[Squeakland] City Project

[Yoshiki.Ohshima at acm.org]

  Hello,

> 1. test collisions
>     right now, I have "color see" test script in my project but have tried
>     "touchesA" and "Overlap" as well. In all cases, didn't work.
>     (for the last 2, it won't work since ladybug siblings are not "look a
> like")
> 
>     --> Is there any other ways to test collisions?

  Color sees is usually the easiest to work with.

  In your example, I see some references in the scripts are not quite
correct.  For example, the color sees test in the "testcollision"
script of lady2 should be testing the color of "lady2's", not
"lady's".  Also, maybe it is your intension, but not all necessary
tests are not get started with "startLadybugs" script.

  I'd recommend to use the color of each bugs, not the tactiles.  That
would make it easier to see if it is really looking at the color
interested.

  Also, if you are going to have only four bugs, I would stay away
from "siblings" feature.  It can be sometimes confusing.

>     --> Is there an efficient way to stop registering multiple collisions
> with
>         "touchesA" or "Overlaps" when having considerably large images?

  If you use color sees, one way to handle this is change the color
(or costume) of the bug for one or two seconds.  During this time, the
color sees test will return false and those two object will pass by
each other.

> 2. Making a turn
>     --> at turns, I'd like ladybugs to make a smooth turn rather than a
> quick 90
>      degrees turn. How can it be done? Any suggestions?

  You could add a boolean instance variable named something like
"turning" and create a script that only executes when this variable is
true and gradually turns the object.

> Ultimate goal of this project is allowing users to assign landmarks to each
> ladybug and see how well they find ways to reach each goal.
> (also the collisions will be counted)
> Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

  I would also like to comment to your "NOTES":-)

> ARROW
> why arrow won't allow you to make a straight holizontal or vertical
> line? Why it "flys" away when try to resize using halo resize icon?

  I don't know what you mean by flys away, but you can get handles by
selecting show handles in red-halo menu.

> CONNECTOR
> why we cannot get rid of red blocks?

  Which is this connector you are using?

> HALO-MENU
> when allowing menu to stay (by clicking the pin on the
> right upper corner) why pull down menus no longer show up
> automatically? need to keep mouse-down for long time is inefficient
> since it is more likely that you may release the mouse where you're
> not intended to,

  Ah, this must be the feature^^;)

> LOAD PROJECT
> why do we have to select [squeaklets] evey time we load projects? By
> default, projects are saved in that file. When we load project,
> [squeaklets] file should be highlighted by default as well.

  I guess you're right.  It feels asymmetric.  I guess the design is
intended to use with SuperSwiki.

> PAINTER
> why won't it remember the previous status? (that is, the last color or
> brush or line that was used for that perticular image)

  At least you have globally remembered colors.  Also you can use the
eye-dropper/syringe thing to pick the color up in the image.

> also, I initially drew central white line using painter... as one
> large image. Once I save and reload the file, the image is distorted
> and no longer functional. I tested several times and the outcome was
> same. why does it do that?

  Sounds like a (familiar) bug.

> PAINTER
> zoom in/out will be a good feature

  The little two-boxes icon on the right edge of onion skin does this,
if it is what you're looking for.  Alternatively, you can always draw
a big image and then shrink it down afterwards by yellow-halo.

> TABBEDPALLETE
>why not by default it's parts bin?  Also, when placing ARROW inside
>it, somehow it chnages the status of arrow and I found myself having
>countless numbers of arrow copies in it.

> SIBLIBNG: LOOK LIKE ME
> When I choose this option, it not only unifies the color/width but
> also the heading as well. Why is that?

  Must be a feature^^;)  What to do with this feature would not have
a single answer, though.

> SLOW MOTION
> when running testing scripts, the motion of ladybugs gets really
> slow. Is there any ways we can speed them up? (note: changing ticking
> rate won't do any good"

  It actually may be hitting the CPU cycle limit.  What you can do
is... buy a faster one.

  If you're a Japanese, check a web site called "Project Okiba."
(http://swikis.ddo.jp/abee/3) There are lots of interesting Japanese
Squeak projects on there.  Note that those projects only load into the
"Nihongo4" version of Squeak.

  Hope this helps,

-- Yoshiki

P.S.
  Yeah, the last paragraph is what I actually wanted to tell^^)