Inspiration
The adverts of Untold inspired us to embark on their challenge, as all of our team members enjoy engaging in their creative sides. We tried to include certain features and ideas from every team member in the group to build a prototype which every team member would enjoy building.
Gaming: Two of our team members were gamers and wanter to included that aspect
Octopus: We found the octopus Plushi to be really cute and wanted to find creative ways to include it into our project
Interactivity: How do we get users to engage with an advertisement? This was an unexplored domain for all team members, and spending some time on market research taught us many things.
Community: We were inspired by old-school games that would include chats where users were able to create their own games, chat and send tips and tricks on unlocking different levels, and wanted to include this aspect in our game.
What it does
Customisable addictive game: Followed a tutorial on how to build a Flappy Bird game and customised it to suit the BMW advert "Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus". Viewers of the original ads would be met with either a QR code or a quick link prompting them to play a game, with the chance of winning certain prizes.
When they enter, they play the game, which includes a scorekeeper counter, and companies are able to determine certain scores for eligibility to win their prizes. However, after a couple of game losses, they are taken to another ad that they need to watch in order to get back to the game. The advert page includes a button prompting the user to check their website out.
How we built it
Used a YouTube tutorial to build the Flappy Bird game on VS Code Studio using simple JS, HTML and CSS. Then we started customising it to the BMW advert by using Adobe Express and Canva to switch the bird into an octopus and the pipe hurdles into bubbles, as well as changing the background from a sky theme into an ocean-themed one.
We also used Gemini, Copilot and Stack Overflow to aid us with error messages and terminal commands.
Challenges we ran into
Some of us did not have a lot of experience with coding in VS Code and using GitHub, but with the help of other team members, we were able to share our knowledge and share our skills. We were met with merging conflicts at the end of the deadline, as well as having some difficulties finding and integrating the images. But it worked out in the end.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
This was the first hackathon we had ever attended, and for most, the idea of coding under pressure sounded intimidating. However, coming to the AstonHack event was one of the best learning experiences to have gotten this year. Working under pressure allowed us to utilise available resources, produce a working prototype in under 24 h, network and engage with like-minded people and learn from others.
What we learned
Gained confidence in using tools such as GitHub, Stack Overflow and AI to produce an MVP. How to effectively work as a team Working under pressure and sleep deprivation Brainstorming and thinking outside the box
What's next for Simple Game Advert
Integrating a domain-specific/advert-specific chatbox into the customisable games provided. A stronger business and User case
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