The idea for Sight Seeker came to me after I took a picture of a squirrel on campus. It was sitting in a very picturesque tree, and as the squirrel ran off, I thought about how some people probably never walk through this specific part of campus. I sent the picture to my friends and had them guess where it was taken. It was fun, and I realized it would be an interesting game to try and make.

By the time the final project for NMIX 4010 (Intro to Web Development at UGA) came around, I had brainstormed more details about the web game and already decided that it would be a good personal project to do before the career fair in the fall. The broad selection of options in the final project guidelines allowed me to work on the game without feeling like I was sacrificing time away from school. In the end, it was the perfect opportunity for me to test new skills and challenge myself to create a proof-of-concept for my larger ideas.

The general layout of the site, especially the navbar, were created using bootstrap. Further adjustments, color palettes, and flag/pin positioning were done with my own custom CSS and JavaScript. The math and updates to the screen were done with JavaScript. The biggest challenges were considering varying screen widths when calculating the score and correct locations. Right now the game does its calculations using ratios of the current width and height of the map to mark locations.

The work flow for this project was extremely rewarding. I started by vowing to do everything on git-hub. The repository is public, and you can see all of my commits here, which gives a good timeline of what was added when, how it was done, and occasionally some developer self-notes. This was my first solo project done start to finish entirely on github, and it helped me get more comfortable with the software.

The current version of Sight Seeker is something I'm proud of. The game is working, and it is something that I can share with my friends and get the same enjoyment that sparked the decision to create the game. However, I want to add a couple more features like randomizing the order of questions and displaying more information about the correct answer. I think these can be done on this client-side version, but I want to look more into data structures in JavaScript to better future-proof the game as a testing ground for adding new features semi-frequently.

I also have larger goals in mind for Sight Seeker. The two most important being custom quiz creation and live multiplayer. While I don't know how to implement these yet, I know they will unlock doors for the game as something with real potential. Something I've found limiting about similar games like Geoguessr is the restriction to google street view. If users can upload their own maps and images to Sight Seeker, then they can essentially play any possible twist on the game such as a version in their favorite fictional world or as an educational tool for something like an anatomy diagram. With live multiplayer, I'd hope to make it like Kahoot where someone can host their custom game to a live audience of participants.