

Oops, that wasn't supposed to be there. Well the thing is that at the minimum lag, some events were piling up, since I wasn't using events at all for the input as you see. I'll fix those two errors and submit it again.

EDIT: Fixed those two errors and submitted. Hopefully nothing else will arise... There is the "slight" chance that it crashes, but that only has happened really rarely. Something related to the note blocks in certain positions. :X

Damn
Thanks anyway

I've reupped (again to http://www.speedhack.allegro.cc/entry/11/8789 )
I'd appreciate it if you can run it for a few seconds past the PRESS SPACEBAR screen and see if it crashes (and if you don't get horrible sounds :X)

Yeah, that's intentional, for some reason I associate propaganda with poorly formatted text :X

Getting right on to trying it on Linux

EDIT: Works for me with correct input.
Also, surprisingly it handles my multimonitor setup correctly

EDIT2: Oops, uploaded wrong source code :X reupping now
EDIT3: Upped. Again I'm hoping for a Windowser to compile and run my game :X (None windowsers are welcome as well )

Compiled again and still works.

Oh, what do you mean? It spans over multiple screens?

I'm interested in a hi-res shot in 1920x1080 since my monitor is just 1280x1024. That's the perfect resolution for the graphics I made.

Thanks
At least I know the crashing is not a platform thing as only nowiz is crashing so far

No, it correctly fullscreens on the monitor it was opened on.
A lot of applications fullscreen on the main monitor and blacken the other, some change your resolution configuration and a few just look messed up :X

I've attached a shot of the game running on 1920x1080

EDIT: Oh wait, I FAILED to attach a screenshot.
Now it is attached: {"name":"604507","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9fd008198b82bbb783469ec44a956c37.png","w":1920,"h":1080,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9fd008198b82bbb783469ec44a956c37"}

Wow, thank the A5 developers for that then.

Cool and thanks, but something dodgy is up with the background, it's a little bent... meh it looks cool anyway.

Thank you A5 developers!

Oh, so that was unintentional?
This is the hidden advantage of an abstract background

Hehe, I really should be sleeping now but I'm a bit too nervous

Slartibartfast: Tried again. Same crash.

Attached a screenshot of the crash in debug mode, with the break point pointing to the line that causes the crash. Maybe this is Visual Studio only. (or it may just be that I'm doing something wrong...) Anyway, hope it helps.

Thanks
I think that really helps too!
I wasn't sure if what I was doing there was actually legitimate, and I guess it only is under the gcc/mingw implementation of a linked list :O

Bug fixing ahoy!

EDIT: Though I wonder if it is problematic, because I don't think it should be. Interesting, anyway:
EDIT: Reupped, with what might be the problem fixed, I'd again really appreciate help with getting it to run on your computer (And I'm already appreciating the help so far )

Won't be able to test anything more before the deadline, because I need sleep. Have to go to work tomorrow...

Looking forward to testing all the entries tomorrow.

Hehe, same here

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the problem lies somewhere between me and visual studio

@Dario: I wonder if I could ask you to compile the game for me on Windows after the competition is done (after the submission deadline passes), as it seems like mingw likes my code better, and at least I could supply a compiled, working, windows binary to represent me (Thanks in advance either way )

EDIT: Reupped for one final bugfix and I'm off to sleep.
This is probably going to be my final entry as I don't think I'll have time to fix anything tomorrow before I leave.
Good night everyone and have fun

Sure, I will hold off compiling it yet in case you wake up at midnight to resubmit it once more.

Thank you
(I feel like I'm wearing out the word and the ":)" smiley )

Yeah, which is why I asked to compile after the competition is done

Oh, and its quite a bit past midnight so I probably won't be waking up at midnight (I might get in a tiny update in the morning though :O)

Well I gave it my best shot, but it just wasn't meant to happen for me this weekend.
Be warned. What follows below is long and rambling.

I wasn't prepared for Friday at all as my artist only agreed to take part at the last minute. So i had to get Allegro set up from scratch (which took a lot longer than I remember). I got home after work and turned my laptop on, but unfortunately my laptop charger had decided to go on the fritz. It took me a few hours of messing around with sellotape to get it to start charging and then a further surprising amount of time to actually work out a game idea. By 4am we had our game idea solidified, and i had my ancient Allegro 4.4 framework building again. We called it a night and decided to reconvene early on Saturday.
I woke up on Saturday and went downstairs to get started again, but my laptop charger gave me more trouble. This time however, after a few hours of messing around with sellotape it had had enough and melted . Obviously with no laptop to work on, i had no choice but to admit defeat. Saturday was a write off and we done nothing.
As a shot of the blue today though, the artist dug out another computer for me to use and told me to come around to his house to see if we could salvage even the most basic entry to the competition. We worked for 9 hours straight (which included getting MSVC/ Allegro set up all over again), and got at least something resembling the start of a game out of it . Not enough though.
{"name":"74pFglU","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/8\/4\/841b4430a1efb75bfa4465d51873cad8.png","w":700,"h":700,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/8\/4\/841b4430a1efb75bfa4465d51873cad8"}

I'm really, really disappointed that my charger had to crap out on me on this of all weekends. On Friday night it felt like we really had a chance of finishing something. Indeed, with the progress we made in the nine hours we worked today I'm certain we would have finished the game with the 12+ we lost on Saturday.
Oh well... next year hopefully. At least i still get to see what everyone else turns out! Hopefully you've all had better luck than I've had .

I got home from j0rb on Friday and was too exhausted to do anything development related so I played Borderlands. On Saturday, I was too demotivated to do anything development related so I continued to play Borderlands. Today (Sunday), I was too into Borderlands to do anything else (I did do my laundry and dishes though!). So I got nothing done. I didn't even really have a game idea... I only managed to come up with a solid plan for one of the rules:

Hmmm, I wonder if Saturday -> Monday would be a better time span on average. I think it would be easier to get started on a day off when you're not getting home from j0rb already drained. On Monday you'd hopefully already have something accomplished which should help to motivate you to keep going until the end. Thoughts?

As it is now, everybody gets a full Saturday and Sunday. If you moved it ahead 24 hours, people in Australia would basically be Sunday -> Tuesday.

It's best to consider it the full weekend (Sat/Sun), with some bonus time around the edges depending on which timezone you are in.

Meh, I haven't used Allegro in years. My entry is finished (including me being gone all night Friday and almost all day Saturday). I spent the hour or two I did have on Friday to install and learn A5.

Time to put the finishing touches on and package her up.

Slartibartfast, I successfully compiled your entry on Windows XP with MinGW. It compiles and runs fine, and my computer is a really crappy one with an integrated Intel card.

I'll continue to try the remaining entries.

Sol Blast, that looked sweet. You should upload the graphics pack.

Thanks
I wonder if it is MSVC that just hates me :X

No.
My weekend is already Thursday->Friday^[1] so stealing another day from me won't be very helpful.

So I ended up uploading a small update - only changed the readme
Now my entry really is final as I won't be able to work on it at work.

My game is submitted Who fancies testing it for me?

[EDIT]
The readme isn't entirely accurate; I'm ready to upload a correction. However, I wondered if I should modify the Makefile first. It's configured to link -lallegro-4.4.2-monolith-mt or something like that, but for me it needs to be just -lalleg44. Wondering what Matthew's done differently in his Allegro build ...

[EDIT]
Seems that question was answered in Matthew's readme. Oh well, I changed the Makefile anyway, but the old line is still in there commented out, so the change can be reversed easily enough if anyone needs to.

I've done my blog post, and now I'm going to post the announcement thread and go to bed, so let's hope it's OK