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, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 18:57:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: GregSmith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Dependence on Programming Experts
To: [email protected]
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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.
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