Shiny Environmental Video Game Wins Grand Prize at Rstudio Shiny Contest

[This article was first published on r – Appsilon | End­ to­ End Data Science Solutions, and kindly contributed to R-bloggers]. (You can report issue about the content on this page here)
Want to share your content on R-bloggers? click here if you have a blog, or here if you don't.

Rstudio Shiny Contest – The Results Are In! 

Appsilon engineer Marcin Dubel has been named a Grand Prize Winner in the 3rd Annual Rstudio Shiny Contest for his app – Shark Attack. This marks the second year in a row an Appsilon team member has won a Grand Prize at the Shiny Contest. Last year, Appsilon engineer Pedro Silva won with his video game – Shiny Decisions.

We’re proud of Marcin’s big accomplishment. He has built a fun and engaging app with a creative approach to inspiring environmental awareness. An excellent example of how tech can be used for good. Way to go, Marcin!

  1. New High Score! – Shark Attack Gameplay
  2. A Deeper Dive Into Shark Attack – Technical Details
  3. Congratulations To All Contestants

New High Score! – Shark Attack Gameplay

Try out Shark Attack and see how much trash you can clean from the ocean. But beware! Sharks are not too happy about the pollution. Collect as much trash as you can and return to your submarine before time runs out. The ocean needs your help!

Shark Attack Gameplay

ProTip: Trash falls from above and flows with the current (right to left). Try and catch it at the source!

A Deeper Dive Into Shark Attack – Technical Details

Shiny is not your typical, first choice when it comes to video game design. What Marcin and other contestants have shown is that with a little ingenuity, you can push the limits of the R Shiny package. The days of plain, uninspiring dashboards are over. 

The structure of Shark Attack is built on the shiny.fluent framework, wahani/modules, and R6 classes. Using the {googlesheets4} package, a “database” for permanent storage provided a neat way to track the global leaderboard (visible in the game end modal). See how you stack up against other users! 

Tip for Shiny Contestants: I set a project on Github and split all the work into tasks. That allowed me to control the pace and implement the features one by one, divided into small pieces, which is crucial for after hour projects.”

Marcin Dubel, Appsilon

The game begins with separate modules for the storyline, gameplay info, and difficulty levels. The App is a 2D world on a single screen view with the main view built on a 10×20 CSS grid functionality. Diver movement across the grid utilizes JavaScript key-capture, while the movement of other objects is created via randomly generated direction with JS interval. “Trash” objects enter the view from the top and right of the grid. The objects on screen (e.g. seaweed) are the background images for individual grid cells. 

Tip for Shiny Contestants:Do the hallway tests: I shared the initial version of the app with my family and friends just to get the feedback. Do it early enough to be able to implement it.”

Marcin Dubel, Appsilon

Congratulations To All Contestants

The competition was tough at the 3rd Annual Rstudio Shiny Contest. Contestants are submitting increasingly impressive and creative apps. See the other winners and submissions here. We at Appsilon congratulate all the winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions! If you’re curious how you can contribute to next year’s contest, check out Appsilon’s shiny tutorials on our blog or view our video tutorials. We can’t wait to see what you create. 

See more Beautiful Shiny Apps from the Appsilon team!

Stay tuned for a showcase of other shiny.fluent apps submitted by Appsilon team members.

We’re Hiring!

Interested in working with the leading experts in Shiny? Appsilon is looking for creative thinkers around the globe. We’re a remote-first company, with team members in 7+ countries. Our team members are leaders in the R dev community and we take our core purpose seriously.

To preserve and improve human life through exploration and technology #purpose

We promote an inclusive work environment and strive to create a friendly team with a diverse set of skills and commitment to excellence. Contact us and see what it’s like to work on groundbreaking projects with Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, and non-profit organizations.

Be a part of our team

Appsilon is hiring for remote roles! See our Careers page for all open positions, including a React Developer and R Shiny Developers. Join Appsilon and work on groundbreaking projects with the world’s most influential Fortune 500 companies.

Article Shiny Environmental Video Game Wins Grand Prize at Rstudio Shiny Contest comes from Appsilon | End­ to­ End Data Science Solutions.

To leave a comment for the author, please follow the link and comment on their blog: r – Appsilon | End­ to­ End Data Science Solutions.

R-bloggers.com offers daily e-mail updates about R news and tutorials about learning R and many other topics. Click here if you're looking to post or find an R/data-science job.
Want to share your content on R-bloggers? click here if you have a blog, or here if you don't.

Never miss an update!
Subscribe to R-bloggers to receive
e-mails with the latest R posts.
(You will not see this message again.)

Click here to close (This popup will not appear again)