____ _____ _____ ____ ___ _ _ _____ ___
| _ \| ____| ___/ ___/ _ \| \ | | |___ / / _ \
| | | | _| | |_ | | | | | | \| | |_ \| | | |
| |_| | |___| _|| |__| |_| | |\ | ___) | |_| |
|____/|_____|_| \____\___/|_| \_| |____/ \___/
_ _
___ _ __ __ _ ___| |__ __ _ _ __ __| |
/ __| '__/ _` / __| '_ \ / _` | '_ \ / _` |
| (__| | | (_| \__ \ | | | | (_| | | | | (_| |
\___|_| \__,_|___/_| |_| \__,_|_| |_|\__,_|
_ _
___ ___ _ __ ___ _ __ (_) | ___
/ __/ _ \| '_ ` _ \| '_ \| | |/ _ \
| (_| (_) | | | | | | |_) | | | __/
\___\___/|_| |_| |_| .__/|_|_|\___|
|_|
As explained on the Crash and Compile Website, this is a coding challenge with a twist. You must complete the challenges while consuming many alcoholic beverages. And because it's DEFCON, you must also endure no small amount of haranguing from "Team Distraction".
Just happened to bump into PunkAB on his way to set things up and I was thinking I'd at least stop by to check it out. He suggested I participate. I had a laptop and the requisite wired Ethernet gear with me, so I had no good excuse not to join in the event. Little did I know what I was getting in to!
For my part, I was on the "Control Team". Scientific experiments require a control, and this one is no different. While most of the teams are required to consume drinks at a nightmarish pace, I was assured the Control Team was exempt from that, and the antics of Team Distraction. So I did get to play without having to endure the liver damage. Team Distraction refused to let me off the hook so easily.
Another item of note, the rest of the participants had enjoyed some "qualification rounds" which I assume prepared them for what to expect as far as the format of the contest, how the game interface looked, and so on. I had no such preparation. I'd asked PunkAB if if the coding challenges would be difficult, to which he replied, "Oh yeah, they're brutal". In hindsight, I think this is a valid assessment given the working conditions.
So, I showed up at the place and time, helped run a few power cables and then took my spot. On stage, of course, even more nerve wracking!
Had no clue what was going on. Someone shouted "GO" and it was then I realized my
team wasn't registered because we were on the wrong website. So that's five minutes
gone. Everyone was screaming and going crazy. People drinking large amounts of
alcohol and acting up. The participants, the organizers, the audience, everyone.
We
had three people trying to help but just me doing Python. Another person was expert
level in C++ but we were getting caught up on syntax and small mistakes, trying
to switch ideas between languages. Wasted at least five minutes trying to figure
out that the python command in my terminal was actually calling the old Python,
version 2, which I didn't even know was still installed on my machine? Only one
laptop for the whole team... just a wild environment to try to work in.
I think our solution did work but never got to try it against the grader.
The output file here shows the same output that is expected
in the exmaple solution. (Which I meant to capture a PDF of but forgot) Another
problem was I didn't realize I needed to submit before the clock ran out. Also
realized I needed to add the N back to the string holding the node name. (It's
in my code now, but note that bit was completed after the clock ran out and everyone
was doing shots and running off to vomit). Lost a teammate at the end of this
round to Team Distraction.
So... zero points for round one! The possibly working but ungraded soution is here
OK so this round I am determined to get some points on the board before time runs out. Again someone shouts "GO" and I'm trying to understand the problem. About then was when I began getting pelted with ping pong balls. A lady in a Deadpool costume has her armpit in my face trying loudly to recall the last time she showered. Jocularity... debauchery... just madness. I'm forgetting and trying to look up things I've done easily every day so many times in the past. Can't figure out what the directions are saying? It's just about starting to make sense, when suddenly a LITERAL FASHION SHOW breaks out right then and there. Lucky my water had a lid because it was sideways on my keyboard before I knew what was happening. A second team mate elects to drop out at the end of this round.
Zero points for round two. Possibly (probably) broken solution is here
There was a break for a while between rounds. Some people are too inebriated
to continue the contest. It's just me now, and someone has a machine that
is dispensing hundreds of tiny soap bubbles all over me. Everything is
getting sticky, which is awful. The round starts, OK. Unlike the previous
rounds there are no difficulty levels. Just HARD or nothing. OK, hard
mode it is. The code from round two is similar and can be reused somewhat.
At some point there is a man stomping on the stage and it's shaking so
loudly, extremely jarring effect, the worst thing so far.
I notice this challenge has cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) and I ask someone who tells me something about trying not to bump into a wall? After a while I notice there is a game board with different colored lines off to the side of the stage... OK my lines are red it looks like? It becomes apparent to me that I need to "claim" spaces on the board for points. It's starting to make sense finally.
So I'm (mostly) sure I have working code, I'm getting good responses from the API. Trying to understand why my token keeps changing, which in previous rounds meant I needed to make some API command changes, but in this round turned out to have no bearing on the challenge. Lots of mini mental side quests. Lost some not insignificant amount of time since I forgot to switch from the "test" to the "production" endpoint. Show my code to a proctor who agrees it's right but no one knowns why I don't have points yet. But then... I do suddenly have some points on the scoreboard. First 5, then 12, then I figure out I can change the direction in my API call and as long as I make a valid move it will earn me points. I know I need to go back and automate this loop by parsing the JSON for the valid list of next moves but the clock is running down fast and I am getting points by just changing the direction manually, then hitting up arrow and enter. Tried my best to update that code while still doing the manual solution but gave up as the clock was running out.
Round three, 50 or so points earned the hard way. One up arrow at a time.
Here is my mostly working solution
Had a total blast, a definite highlight of the conference for me! Was of course bummed I couldn't adapt faster and get a better score. And winning meant you had to figure how to get a giant metal decahedron home form the conference, much to the delight of Krux who I believe welded this trophy himself!
I'm sharing my awful code and explaining as best I can in the hopes that other brave souls will choose to come forward and rise to the challenge. Oh, and a quick shout out to LargeCardinal whose village I ran over to, begging for him and/or a couple others to join the Control Team at the very last minute before the event.
Very much looking forward to next time. :)