Conserve the Waters

A fun mission to raise awareness to an invaluable resource.

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Inspiration

I had no idea about the rising concern of the management of our Great Lakes. When I came to MasseyHacks, I was introduced to the many factors that are leading to the wrecking of Lake Erie. I was inspired to use my proficiency in coding to contribute to fixing our Great Lakes.

I've always had an inclination to create games, and I was enticed by the hybrid idea of game + dominant issue in society.

What it does

My idea is to spread awareness of an important issue through an unconventional yet powerful means.

How I built it

I built the site with HTML and some CSS, but the majority of the site is a canvas which I used JavaScript with the Paper.js framework to access. I created the vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator CC.

Challenges I ran into

I ran into the challenge of time, as expected. I spent time trying to implement features (eg. Facebook dialog to share the game), to no avail. Eventually, I had to prioritize my time to create other features.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I went with my vision without much difficulty. I was able to adapt quickly to Paper.js and although this is my first time working by myself for a hackathon, I pushed through and produced a project I see potential for.

What I learned

I learned how to use the features of Paper.js (managing symbols, layers, importing/exporting images, etc.) because my project is essentially based on Paper.js.

Perhaps most importantly, I learned a lot about the situation of our Great Lakes. The research I did for the mission often shocked me, due to how unaware I was.

What's next for Conserve the Waters

24 hours is certainly not enough for me to complete the vision I have in mind. Here's a to-do list:

  • Implement a built-in leader-board system
  • Increase the visual appeal of the website
  • Plug in more bits of information to better educate users
  • Finish the Wetlands minigame
  • Make sharing the site easy and efficient

  • Make a section for pledges and allow users to sign for support

  • Integrate Facebook Messenger's Instant Games features into the mini-games to allow for friends to play and share on Messenger

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