Dependence on Programming Experts

[Randy Hengst]

Hi Greg,

A Rev newbie response for you.

I played with HyperCard a bit in the mid 90s -- bought several books  
on scripting in HyperTalk and was able after taking apart the scripts  
of others build some useable educational games for elementary school  
kids. By the way, Cosmic Osmo was (is) a HyperCard stack(s).

I then moved to HyperStudio because of its cross-platform abilities.  
Its scripting language (HyperLogo) is based, as you might guess, on  
Logo. So, it felt awkward to use since it isn't the same language as  
HyperTalk, but the basic ideas are similar. I bought books and went  
through the HyperStudio/HyperLogo tutorials. I've developed about 40  
projects for elementary aged kids. There also was a very active  
HyperLogo list serve that was helpful for getting quick answers to  
questions.

I've now been playing with Rev on and off (as time has allowed) for  
about a year. The transition from Logo to Transcript has been a bit  
award, but again, the basics are the same as I used before.

The catch for you is to get the basics. You're right -- in one sense  
-- about the tutorial issue. There isn't one handy place to go -- one  
book to read. However, Dan's book has been mentioned and others have  
offered places to look. Take advantage of the video tutorials on the  
Rev website, go through the scripting conferences that are also  
available on the site. Ask questions on the this list and review the  
archives. There is a language you need to learn. And, if you're  
anything like me, there will be a bit of feeling like you've been  
dropped down in a foreign land where you must learn the language by  
hearing it and using it.

But, for all this to make sense and for you to get an idea of what  
the "basics" are for your needs, you need a project. You need an  
audience.  How about doing something that got me started? Make  
something for kids to play with -- I used my kids, but there are  
plenty around. Or, how about picking your favorite card (spot) in  
Myst and trying to make it work? -- like how to get over to the clock  
tower. Or, drag out your copy of Cosmic Osmo and try to duplicate  
some of its functionality? You'll need to hide and show things, play  
sounds, define hot spots.  I bet mouseEnter, mouseLeave, and play  
audioClip will be handy. You could likely recreate one of those  
scenes without defining one variable. But, as you're making the  
scene, you might think -- how do I know what order the user clicked  
on the hot spot? Or, maybe you'll want to make sure the user clicks  
spot xxx before spot zzz. Then, you'll have a reason to store  
something in a container (variable) to retrieve at another point.

Rev is much more powerful than HyperStudio -- and, hence, will take  
more time to master. But, I don't expect to ever learn it all in Rev.  
In fact, I won't learn anything else in Rev -- until some project I  
dream up needs it.  Heck, after 7 years of using HyperLogo I didn't  
know it all there either. But, each project I created helped me learn  
some new bit of scripting that I hadn't needed before or helped me  
refine by scripting technique to make things faster or less cumbersome.

So enjoy the intellectual and creative opportunities Rev offers and  
start scripting.

Well, enough of my ramblings...

take care,
randy hengst
-----
On Jul 6, 2006, at 2:06 AM, use-revolution-request at lists.runrev.com  
wrote:

> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 18:57:19 -0700 (PDT)
> From: GregSmith <brucegregory at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: Dependence on Programming Experts
> To: use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> Message-ID: <5192582.post at talk.nabble.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968
>
>
> Bj?rnke:
>
> I didn't specifiy precisely what it is I want to achieve in my last  
> post
> because it was already long enough.  I actually have several different
> projects in mind that I would, before I die, like to try to  
> accomplish, but
> don't know if they are realistic for one guy, working alone.  I  
> know I can
> do the graphics and the basic interactivity, but these projects go  
> deeper
> than that:
>
> 1.  The adventure game "kit" to end them all.  I don't play many  
> games, and
> the only ones I found to be engaging were the ancient ones like  
> King's Quest
> and Myst.  King's Quest, because it was cheerful, pleasant, encouraged
> thinking and had some mystery  -  and, best of all, it was full of  
> fantasy -
> and bloodless, for the most part.  Myst, because it took you to  
> large empty
> places and let you look around, all over the place, solve moderately
> difficult puzzles, read a story and . . .    look all over the  
> place . . .
> and hear strange sounds and music.  Pretty mindless, but it kept  
> you going
> and was a good sequel to Cosmic Osmo, which I also liked a lot.