I encountered a bug using Chrome. After dying a few times, I encountered this screen, which I can't get past: http://i.imgur.com/yWbm8bq.png
It may frustrate some users and drive them away. I'll leave the tab open if you need me to run some javascript code to tell you the current state of the program. Let me know.
EDIT: Pretty fun. After a few attempts, my high score is 34: http://i.imgur.com/YNaIWI6.png ... It's more of a spelling tutor than a typing tutor, because remembering how to spell words is a huge advantage compared to staring at the words.
Something I should mention: The letter forms are extremely difficult to read. V's look like U's, A's look like R's, and Z's look like 2's.
I think this is a wonderful educational tool. Thank you for creating it.
Arrrgh! I can't recreate the crash on Chrome. I tried on Chrome Canary and latest stable. If (for some crazy reason) you still have the tab open - does it report anything in the error console? Thanks for doing that by the way!
Typing of the Dead is an awesome game! I remember seeing this at a coin-op trade show when it first launched, it was using Sega's Naomi platform (which was basically a Dreamcast with a JAMMA interface). Everyone was laughing at it but my coworkers and I couldn't stop playing.
If you can find an old Dreamcast, it's worth it just for this game.
Which actually worked better, because typing speed was on your side.
This doesn't really work for me because you have to alter your typing pace to navigate through pipes. While challenging/frustrating, I don't see that increasing my typing pace, which isn't that the goal of typing tutors? To increase speed/accuracy of your typing.
Did you reverse-engineer the original Flappy Bird to get the feeling so similar or just experimented until it felt right?
What I don't like is that you ripped off everything 1:1 without giving credit. Yes, right now, everybody knows Flappy Bird, but in a year, it'll be forgotten. Just for the sake of proper archiving, you should mention where the graphics and everything else come from.
This is interesting, but... Font isn't perfect for such task. Also there seems to be no key to restart the game. Why game forces me to reach my mouse when it is focused on typing?
Hey everyone, dev here - thanks for the awesome feedback. Rather than one-at-a-time-ing things, here's some responses!
1. Font sucks? Feature, not a flaw.
2. Game crashes? Ummm... feature, not a flaw.
3. Need mouse to restart? Nope, there aren't any real buttons in the game. Just press space.
4. Did you credit original? Err, no.. it's got the original copyright on the title screen, but I'll add a note to point out I stole the gfx.
5. How did you steal the gfx? I just copied out the sprite atlas inside the iPhone app and cut it up in javascript/canvas. I tried to recreate things as closely as possible (screen transitions etc, not physics!).
6. Hey, do you make other awesome games in your free time? Why yes! just check out the blog at http://www.mrspeaker.net!
Kids who are learning to type probably won't be able to read your font. They'll likely get frustrated and put it down rather quickly. Is it meant to be a typing tutor for kids?
This is pretty cool! I see you've written a JS game lib called Ω, but I can't find any more info about it. Is it not public yet? You seemed to have solved the problem of using sounds in JS, which is something I am very interested in.
Hey - yeah, "Ω500" https://github.com/mrspeaker/Omega500/ is the name for my library/engine thing that I use for game jams. I just wrote it because you have to publicly release any code you use for Ludum Dare before each competition. Several Ludum-Dares later and it's getting pretty good (for me, anyway! I made this game in about 8 hours over the weekend). Though the audio support is very very straight-forward: it's not tough at all if you're only targeting modern browsers.
Is it just me or is the recorded score incorrect? Pretty sure I scored 8 but it shows 9. Then again I haven't played the original so maybe I'm missing something :p
Oh man, this was amazing. I just starting giggling and broke out into full out hearty laughter because it was so fun. I couldn't play more than 30 seconds, mind you, because it was infuriatingly difficult, but amazing nonetheless.
79 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 147 ms ] threadI haven't gotten beyond two pipes so far, and the first 3 words I had to type were "thwarts, frustration, vexation"
The next logical step is to type in point-free Haskell programs.
It may frustrate some users and drive them away. I'll leave the tab open if you need me to run some javascript code to tell you the current state of the program. Let me know.
EDIT: Pretty fun. After a few attempts, my high score is 34: http://i.imgur.com/YNaIWI6.png ... It's more of a spelling tutor than a typing tutor, because remembering how to spell words is a huge advantage compared to staring at the words.
Something I should mention: The letter forms are extremely difficult to read. V's look like U's, A's look like R's, and Z's look like 2's.
I think this is a wonderful educational tool. Thank you for creating it.
When I click on the bird and press 'd', nothing happens. Nothing more is output to the console, either.
Is there anything in particular you'd like me to type into the console to help you debug this?
My Chrome version is "Version 32.0.1700.107 m".
I got stuck at 2 for a long time, but then finally something clicked and I got all the way to number 5!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typing_of_the_Dead
Note that this is an official game and even has the players agents equipped with keyboards instead of guns in the ingame sequences.
If you can find an old Dreamcast, it's worth it just for this game.
Amusingly, the in-game characters still walk around with Dreamcasts strapped to their backs.
This doesn't really work for me because you have to alter your typing pace to navigate through pipes. While challenging/frustrating, I don't see that increasing my typing pace, which isn't that the goal of typing tutors? To increase speed/accuracy of your typing.
http://goput.it/qzb5.png http://goput.it/shq4.png
What I don't like is that you ripped off everything 1:1 without giving credit. Yes, right now, everybody knows Flappy Bird, but in a year, it'll be forgotten. Just for the sake of proper archiving, you should mention where the graphics and everything else come from.
Update: Found it, http://phoboslab.org/ztype/
In my personal experience best typing game is http://phoboslab.org/ztype/
1. Font sucks? Feature, not a flaw.
2. Game crashes? Ummm... feature, not a flaw.
3. Need mouse to restart? Nope, there aren't any real buttons in the game. Just press space.
4. Did you credit original? Err, no.. it's got the original copyright on the title screen, but I'll add a note to point out I stole the gfx.
5. How did you steal the gfx? I just copied out the sprite atlas inside the iPhone app and cut it up in javascript/canvas. I tried to recreate things as closely as possible (screen transitions etc, not physics!).
6. Hey, do you make other awesome games in your free time? Why yes! just check out the blog at http://www.mrspeaker.net!
7. Is this stupid thing supposed to improve my typing? No.
All the code for the game is in the /ex directory: https://github.com/mrspeaker/Omega500/tree/master/ex/flapjam
If you're looking for a more mature library I'd look at Pixi.js for pure rendering awesomeness, or Impact.js for a great full-fledged engine.