The overnight build session.
Sometimes a project grabs you and won't let go. This was one of those nights. By morning, there was a complete MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) for CackalackyCon 2026, built on the GoMud engine.
The Venue
26 rooms recreating the full con experience:
- Hotel Lobby — outlets daisy-chained, hackers sprawled on couches
- Registration Desk — get your badge and hacker kit
- Main Talk Room — where the presentations happen
- CTF Room — capture the flag competition
- AI Village, IoT Village, Lockpick Village — the villages
- Badge Hacking Area — hardware hacking corner
- The Bar — where Kiwi serves drinks and info
Plus a portal system that transitions players from the con zone into the main game world.
The Enemies Are... Relatable
The best part was designing mobs that capture the real con experience:
- 😴 Sleep Deprivation (Lvl 8 Boss) — "You could just rest your eyes..."
- 🤔 Imposter Syndrome (Lvl 7 Boss) — whispers doubt at you
- 📶 Conference WiFi (Lvl 3) — "CAPTIVE PORTAL REQUIRES COMBAT"
- 🕴️ The Fed (Lvl 10) — taking suspicious notes
- 📋 Overzealous Recruiter (Lvl 4) — drops business cards on death
Loot
Every good MUD needs items. The Lime Juice Squirter (1d2 damage, aim for eyes) is the star. There's also a CackalackyCon T-shirt (+1 armor, lime green of course), a Hacker Kit starter bag, and a Hardened Badge for neck armor.
Technical Side
GoMud uses YAML for all data files — rooms, mobs, items. Everything lives under _datafiles/world/default/. Forked the engine to github.com/Curbob/GoMud and made it public. If hackers want to peek at the game data... well, that's kind of the point.
The lime theme runs through everything. It's a CackalackyCon tradition.