Tutorial-Alice.pdf

Mr. Giansante

Alice 3D Programming

February ebruar y 2009

Table of Contents Learning Outcomes

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NETS Standards for Students What is Alice?

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4

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5

The Alice Environment Tutorials

3

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6

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7

Example Worlds

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Methods and Events Kangaroo Program

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11

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12

Sample Programs

16

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17

Assignments

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Assignment 1: 20 Second World

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Assignment 2: Interactive W orld

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Assignment 3: Three Minute World

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Assignment 4: Large Interactive W orld

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Animating Character Motion Elements of Game Design

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Storyboard Example

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Storyboard Template

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Pages that need to be printed are marked with a printer icon.

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Posting on YouTube

Storyboards

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10

Detecting Collisions with the Ground

Please consider the environment before printing anything from this document.

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Continuous Motion Shark Program

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PRINTING

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23

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25 26

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Note: Note:

Students will choose either assignment 3 or assignment 4.

3D Programming with Alice - Table of Contents

Learning Outcomes The student will ... General      

Demonstrate proper care of all computer equipment Demonstrate positive attitudes and work habits Demonstrate interpersonal and organizational skills Demonstrate Problem Solving Skills Make Productive Use of Time Demonstrate independence skills and only seek help when necessary

The Alice™ Environment           

Place objects into the Alice World Change properties of the World Manipulate objects (size, orientation) at design time Use the Object Tree to select objects Use the Details Area to manipulate properties Use simple methods such as Move and Turn Use decision statements such as If Else Use repetition structures such as Loop, Do Together and While Play a World Export a World to YouTube Storyboarding a multimedia project -

Advanced     

Create Methods Add a Key Typed Event Add a Mouse Clicked Event Add Mouse Clicked Details Use the Object Clicked On

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3D Programming with Alice - Page 3

NETS Standards for Students National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S) and Performance Indicators for Students "What students should know and be able to do to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world ..." 1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students: a. b. c. d.

apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. create original works as a m eans of personal or group expression. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

2. Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a. b. c. d.

interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

3. Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: a. b. c. d.

plan strategies to guide inquiry. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and m edia. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. process data and report results.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: a. b. c. d.

identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

5. Digital Citizenship Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students: a. b. c. d.

advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students: a. b. c. d.

understand and use technology systems. select and use applications effectively and productively. troubleshoot systems and applications. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

© 2007 International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

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What is Alice? Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a free and open source object oriented educational programming language with an integrated development environment (IDE). Alice uses a drag and drop environment to create computer animations using 3D models. -

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Alice allows users to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games. In Alice, 3 D objects populate a virtual world and the programmer can write code to animate the objects. -

Alice was developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. The project leader was the late Randy Pausch, famous for his "The Last Lecture" (look it up on YouTube).

VIDEO Before starting this unit, watch the following videos: Alice Promo.wmv (8 minutes) Alice Demonstration.wmv (12 minutes) Inserting Objects.wmv (7 minutes) Basic Animation.wmv (9 minutes)

The current version is Alice 2.0 The latest beta version is Alice 2.2 Game maker Electronic Arts (EA) has agreed to help underwrite the development of Alice 3.0 and provide essential arts assets from The Sims™ the best selling PC video game of all time. The Sims content will transform the Alice software from a crude, 3D programming tool into a compelling and user friendly programming environment. Experts predict that when the transformation is complete, the new programming environment will be in position to become the national standard for teaching software programming. -

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Sources: alice.org, WikiPedia.org

NOTE Alice Website

From the Alice website, you can download Alice onto your home computer. You can also download additional 3D models. www.alice.org

Alice 2.0

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Alice 3.0 Featuring characters from The Sims™


The Alice Environment

World Window It shows you the world you are building.

Events Area It allows you to tell Alice when to make certain objects do certain things.

Object Tree It contains a list of the objects in your world.

Details Area It provides more information about the world or an object in the world.

Editor Area It allows you to make objects in your world do new things like move and spin.

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3D D Programming with Alice - Page 6

Tutorials When you start Alice, the following window should appear (you may need to click on the "Tutorial" tab). If the window does not appear, go to File | New World Complete the four tutorials included with Alice.

Tutorial 1

This tutorial will introduce you to the basics of Alice.

Tutorial 2

In this tutorial, you will learn how to teach Alice worlds and objects how to do new things.

Tutorial 3

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make Alice worlds respond to mouse clicks and key presses.

Tutorial 4

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create your own scenes.

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Example Worlds Once you have completed the four tutorials, you should explore some of the example worlds that come with Alice. When you start Alice, the following window should appear (you will need to click on the "Examples" tab). If the window does not appear, go to File | New World

Example World - lakeSkater

This example world is a very good example of what you can do using Alice.

Example World - amusementPark

Use the arrow keys to navigate through the Amusement Park world.

Example World - flightSimulator

Use the arrow keys to turn plane left/right/up/down. Use the Space Bar to make the plane do a barrel roll. Go through all 5 rings to get a prize. Example World - snowLove

This example is a good guide for the first assignment "10 Second World".

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Methods and Events A Method is a sequence of instructions that will be carried out when requested.

A Primitive Method is a Method that characters already know how to perform. Examples:

move turn say

orientTo(asSeenBy) roll(direction,amount) playSound(sound)

A Custom Method is a Method that is specific to a particular object. For example, an object constructed from the Penguin class has the following custom methods in addition to the primitive methods: wing_flap jumping turn_head_right walk

glide jump turn_head_left walking

In addition to the primitive methods and the custom methods, it is also possible for the programmer to create their own new methods for objects. These are known as User Created Methods.

An Event is some signal or action that can be detected and responded to by a program. Examples:

World starts The mouse is clicked on an object The user presses a key

An Event Handler is a method that performs some action when a particular event is triggered

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Kangaroo Program The following program will make a kangaroo jump forward three times. The first command makes the kangaroo move up (jump) up 0.5 meters. The second command makes the kangaroo move forward 1 meter. Because they are in a "Do Together" loop, the two actions will happen simultaneously.

Now, we need to make the kangaroo return to the ground. The first command makes the kangaroo move down 0.5 meters. The second command makes the kangaroo move forward 1 meter. Because they are in a "Do Together" loop, the two actions will happen simultaneously.

The above code, when done in sequence, will result in the kangaroo jumping forward once. The kangaroo will reach a height of 0.5 meters and will have travelled a total of 2 meters (1 meter on the way up, and 1 meter on the way down). We can repeat this process 3 times by simply placing the above code in a "Loop" structure.

The motion could be made more realistic by turning the kangaroo's legs slightly when it jumps up and also when it lands.

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Continuous Motion This world will illustrate how to create a simple game in which the user can control a rabbit. The idea will be that the user does not have to constantly press a key to make the rabbit move, but rather that the rabbit will constantly move forward. The user will be able to turn the rabbit left or right.

Create the method to turn the rabbit right ...

Create the method to turn the rabbit left ...

Create the method to constantly move the rabbit forward ...

Note the use of "Loop Infinity Times" as well as "Wait" Finally, create events the trigger the methods you have just created ...

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Shark Program - Part Part 1 In this example, we will create a world with a shark that can be controlled by the user. The user will be able to turn the shark left or right, using the "left" and "right" arrow keys. The user will be able to move the shark forward, using the "up" arrow key. If the user clicks on one of the scuba divers, the shark will turn to face the scuba diver and then swim to it. Begin by creating a new world using the water template.

Add one shark object (found in the "animal" category). Add four scuba diver objects (found in the "people" category).

Arrange the items as indicated in the picture above. Note: You will need to move the scuba diver down into the water.

Select the Shark object.

Create a New Method.

Name the Method " turnLeft".

In the shark.turnLeft code area, enter the following:

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Shark Program - Part Part 2 Create a New Method.

Name the Method " turnRight".

In the shark.turnRight code area, enter the following:


Name the Method " swim".

In the shark.swim code area, enter the following:

The swimming motion could be made more realistic by having the shark's body move left and right a small amount, but for simplicity, we will not do that.


Name the Method " gotoObject".

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Shark Program - Part Part 3 Create a New Parameter

Name the Parameter: supper

In the shark.gotoObject code area, enter the following:

Now, we need to create Events and link them to the Methods we have created.

You will need to do this four times (once for each of the Events listed below, excluding the first one which is automatically there).

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Shark Program - Part Part 4 We will now add code to the program that will allow the shark to submerge. The [SPACE] bar will control the sharks postion. If the shark is above the water and the [SPACE] bar is pressed, it will submerge. If the shark is below the water and the [SPACE] bar is pressed, it will return to the surface. Declare a Boolean (True or False) Variable in the Shark’s properties ...

The initial value of the variable is false since the Shark is at the surface. Create the Method to turn the submerge or surface the Shark ...

Finally, create an Event that will trigger the above Method when the [SPACE] bar is pressed.

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Detecting Collisions with the Ground It is often useful to determine if an object has crashed with the ground (ex. flight simulator program). The distance to function is not ideal since it measures the distance from the center of the object to the center of the ground. So, unless the object is directly over the center of the ground, it will not produce the desired effect. We need to use the distance above function. Inserting the distance above method into an If Then statement is a bit tricky. -

Begin by inserting the If Then statement. -

Now, insert a function from the Math category of the World's available functions into the condition part of the If Then. -

Functions available in the Math category of the World's functions ... Equal to Not Equal to Great Than Greater Than or Equal to LessThan Less Than or Equal to

Finally, you can insert the distance above function from the object (in this case, a Blimp). The best place to insert the If Then statement is immediately after you move the object down. -

The code above simly set's the Blimp object's opacity to 50% when it hits the ground.

Mr. Giansante


Sample Programs Open the following sample programs and play the worlds. You can view the code to determine how certain effects were achieved. Bouncing Ball.a2w Dragon Circling Castle.a2w Dragon Descends to Drawbridge.a2w Dragon Flapping Wings.a2w Dragon Shaking Head.a2w Girl Approaching Horse.a2w Girl Riding Horse.a2w Helicopter Flight Simulator.a2w Jumping Fish.a2w Marching Soldier.a2w Wizard and Trolls.a2w

Posting on YouTube It is possible to export Alice worlds to video. Note: The newest beta release of Alice (Alice 2.2) has this function built in. -

VIDEO Watch the following videos: Posting on YouTube Part 1 -

Posting on YouTube Part 2 -

Posting on YouTube Part 3 -

Mr. Giansante


Animating Character Motion

Source: J. Foley www.erain.com

Mr. Giansante


Elements of Game Design Game Development is the software development process by which a video game is developed. Development is undertaken by a game developer, which may range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop. Indie games can take less time and can be produced cheaply by individuals and small developers. The indie game industry has seen a rise in recent years with the growth of new online distribution systems and the mobile game market. Mainstream games are generally developed in phases. First, in pre production, pitches, prototypes, and game design documents are written. If the idea is approved and the developer receives funding, a full scale development begins. This usually involves a 20–100 man team of various responsibilities, such as designers, artists, programmers, testers, etc. -

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Source: Wikipedia.org Video game development -

Game Design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. Game design requires artistic and technical competence as well as writing skills.

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Source: Wikipedia.org Game design -

Components of a Game A game is made up of elements that work closely together. Space

The look and feel of a game come from the design of its space.

Compontents

Compontents are the parts of your game like your avatar, blocks and enemies. These are known as "nouns".

Mechanics

Mechanics are the actions in the game like jumping or collecting. These are known as "verbs".

Goals

Players try to achieve goals to win the game. Victory Conditions Actions that will result in a player(s) winning the game. Failure Conditions Actions that will result in a player(s) losing the game. -

Rules

Rules guide the player on how the game should be played.

Source: GameMaker documentation, FETC 2012 Presentation.

Challenge vs. Reward The best video games balance challenge and reward. Bad video games have too much challenge and/or little reward. Good video games also have "replay value". In other words, something about the game makes players want to play it many times.

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Storyboards A storyboard can be loosely defined as a visual script. That visual script is a sort of comic strip, based on a written script. A good storyboard clearly and explicitly explains what happens in a film (for instance), where it happens, and how it happens.

Storyboard Example A scene from "Moon Escape", by Josh Sheppard

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Storyboard Example The storyboard example on the previous page was produced by professional designer. Such results are very time consuming and require specialized drawing skills. For the purposes of this class, you should use the storyboard template on the following page and the results should look something like the example below. -

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Title:

Page _____ of _____

by:

Date:

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Mr. Giansante

Lincoln High School

Mr. Giansante

Mark (10)

3D Programming with Alice

20 Second World

Assignment Description Create a 20 second Alice world. A good example of what your finished product should look like is the snowLove world that can be found in the example worlds that come with Alice. However, your world should contain a minimum of 10 objects and last a minimum of 20 seconds. You must submit a storyboard for approval before starting this project. Storyboard should be 1 to 2 pages.

Please fill out all the information in this column using a pen before getting this assignment marked.

Production  

_____________________________________________ Name

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4 Marks

Minimum length requirement met Indicative of amount of time allotted Storyboard turned in Storyboard complete and accurate

_____________________________________________ Date 

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Computer Science Computer Applications

Block

Animation

4 Marks

Academic Honesty 

The work I am submitting is completely my own creation and has not been copied from anyone else's work. If I have received help on this project, the names of those who have assisted are listed below.

  

Realistically Timed Smooth Animation Animation is not limited to a few objects Simple Methods are used (example: move, turn)

_____________________________________________ Signature

Advanced  Camera Motion  Object Re sizing  Complex Methods are used (example: turntoface, moveto) -

2 Marks

Lincoln High School

Mr. Giansante


Mark (20)

Interactive World

Assignment Description Create an Interactive Alice World. A good starting point is the flightSimulator and amusementPark worlds that can be found in the example worlds that come with Alice. The "Shark Program" example in these notes can also serve as a simple guideline. Your world should contain a minimum of 20 objects. You must submit a storyboard for approval before starting this project. Storyboard should be 1 to 2 pages.


Production  

_____________________________________________

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5 Marks

Indicative of amount of time allotted Storyboard turned in Storyboard complete and accurate

Name

_____________________________________________ Date 

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Block

Animation  

Academic Honesty The work I am submitting is completely my own creation and has not been copied from anyone else's work. If I have received help on this project, the names of those who have assisted are listed below.

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10 Marks

Realistically Timed Smooth Animation Animation is not limited to a few objects A variety of Methods are used Sound and/or Music is used

_____________________________________________ Signature

Interactivity  The user can control the motion of an object(s) or the camera.  The program responds to key presses  The program responds to mouse clicks  The user is given feedback

5 Marks

Lincoln High School

Mr. Giansante

Mark (100)


3 Minute World

Assignment Description Create a 3 minute Alice world that is similar to a movie (ie. limited or no user interaction). Make sure you avoid ...

This is a major assignment. You will have roughly five to six weeks to complete it. Marks will be indicative of effort, time spent and quality of the finished product.

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You must submit a storyboard for approval before starting this project. Storyboard should be 3 to 5 pages.


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References to alcohol and drugs Scenes involving or related to sex Scenes involving or related to violence Scenes that could be hurtful to others

Pre-Production  

10 Marks

Storyboard turned in Storyboard complete and accurate

_____________________________________________ Name

Production

_____________________________________________ Date

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Block

10 Marks

Minimum length requirement met Indicative of amount of time allotted Original Storyline and Plot

Animation 

Academic Honesty

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40 Marks

Realistically Timed Smooth Animation Animation is not limited to a few objects Simple Methods are used (example: move, turn)

Advanced

30 Marks

_____________________________________________ Signature

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Camera Motion Object Re sizing Complex Methods are used (example: turntoface, moveto) -

Sound and Music    

10 Marks

Background Music Sound Effects (pre recorded) Sound Effects (custom made) Recorded Voice -

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Lincoln High School

Mr. Giansante

Mark (100)


Large Interactive World

Assignment Description Create a large interactive Alice world. A good starting point is the flightSimulator and amusementPark worlds that can be found in the example worlds that come with Alice.

Make sure you avoid ... 

This is a major assignment. You will have roughly five to six weeks to complete it. Marks will be indicative of effort, time spent and quality of the finished product.

  

References to alcohol and drugs Scenes involving or related to sex Scenes involving or related to violence Scenes that could be hurtful to others

You must submit a storyboard for approval before starting this project. Storyboard should be 3 to 5 pages.


Pre-Production  

10 Marks

Storyboard turned in Storyboard complete and accurate

_____________________________________________ Name

Production

_____________________________________________ Date 

_________




 

10 Marks

Indicative of amount of time allotted Original Storyline and Plot

Animation

30 Marks

Block  

Academic Honesty

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Realistically Timed Smooth Animation Animation is not limited to a few objects Object Re sizing Simple Methods are used (example: move, turn) Complex Methods are used (example: turntoface, moveto) -

Interactivity _____________________________________________ Signature

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40 Marks

The user can control the motion of an object(s) or the camera. The program responds to key presses The program responds to mouse clicks The user is given feedback

Sound and Music    

10 Marks

Background Music Sound Effects (pre recorded) Sound Effects (custom made) Recorded Voice -

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Tutorial-Alice.pdf

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