Distress

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Distress

HUGO (Multi-platform) -- 2005


With Hugo Engine	With Hugo for DOS	With Plain GLK	With Gargoyle GLK

One year after writing Trading Punches for the 2004 Interactive Fiction Competition, I entered again with this game for the 2005 Competition. This is my second release in Hugo, an IF-specific programming language by Kent Tessman. I had originally planned to enter a larger, graphic-rich adventure, but I just couldn't finish it in time. Distress is the result of three hard weeks of hurried development, while off work just prior to the deadline (on paternity leave). Most of it was written during the long night hours until sun-up, while I was on shift with the baby.

Distress is a short sci-fi survival horror adventure. A few suggestions and minor bugs were brought to my attention, but cumulatively it's not enough that an updated version is necessary. The game ranked 4th of 36 entries in the 2005 Interactive Fiction Competition. With some great contenders, fourth place is wonderful. It's also marked improvement for me from last year. In the 2005 XYZZY Awards (like the Oscars of interactive fiction), Distress came away with the award for best puzzles, and was a nominee in five of the other nine categories.

To play Distress (or any other Hugo game), you must also download and install a free interpreter program for your platform of choice. Hugo is available for DOS, Windows, MacIntosh, Amiga, Linux, PocketPC, and several others. If you are a Hugo author looking to see the source code to existing games, feel free to download the Distress source code here. Please use it for learning purposes only.

Download Distress HERE.