MadLibs Extravaganza!

A game that would drive English professors crazy.

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Inspiration

Because of the theme of "flow", I wanted to create a simple and fun desktop app that anyone can enjoy on the fly. This app is perfect for anyone who wants a quick break from their hectic work.

What it does

Mad-Libs is a game which contains an incomplete story with multiple blanks. The player is given the type of word (e.g. noun, verb) that needs to be inserted into these blanks, but the player cannot see the story until all the blanks have been filled. After all the blanks have been filled, the player can read the completed story, which is often very silly.

This app comes with 5 MadLib stories that the player can complete.

Additionally, the user may create his own MadLib for other players to finish. The user can easily share the MadLibs stories he/she has created with other users of this app since this app allows stories to be exported and imported using a .txt file.

How I built it

I used Java object-orientated programming to create the app. The GUI was created using Java Swing.

Challenges I ran into

I am unfamiliar with Java Swing, so I constantly had to refer myself to the tutorials and documentation online to see how to use this. I also encountered a challenge involving the user creating his/her own MadLib story. I had to figure out a way to allow the user to easily create the entire story and distinguish the areas that are left blank. Afterwards, finding a way to parse this input was difficult.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Finding a way for the user to create his/her own story is the feature I am most proud of for this app. I was able to come up with a simple way for the user to indicate in his story where the blanks are, and the required type of word. This feature allows this app to have so much more functionality than before. Without this feature, users would be limited to only the few stories that have been created beforehand. Combined with the ability to share these MadLibs, this feature makes the app much more easy to use in a social context.

What I learned

I have used Java Swing only a few times, so completing this app has refined my abilities to create a GUI. There were also several components of Java Swing that I have not used before, such as a JComboBox.

What's next for MadLibs Extravaganza!

Ability to directly share/post interesting MadLibs on Facebook. Improved GUI using CSS. Ability for the program to read out loud the completed story.

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