Scratch

Thrystor wrote:

Thrystor wrote:

I'm not a big fan of the Mailinator thing though. Not to say that it wasn't a good idea. But I don't know that I want another e-mail address, especially if it deletes my mail after a while.

Now that I've seen how Mailinator works I'm fine with using it, especially if I'm just using it to get the password.

Yup, can u talk to Blob to arrange a time so you can get the password? (Note t he difference in timezones)

Is it possible to make parts of the game in 2d and parts of it in 3d?

kamesh wrote:

Is it possible to make parts of the game in 2d and parts of it in 3d?

Sure!

And Thrystor, I know what you mean by stamping. However, I feel if Blob and I using our method, it will look MORE 3d. I'm not saying we can't use yours, I'm just saying you should consider our idea. I was just thinking quality over quantity if you what I mean. According to blob, once I make the spaceship model, it only takes him 5 minutes to make the 100 pictures in blender that can be imported as costumes for Scratch sprites. From their, we're already ready to make a 3d-friendly script. Keep In Mind: Blob8108 and I Can Do All The Work With This. You don't need to know anything about Blender, Dropbox, or File Extensions.

Wait, you WILL need to know about Dropbox.

Don't worry, TeamEarth can vote on this. I think we've both said enough for all 16 people on TeamEarth to decide which method they like better. Am I right Thrystor?

Last edited by ads98 (2011-11-05 20:01:11)

Thrystor wrote:

kamesh wrote:

Is it possible to make parts of the game in 2d and parts of it in 3d?

That's a really good idea... I hadn't thought of that.

ads98 wrote:

Don't worry, TeamEarth can vote on this. I think we've both said enough for all 16 people on TeamEarth to decide which method they like better. Am I right Thrystor?

Yeah. we can call a vote. Like I said (Oh, wait- I forgot to say it earlier) though, why don't we each create a sprite using our own methods and see which one we like better? It wouldn't hurt, since I'm not doing anything for the collab right now anyways and the way things are going you'll have to make a spaceship in Blender sooner or later if you haven't already. My biggest problem with the Blender method though is how we're going to program with the 100 costumes of spaceship in Scratch. I've tried using functions with costumes before, and it just doesn't work. So do you have some secret way of doing it, or are we just going to experiment? Sorry if I seem stubborn, but I just don't know how we're going to get this to work.

Well, blob did have a "3d Susanne" project where you click and drag, and the 3d susanne monkey head moves in that direction. You should check it out.

To those who've just joined us:
We're planning to make a game based on the retro game called Elite. Go grab a copy of DOSBox and download the game here to try it out! 

A quick summary: you fly between star systems in your spaceship. You can dock with the space station orbiting each planet to buy and sell goods and upgrade your ship. The prices vary between planets, and they're all different types with different histories. When flying between planets, pirates sometimes attack you; or you can go and attack others!

The view from the spaceship is 3D, but as it's retro, it's very basic 3D and so won't be too difficult to do in Scratch. In fact, something similar has already been done!

I wrote a post here (about halfway down) that explains the game in detail. Go read it!

I hope this helps to bring you up to speed; I wouldn't want you having to read all 1000 posts, most of which are to do with our last, finished project anyhow... 



To get the Dropbox details:
We can't post the password here directly, because we had problems with other people getting into our Dropbox. Here's what you need to do:

> Go make a Mailnator (just make up a random, hard-to-guess name).

> Go to check the inbox for the new email address. At the top in tiny red writing, just below "Inbox for...", it says the alternate email address for that email (eg. M8R-wedrsj@mailinator.com).

> Post the alternate address here, and I'll send you an email telling you how to get onto the Dropbox!

Because you've given me the alternate address, only you will know the actual address, so only you can check the email.

We occasionally have problems with timezones; Mailinator deletes the emails after about 4 hours, so please let me know when you plan to check it, so it doesn't get deleted... 
(I'm in the UK, so I'm usually around in the evenings 'til about 10pm GMT).

ads98 wrote:

Well, blob did have a "3d Susanne" project where you click and drag, and the 3d susanne monkey head moves in that direction. You should check it out.

I'll see if I can find it.

OK. I think GERMANY (dasbloekendeschaf) and the UK (blob) have nearly the same time. @blob: Please try to send the password at M8R-oy9sf9@mailinator.com when schools out.

Umm... why on the Palnetarium of the Ultimate Kitten (yah... i luv to create expressions XD ) didn't anyone said anything about the songs? Shall i change the style?

Alright. I know two ways to use the stamping method- vertical and horizontal. Horizontal is from the bottom-up, and vertical is from the back to the front. Horizontal gives us 360 degree rotation, but no bottom view. It is possible to get a top view. Vertical is everything but the back view. Which method should we use?

infinite_minus_zero wrote:

Blob, can we have a list now? I think everyone not sure what to do for sure. I know im not. On the other hand, I was thinking my thoughts of randomness as I always do, and I think it would be stinking awesome to have team earth shirts XD

Agree- Blob, list? (Just for 2D sprites)

Thrystor wrote:

Send it to: M8R-9726t51@mailinator.com. If you want to send it today, do so either within this hour or at about 9:00 PM (GMT). Then make sure to notify me.

dasbloekendeschaf wrote:

Hm. Somehow my alternative address changed. However. Now it's M8R-n0pwsk@mailinator.com

I sent it to M8R-oy9sf9@mailinator.com, M8R-n0pwsk@mailinator.com, and M8R-9726t51@mailinator.com. I hope some of them work... 
(The time now is 9:00 PM GMT.)

Last edited by blob8108 (2011-11-07 16:20:05)

blob8108 wrote:

Thrystor wrote:

I saw that project and downloaded it. Now I only have two problems with it: First of all, while the 3d graphics work out nicely, the rotation is chunky and not very smooth.

This is true — it can only be rotated to certain values. However, as it's simply changing the costumes, it's really fast to run (important in Scratch, of course). It's relatively simple, I think, and you can use it with models as complicated as needed.

Secondly, and more importantly, it uses WAY more costumes than the stamping would. Why is that a problem? Because images, especially nice-looking ones like those, take up A LOT of space. Look at the monkey- the monkey head alone is 4.1 megabytes!!!

Susanne was just a demo of the method — we can compress the images, and we can reduce the resolution.    Elite is a retro game, so it's supposed to look pixelly — meaning we can get away with using very low resolution images.

Now think of what would happen if we made a game using 100 costumes in each sprite. it could be 20 megabytes for just 5 sprites! We'd never be able to fit it all on the Scratch website! Sure, we could send it to each other and WE could play it, but we wouldn't be able to share it. We'd never come close to the limit, because a game's graphics take up more memory space than the sounds or the program itself. So what's the plan?

I'm not sure you actually need that many 3D sprites, to be honest — you could just have a single 3D spaceship model. If you really wanted to differentiate between the models, you could change their colour within Scratch.
If we do want more, then I'm sure the sprites could be compressed.

There are tradeoffs to using either method; but I think you should all download the game, spend a few hours playing it, (you'll need to grab DosBox) — and then decide what you think.

There's more to the game than just the flying around in the spaceship part: there's a lot of UI that needs to be made for trading, upgrading your ship and the like. All that stuff's purely 2D, of course.

Maybe we shouldn't have 3D at all...? (:
Try playing the game — then you'll know which would be best.
You can do the 3D for this in Scratch, and I know that our method will work. I can't say the same for the stamping method, because I've never used it — I don't think you can make it properly 3D that way, though. Thrystor: Perhaps a link...?

I think we should start of with  2D , then if it is successful, we try to make it 3D.  Agree/Disagree? Either way, Blob, we need a list