{Developer Spotlight} — Junior [LeagueTracker]

Each developer on Overwolf has a unique story to tell, their drive and effort create new ways to experience and interact with our favorite games. Without them, we wouldn’t exist. That’s why we would like to share these stories with you — starting with Junior, the creator behind League Tracker.

What is your name, age and where are you from?

My name is Amer Yono Jr. I’m 21 years old, from San Diego, California.

What are your hobbies and interests?

In my spare time, I enjoy coding and playing League of Legends. I am currently Platinum in three roles; jungle, ADC, and support. I’ve been trying to push ranks and currently working to reach Diamond by the end of the season in at least one of my roles.

How long have you been gaming, what’s your favorite game?

I have been gaming ever since I was in elementary school. I really enjoyed playing COD Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, and Black Ops 2. As I got older, a friend of mine got me into League of Legends and I’ve been hooked on it ever since. I still love playing other games, but my go-to game is definitely League.

What got you into programming?

I was 16 years old and a friend of mine asked me to help develop an app for his local church. The app was called Taksa, which translates to Liturgy. At the time, I didn’t know how to program, but for some reason I was really passionate about making a program work. So I downloaded Xcode and had a lot of trial and error, until the app was ready and turned into a real source for the church. I fell in love with programming ever since, and have a serious ambition for it.

What initially got you interested in creating content for League of Legends?

When I play League of Legends, I would say that I’m very competitive. Because of this, I tried finding ways to gain advantages over the enemy. More specifically around how often each champion uses their summoner spells and abilities. As I played, I wished for there to be an overlay that tracks summoner spells. I noticed there was something lacking in the overlays available, so I decided to create it to help all players push in ranks.

How did you come up with the idea for LeagueTracker?

I saw that big streamers were using the in-game chat to copy and paste enemy summoner spell timers, which was pretty cool because everyone on the team knew an estimate of when a spell would be up. I understood that people wanted to have the extra edge on enemies, but I felt like using the in-game chat was not the best in terms of execution. We needed an easier, less annoying way to communicate very crucial timers. So I decided to build an app that allows teams to have synced enemy summoner spell timers.

For those unfamiliar with LeagueTracker, can you tell us what the app does and what’s unique about it?

LeagueTracker is an overlay that helps track all sorts of aspects of gameplay. The main functionality is to track all summoner spells with a click of a button. It is not limited to this, you are also able to track all champion abilities, as well as Zhonya’s Hourglass timers. LeagueTracker syncs these spells with all of your teammates and provides a notification alert when the timer is nearing the end of its cooldown.

Since when have you been developing it?

I‘ve been working on the development of LeagueTracker since August 2020.

What were your struggles with development?

At first, even just getting started was the hardest part for me. It felt like there were so many things to learn. One step at a time, I started familiarizing myself with the structure of how exactly an Overwolf app works. From all the different types of window settings Overwolf provides, and even just learning JavaScript, which is the core language to all the functionalities I would need to create my app. I didn’t know any JavaScript before starting LeagueTracker, which is why it was so difficult for me.

Why did you decide to develop with the Overwolf framework?

Overwolf is a platform that provides developers with easy-to-manage windows and game event APIs. To make an app, you need to know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I already knew HTML and CSS, so I figured that learning JavaScript could not be that hard. So I sent an app submission on the Overwolf website explaining my passion and ambition about the idea of LeagueTracker, and they responded positively — giving me the motivation and approval to work on this idea.

What are your thoughts on the Overwolf developer community?

The Overwolf developer community is always there for me. No matter the question, I know that if I ask for help, they will gladly guide me towards the solution.

How did you join the internship?

I’m currently a college student at California State University San Marcos pursuing my Bachelor’s of Science in Software Engineering. I knew that at some point I would need to get an internship to help get a job later down the road as a Software Engineer. So I asked my developer manager Jason if Overwolf does internships. They didn’t at the time, but Jason talked to some people at Overwolf and made the idea happen. He really supported me through the development of LeagueTracker and there’s no way I could thank him enough.

What happened during that time?

During the internship, I primarily worked with three people at Overwolf: Jason (my app manager), Jasmin (product designer), and Arthur (product manager). I learned so much about the thought process of designing and implementing an app. We all worked on the aesthetics of the app and challenged ourselves to make it provide even more value. They had some great ideas that really took the app to a whole new level.

How did Overwolf help you?

Ever since I started creating my app, Overwolf has helped me excel as a developer. I’ve never learned so much information in such a small amount of time. I now know how to develop server-sided functions in Node.js, store data in a NoSQL database, and develop websites in React. Overwolf provided a safe space for my creative self to thrive as a programmer.

What did you take away from it?

Take your chances. If you have an idea that can offer something new, bring it to the table. It’s great to dream, but it means nothing if you can’t get started. Don’t let the how stop you from reaching your goals. Take everything one step at a time and keep grinding until you succeed.

What does the future hold for LeagueTracker and where do you see yourself going as a developer?

LeagueTracker is just the beginning. I hope to continue to grow as a developer and bring my skills to a level I could never imagine.