What’s next? / Update

Following the amazing feedback we received after the demo and sharing of our app, we plan on moving forward with the app and scaling it for wider public use. This includes, but not limited to:

Reviewing and reworking our cloud platforming and hosting
Overhauling and refining the UI/UX design, including work that goes into clarifying our design standards and philosophy and ensuring the app remains super simple to use
Crucial security features (i.e. only allow support for specific kinds of links and embeds)
Adding different types of higher-level puzzles to specifically target an activity, such as scavenger hunts, escape rooms, guided touristic tours, school labs and activities, etc…
Adding more support for in-person scavenges
Developing and improving the current AI integration with nodes
Friendlier and more complete customisability for the scavenge play interface (images/videos, shaders, automated narration, sounds and sound effects)

Inspiration

We wanted to create something fun and interactive that we would also use in our school club, and we decided to make a scavenger hunt-type project. A scavenger hunt in real life would be difficult to build, so we decided that we should do a scavenger hunt online, where you can play with others in real time by solving riddles and using your brains together while you're at it.

What it does

There are two modes to the web application: story mode and builder mode. The story mode is made by the players, and we can choose two stories to play: "The Sinking Submarine" and "The AI Monopoly".

In the first story, you're in a submarine with two other people, and the submarine is sinking after a collision. You start at one end of the submarine, and you have to get to the other end. There are many obstacles along the way, and each team member has different tasks to accomplish. Some of those obstacles involve solving circuits, others involve solving broken code, etc. One wrong move in the wrong direction, and the oxygen level decreases and the water level increases.

The second story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where AI has ruled for a couple of decades. There are many injustices happening to humans, and the human race is on the verge of extinction. You and your crew decide to take matters into your own hands and overthrow the AI ruling elites. You have to hack into their systems and compromise their databases. The AI ruling elites know about you, and they will try to lure you into the wrong path. One wrong move, and your whole system gets compromised, leading to the inevitable extinction of the human race. You are indeed humanity's last hope.

The builder mode is a node-based UI in which you create your own stories and challenges. The design is super modular, making it a versatile tool for creating interactive activities for learning or fun in settings ranging from general team bonding to clubs to professional development & educational settings.

How we built it

We used Claude Sonnet to build most of our codebase. The whole story was built by us, but since we are beginners in front-end development, we had to rely heavily on vibe-coding. Our backend utilized Firebase Authentication and Firebase Database to store JSON files that shouldn't be shared between users, and to store some information that the players have to debug code to acquire.

Challenges we ran into

We got locked out of our room on the fourth floor and lost about 1-2 hours. We did not let this demoralize us, and we did what we could with the remaining amount of time. Even though our project is not yet complete, it is an MVP that is fully functional.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're extremely proud of our UI/UX design and especially the node-based part of the app, where players can create their own stories to play with their friends. Not only can friends play this, but a professor can very easily create coding challenges and a storyline attached to those challenges to increase participation in class. It's a fun way for students and friends to come together and solve problems, since all roles depend on one another.

What we learned

We learned a lot about creating video games and how to effectively split tasks among developers. There's also the whole multiplayer side of the game that we had to learn from scratch, and it was extremely nice to see when it worked.

What's next for LockStep

We will start by creating more situations in the story mode section, refining the two that we have right now. To ascertain the educational implications of our app to induce greater participation in educational settings at McGill. Subsequently, acquire feedback to ameliorate any user experience shortcomings and expand the functional scope of the application.