Command Line Bash
# Summary
Command Line Bash is a game that challenges you to type in as many commands as you can in 60 seconds.
My frequent co-conspirator Jared Sprague and I created Command Line Bash, along with tremendous help from the Command Line Heroes podcast team, open source contributors, and the CLH Discord community.
If you’re into code, you’re welcome to view source. Contributions welcome!
# How to play
The game walks you through the instructions before you play, but here are the basics. You will be challenged to type in as many commands as you can in 60 seconds. Commands can be drawn from any of the following languages.
- bash shell commands & Linux built-ins
- JavaScript keywords, objects, functions
- Python keywords, objects, functions
- HTML5 tags
The leaderboard isn’t networked, so we can’t see your high scores unless you share them with us on Twitter! Tag #CommandLinePod.
# Why we made it
About a year ago, one of the originators of Command Line Heroes, Dan Courcy, contacted Jared and me after seeing some of our games. After chatting for a while, the idea came up of creating a game based on Command Line Heroes (that name sure sounds like a videogame, doesn’t it?).
A few months later, we were neck-deep in code for a new adventure game engine called Hero Engine. Sadly, we made the same discovery many gamedevs already knew: adventure games are very time-consuming to create, especially when you start by building an engine from scratch. To scale back, we decided to build a new game in more of a game-jam style, one with a much smaller scope. Our goal was to complete it in time for IBM Think, where we would first present the game to the world.
The strategy succeeded, and we were able to put the finishing touches on the game just before Think began. Here’s a bit about Bash @ Think.
# Cabs and confs
Not one to settle for the ordinary, Dan wanted to go the extra mile and present the game in full-sized arcade cabinets. Fortunately, through participation in geekSPARK, I’d met Bill Culverhouse. Bill is a maker extraordinaire, geekSPARK veteran, and happens to run an arcade cabinet construction company, Triangle Home Gamerooms.
We met with them, toured their impressive factory, determined specs, and placed the order.
Here’s what they built for us.
Notice the shout-out to Open Jam (our FOSS-themed game jam) on the orange side of the cabinets! If you look closely at the screen, you can spot a few games in the launcher.
Several more games are below the fold.
As I’m writing this, Think has just concluded and was a huge success for the Command Line Heroes team.
# What’s next?
Here are some ways to get involved.