GoHarvest

Inspiration

I've had this in the back of my head for awhile.

What it does

It's the prototype of a game. In theory, you raise plants in a 2D augmented reality by physically navigating to a location, planting a virtual plant at the GPS coordinates associated with that location, and regularly checking-in on it. In practice, the implementation falls short of that basic vision.

How I built it

GoHarvest was built entirely in Android Studio.

Challenges I ran into

Given the need to check permissions and interface with the Android OS, Android presents a very complex environment to program in.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

When other projects fell through, I was able to turn the situation around in a relatively short amount of time. Stuck for options, I looked at my old idea list, Googled some tutorials, and started working, planning as I went along. I'm glad I took the opportunity to work on this.

What I learned

I learned how to set up a SurfaceView in Android, how to draw to that SurfaceView, and how to interface with the Android Location service.

What's next for GoHarvest

This is just the prototype. High priority improvements include actual graphics, sound, further implementing envisioned game mechanics, and fixing in-game movement. I'd like to have server-based gameplay, where all players can play in the same virtual space. This would also make feasible the option of using satellite imagery and weather data to dynamically generate the in-game background. Last and most importantly, the growth of plants could also be properly simulated using the aforementioned data.

Built With

• android