Inspiration
While we were discussing what comes to mind when we think of space, the idea of elements and the big bang came to mind. During that discussion, one of us remembered an educational game from when we were younger, called Little Alchemy. The game consisted of combining basic elements (like earth, air, fire, water) to create new forms of matter. We were inspired to use this concept of having different combinations of items.
What it does
Our project is a game that allows users to combine basic elements of the early universe such as hydrogen, and then combine them to be more elaborate structures like dwarf stars. This allows users to learn about how the universe came to be, and the path of evolution that the universe took to this point.
How we built it
We built this project using pygame and python, as well as krita to draw the assets for the game.
Challenges we ran into
We ran into the challenge of merging large amounts of code into one overall project. It was difficult to break down the problem into steps with a clear role for each team member. In addition, we struggled to use pygame, because of the limitations it has regarding how it implements the visual aspect of the project.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of the project as a whole, and the fact that we were able to overcome the limitations of time and pygame.
What we learned
We learned how to organize large quantities of information using sorting algorithms and data structures like lists and dictionaries.
What's next for Universe Builder 1.0
Next, we would like to add finishing touches, polish what is left over, and then create a web-based version of the game and host it on github pages.
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