Inspiration
We wanted to build an app that is both fun for the user, and more importantly fun for us, the coders to work on, that way we can really push ourselves to work hard on this project.
What it does
The game we made is essentially a remake of the popular mobile game "Flappy Bird". The difference is the change in theme and color to match the "Hacky Winterland" theme.
How we built it
We split up the work on Android Studios, and really spent a long time troubleshooting and debugging together. We worked on each part of the game together and really split it into several different pieces: the snow ball mechanics, the moving screen, the randomized pipes, the home screen buttons, and the overall aesthetic of it all.
Challenges we ran into
There were many challenges along the way, the biggest being the untested skills of the team. It was our first ever Hackathon, and it was definitely a struggle to comprehend how it worked, and more importantly to get a taste of the actual application of coding languages rather than just using the bare code. The next biggest challenge was the merging of different projects. Initially, we had plans of making alternate versions of the game, however, we found out soon enough that that wouldn't cut it, it was simply too complex to merge together. There were many more challenges faced, but those were the most prominent.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Our team is very proud to have incorporated sound effects and nice aesthetics into the game which really enhanced the experience. Our expectations were not high coming into this, and we were all very elated to have completed a fully functioning game, despite the barrier and nonuser friendly platform that is Android Studios.
What we learned
Overall this was an incredibly enlightening 48 hours, it was great to get a feel for how code is used in the real world, and it was especially eye-opening to learn the pivotal role debugging plays in coding. Getting through all those errors on our own was a very great experience. Helps to put into perspective part of the duties as a computer scientist. We also learned a basic overview and general understanding of Android Studios.
What's next for Snowy Ball
The next step is to add different variations, and maybe even different minigames and make it a winter Funland for all snowy beings rather than just the snowy ball. Hopefully, we look to get more accustomed to Android Studios, that way when we participate in our next Hackathon, we can be more prepared.
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