Scratch

Greets! As you can see, this place can be kinda harsh as far as getting responses or helpful criticism. I am also new and experience the same thing. I would suggest adding links to any project(s) that you want people to review but even then, who knows. I've learned not to take it too personal. I think it is mainly because of two things... newbies posting projects that are somewhat simple and oldbies who grow tired of seeing the wheel constantly re-invented or pie-in-the-sky projects that never get past step 1.

So don't let this stuff discourage you! I suspect that the visible timer is slowing down game play online. You could keep it invisible until after the race is over. I would also round off the timer using the "round " operater. Sounds are also often more trouble than they are worth but I am on dial-up so it is hard for me to be objective. The marble version had an advantage because the cars images currently do not "rotate" to match changes of direction, which just feels and looks weird. Sprite costume changes can be a lot of work but they are somewhat expected around here. Also, I know you mentioned Marble Racer but I would suggest that if you remix a project, be sure to mention that your version is a remix or else you run the risk of having forum trolls flame you to death. Ah, who am I kidding, that is an inevitability in any forums    (looks around nervously)

Good luck and happy coding!

Way to go! With a positive attitude like that, you'll go as far as you want to. As for sounds, I was speaking in general, not about your game specifically. I haven't messed with them at all so far because my speakers weren't hooked up when I stated with Scratch. But I am a musician who does lots of things on the pc so I have all kinds of audio apps and knowledge. Seems like the biggest complaints I've read were about the size of audio files making projects excessively big for online use. Like all other files. audio can usually be "shrunk" by adjusting bit depth (quality.) This has a more noticeable adverse effect on music and speech type sounds. For something like car engines, you could probably get away with making them smaller no problem. I see I need to familiarize myself with the audio formats acceptable to use in Scratch. Mp3s are already compressed which makes me wonder if Scratch only uses .wavs and if so, what bit depths are enabled. I had a bunch of engine sounds archived somewhere, I will look around in a bit (gotta go pay the water bill lol) otherwise my dialup is terrible for searching the net.
As for mentioning Marble Racer, you did that so good job again. I just thought you meant some console/arcade game, didn't realize it was a remix. The Scratch development team has intentionally crafted this "share and share alike" philosophy into Scratch yet many people are still caught up in this "me, mine" way of thinking. Kind of silly when you consider how often things get re-used or re-discovered around here.
And as for failing, that is a personal thing so don't sweat it. If everything you write is a success, there is still a chance no one will care. Or that someone will whip up a single script, one sprite  application that does something pretty that everyone oohs and ahhhs over instead. Just set goals for yourself. I have many projects under development at the same time as mine typically involve (for me) steep learning curves and wayyyy too many hours at the keyboard. If I did one at a time, I would give up and go away. Instead, I view each big project as an opportunity to learn some programing routine or build on one I just learned. That is the great thing about Scratch. You can fly through new programing concepts and see them in action instantly versus trying to learn some counter-intuitive programing syntax that looks like only a robot or an ancient Egyptian on crack could actually read.

Anyway, off to pay the bill. I have been absent from Scratch and the forums off and on lately as I work part-time and as a volunteer at a local museum. We just used my computer up there for a theater class so no internet at all during that time. Anyway, for now, if you need to reach me just leave a reply to my joke Scratch application here...
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Locomule/716067

or I have a publicly accessible Facebook page, just search for Locomule
..or at my email zac_ray@fastmail.fm although I only check it every few days. I'd be glad to help with anything. Ok, will look for those engine sounds when I get back and post back here then. Peace.

Thanks once again, I'll try and look for some engine sounds online to go with my game, but I've noticed sounds sometimes slow up the gameplay. Is it wavs that Scratch uses?
In V 7.0 of my game, I'm hoping to add a scrolling background, as though you're in a car driving along the road. I noticed you had a scrolling game, is there any way you could give me some advice on implementing it on a race track? What I want is one on a loop so you can take the same lap many times, but with corners and bends etc.
I like your background thingy...
Thanks again for your help...

wow you guys wrote looooonnnnggggg forum posts

don't worry about dano2master, he's on a website I go on...

So you don't mind if I download your game once its up, and then use the same kind of scripts in my game?

Thank you once again, just let me know once you've finished it and I'll download it. I'll make sure that I give credit to you for helping out, like I did for the original versions with Marble Racer.

Also, I was wondering if you had thought of a theme for your gallery, because I was thinking of contributing some games but I didn't want to put anything that doesn't fit in.

So good luck with your racing game, and if you want a tester you know who to ask! 

Late to pick up my wife for lunch!! so I'm gonna post a working but incomplete version, Will add much more later but please give me any comments as far as changes, things you want to add etc. Btw, I just haven't had time to add a lot of the obvious stuff yet but I will asap. Peace.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Locomule/742929

Last edited by Locomule (2009-11-02 12:48:13)

Call it v7.1 instead? Lol, j/k. I added um, I think 3 ideas as a reply to your app. I have a lot more but as usual, I am in a hurry. Here's another though... need to work on the velocity function, make it a little more race car like. I will check out your latest version when I can and be more specific. Other than that, rock on!

Thanks for the suggestions once again, the updated version of the scrolling track (with your suggestions) will indeed be 7.1, but I meant for a whole new version.

Anyway, I'll head over to the All About Scratch forum and continue this discussion...

No, this game is designed to be a more serious game (a little like Gran Turismo perhaps) rather than a more casual game like Mario Kart or whatever with powerups. Any more suggestions?