AlexaPlays

A procedurally-generated role-playing adventure game controlled with the voice.

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Inspiration

We wanted to change the way video games were played by exploring a new medium. We believe this is a unique solution to eye-strain for programmers and frequent computer users, and a unique story-telling method.

What it does

It allows the user to play through an adventure game using no other input but their voice.

How we built it

We used the Amazon Echo - a high-tech fusion between furniture and AI - the new and improved Siri. Alexa runs on AWS using special Lambda functions to execute discrete tasks. We capture the user's voice input and parse it into consumable JSON objects that the game engine we wrote parses.

Challenges we ran into

Communicating the user's actions to Alexa effectively and creating a syntax useful for gameplay.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to create an almost entire and complete RPG experience including NPC units, quests, a combat system, procedurally generated world with unique environments and challenges and different characters/classes with different stats - all in one weekend.

What we learned

To scale down projects to only the bare minimum needed to demo - we suffered from feature creeping too much and paid with time and a lack of sleep.

What's next for AlexaPlays

More game features and a more fluid vocal user experience.

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Updates

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AlexaPlays Update 3/23/2016

Hello interested developers and gamers! I want to announce that the AlexaPlays project is alive and well - in one state or another. Currently, I am undertaking to re-write the entire project and expand it to include some rather exciting features. I'm doing a ton of research to ensure that the project is built with the utmost quality and maintainability - to give players a better experience, and to reduce my headaches later on in development and maintenance.

Some things you can expect in the future of AlexPlays:

a fully built and integrated GUI to bring AlexaPlays to all gamers, those with Echos and without. This will of course offer an entirely different feel and gameplay, and balancing will be a big issue AlexaPlays goes muliplayer - that's right, there will be a competitive element to the game. Players will be able to play alongside eachother, complete quests together, trade, and battle it out. Multiple game worlds - with the introduction of multiplayer play, game worlds will no longer be newly generated every time you connect and player - this means the game will be persistent! The player will be able to make an account and have multiple characters in multiple game servers. The ability to create a private, temporary server for single-time play, or "traditional" AlexaPlays mode is also an interesting feature I'll be looking into for those who want to play a quick round.

Where is AlexaPlays going from here?

First, AlexaPlays will formally be renamed to AlexaQuest - this may or may not change in the future - but for now it seems to roll off the tongue more beautifully.

I am now doing research into various technologies, frameworks, design patterns, etc. to be able to start off on the right foot. This is more than just a weekend hack, so I'm looking to make this well organized, test-driven, and maintainable. This will be done alongside school and work, so please be patient.

More updates will come soon!

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