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Customizable memory game with server-side image bank, using jQuery (or other?) and Django


This project is completed.
Project showcase

Here's the working version. I'll add features as time allows:

http://fsavard.com/code/pairsgame/

I made a quick blog post concerning the project here:

http://www.fsavard.com/flow/2010/02/simple-javascript-memory-game/

Project description

I've long seeked a clean (no dancing bananas and ads) memory game (matching pairs) for which you can set the board size to whatever you want, with a large bank of images for randomization. I propose to do this using jQuery on the client side, Django server-side.

Tasks

  • Client side -- JavaScript (probably jQuery but I'm all ears if someone wants to use something else)
    • Matching pairs, remembering what is revealed/hidden
    • Loading the grid
  • Server side -- Django
    • Image bank: adding images, maybe resizing/cropping, saving the source URL.
    • If we have someone for that: users and high scores
  • Finding suitable images, probably around 30 or so.

Tools

Here's a Google Code repository. We can also use the Wiki. Mail me and I'll add you as a project member:

Comments
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Sounds interesting. High scores could be problematic for arbitrary-sized fields though. My idea would be - do proper user-profile coding, then allow users to upload any number (up to a reasonable number) of images to define their playing field and then distribute links to their custom memory game they "created" - that way each field would be unique and can keep individual scores (different images and field sizes have different game complexity).

And solves the "look for nice images" part, too.


Well it would speed up the process of creating fields if you could reuse images uploaded by different people. But as indeed complexity can depend on images chosen (some images are harder to remember, say chinese characters vs everyday objects), it could be a good way of doing it.

Would you be available to work on this this weekend?


I am finishing one hobby project this weekend but starting next week we can do this. You thinking Google Apps or self-hosted?


Another way to seed images would be to search for small images on google by picking random words.


We could also input a bunch of URLs from Flickr. This is what this game does:

http://www.zefrank.com/memory/flickr_memory/


OK I created a Google Code repository and added a first version of the client side:

http://code.google.com/p/machingpairs/

No images yet, and it relies on CSS classes for state.


there are games like that check out kyodai, it's been around for a long time, one of the best out there, the project started out rather simple right now has a really sweet 3D engine to it http://cynagames.com/


Yup I know about Kyodai, played quite a bit with it ~5 years ago. At the time, though, the problem was precisely that there was a maximum board size which I wanted to exceed, but couldn't. Hence the desire for arbitrary board size; hence the project.

But thanks for the pointer :)


It's been a while, but in the last few weeks I realised this just needed a few fixes and a couple of pictures to work. So here it is, in all its simplicity:

http://fsavard.com/code/pairsgame/

It's just client-side (there's no image bank with upload functionality etc.), but one thing I might do is allow loading the cards URLs from a script elsewhere on the Web, so someone might use whatever he wants as images.


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