The Journey Begins

Java Turtles Unite!

We jokingly exclaimed during the first week or two of the Computer Science senior inquiry at Augustana College. I don't think any of us imagined the challenge ahead when we thought about developing Android applications. The Java Turtles consist of Trevor Warner, Omar Guzman, Grace Vente, Logan Kruse, and myself Benjamin Knapper. This blog will be about some of the things the Java Turtles encounter along the journey to developing two different Android applications as part of our culminating class at Augustana. After the first five weeks of work on smaller projects, which included an individual game for each of us, we speak with a different tone when we exclaim...

Java Turtles Unite!

...now knowing the daunting task set before us.

The two projects set before us are a group game and a non-game application. We have chosen to extend Trevor's Brick Break game as our group game and a social drawing app that allows a user to draw a picture, record the process of drawing it, and send it to another individual with the application.

These choices were made during brainstorming sessions held before class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There were some things we had to think about when deciding what we would pursue for both apps.

When thinking about the group game project it made a lot of sense to us that we should extend one of our individual games. There was already a fully functioning game that could be built upon. This meant we had to choose a game that had somewhere to go. For example, my game (Think Fast!) was pretty much already done, we could have spent time upgrading the graphics and tweaking the gameplay but nothing new could really be added to the game and keep gameplay the same. On the other hand, Trevor's Brick Break had lots of places to go. His game design was simple, break a brick within the time limit using taps on the screen. We saw that we could add more objects to break a the levels progressed, different actions required to break the objects, different levels of difficulty, and an in game currency system that allows a player to purchase upgrades to tapping power, one time power-ups that help beat a particularly hard level, extra time, and more. Something else that came up when thinking about which project to choose was self-assessment. 

Brick Bash Storyboard

Did we have the skills necessary to complete the project?

Similar planning was used when brainstorming the non-game app. Because this app would be ground up development we didn't think really about extensibility, but instead focused almost entirely on the team's capability to complete the project as designed. The toughest decision we had to make was about the sharing feature on the yet to be named application. We knew that we would need some sort of server to share between different devices the drawing. Looking forward, applying this to the app looks to be the most challenging thing we must accomplish.

The brainstorming and planning stages of the development were crucial in getting the Java Turtles started on what will be difficult but rewarding last five weeks at Augustana College!

Sketch Send Storyboard