is it an easier to program?
It should be. It’s a much simpler system compared to T3 (both library as well as language-wise), meaning the learning curve is quite low.
Hugo is similar in difficulty to Inform 6, or so I’ve been told. (I’ve never used Hugo.) In the old days, the word was that Hugo had better multimedia capabilities than Inform … but I don’t think Kent Tessman is actively maintaining Hugo at this point, so you’d have to download and play a few Hugo games to find out how well their multimedia features work on current interpreters.
If your main interest is in writing a text-based game, then Inform 6 would probably be a better choice than Hugo, as you’ll find it easier to get answers to your technical questions.
Hugo has a code example site called Hugo by Example. Traditionally, we’ve answered Hugo questions over at Robb Sherwin’s joltcountry.com site, but if people ask them here, I’m sure that I or someone else will get here eventually.
Anyhow, yeah, everyone should go with what looks most sensible to them.
Hugo’s syntax is reletively simple compared to TADS and even Inform 6. Its structure is highly derrivative of Inform 6. At any rate, I don’t find the experience of implementing in Hugo to be particularly easy, but I do find the syntax logical and comfortable to work with.
Having looked at all of these, if you can program in TADS 2, you can program in Hugo. If you can program in Hugo, you can program in TADS 2. The same applies for TADS 3. None is necessarily harder or easier but you do have to learn the syntax. That’s the case for any programming language. All of them have constructs that you have to learn.
Is it easier to express your intent in one language or the other? Well, that’s a different (and better) question. I think TADS 3 wins out in this over both TADS 2 and Hugo. It does mean there is more to learn about the language but, on the other hand, that doesn’t make it “harder.” It just means there is more to learn. TADS 3 has a nice library reference that, if you’re willing to put in the time, makes it quite easy to traverse the library. Some people say that the time it takes to do this makes the language “harder.” I disagree but your mileage may vary.
Since “harder” or “easier” is is subjective, why not just try them out and see for yourself? Then you can make your own judgment.
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