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https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service

Generate your personal 8-bit avatars using Cellular Automata, a mathematical model that simulates life, survival, and extinction
https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service

avatar-generator cellular-automata fastapi nuxtjs pixel-art python sprites vuejs

Last synced: 29 days ago
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Generate your personal 8-bit avatars using Cellular Automata, a mathematical model that simulates life, survival, and extinction

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README 

        
![](frontend/static/header.png)



[![Github Pages](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/workflows/Github%20Pages/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Github+Pages%22)

[![Cloud Run](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/workflows/Cloud%20Run/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Cloud+Run%22)

[![Frontend CI](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/workflows/Frontend%20CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Frontend+CI%22)

[![Backend CI](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/workflows/Backend%20CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Backend+CI%22)



**Try the interactive demo [here](https://ljvmiranda921.github.io/sprites-as-a-service) :sparkles::sparkles:**



**I do not authorize the use of anything generated by this project for the selling of NFTs. 🙅‍❌**



**Sprites-as-a-Service** is an open-source web application that allows you to

generate custom 8-bit sprites using Cellular Automata, particularly Conway's

Game of Life. Generate a unique sprite given a text, and control extinction and

survival rates. In addition, you can also access the generator via a REST API.

**Use it for your chat app or games!**



The frontend is made with Vue.js (with Nuxt.js) whereas the backend is done

using Python and FastAPI.



You can also read my creative process and motivation for building this app in [my blog](https://ljvmiranda921.github.io/projects/2020/03/31/cellular-sprites/)



## Running the development server 



The easiest way to run Sprites-as-a-service locally is via [docker

compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/). First, clone this repository:



```sh

git clone [email protected]:ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service.git

```



then build the images:



```sh

cd sprites-as-a-service

docker-compose build

```



This will then build two images, `sprites-backend` and `sprites-frontend`, for

the backend and frontend services of the web app. You can then run them with

the command:



```sh

docker-compose -d up

```



You should be able to see the application running at

[localhost:8080](localhost:8080). Close these services using:



```sh

docker-compose down

```



## Production server and deployment



The frontend demo application is currently deployed in my website. I first

generate a static website using Nuxt's `npm run generate`, then serve it on

Github pages. To see the frontend deployment procedure, I encourage you to

check `.github/workflows/gh-pages.yml`.



On the other hand, the backend service is deployed in [Google Cloud

Run](https://cloud.google.com/run/). I first build the image found in

`./backend/Dockerfile` and deploy them to GCP. Check

`.github/workflows/cloud-run.yml` for more information.



I highly-encourage you to use the [Docker

images](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/packages)

published in this repository. You might not need the frontend component itself,

but the backend can be deployed as a microservice. 



```sh

docker pull docker.pkg.github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/sprites-backend:latest

```



## Notable Implementations



- [@danielgjackson](https://github.com/danielgjackson) has a pure-Javascript port for Sprites-as-a-Service. From that he made [Infinite Sprites!](https://danielgjackson.github.io/sprite/infinite.html) I encourage you to check it out and spend your hours looking at them!

- [@yurkth](https://github.com/yurkth) created [Sprator](https://github.com/yurkth/sprator), a GUI application that generates sprites using cellular automaton. Here, you can set a seed, base & background colors, and size!



## License



The content of this project itself is licensed under the [Creative Commons

Attribution 4.0 license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ast), and the underlying source code used to generate the

sprites and build the website is licensed under the [MIT license](https://github.com/ljvmiranda921/sprites-as-a-service/blob/master/LICENSE).