Gringo Warrior - perhaps its final year?

[Deviant Ollam]

Gringo Warrior will be returning to DEFCON this summer. I am not yet certain, but it may be the final year of the contest in its current form. For those who have never seen it before, we like to call it a "scenario based escape game" in which you must pick open doors, handcuffs, etc. in order to free yourself from captors.

Imagine the following scenario... you are attending ToorCon in San Diego



In between talks, you head outside To The Cloud for a smoke. People start discussing plans for the evening. No one can decide where to go for the best party.



Before you know it, Dan Kaminsky puts forth a suggestion...



"Let's head down to Tijuana!" he shouts. "We'll have some cheap tequila, maybe see a donkey show... it'll be great!" In a collective effort of half-formed logic and poor planning, everyone is on board with this idea. South of the border you go.



And sure enough, it's a blast. Things get into full swing and everyone's partying hard.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Gringo Warrior - perhaps its final year?

By the end of the evening, however, it's completely out of control. You pass out, hoping that no one writes on your face or sticks anything in any body orifice.



You awaken in a small room in the back of what appears to be a run-down police station. You become vaguely aware of uniformed individuals speaking to you in a threatening manner.



Making references to violation of laws against public drunkenness, your captors describe monumental fines and penalties. With a sneer, they imply that unless you clean out your bank account using your ATM card you will face considerable jail time.



They slam the door, saying that they're going to give you some time alone to think about their offer.

Your mind races, your brow sweats. Is this really happening? If you comply, what's to stop them from just dumping you in the desert somewhere? Are these people even really police officers? You come to the determination that you have no intention of going along quietly with their plans. Your captors may have confiscated your wallet and passport...

but they didn't notice the lockpicks that you were carrying.

And that's how things start. We put you in a virtual "room" of sorts, in handcuffs, and you have five minutes to make your way to freedom (hopefully acquiring some of your possessions back along the way) before time expires!

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Gringo Warrior - perhaps its final year?

full details of the game and the locks that are used can be read here on the Gringo Warrior course page.

as i mentioned at ShmooCon this spring, i've been running essentially the same game course since early 2008... and i might want to change it up considerably after this year. Gringo Warrior will be with us for quite some time, but new elements to the game will likely arise down the road.

if you want to be able to say that you played the original, classic Gringo Warrior that started it all... this summer at DEFCON may be one of your last chances!

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Gringo Warrior - perhaps its final year?

As in previous years, Gringo Warrior will take place on Saturday afternoon. the usual plan is to take hold of our space (usually on the stage... we're assuming that hasn't changed, but we are flexible) and get things set up from 12:00 until 13:00.

There will be a clipboard for sign-ups on site. First-come, First-served... if you're not present when your name comes up, that's ok... just show up later on. Sign-ups are not transferable unless you bribe me with beer or a handjob or something.

We run as many people as we can through the contest course from 13:00 until about 16:30, at which time the top five finalists are announced.

At 16:30 we then allow the top five scorers to take one more attempt at the course. Whichever is highest of their two scores is the one that counts in the end. We see how the top scores shake out, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place folk get awesome prizes, praise, fame, etc.

This year i really really really want to set up something that we have never had before... a SECOND projector (the primary screen is always scoreboard and timer) which is connected to a live video feed (either from a webcam or a proper camera of some kind) so that we can make a big-screen view of the participants running the course in order to let the crowd see the action more clearly.

Can anyone donate a system capable of doing this? A projector and some means of piping a video feed to it? If it's simply a USB webcam (with a long extension cable and auto-focus) that will work, as long as it comes with a relatively stable laptop or something to manage the whole affair. If we have a simple camera piping a coax or composite feed to a projector, that's even cooler and less likely to foul up. I'm open to suggestions and loans of hardware.