Scrolling Background

Today marks the day we begin our own assignments as groups in the action script tutorials. The first tutorial for our team, Klangfarbenmelodie, is called "Scrolling Backgrounds."

Very simple instructions, it's basically a tutorial reminding the reader of the importance of differentiating layers. I'm fairly certain ambiguity in the layering is what causes most problems in creating scrolling backdrops because, while the code is not easily memorized, there are a plethora of resources online to find the proper code. The zip file contains a finished product, which makes review much easier. A finished product should always be included in a Flash tutorial, I believe.

Learning From Others

Today our topic is "Learning From Others," obviously. It's not what I expected at all. I thought it would be a review or critique day; I usually like those days. Alas, it is more a topic on how to copy code from a specific source, which, I'll admit, is infinitely useful in a more cryptic way.

The main tutorial was on the actual wiki. This makes things a good bit easier. The assignment seemed more mental than proving one is able to execute the process, as it is such a simple process, proof is probably not needed. I would think the "moral" of this subject pertains more to being able to view other's works to see exactly how they did a particular action, not being able to copy something verbatim.

I found no tutorials that would really help with what I'm doing in my game at this very moment, as the links given seemed too general. (The word "flash" typed into a browser doesn't seem as helpful as I'd like it to be.)

Programming

Today's topic is programming, so we watched a short video on the subject.

The video seemed helpful, instilling the fundamentals of our action panel. It made sure to stress the importance of our global function books, which I had been overlooking for so long. I'd have to locate very specific tutorials to find, well, almost any sort of code I needed. I now realize that this additional work is nearly always pointless, as the books contain most, if not all, of the code I could ever need.

Also, as a class, we were asked to find one tutorial that will help us exponentially in our game. The biggest issue we have in our game is adding collision detection to one of Heath's scenes, so the collision detection tutorial will probably be the most helpful at this point.

The site with the collision detection tutorial:
http://www.kirupa.com/developer/actionscript/hittest.htm

Actionscript and Problems

Well, it's been almost two weeks that we've not been in class. I was dreadfully bored the entire time, honestly, but that's not the point of this post. In this post, we've been instructed to discuss our experience in action scripting before the break, and the problems we may have had with the website.

There were a few problems with a link, the video and, for me, the code we were told to download. The third problem being caused by my personal computer, not the actual site. Watching the video out of sync for a second time didn't really both me; I still understood the key points. The problem with the link was annoying, though.

When I began playing with the numbers on the Frogger-esque example, I had fun. Making the speeds irrational, increasing the number of spawning enemies, the things one always wishes he or she could do in a video game. So, I honestly couldn't complain about the experience, the two problems on the site are easy to overlook, as the basic tutorials cover most aspects of the assignment. The only thing we're missing out on, as a class, are the more elaborate details.

Presentation

So, Tuesday we did a presentation to illustrate how the process of making our game is going. We're not exactly finished, of course, but that's not the point of our first presentation.

As for the video of our actual presentation, the quality isn't exactly great. I'm not sure if my voice is intelligible or even audible, but Heath and his cowbell are heard very easily!

Our presentation:
Klangfarbenmelodie - Game Presentation

Career Blog

The class has been asked to do a blog answering the question I feel students are asked all too often: which career we plan to pursue, and how this class may help us pursue it.

I don't know what I want to do anymore. I don't enjoy any subject other than Literature, but my writing is not particularly astounding, especially my first person. However, I feel language is the only arbitrary thing I or, as well as I know, anyone can partake in. An escape from the uncontrollable world to a mental location which allows one to create a universe that abides to reason or doesn't claim it. This is what makes me want to write, but I fear notoriety will never be gained; I'm no Wilde, Kafka or Salinger, even.

Anyway, to the second half of the question, how this class can help me. Well, practice with the first person through these blogs has been nice. Although, my more formally written works will still be in the third, as they should. Also, I assume I will end up in, what will feel to me, a soul devouring job which will require some level of technological savvy.

All apologies if this seems a bit pessimistic; I'm usually much more positive.

Adding Interaction (Revisiting Dated Assignment)

A combination of a holiday break and excessive school cancellations due to weather has halted our project for, I believe, three weeks. Before the break, I had finished one of our side project, Adding Interaction.

If memory serves, it was, as usual, fairly simple. Two layers, one of a background, another of an object that is supposed to appear as though it is moving in the environment. A bit of directional coding from an instructional website was also required. I believe I made a spaceship float in what appeared to be supernova; I may have been on a Sagan kick.

Come to think of it, I've never really been on a "Sagan kick." I read 'The Cosmos,' and left it at that. Sorry, I end every entry with some clarity providing digression.