I don't have much to report in terms of results. Despite initial interest only four projects were submitted for consideration:

• Dream Catcher, by Jp
• Mech Game Framework, by Geldonyetich
• Haz Wars, by F0lak
• Artemis (a library), by IainPeregrine, DivineTraveller, and Tekken

Now the rundown on each of them:

Jp's Dream Catcher program might be the closest to the goal of the event, in that it is a solid piece of code which furthers the completion of an actual product, the alternative DM IDE which has been in the works for a while now. Though this actual code may not appear in the final product, it can be thought of as scaffolding, supporting the product until the final code can be completed. At least, that's how I understand it. Fortunately I don't have to fret over whether or not to award Jp any money; we discussed at the beginning of the event how his project stretched too many of the parameters of the event to be eligible for monetary awards. That's a good thing for me, because the guy who was going to award that money was never heard from again.

Geldonyetich produced a working hub with playable download for his Mech Game Framework. Sadly, the entry falls short of his original specification, and is not presented as a finished product, which is one of the main components of this event. On the plus side, I did finally get to play a game made by Geldonyetich, which is good because I was still harboring suspicions that he might be some sort of highly sophisticated AIM bot designed as part of some long term practical joke, using our collective blogs as fuel for its own procedurally generated dev log. *cough*. Anyway, the parts of the game present actually play pretty well, and you can tell that Geldonyetich has formed a good grasp of the DM language.

I hope F0lak continues work on Haz Wars. It is a simple strategy game where each side purchases and deploys units from their faction to mindlessly walk across the small screen to the opposing side's base, and attack it. The skill in this game is in timing your waves (should you send a big wave of Cavalry followed by archers and light infantry, or several small waves?) and in choosing units which will do well against the units your enemy has chosen / will choose. Sadly, not all of it works (for instance, the final version had trouble with attacks from anything but archers). Also, there is no hub or public download for the game. Being part of the Hazordhu franchise, perhaps the best part of the game is seeing F0lak's fine graphics and animation in action.

The Artemis library, in a very simple form, was finished. It has a hub, and it can be used for cross server communication in networks. For instance, the current version of HazordhuII actually uses the library for its OOC (out of character) chat channel. The library also has several features I am proud of: servers will ping out over time, information about servers on the network will propagate over time, and the library is a good way to work AI users ("bots") into a program. Though I consider the code itself a success, the library is not. There is currently very little in terms of documentation, and no library can be considered a public product without good documentation. Also, I finished my portion of the project so late that DivineTraveller and Tekken were unable to work on their portions, which included the server moderation portion of the library. (This is not to say that DT and Tekken did nothing. The design of the library took into account input from all three of us).

So what does all this mean? No medals this year. I can't look at any of the four submitted projects and say that the conditions of the event were met, though it is fair to say that Jp did Get Something Done. Though the Game in a Day event is alive and well, I cannot say the same about the GSD, and I will probably be replacing it with a different event next year.

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Thanks for the continued interested, even as I was taking my good time wondering how to present these results. Now forget about this failed event, and go enjoy some of BYOND's long running successes. I suggest:

• Hazordhu II, by F0lak. Hazordhu has been around BYOND for almost as long as I have, and is in many ways the spiritual successor of Peregrine City. It is an excellently constructed game, though it does have it's bugs and other problems. The great part is that it has come a long way, and is always being updated. Version 5.4, a major update, is going to be rolled out any day now (I was told to expect it today, though that hasn't happened). Jump in, role play, roll your eyes over the occasional drama, build a castle, and enjoy this large, original, lush world.
• Freeze Tag Hide Away, by Gaming Asylum Productions. This is a simple game with a simple premise, and executed well. You can jump in, have a ton of fun, and jump out after 20min or less. The atmosphere is friendly and familiar, and you can play as your favorite plumber, Pokemon, or even Kirby. Go team Squirtle!
• Final Fantasy Online, by Gakumerasara. This is another long running game that is constantly being updated. I haven't played it in ages, but I have sunk countless hours into it. Even if you don't like it at first, it's worth taking the time to complete the tutorial and get a real feel for the game. This is the closest BYOND has ever come to that MMORPG holy grail we developers and players are always striving for.