Re: Life - Business & Technology

Chapter 4 - Flappy Bird Imitation

The first weekend of Vince's reincarnation arrived, and he decided to invite Kyle to his home.

He asked Kyle to bring his laptop, but Kyle already had that in mind; probably to play some online game. 

After eating breakfast, Kyle entered through the front door with an excited smile on his face.

Vince assumed he was hyped to play some video games but was surprised to see him more interested in his new computer.

"How many components did you need to build this thing. It's a fair larger than the desktop computers I normally see." Kyle asked inquisitively.

"The case or chassis will dictate how large a computer will be. A larger chassis like this will allow more and larger components. A motherboard will follow the standard of the case itself. This one uses the ATX standard and a decent current-generation Intel Core i5 processor.

Two other vital components are needed to start the machine and enable access to the software programs within the components. These two are the RAM sticks, 16 GB in total. And finally, the power supply for obvious reasons." Vince explained nonchalantly.

Kyle was amazed by the detailed explanation presented to him. 

"How do you know so much about computers? This was your first time building a computer, right?" Kyle asked.

"I studied the components before I bought them while saving up the money. You can also say I watch too much Linus Tech Tips on YouTube." Vince jokingly replied. 

Vince knew he was heavily invested in learning more about this topic based on Kyle's look in his eyes.

"What are all these applications I see on your desktop. I can recognize Steam and Chrome, but the others I haven't seen yet." Kyle asked in excitement.

Vince explained each application for about an hour, and Kyle was still on the edge of his seat. 

[He's so excited about this; it's offputting.] Vince thought.

"You mentioned that one can use the Eclipse program to write programs and games. Is it hard to make games?" Kyle asked.

"It's tough to make games like Skyrim that's coming out soon. It takes hundreds, if not thousands, of collaborators for something like that, but there are exceptions like a straightforward game on mobile. One skilled person can a make a game, but of course, more people will reduce the development time." Vince replied.

"Have you learned anything like creating mobile games with those YouTube tutorials you bookmarked the other day?" Kyle asked. "You can say that," Vince replied with a smile.

"How about this? We can skip the gaming for today, and I can show you some of the things I've learned." Vince asked. 

"Please! Yes, please!" Kyle said as he nodded with vigor.

Vince opened Eclipse IDE and wrote some lines as a force of habit. He wanted to show Kyle the basics of mobile game development and had the perfect example project to start. Flappy Bird.

It's a throwback to a time when going viral was still a novelty. Many aspiring game developers start their journey by writing a clone of Flappy Bird.

It was an infamous game that went viral a few months after its release. It was a relatively simple game with only one input, touching the screen.

Millions of people played the game, but it never reached the peak it had the potential to achieve because the developer took it down the App Store due to personal concerns.

Vince explained what the code he wrote meant, primarily as a template with certain functions related to how Flappy Bird played.

"See this line right here? It controls the object based on input from the user. I'll make this object jump and hover similar to how Jet-Pack Joyride works but with fewer frills, of course." Vince said.

He explained the parameters and the other lines of code they were working on designing. Then, Vince decided to change the static object mesh and downloaded a chicken image file and stuff like fences and ceiling beams.

He organized them all within the project folder and imported them into Eclipse. The sample project turned from barebones to looking like a video game people would play during their downtime. Kyle was amazed again by what Vince created in a matter of hours.

[It would be so epic to make my own game with my ideas. I should start reading and watching those tutorials soon to create games quick and easy.] Kyle thought.

Vince finished the game he called 'Wingin' Chicken' a few moments later. It was a game that worked exactly like Flappy Bird. 

The objective was to maintain the chicken's flight using the mobile device's touchpad.

The chicken needed to avoid fences on the ground and other impediments. It gets harder and harder with more speed and obstacles until the chicken dies.

Vince programmed it so that after 1 hour of flight time (which is an absurd amount of time), the chicken will spontaneously combust with a stormtrooper death sound effect.

The sound effect would be the only easter egg Vince would include in the final version.

Kyle played it for a bit on the simulated mobile screen on my computer and was having a blast. 

[It seems it wasn't the game itself that made him like this but the idea that we created it together just in the past few hours.] Vince thought.

He told Kyle the game would be uploaded to the iOS App Store and the Android Play Store eventually after a few crucial changes needed to be made. Kyle wondered what other features would be added to the game, but Vince reassured him that the gameplay would stay true to what they've created.

Vince bade farewell to Kyle as the day was starting to darken. Kyle was amped up after gathering all the resources recommended to him by Vince that he will no doubt excitedly study.

[This strategy is perfect. How did I not think of this sooner? Using platforms as a service like the App Store is the best option I have currently. They provide the hardware infrastructure, and I create the quality product. I only have to add features like personal accounts via social media accounts and a leaderboard. A cash shop would be amazing, but that would entail a bunch of red tape I couldn't deal with at the moment.] So Vince thought after spending some time with Leah.

He spent the entirety of the next day finalizing the game, and Vince uploaded it for review. It was already available to download the very next day.

EDITED