Author Archives: Super Crayon Bros

Climbing the Stairways to Heaven!

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Since we build on Power Platform, Power Apps and Power Automate provides connectors to various APIs that we use in our app logic and user interface.

Here are some of the ways we are using APIs in our solution:

Power Automate and Outlook 365 API

We use the Outlook 365 API to access one user’s inbox and wait for an incoming email. This email is from the Game Player – and determines if the player progresses in the game or not. This is a bonus nested API call as the Power App triggers the use of the Outlook 365 API through Power Automate!

Copilot Studio

We use the Copilot Studio API to interact with a custom prompt that can act as an advisor throughout the game. At any point in time you can activate the chat and ask any questions you want, to get clues and hints on how to progress in the game. (The butler even knows a lot of secrets about the little town!)

Dataverse

We use the Dataverse API to store and retrieve data for our app/game in Dataverse Tables, such as game progress, Rooms/Locations, Excercises/Questions, Assets (images etc). This makes the game/app much more dynamic as we do not store the information within the app itself.

Drag and drop! UPDATED!

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Hey, folks! Do you like puzzles? Do you like Power Apps? Do you like drag and drop stuff? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you will our newest game Puzzle!

What is this game?

The image puzzle is hidden inside a painting in one of our game locations. You will have to drag and drop the pieces of an image to complete the puzzle. Sounds easy, right? Well, not so fast. You probaly need to find some sort of pattern to follow. So good luck with that!

How did we make it?

We used a super awesome component that Scott Durow made. It’s called the Drag and Drop component, and it lets you create drag and drop user interfaces in Power Apps. Scott is a genius and a legend, and he shared his component on GitHub for everyone to use.

Now, you might be thinking: “Wow, that’s so cool! You must be a great developer to use Scott’s component in your game!” Well, not really. You have to download the component and install it in your environment, then add it to your app

We have a table in Dataverse containing links to the images (you have to host the images externally as of now)

Then we display the images by modifying the itemTemplate and force them to be the same size

And then on each onDrop, we check if the images have the right position.

Which gives us this cool puzzle:

How do I play it? 

Ending this post by stating that we are NOT attempting to claim Glossy Pixels with this post at this time.

Come find us! 

Soria Moria Nightmare – Early Delivery

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Oh no! Princess Peach has been captured by the evil Bowser in the Soria Moria castle! You need to help the people of the Holmenkollen mushroom kingdom save her by solving puzzles all around the houses of Voksenkollen to find a way to access the scary Soria Moria castle!

Our solution

The game will be implemented as a point and click adventure using Power Apps and eventually implementing more Power Platform technology to create the puzzles, even in. This first Minimum Viable Delivery is not quite that advanced or even hard yet.

Current state

The user enters the game into a map screen. 

Clicking on the Gardeners Hut enters the player into the gardeners playroom! 

Looking around in the room the player will eventually find the powerbutton to the computer 

This lets the player solve a puzzle on the computer 

In this early version of the story, it turned out that the gardener had hacked the cage that Bowser stupidly had connected to the internet, so the princess is freed! 

(Fancy graphics pending) 

Congratulations, you have escaped the Soria Moria Nightmare! 

Maritime Mischief Manager (MMM) – A description

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“MMM.. is the ultimate tool for pirate captains looking to maximize their raids. With our comprehensive system, you’ll be able to plan, organize, and execute the perfect plunder. No more manual logs, no more disorganized crew. Just a streamlined, efficient process for taking what you want from the high seas. Upgrade your pirate game today with Maritime Mischief Manager.”

Pirates are met with a friendly user interface where they can manage all aspects of pillaging.

Creating a Raid

Under the “New Raid” menu, pirates with the rank of Captain can take a look at possible raid prospects and get an overview of the best possible strategy and also an estimation of the loot potential in the selected location.

The results we are seeing above comes from a query against the ChatGPT API with the use of Power Automate.

Being satisified with the current target, the Captain selects the vessel for the raid, choose to create it and the raid enters planning mode.

Raid planning

From the raid list, piratescan view raids in the planning stage. Simple pirates can choose to join a raid if they want to, but Captains can also choose to invite his best men. Pirates receiving an invitation will have to accept/reject the invitation through their Teams account.

Once the pirate has received and accepted an invitation, they have to scan their provided RFID card when they board the ship. They will then enter the status of Checked in.

Once the RFID card is scanned at the ship, a HTTP request is sent to the raid check-in flow, the flow will update the crew status.


When the Captain is happy with his band of criminals, he chooses to start the raid. The app conveniently simulates the battle as well, together with some nifty battle music. This is of course to save the hassle of actually raiding a place.

Reporting

The pirate management team of course also have access to beautiful numbers of the entire operation

Mates Upcoming Raid…

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Eyyrr mates!!! 

Captain Black Bart, is planning a big raid, Oslo is the target and according to ChatGPT the loot potential is #awsome.

Invitation is sent to all chosen crewmates using top of the art “Power Automate flows”. 
Crewmates are free to Accept or Decline the raid invitation.   

When it’s time for the raid, we requires all crew members who have accepted the raid to check in, using their RFID card or phone. 

If the crewmate have accepted more than one raid, he/she can choose to check in using our Raid Planning App 

With the help of Midjourney AI, https://docs.midjourney.com/,  we generated the app design component by asking the AI to provide us witht the latest & greates piracy themes.  
 

The RFID data for all potential crewmates is stored in Azure AD using the “Postal Code” field, pretty “Nasty Hack” according to our “bosun”. 

This data is imported to Dataverse “AAD User” virtual table for our app. 

Let’s raid mates. 

Good morning from Dream Team

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Arrr mateys! Good mornin’ to ye all!

The Dream Team is ready to set sail and tackle the day head on. We’ve got a bounty of tasks ahead of us and we’re not afraid to face any rough waters. With our swords at our sides and our compass pointing true, there’s nothin’ that can stop us from reaching our treasure trove of success.

So gather round ye landlubbers, and let’s hoist the Jolly Roger! It’s time to set sail and make the most of this fine day. We’ve got adventures to embark on, battles to be won, and treasures to be found.

And remember, always keep a weather eye open, a steady hand on the wheel, and a heart full of courage. For we are the Dream Team, and together, we’ll conquer the seven seas!

Yarr! Let’s make today a great one, mateys!

Raid reporting!

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The management team of every pirate organization with a measure of self-respect desires comprehensive reporting of all their operations, including both the positive and negative aspects. This can be achieved by utilizing PowerBI connected directly to the Dataverse behind the Raid Management System. By doing this, the management team will have access to all the data they need to effectively evaluate their operations and make informed decisions. The report provides real-time data visualization, making it easier for the Captains to track their progress and identify areas for improvement. Thus enabling them to make data-driven decisions and improve their overall operations.

Backup report link in case the iFrame doesn’t work 😅

Early delivery – DreamTeam

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Pirates can now plan their raids with ease using our Raid Planning App. The solution includes features such as planning what city to raid, casualty reports, and resource planning. With an intuitive user interface, all of these tasks can be completed quickly and easily whether you are part of the ship management or the crew. ​

As a captain we provides you the ability to customize the app to fit your exact needs. The crew can set up automated notifications and reminders to ensure that all tasks are completed on time. This will make sure your next raid will be a successful one.​

Early mockups of the app, generated by midjourney