That’s what the app is looking like right now. I’ve spent most of the weekend working on the design for the interface and any problems that came up with the images I’d drawn out in sketch form earlier this week.
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Solving Simple Problems
February 15, 2012 – 9:33 pm
Here's an example of a boolean value in Java Script, the kind of raw code that goes into my drag and drop feature.
About a week ago, when I was still working on the drag and drop feature on my game I realised how important it is to check for simple errors in the coding. Using a series of tutorials and forum posts on how to craft a drag and drop inventory in Construct 2, I coded each of the elements so that they could be picked up and dragged.
The next problem with the coding that I had to overcome, was making each of the elements which are dragged, return to their original position when they’re not dropped in the right place. So if a body part is dropped on the wrong place in the body, it automatically jumps back to the inventory so that the user can have another go. Similarly if the body part is dropped over empty space, nowhere near the body the same thing would happen.
The First Sketches
February 8, 2012 – 2:56 pm
Over the past two nights, I have been working on sketches for the layout of my app and the content of the various parts of the game from which I will be able to create a rough demo. It’s important for me to work on some initial coding for this app, making use of my sketches, so that I can get an understanding of how certain parts of the code work.
The first image I created was this layout of a human body (outline only) and some main body parts (heart, lungs etc. etc.) which I will use to make the first evolution of the app, a way of testing the drag and drop features.
Testing and Coding the Drag and Drop
February 4, 2012 – 11:30 am
Last night, I worked on coding the main frame of my finished app, the drag and drop features. In Construct 2 I found tutorials and work from other designers who had created drag and drop features to work out what events I needed to happen and the click, hold down and release of the left mouse key.
At first I just used a variable called “dragged” and set it to zero or one depending on whether the mouse button was clicked. So, if the the left mouse button was clicked on the heart for example, dragged would change to one (or positive) and then if left mouse button is held down and dragged=1, the heart element would lock to the mouse point. Then if the left mouse button is released, the variable dragged is returned to zero and the whole process can start again. That processed gave me something like the image you see below, however it wasn’t a full-proof solution as I noticed the elements collided with each other and I worked out that the coding was messy and some of the elements were reading code from other elements instead of being stand-alone.
The first test of the drag and drop features in my app, as you can see the elements were colliding and the Human Body on a desk was suddenly replaced with a second instance of the kidney (the body part I was dragging at the time).
Work In Progress Presentation
February 4, 2012 – 11:17 am
Here’s a presentation I created and presented on my work in progress, based around the initial proposal this gives further information on my inspiration and initial research:
Portrayals of Frankenstein and others.
February 1, 2012 – 9:45 am
The starting point for this project, was originally a text by Mary Shelly called “Frankenstein.” No doubt you’ve heard of it, many of you will have read it at school as I did. However, what got me really thinking about this project was considering the various portrayals of Frankenstein in the Media and other texts, characters and media creations which bear similarities to the story of Frankenstein.
At first, I’m openly willing to admit, my view of Frankenstein is one of a man with a square head and a metal screw through his neck. Oh, and he has green skin! This is the traditional form of Frankenstein as seen in children’s animations. I’ve included a picture below and it must have been one that I saw at an early age, because it’s what has stuck with me and if ever you ask me to think of Frankenstein that’s the image I’ll picture in my head.
The Game Engine (software)
January 28, 2012 – 10:23 am
For the past few days, I’ve been using the word “game” as a loose defintion of the final product I am looking to create. Although it is an education app, in some forms it bears similarity to a flash game, or a facebook game.
Having scoured online for tutorials and details about how I might go about creating an app for the Ipad or Android markets, I came across a piece of software called Contstruct 2. Available in both a free and a paid for form currently, Contstruct 2 allows the user to create, build and code a HTML5 game using an interface rather than raw code. I like to think it works in a similar way to Dreamwaever where by I could create a product in design format (much more my forte) and then go into the coding to tweak the basics which are set out in design view.
Term 2 Project Proposal Form
January 26, 2012 – 5:19 pm
What is the intended idea / concept behind the proposed project or animated short?
I will be developing an interactive app for school children studying science in the national curriculum, Key Stage 1.
The app will teach children about the basics of the human body and what makes us different to other animals, primarily through a use of the ‘drag and drop’ features in HTML5 in a similar style to the board game ‘Operation.’ In this example, the user has to drop body parts into their correct location without hitting the sensors, and while the functionality of my app will differ, the basic principle of lining up body parts with their correct location will remain the same.
Garage Creation (Maya 1)
January 21, 2012 – 11:15 pm
Last night and today I’ve been working at understanding the basics of Maya, the animation and modelling software that I may well be using for cut scenes and graphics in my final educational based project.
For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be working from the Autodesk book “Learning Maya.” Initially I’ve been working on modelling a scene in which a number of charecter and object animations will later take place. There are various stages to this kind of modelling, however it mainly consists of creating objects from basic household shapes like cubes and spheres which means that it’s not too hard for those who aren’t so well versed in Maya, to have a go.
An Ipad Layout Excerise
January 19, 2012 – 4:01 pm
In the initial stages of my project planning, alongside my idea research, I’ll be undertaking a series of excerises to further development my creation skills. These will primarily focus on the design and coding behind apps for the Ipad and geo-based tagging, from which I should be able to draw some ideas about where I want to go with my end product.
For the first of these excercises, I looked at using Adobe Photoshop CS5 in a different way to work from a product design point of view. This includes setting snap grids and rules to ensure an equal layout for elements of the Ipad app and then drafting in the placement of buttons and screen elements.