Replit Throwback

Yahallo~! It’s getting pretty late today, so I don’t think I have enough time for a full-blown post again. I could probably make it if I wanted to, but I’m tired, ok?

So instead, I’d like to share something that I wrote about a year ago, detailing my Replit journey.

Introduction

When I look back, all the way to when I had just started coding, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Coding has truly changed me, and also given me access to bigger, brighter horizons. That’s why today, I want to reflect on how I’ve gotten thus far.

My humble beginnings

I first started to learn to code when my dad introduced me to Python. We set up an IDE together, and I was thoroughly confused by the end of it all. However, after sulking for some time, I decided to get back to it, learning about the basic syntax and functions. At the time, I was 10.

Moving on

After awhile, I got bored. There didn’t seem to be anything I could do, so I gave up on the notion of programming. A year went by, and one day I found Sololearn.¹ Following that, I began to do the challenges, occasionally following a course or two. I was able to step up my coding skills once again, nearly mastering the basic manipulation of strings, lists, dictionaries, etc.

Finding Replit

One day, I somehow got the idea to make a Discord bot. After finding a tutorial, I followed it and proceded to make a Replit account. Finishing the tutorial, I began exploring this new site and decided to click on a few of the featured projects by the community. At the time, Python console games were at it’s peak, and the first game that caught my eye was “RandomDungeon” by @InvisibleOne. I was amazed at how someone could make such an amazing game using just the console. Continuing to explore, I found “Sir, This is a Wendy’s” by @ColoredHue, which totally cracked me up.

My first ReplSteps

Feeling excited by the prospects of having hundreds of thousands of plays on a game that was created by myself, I began to make my very first game on Replit, “Tower Defense Simulator”. I struggled a long time, spending many hours to code something that I felt was quite interesting. However, after publishing, the game recieved almost no attention from the community. I lay in bed for weeks after that Instead of getting discouraged, I began working on my next project, the “Online Multiplayer MMO”, but to this day I have never finished it, nor intend to. On this project I learned about Replit DB, and afterwards made a “template” that people could use in order to have a global database. This was the first project that got onto trending, and I was overjoyed.

Taking over Replit

Some of you may still hear Steven He cry “Emotional DAAAAMAAGE?!?!?” every time you think of him, and I am no exception. During the time when Steven He’s Asian difficulty game meme was taking the internet by storm, I decided, “what if I make this game”? As you may know, the game instantly got trending on Replit, and stayed so for quite a long time. As of today, the game has over 206.9K plays, and 1.7K likes. Not too shabby if I say so myself. After this, I released 3 more projects in quick succession, and took 4 of the spots on Replit’s homepage.

Pygame for life!

Even though I haven’t been as active in the community since, rest assured I wasn’t sitting around. I began learning Pygame, and made quite a few (unfinished) games.

Flask for life!

I then tried using Flask as it was originally intended, as a backend server for websites. One of my most notable websites back then would have been my “Multiplayer Wordle” game, which allowed players to play together. Unfortunately, it did not catch on with the community.

#templatejam

After letting the previous NFT hackathon by, I decided that I was finally ready for a coding jam. It was the first one I had ever attempted, and I was really motivated to do well in it. Before submissions were even accepted, I finished the “Flask Forum Template”, which took a lot out of me. Afterwards, I made a few half-hearted pieces of code, that in the end I didn’t even bother to submit. Two weeks passed, and I became discouraged. Thoughts like “how could I possibly win?” and “the others are just way better than me at coding” passed through my mind, and I convinced myself that there was no way I had won, so I moved on.

The results (incomplete)

there are two phases to #templatejam, and at the time of writing, only the first phase has been announced.

I had won! Admittedly, I was only among the second place winners of the jam, but nevertheless, I was overjoyed. To me, winning the jam was far more than just $250 dollars in the pocket. It was a nod to the work I had done to get where I am today.

An extra $500? I’ll take it!

Unknowingly, I had won Replit’s Creator Fund as well, awarding me with even more money! A welcome suprise, this was!

To the future

I am very thankful to Replit for helping me along in this harsh, long journey of life. For now, I have one major goal I’d like to accomplish, and that is to Earn $1M dollars before I’m 18 years old. While this may seem impossible to some, I believe that life is about tackling these things, and if you put your all into it, you will come out successful.

Thank you for reading

Again, thanks for staying with me throughout all of this rambling! I haven’t really done much writing for almost a year now, so please tell me about how I did!

Cheers,

Ice

“Ice” is a cringe, shortened version of my old username that I use pretty much everywhere. I made it when I was about 10 years old, don’t judge.

1. It’s quite similar to Replit, but without all the pizzaz. ↩︎