
Flappy Bird Typing Tutor - mrspeaker
http://www.mrspeaker.net/dev/game/flappy
======
mrspeaker
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](http://www.mrspeaker.net)!

~~~
TheSOB888
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.

~~~
mrspeaker
Hey - yeah, "Ω500"
[https://github.com/mrspeaker/Omega500/](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.

All the code for the game is in the /ex directory:
[https://github.com/mrspeaker/Omega500/tree/master/ex/flapjam](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.

------
Argorak
That reminds me of The Typing of the Dead, a "House of the Dead" variant where
you had to type words to shoot the zombies instead of pointing a gun.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typing_of_the_Dead](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.

~~~
joezydeco
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.

~~~
CrazedGeek
There's a sequel you can get on Steam:
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/246580/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/246580/)

------
izzydata
Do I seriously have to type slower to make it between things? This is awful.

I'm sure most experienced typers use muscle memory to type words quickly. This
entire game is counter intuitive and unproductive for teaching typing since it
forces you to think about typing letter for letter and not word for word.

An interesting and difficult game maybe, but it is almost useless as a typing
tutor.

~~~
exDM69
> Do I seriously have to type slower to make it between things? This is awful.

I found out the complete opposite. I'm a pretty fast typist but I learned
touch typing at a rather late age, at around 26 or so. I still don't have a
perfect technique but I have not really practiced it either.

Typing slowly pinpointed several flaws in my technique, some which I wasn't
aware of. I already knew that using the "y" key with the wrong hand, but
playing this game for some minutes also pointed out that I use the wrong hand
or finger. For example I noticed that I use my index finger to type out x and
c (rather than my ring and middle fingers).

I thoroughly enjoyed this and found it helpful.

------
abvdasker
Right, because Flappy Bird wasn't already punishingly difficult.

~~~
nej
My thoughts exactly.

------
hugofirth
I think the designer might have been trolling ...

I haven't gotten beyond two pipes so far, and the first 3 words I had to type
were "thwarts, frustration, vexation"

------
mikeleeorg
Cute game! Took me a while to realize I had to type in the word at the top of
the screen though. I banged on my keyboard for a good long while before
accidentally hitting the right letter and noticing that it had turned red.
Perhaps a little hint or tip could help n00bs like me.

~~~
TheSOB888
Same issue here. I thought I was supposed to press 1, or I, or l.

------
ntaso
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.

~~~
prottmann
In a year? You mean next week ;-)

------
sillysaurus2
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](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](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.

~~~
mrspeaker
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!

~~~
sillysaurus2
I kept it open in case you wanted to debug it. Here's a current screenshot:
[http://i.imgur.com/qfgkNRi.png](http://i.imgur.com/qfgkNRi.png)

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".

------
slipstream-
"If you thought Flappy Bird was hard, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!"

------
chanux
Off topic: Anybody remember the typing tutor shooter game featured on HN a
while back? Thanks in advance.

Update: Found it, [http://phoboslab.org/ztype/](http://phoboslab.org/ztype/)

------
mrsebastian
One of the hardest games I've ever played, ha.

I got stuck at 2 for a long time, but then finally something clicked and I got
all the way to number 5!

~~~
mrsebastian
7!

------
svantana
What a great game! I would love to see a leaderboard -- contrary to most
casual games, high scores in this game would really impress me.

------
NigelTufnel
Now that's hard.

The next logical step is to type in point-free Haskell programs.

------
Gonzih
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?

In my personal experience best typing game is
[http://phoboslab.org/ztype/](http://phoboslab.org/ztype/)

~~~
tarblog
There is actually a key to restart! You'd never know though, because of the
poor UI design.

------
Aardwolf
I think that more time has been devoted to writing articles about Flappy Bird,
than went into creating Flappy Bird.

------
isaacb
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.

------
Timshel
Going back from 32 to 4 it's too hard. I need to learn to type.

------
guardian5x
Great game. What are your highscores so far?
[http://i.imgur.com/8jGJatE.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/8jGJatE.jpg)

~~~
devonbleak
I got to 12 and have to get some work done :-P

------
ritonlajoie
I'm sorry but.. what should I do ? which key will work ? because I tried
azerty, qwerty, space bar, up arrow key, nothing works..

~~~
imdsm
The V looks like a U, but it is V. Feature, not a flaw?

------
nettletea
Imitation aside, the novel thing about this adaptation, is that it practices
your typing pace and control. Other typing games focus more on raw speed. Some
tutors report/measure your typing rate (Klavaro - fluidity, Amphetype -
viscosity). This might some otherway. Though it's doing my shoulder in.

------
microcolonel
This is next to impossible to play for a strong typist, and bad practice for a
budding typist, not to mention the game was already frustrating enough when
you didn't have to distinguish that V from that U in a word you haven't seen
in a book for years, now it's just not fun.

------
slipstream-
So I bothered to download the game, set it up in a local nginx instance and
mod the code a bit..

[http://goput.it/qzb5.png](http://goput.it/qzb5.png)
[http://goput.it/shq4.png](http://goput.it/shq4.png)

~~~
christiangenco
Unnecessary:

    
    
        game.screen.state.set("RUNNING")
        game.screen.bird.state.set("DYING")
        game.screen.score = 23

------
tkfx
found a bug: /dev/game/flappy/ should be /devil/game/flappy

------
motoboi
I have two words for this: cognitive overload! My brain almost liquefied
itself.

------
chid2013
This is a funny rendition of the Flappy Bird game, you took a frustrating game
and made it impossible. It serves as a nice memorial to the now-late game,
which is pretty cool!

------
potato
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

------
lliiffee
Doesn't seem to work in firefox? (The search bar keeps getting activated.) I
think I have the "automatically search on typing" option selected though.

------
_mc
I broke my iPhone yesterday, now my mac :-/

------
ryan-allen
Haha, this is awesome. Mr Speaker, you rock.

------
atom-morgan
Maybe it's just me, but I find this to be a much more enjoyable game than the
original Flappy Bird.

------
taopao
Huh? Typing tutors should encourage speed, not rhythm. I should be rewarded
for speed and accuracy.

------
BorisMelnik
Ridiculously hard. Decent concept. Font really hard to read, especially V's
and U's.

------
dhiraj026
It is really irritating when you can't score despite trying hard :(

------
mesozoic
And I thought flappy bird was hard itself. This is pretty cool.

------
johnward
When ever the first letter is U it won't accept my input.

------
johnwalker
This is great practice for texting and driving !

------
aabalkan
Wow is the js game code open sourced somewhere?

------
pratkar
Would love to see a game tougher than this!

------
igorgue
Typpy Bird would be a better name :)

------
nicpottier
Hilarious, but oh my god impossible!

------
shortformblog
This is hilarious. Well played, dev!

------
isaacjohnwesley
Already Flappy bird was tough! :(

------
Gracana
Holy crap, that is difficult.

------
tarblog
This is awful. Purely awful.

------
romanovcode
That font is unreadable.

------
pattle
My best score is 0!

------
tim333
That's tricky!

------
chimmychonga
this is a new kind of torture.

------
bylygbashi
Record

