[tpm] Hackathon or presentation format for Game Development with SDL perl

[Kartik Thakore]

>
> On Feb 6, 2010, at 10:04 PM, Kartik Thakore wrote:
>
>> Since this topic is split across some threads I decided to make a  
>> new one.
>>
>> So is the hackathon for sure what we are going to do on the  
>> February meeting? Or does someone else want to do just graphics/GUI  
>> Perl presentation with me?
>
> My $0.02 is that you should do an introduction and there should be  
> time at the end for the attendees to try getting a simple game going  
> on Thursday.  If there is enough interest then we could think about  
> organizing a Perl/SDL hackathon.
>
> I think that there was misunderstanding about the term "hackathon",  
> and maybe we (TPM) need to use a different term for a short "lab  
> programming session". Usually hackathons are quite long sessions,  
> and we would need to plan a little to make it a successful and  
> rewarding event (location, supply of food / coffee / pop / beer...)
>
> How does that sound?

This sounds way more reasonable and doable. I am working on this lab  
as we speak. I will have more soon. If you want to see what the wip  
game we will work. Take a look at http://github.com/kthakore/gravong/tree/exp/gravity.pl 
  . I think it is a simple game (with a twist) we can walkthrough in  
less then 90 mins. If we dont get through all of it I will still  
provide the docs that should get people through the game. My primary  
focus will be on explaining the SDL perl bindings.

If there is a good interest we can come up with a good solid game that  
we can try a hackathon on it. I may have a good idea for you guys ;)


Cheers,
Kartik
>
> Mike
>
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 9:42 PM, Mike Stok <mike at stok.ca> wrote:
>>
>> On Feb 1, 2010, at 9:21 PM, Abram Hindle wrote:
>>
>> > Mike Stok wrote:
>> >>    * How many people would be interested in hackathons?  Last year
>> >>      Kartik mentioned he might be able to do a game hackathon In
>> >>      February.
>> >
>> > I don't understand what hackathon means in this context. To me a
>> > hackathon is a bit more than 2 hrs and it has people getting  
>> together
>> > and hacking on one or more related projects.
>> >
>> > Maybe I misunderstood.
>> >
>> > If that is the case I propose bootstrapping such a hackathon with  
>> a bit
>> > of a tutorial as a meeting. An interactive perl mongers where  
>> people
>> > should bring and share laptops and hack at a tutorial game.
>>
>> This is the plan. I have a brief walkthrough then we will make a  
>> simple 1 script game. And Mike is suggesting we do a real hackathon  
>> on a weekend after people had some time to play.
>>
>> >
>> > There is a possibility of a quasi-hackathon-type of meeting. The
>> > presenter provides source code & maybe content. For instance  
>> Kartik's
>> > game hackathon could also be spun as a meeting. If one made a  
>> tiny game
>> > framework, like a boardgame/logic game or a pong like game or a  
>> breakout
>> > style game or just a jumping scrolling platformer. Then allow  
>> room for
>> > modifications. The meeting could be a walk-through of the some
>> > possibilities. How small changes to rules can change the game, etc.
>> >
>> > This kind of meeting could bootstrap a hackathon ;)
>>
>> Agreed!
>>
>>
>> That's the kind of thing I had in mind.  There was a Ruby hackathon  
>> a while ago where we got some space off Tucows for a Saturday or  
>> Sunday and had agreed on a project before hand.  I think it lasted  
>> about 6 to 8 hours.  The thing I observed was that quite a lot of  
>> time is spent getting up to speed if people aren't familiar with  
>> the project, so some up front planning and preparation could have  
>> made it more effective.
>>
>> If people have been to successful hackathons and have an idea about  
>> what to do and what not to do then we could avoid some obvious  
>> pitfalls.
>>
>> Maybe a meeting which gives an overview of the material and what  
>> might be achieved would be step 1, and the hackathon could happen  
>> soon (inside a couple of weeks?) after that.
>> Does anyone have a
>>
>> I think that 2 hours is a little short for a "real" hackathon,  
>> especially if there are setup wrinkles (e.g. no working network !)
>>
>> Yeah the no network may suck.  Does any one any ideas of the venue  
>> for a weekend hackathon?
>>
>> Kartik Thakore
>>
>
> -- 
>
> Mike Stok <mike at stok.ca>
> http://www.stok.ca/~mike/
>
> The "`Stok' disclaimers" apply.
>
>
>
>
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