Cody Boone Ferguson
009e1b7522
The location of the link is in the About menu under the 'Contacting the IOCCC' and above 'Thanks for the help'. At first I had it at the very bottom, under 'IOCCC markdown guidelines', but it seemed better to have it closer to contacting the IOCCC. This is the same location in the no JavaScript menu (which, for those who do not know or forget, is not a requirement except for some screen sizes). The top level Makefile has a new 'security' rule. Updated make help. Typo fixes in make help. SECURITY.html has had a few updates as well: change the wording of entry code is unsupported (it now says 'ALL CODE IN ALL IOCCC ENTRIES IS UNSUPPORTED!!') and it now links to the mkiocccentry repo and how to report a possible security vulnerability in that repo; as that IS supported - and since there was reference to discussing security concerns is in SECURITY.html - even though the entries will not receive security updates - it seemed a good idea to have a link to report such security issues in the mkiocccentry repo. Perhaps the FAQ needs to be updated for this too.
To build:
make
To use:
./hecate.sh
./glock.sh
Try:
./try.sh
This script will ask you if you wish to try again after each run. Type in any
character other than y or Y to exit at this point.
Judges' remarks:
Try to figure out how this entry determines the optimization level with which it had been compiled. Is this an example of undefined behavior or unspecified behavior?
Author's remarks:
Summary
Sinon is a game of timing, the goal is to eliminate all enemies in
under one minute.
To start, compile and run the program. To resume, compile and run the output repeatedly until you have won/lost the game. For example:
cp prog.c run.c
gcc -O0 run.c -o run && ./run | tee run.c
gcc -O2 run.c -o run && ./run | tee run.c
...
Details
Sinon is played by compiling and running the output repeatedly. Two
factors determine what actions are taken:
- Time since last compilation.
- Whether compiler optimizations are enabled or not.
If you fire too quickly, the weapon will jam. If you fire too slowly, you will not be able to eliminate all the enemies in time. Thus the primary objective of the game is to time your compilations just right.
Sinon has two weapons that are selected based on compiler optimization
level:
-
"gcc -O2" or "clang -O2" will fire Hecate II, a powerful rifle that requires longer time to cool off.
-
"gcc -O0" or "clang -O0" will fire Glock 18C, a less powerful pistol that requires less time to cool off.
Because the weapons cool off independently, the best strategy is to alternate between the two weapons. It is fairly easy to win the game with this strategy even with occasional jams.
If your compiler does not have the right optimizations, only Glock 18C would be available. It is still possible to win, but your timing will need to be more precise. This is effectively playing the game on "hard" mode. It is worth trying this mode even if you have the right compilers.
Compatibility
Sinon has been tested and verified to work on these platforms:
- gcc 4.4.3 on Linux.
- gcc 4.4.5 on Linux.
- gcc 4.8.2 on Linux.
- gcc 4.8.3 on Cygwin/MingW.
- clang 3.4-1 on Linux.
- clang 3.4.2 on Cygwin.
- gcc 4.3.5 on JS/Linux (playable but likely unwinnable, because it takes too long to compile).
- tcc 0.9.25 on JS/Linux (no optimization, so only "hard" mode is available).
Sinon is intended to be played in a 80x25 terminal.
Miscellaneous features
Sinon might be the first game that uses compiler optimization level as
a primary input.
Sinon has a demo mode that plays the game automatically. Make sure
that there are no files named "run" and "run.c" in current directory
(they will be overwritten) and run:
perl prog.c | bash
File size and CRC32 of prog.c are embedded in line 7.
Process for making Sinon is included in obfuscation.html.
Layout of this code is based on Asada Shino, also known as "Sinon",
from Sword Art Online.