Bester Tester

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  Main Menu

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  Snake Game

Inspiration

We decided to take on this project because in our free time, we have spent much time on websites that test your clicking speed, typing speed and similar talents.

What it does

Similarly to the websites I perviously mentioned, our program can test your reaction time, your clicking speed and coordination, your memory, and your typing speed. We wanted to to a little bit further, however, so we decided to also code a basic version of the known “Snake” game, in addition to a little game where you need to unscramble words.

How we built it

We used an application called “pythonista”, which uses python, with some minor changes. For example, it includes the ability to clear the console easily with a line of code. One of the cooler things we had to do, however, was for the two games that needed a word database (typing speed test and the word unscrambled game). To build these games, we had to figure out how to transfer a list of 1000 words into a format that our code could interpret. Next, for our snake game, we had to use a module called scene to show the animation of the snake moving. Otherwise, we simply used commands to interact with the console.

Challenges we ran into

The first challenge that we ran into was the fact that we didn’t have an idea for our project. We really wanted to do the whole project during the time allocated so we ended up have no idea what we would do at the start of the hackathon. This was a challenge because this meant that we didn’t even know what software we should start using.

We started by trying to get unity to work for us, but my computer thought now was the PERFECT time to stop working. Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. Pip stopped working, my python got un downloaded for literally no reason. I had the wrong version of unity, the gitIgnore gave us a page of errors and much much more. We decided in the end that it would be easier to simply code on our iPads and see what we could put together (at this point one of our teammates had left to go to something, leaving us only two people working on the project.)

The rest of the project went together more or less smoothly but we still had to work around the fact that one of our teammates could not download the app that we were using, and even issues related to working on the same document at the same time, since this app is not made for this kind of project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of simply pushing through the wall of problems that stood before us. It may seem as though we figured it our, but it took a mental stamina of steel to make it through the hardships we were facing, especially while our friends were easily progressing through their projects.

I am also very proud to even have participated in this kind of event, since our group is nowhere near the skill of people I would expect to participate in this event.

What we learned

During this hackathon, we learned that you have to check that everything works in advance. At the beginning we had several technical problems. This resulted in us wasting about 3 hours trying, and eventually failing to get things to work on our computers. So, the moral here is to have a plan ready in advance if we ever participate in another hackathon.

What's next for Bester Tester

There are basically an infinite number of mini games, such as the ones that we added to our program. So, if we were to continue working on this project, we would simply add more games, since there are many more that fit the same category.

Built With

• mostcommonwordsdatabase
• python
• pythonista