Inspiration
We originally had a third member who specialized in machine learning, and he had the idea of making a Flappy Bird AI that will predict the pipe movements. This evolved into Flappy Pipes.
What it does
The bird object follows the y-position of the center of the gap between the two pipes, with a random factor added to its speed, which gives it its sporadic movement pattern. The pipes will continuously move left as the player controls its up and down movements, and you have 30 seconds before the bird gets away and you lose.
How we built it
We used the pygame package in Python.
Challenges we ran into
This was primarily a learning experience for both of us, so the project was far out of our comfort zones. Using pygame was brand new to us, so most of our time was spent learning how to use it. The bird movement pattern was especially difficult to figure out for us, because we originally wanted some factor of machine learning, but eventually for simplicity we went with more of a random zigzag towards the gap of the pipes.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
It works! We spent hours and hours changing little things for testing and experimenting, and even the tiniest changes could cause the program to crash. Now we have a new game to put in our portfolios.
What we learned
Python is not always ideal for game development, but it's a lot easier to read. Both of us learned how to use GitHub, and how to collaborate with another developer. Also, our understanding of Python and classes certainly improved.
What's next for Flappy Pipes
There are a lot of features we wanted to include but didn't have the time or energy for a lot of them. Features like an epilogue for winners, less random and more calculated bird movement, and multiple pipes on the screen at a time.
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