Graphic designers, developers, and app writers unite!

Welcome to the War of the Worlds, a 54 hour hackathon/designathon that will inspire you, challenge you, and pit you against the greatest minds UF has to offer.

Your mission, should you accept, will be a race against time to finish developmental and graphical milestones in the design and development of app that will culminate in the final product: a mobile app, called "the replicator". The details of this app remain secret... for now.

Your replicator will equip your team with powerups throughout the event that will challenge your ability to work as a team, inspire creativity as you navigate the many obstacles that will test your every skill, and create alliances that will drive you to victory. These "powerups" can push a team into the lead, set other teams behind, or create some interesting, but unintended consequences...

Throughout your journey, you'll be given FREE T-Shirts, Swag from our incredible sponsors, FREE FOOD and DRINKS (Thanks Red Bull!), and upon completion... fantastic prizes from our sponsors.

Admission is only $10, or if you find the "spy" on campus, absolutely free! (Just look for a guy wearing a Mexican sombrero with a lightsaber. Or follow TealOcean on twitter for updates to find him)

Again here are the details. Welcome to the War of the Worlds, Commander.

Designers (UI Digerati): You'll be designing icons, mockups, and directing the developers to make everything look awesome. If you are also familiar with website design, you'll be key to helping make that happen. You're key to making everything look cool, so come ready to get creative!

Mobile App Devs: You'll be writing the code for the app. Details are sent to those who register at Eventbrite, so be sure to register!

Server Devs: You'll be working on the backend code, interacting with the database, or helping out with web code. Details are sent to those who register at Eventbrite, so be sure to register!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Oneness Life Coach

Grooveshark

IDEO

352 Media

Florida Works

Santa Fe CIED

Red Bull

GAIN (Gainesville Area Innovation Network)

I Love New York Pizza

Etectbio

UF Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

UF A² Fab Lab

Fracture

Microsoft

Ubisoft

Sony

Engineering Innovation Institute

Gator Innovators

Google

Wear Interactive

Eatable

The Story Thus Far:

Prologue:

After years of war ravaging the global community, mass famines have struck the globe, leaving millions without food or water. Humanity teeters on the brink of extinction, as plagues continue to breed hordes of zombies that ravage the land. The world has split into factions, all vying for control of the remaining resources. All hope for humanity appears lost.

The zombie horde has begun closing in on the final bastion of humanity, the Valley of the Ancients. The fate of humanity lies in the hands of the scattered armies in the Federated States of Alachua.

Chapter 1: It Begins

(T-30 days till D-Day)

Zombie hordes have begun pushing from the north. We’ve been able to hold the wall, but the horde continues to gain strength. Their numbers stretch out as far as the eye can see. We’ve received authorization for an air strike, but with fuel reserves running low, unless we can find the source of the zombie army, it is only a matter of time before we lose the entire sector.

The good news is, we’ve finished excavating the ruins of the Ancients.

The blueprints we’ve uncovered describe some a device known as a “replicator”. With it, we can manipulate the molecular structure of matter and resupply our armies, construct new defenses, and finally turn the tide of this war.

That is, if the blueprints we not completely encrypted.

We’ve begun the process of decrypting the blueprints, but unfortunately the Ancients have left little clues as to how to decrypt them. Our best engineers and cryptologists are on the job decrypting the data, but they’ve only had minimal progress thus far.

These blueprints are our only hope.

Chapter 2: Fall of the Northern Wall

(T-23 days till D-Day)

Reports from the northern faction states terminated yesterday.

Thousands of reports yesterday, suddenly went silent. The screams of tens of thousands have gone silent.

Our scouts have reported the northern wall has fallen.

How the zombies penetrated the northern defense perimeter remains a mystery. Reports indicate the northern faction states have been completely overrun. Alliance troops are retreating leaving our supply lines exposed.

Communications with nearby allies have been severed and tensions are high. We need reinforcements to continue the fight.

Scouts report the horde has evolved. They employ new armaments capable of shooting our birds out the sky. Until we can find a way to counter their anti-air, our birds are grounded.

A report received 2 days ago suggests the presence of a “super zombie”, one capable of more than mindless consumption of human flesh. This zombie appears to be controlling the entire horde and breeding zombies capable of controlling advanced weaponry.

What could have led to this evolution? Is there an outside entity in control of the horde’s evolution? Or has nature truly conspired to our destruction?

Fortunately, we’ve had a break in the case. A spy was spotted outside the Temple of the Ancients at 0400 hours. He appears to be heading north.

We must intercept him and find out what he knows.

Chapter 3: Failure of the Alliance

(T-13 days till D-Day)

The alliance has collapsed.

Without the supply trucks to our allies in the north, the entire northern plateau has fallen into chaos. With supplies running low, our allies have begun to turn against each other in the desperate attempt to secure food and weapons.

Mutually assured destruction.

We now have enemies sleeping at our doorstep. With zombies razing cities left and right, factions have reverted to tribal leadership and military rule. There exists no government, no law…

Even among our troops, factions have begun to form.

Our scouts have completed their report on the northern wall. Zombies continue to pour through. The conclusion?

The wall was sabotaged.

We believe this was the work of a man named Blie. Our best agents are tracking his origin as we speak. All we know is that he operates a number of spies in this region that have been spotted near the Temple of the Ancients. They appear to be searching for something.

We are at the brink of extinction. Man has turned against themselves. Governments have fallen and a xenocidal maniac lurks in the shadows.

As if that wasn’t enough, our satellites show something big is coming…

Make no mistake. War is coming.