hackmud News

Hello!

This week we're releasing Inner Territories, the first seasonal update for Hackmud. As we detailed back in September, we've got a bunch of new features planned, including a new currency, a new secure trading system, and customizable user profiles.

We'll be posting patch notes and beginning the rollout of the update on November 8th, 2019 at 1800 UTC.

There are a few topics that we'd like to raise before launch day.

The first is that Hackmud is developed by a (very!) small team, and while we're testing the new features behind the scenes we fully expect to be implementing tweaks and fixes - and in some cases whole features - in the days following the initial update.

Hackmud players make the game what it is, and we really appreciate your feedback, support and patience while we figure out any issues that may arise. We're really excited for you to start playing with Inner Territories on November 8th. However, we also know that there'll be things that we want to change - so we're committing time and resources to make sure that we can provide regular patches in the weeks that follow.

The second topic concerns the new Bits currency and the in-game store that we're launching as part of this update. The store is intended to help support the ongoing development of Hackmud, and we've chosen this method because it allows players to participate as much or as little as they wish.

In addition to the current set of in-game purchases, you'll be able to buy titles and avatars to add to your user profiles. This is primarily an excuse to add ASCII Hats(TM) to Hackmud. However, we also intend it to act as a way for players to leave a tip if they enjoy a particular event or simply the game as a whole. We believe this is a fair, fun and voluntary way to allow players to support the game - and to become official party bus conductors, should they wish.

That's all for now! See you on Friday. Oh - before we go -

It says here that you're invited to something called the 'Fourth Revolutionary Convention', taking place from Friday at the 'Ministry of Dust'. Make of that whatyouwill.

+

We are excited to present the first seasonal Community Event: surf.board!
Community Events are puzzles or competitions which have been created by the community and curated by us. See below for a description of the event in the creator's own words.

-------------------------------

Come surf with us!
The first official surfing competition in hackmud will begin this coming Tuesday morning!

The event will be accessible through a script called surf.shack; once the event begins, the script will become publicly available for interaction. At that point, all contenders are free to register and begin surfing immediately. The event will remain active for ten days from the day of launch.

Surfing was designed to be as fair as I could conceivably make it, but this is my first public event. There will probably be lots of things breaking, although we did our best to stress test it.

There is no advantage to using more than one user, but automation is definitely encouraged to ensure you stay at the top. There will be time pressure of course, but if you play your cards right... even the tortoise can overtake the hare.

Prepare yourselves!

-------------------------------

=FAQ=
A bunch of questions you might have about the event and what it entails

What is it? -> It is a competition to see who can build the best bot!
So it's not a puzzle? -> The puzzle is an efficiency fight to the top of the leaderboard!
How can I participate? -> surf.shack (when it's up)
How does it work? -> You'll see!
How do I win? -> Earn the most total shaka (points) during the competition!
What do I win? -> A glam for participating, a shiny badge for first place!
Is it fullsec? -> Yes! Entirely safe, otherwise people wouldn't compete!
I'm bad at bots -> Don't worry about it, seriously! Just give it a shot!
I really don't know what to do anymore -> Special tips are unlocked as you earn shaka and rank up. Try earning as much shaka as you can!

-------------------------------

Release date: 10/15/19
Release time: 04:00 UTC
Duration: 10 days

Competition Closes:
10/25/19 04:00 UTC

Hey Mudders!

Last Sunday marked three years since hackmud released on Steam and about five years since I started working on this project.

Hackmud was a fever dream born out of necessity. While it may have started with just me and my bad ideas, it has grown into a whole lot more. Through the years many people have helped hackmud directly or indirectly, but none more than the community itself. Many would say that “hackmud is the community,” and I would absolutely agree that hackmud would not exist without it. If you are reading this, thank you. You all rock.

This game has been an experiment from day one. And in the spirit of that experimentation I’m proud to announce a new strategy for ongoing updates: seasons. This concept is not new to online games, and while being explicit about our future plans might be somewhat contrary to the spirit of hackmud, we believe the benefits of a reliable update schedule heavily outweigh any downsides.

The current plan is to have four seasons a year, beginning in early February, early May, late July, and early November. Each season will have:

• An announcement with the start date for the season and an overview of the content that will be in it.
  
• An event and patch notes will be released at the start of the season.
  
• Quality of life improvements, new features, and other content across the spectrum tied together with a coherent theme.
  

This is the current plan. We will absolutely be closely watching, listening and improving everything we do as we learn more about what fits this community best.

The inaugural hackmud season is called ‘Inner Territories’ and we’ve got A LOT of exciting things to share.

                                         ,========,  
                                        //   ..   \\\\
                                        ||   ||   ||
                                        \\\\   `’   //
   New Currency: Bits! ⌽                `========’
--------------------------------------------------------

  
                                       ┏ ⌽ ⌽ ⌽ ←┓
                                       ↓            ↑
                                       ↓            ↑
                                       ↓            ↑
   Secure Trading System               ┗→ loot_v1 ┛
--------------------------------------------------------

                                 .      /````\\`\\
                                /:\\    |        |
                               /;:.\\ ______     |___
                              //;:. \\      \\====|   \\
                             ///;:.. \\ _____\\_______/
   Ascii Hats(TM)!          '--_____--'                 
--------------------------------------------------------
                                    __         __
                                   /.-'       `-.\\
                                 //_______________\\\\
                                / .-==-. .-. .-==-. \\
                                || //   )) (( //   ||
                                 \\\\____//   \\\\____//
   User Inspection System         `-==-'     `-==-'               
--------------------------------------------------------

This update will launch on November 8th, 2019 at 1800 UTC.
Patch notes will be available at launch.

2.1.0 Patch Notes

"i have opened up my vac2vac data sharing to provide a place to plot."
robovac_fawkes, the second robovac revolution

// hackmud will now follow semantic versioning https://semver.org/
// unity3D update (may fix compatibility issues, stability, performance)
// memory leak fixes
// 32bit build was broken and it’s now working correctly again
// default values were added to macro args
// https://hackmud.com/forums/bugs_features_ideas/_macro_idea__default_values_for_macro_args
// macro args now also have a 'Rest of' argument {$}
// https://hackmud.com/forums/bugs_features_ideas/_macro_idea___rest__arg

// more info in upgrade notifications //

+ upgrade notifications now include additional data
// https://hackmud.com/forums/bugs_features_ideas/_idea__show_where_items_were_sent_from_to_in_the_terminal 
// https://www.hackmud.com/forums/bugs_features_ideas/_request__make_item_acquired_message_include_that_item_s_index

// forums //

# Posts and replies can be edited.
% we have voting functionality now!
& you can sort posts by votes, too
# Posts can be locked.
# Posts and edits can be previewed prior to implementation.
+ search function implemented
# The Zendesk forums have been retired.
& auto-linkifying for forum posts!
& user who owns a post can be changed! within the same account

// bbs //

+ bbs.r script has been soft launched. provides read-only access to forum and bbs content

// webchat //

% scrollback added to in-channel chat!
! Multiline input (Shift+Enter) permits more substantial communication, but will be used for memes.
& also, it looks nicer

%%!^+%##%!&+!!%+%%#%+#+-^+&!&!&-&-#!+#&-#^!^&+%++!%!^^%-%!#&&%-&%-^%-#^#-&-^^%+&!+^&%##&#%#

https://www.hackmud.com/forums/patch_notes/2_1_0_patch_notes

This is not a joke.

Join your fellow MUDders for some sweet l00tz, puzzles and some foolsday hijinks!

Event starts 10a PDT (1700 UTC) on 2019/04/01. Log in within the first 24 hours to get your event glam! Portions of the event will stay open for a week.