Assignment: Hack Civilization
Loki Hack 1999
Loki Hack Sponsors
Sponsor: Loki
Sponsor: Activision
Sponsor: VA Linux Systems
Sponsor: Creative
Sponsor: Adaptec
Sponsor: Matrox
Sponsor: Atlanta Linux Showcase

  Current Status | Photos | The Prizes
  General Info | Hacker Profiles | The Hacks

Current Status

1999.11.4@4:00EST Want to get a cop on the great hacks from Loki Hack 1999 for Civilization: Call to Power? We've posted all the patches that the honored contestants hacked, whacked and smacked together in a grueling 48-hour run. Check out and download the results of their Herculean labors on the Loki Hack 1999 patches page. Civilization just got a little more civilized!

1999.10.19@4:00EST We've posted photos from the contest! Go ahead and have a look.

1999.10.15@5:30EST We're pleased to announce the winners of the contest! Winners were judged by Loki's Sam Lantinga and Slashdot's Jeff "Hemos" Bates.

First prize winner was Christopher Yeoh for his additions of several units, plus a modification of the Spy unit, where a spy could be infiltrate a city to permanently get information on it until the city's owner pays get rid of him (though the Spy dies in the process). The other winners: Andrew Henderson, Ryon Gordon, Chris Swiedler and Joshua Shagam.

For profiles of the hackers and their attempted hacks, check out the Profiles in Hacker Courage page.

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all the participants for their involvement!

1999.10.12@12:00EST It's noon here in Atlanta, and Loki Hack will be concluding in just a few hours. Amazingly, people are still standing. There is no doubt about it. This crowd is as hardy as they are talented.

The judges will begin looking over the hacks very soon, and speaking with the hackers about their projects. Winners will be announced on Friday, but each contestant will get a prize. Thanks to everyone who participated for making Loki Hack a huge success! Now call me you guys if you want a job...

We've also added profiles of the hackers who have taken part in the contest. Check them out on the Profiles in Hacker Courage page. Good luck to all the participants!

1999.10.12@12:15EST Watch out for the bodies on the floor! As the night, wore on, some hackers took a few minutes to sleep. Wimps!

The hackers have gotten familiar with the code, and we're starting to see a number of small patches reach completion. The Aztecs are back. And in a multiplayer game you can now play a tetris-like game while waiting for other players to complete their turns.

As if that weren't enough, Eric Raymond has dropped by! After meeting and greeting the hackers, Eric sat right down and started working on a Libertarian government option for CivCTP. It's an ambitious project, and we're really hoping he can finish in time. Fingers crossed!

1999.10.11@22:00EST It's 10pm here, and thing are moving along. The first hack is done! Brendon Tuck of Zendragon has completed a modification which allows the game window to be resized from the command line. As if that weren't enough, Brendon is moving on to other enhancements. We can't wait to see what's next!

1999.10.11@18:49EST Hello from Atlanta! The Loki folks arrived last night and began set up this morning. Murphy seems to be on vacation (knock on wood), as setup went without a hitch. Sam reverted back to his sysadmin days and automated the entire installation process using the Kickstart feature in Redhat 6.1. Scott ran around making patch cables while Sam and Matt unpacked the development computers. Once everything was in place, we simply booted from a floppy and each machine set itself up automagically. Unbelievably, setup was complete start to finish in just over 3 hours!

VA Linux has provided all of the development boxes (which were all here in time) and the compile server, a quad Xeon 3500 with 1GB of RAM. The way Sam and Matt were eying the server I think VA might have a tough time getting it back :-)

The ALS folks have been extremely helpful. All of our equipment was here. The room was ready. And they didn't complain even after the 9th time we needed to get back into the store room. Thanks ALS for creating such a great venue for the hack!

Contestants began arriving around 11, and just about everyone was here when the Hack began at 3:00. Scott started off with a welcome to the contestants -- one of whom flew in from Germany for the Hack! Sam gave everyone a brief introduction to the source code for Civilization: Call to Power. Then each contestant introduced himself (no women hackers this year) and described his proposed hack. There are some really clever changes in the works. We'll be profiling each contestant later and describing the hack they are working on.

Right now people are settled in and working away. The chips and soda are going fast (only 3 cases of chips, what were we thinking!). Dinner will be served in about an hour, and coffee is being piped in around the clock.

1999.10.11@15:00EST Loki Hack 1999 is now underway at the Atlanta Linux Showcase! This is a contest established by Loki Entertainment Software with its sponsors to give a select group of thirty hackers the chance to improve Civilization: Call to Power for Linux. Find out more about Loki Hack 1999 here.

 

The Prizes

Being a great hacker naturally has its rewards. Our sponsors have generously donated tons of great stuff to award our glorious code-crunchers. Here's an overview:

First Prize:
StartX MP Workstation
from VA Linux Systems

Runner-Up:
Gamer-X sound card
from Creative Labs

 

Runner-Up:
2x 3950U2 Ultra2 Dual Channel
SCSI Cards from Adaptec

Runner-Up:
2x Millennium G400 Video Cards
from Matrox Graphics

 

General Info

Copyright © 1999 Loki Entertainment Software. Web design and programming from John Grantham. If you discover problems with the site, please contact webmaster@lokigames.com.